"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue..."

"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence inside your shoe"

This saying probably dates back to the Victorian era symbolizing the bride's past, present and future. The "something old" part means that the bride has to wear literally something old, usually a jewel for example from the grand-grandmother which symbolizes her relationship to her old family. Generally her wedding dress represents the "something new" which is the symbol of the new life. The borrowed item (usually an accessory) is the best from a married female family member because it brings luck for the bride's marriage as well. The blue color is the symbol of loyalty which was/is considered one of the most important qualities of a bride/wife. And finally, the silver sixpence represents luck and money, it brings wealth to the couple.

You might have known this saying before, but did you know that earlier women didn't really marry in white dresses? Girls wore their best clothes for the wedding and as white dresses weren't practical, most of the girls didn't own one. It was Queen Victoria, the Queen of England who decided to have a white wedding dress for the first time and not a silvery one like other members of the royal family earlier. She was an extraordinary personality without doubt which is proven by this fact as well. Thanks to Queen Victoria, the longest reigning queen of England so far, white wedding dresses appeared all over the world.

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter

My favorite American book so far is The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The name Hawthorne might sound familiar to those who are engaged in early American history as one of his ancestors - John Hathorne - was a judge involved in Salem witch trials. The writer added a "w" to his name because he wanted to hide any kind of connection with the ancestor. Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in the beginning of the 19th century and is considered to be one of the greatest figures in American literature, especially in that century. He died in 1864 and was survived by his wife and three children. He had a happy marriage with Sophia Peabody. To show their relationship, here is a quote:

Of his wife, whom he referred to as his "Dove", Hawthorne wrote that she "is, in the strictest sense, my sole companion; and I need no other—there is no vacancy in my mind, any more than in my heart... Thank God that I suffice for her boundless heart!"

In his writings he depicts his and mostly his ancestors' America. Hawthorne gives a true picture of the Puritan's life and how they handled anyone different from them. His most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter is set in the 17th-century Boston. The story is centered about a woman called Hester Prynne who gets pregnant while her husband hasn't arrived to the New World yet. Hawthorne describes wonderfully how the Puritan society treats her and her child called Pearl. They are absolutely excluded form the community. Hester has to wear a big letter "A" on her clothes which stands for adultery. As a result of her not being part of the Puritan settlement anymore, she can observe these narrow-minded people. In spite of being excluded, she still helps the poor and those in need, so people slowly start to realize that - despite her sin giving birth to a child out of wedlock - she is a caring and helpful person. Hester Prynne has to suffer a lot throughout her life, especially when her husband appears. No one knows the identity of Pearls's father but the husband seems to know everything. His evil figure makes the whole novel quite sinister.

Those who haven't read the book might find this description quite dark but it's a very interesting psychological novel demonstrating the human nature both with its wickedness and endurance. The story shows how a woman have to become independent and strong because she insists on keeping her secret - the identity of her child's father. Apart from these, the common spirit of a community is described perfectly as well, the novel shows how easily people can be influenced by one person, either good or wicked.

My English Learning Biography

The English language is spoken by 750 million people as a second or foreign language in the world.

How did I become one of them?

I come from western Hungary (the world-famous Pannonia) and in this part of the country German is the general foreign language in primary schools, which children start to learn around the age of 10. In spite of this, I didn’t start with German but with the English language at the age of 8 since one of our family’s friends is an English teacher and she offered to me that I can attend her extracurricular English lessons. I really enjoyed these first English lessons and despite being the youngest one in this class, I turned out to be quite successful. This gave me motivation to continue with English even after these extracurricular lessons ended. I took private lessons from this teacher thanks to whom I got to really like the language itself and the culture of the English speaking countries.

After finishing primary school, I knew one thing for sure: I love languages and I want to engage in English on every account. That’s the reason why I chose a grammar school 50 km away from home where I could attend an English bilingual class. Without doubt that was my most influential language learning experience. The bilingual class meant that in the first year I had 18 English lessons in a week delivered by 3 excellent teachers, one of whom is a native speaker from London. From the second year the number of simple English lessons decreased but new subjects appeared: World History, Geography and Civilization of the English Speaking World where the language of the lesson was English. These subjects contributed to the development of my vocabulary in various fields, such as sciences, culture, literature, etc.

In grammar school I was a member of an English drama club organized by our native speaker English teacher. This extracurricular activity really improved my speaking skills and made me more self-assured when speaking in a foreign language. Once we participated in an English speaking drama contest in Hungary where we played T.S. Eliot’s piece called Family Reunion.

Drama Contest

Although I’ve been learning English on and off for more than a decade, I still feel I’m very far from perfect. My biggest problem is that I’m a perfectionist and my mistakes disturb me very much. That’s one of the reasons it takes me so long to finish my blog project for this term. I not only need inspiration but confidence as well to write a new post. I hope by the end of my study I could become one of the most enthusiastic and self-confident bloggers of the university.