Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive processes are learning objectives that transfers our knowledge from a lower order of thinking to a higher order of thinking; from simplicity to complexity; and from remembering to creating.
Our time is indefinite; and so are our ideas. As time progress, our imagination shouldn’t suppress; because through creativity we earn success. One has met the highest order of thinking, when one has created something out of the resources around, out of the time that there is, and out of the knowledge and abilities that one already has.
As an aspiring diplomat, I aspire to be multilingual – to speak proficiently in more than two languages. I like to think that I can communicate well in different languages. I like to think that I can speak in Chinese, French, German, Arabic, etc. Now allow me to share to you a “resourceful” experience of mine that has brought me to create something.
Foreign Language was the skill I chose for the skills section in the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. My objective by the end of the program was to utilize what I have learned from our previous Mandarin classes by translating my English poem to its Chinese pinyin and characters. At first I had a difficult time; I didn’t know where and how to start. I became so anxious of whether I’ll be able to meet my objective and receive the award. I’ve thought of doing an output that’s less harder; and I’ve also thought of changing my skill instead. But I chose not to. I reminded myself the importance of learning a different language and the benefits of Chinese, Mandarin; I also recalled the evolution of Chinese characters; as well as the different tones and the manner of writing characters: left to right, top to bottom.
I’ve also understood that Chinese is a tonal and symbolic language. Tones can change word meaning if mispronounced, and so are chinese characters when combined with other characters.
Through my in-depth knowledge on Chinese characters, pinyin, and tones, I’ve applied them in translating my poem “The Romantic Silence of the Moon” to its Chinese version.
As soon as I have finished the entire poem, I analyzed each translation of pinyin and character per line and per stanza on whether they were accurate or not to the English version.
Finally, after several consultations and revisions with Dr. Lin, everything was already coherent. But when I evaluated my piece over again, it seemed like it was too dull; making me feel like I am not yet reaching my objective.
Then I remembered that the first written records of the Chinese language are about 3,000 years old; the oldest writing system in the world. This thought reminds me of the practice of ancient Chinese people of painting on scrolls and carving on walls. So I started doing calligraphy painting, it took me awhile to master the proper handling. But from scratch, I wasable to creatively utilize what I have learned from my previous Mandarin classes in school. And aside from that, I found out that I am capable of a skill which I can further improveon.
So no matter what o’clock it is right now, let us use our resources, our time, and our knowledge and abilities wisely. Let us remind ourselves of the learning objectives and let us think upward the pyramid!
sav·oir faire 