I have learned a lot about my abilities and tendencies as a language learner over the past semester. Starting out I was very eager to start learning how to speak and write but soon realized that the whole process of learning a language takes various steps. If things are rushed into then a lot of the time the learning that takes place is not done as productively as it could have been. I quickly realized that if I took my time and studied individual aspects of the language one after another then my language learning endeavor would be more productive as a whole. I also learned more specifically with learning Hebrew that some of the sounds were harder for me to make than others. Guttural sounds were quite challenging to me initially, probably because there are not as many guttural sounds in my native language of English. Culture surrounding Hebrew has always been very intriguing to me because I have always enjoyed learning about history. The culture I liked learning about most was Israel currently and daily life there. This was very convenient because my language partner is from Israel and shares unique insight with me all the time during our meetings. I found putting all the material I have learned into action through actually speaking Hebrew hard because a classroom setting is much more relaxed than thinking of what to say on the spot. Nevertheless, through continued practice and repetition I have also gotten better at conversating normally in Hebrew. I have really enjoyed the interaction with my language learning partner. It is very cool getting to learn a language from a native speaker and he is always upbeat and fun to talk to in meetings. I will continue learning by attempting to use Hebrew in the real world when I can. Whether this means in synagogue or when I eventually travel to Israel, I will try to practice my skills. The readings and activities I found most useful were about the different types of learning and ways a language can be learned. I think attempting to learn a language through multiple lenses whether that be sociological, etc. is helpful. I think the single most interesting fact that I learned was how if the brain was damaged somehow but only one of the speech areas of the brain was affected then a person may still be able to communicate or understand speech. This would depend on whether the Broca’s area (associated with speech production and articulation) or the Wernicke’s area (associated with comprehension of speech) were damaged. I would like to learn even more about how the brain processes language. This has always interested me because language is how we communicate our ideas and thoughts. Of course, getting too deep into this subject would eventually lead to neuroscience which I do not feel qualified to study in depth at this time. Nonetheless, I think the way the brain understands and utilizes speech to communicate is extremely interesting and I would like to study it more in the future.
You need to be a member of The SDLAP Ning to add comments!
Replies