Reflect on your previous experiences as a language learner. What did you enjoy? What did you dislike? Think about the FIRE model and the surveys you have just completed. What kind of learner are you? What kinds of language learning activities suit your learning style? How do you think you should expand your learning activities?
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Jesse Amankwaah
Dr. Marsh-Soloway
30 August 2020
Reflection Paper
As a language learner, I am really enjoying the opportunity to chart my own course in
this journey. Language learning has always been really interesting to me but I always felt so
discouraged because I could not keep up with the pace, but it was not the language learning that
turned me off. Even just learning about the families that language belongs to is amazing to me
because it makes me feel connected to other people that I would think I have no history with.
Our ancestors were closer than I could ever imagine and just thinking about those language
families gives me hope for the future. I now have a basis for exploring the empires and
civilizations that existed before the modern world as we know it. What I dislike about language
learning will always be that there is a learning curve, and a time where you are not sure whether
you are learning or your short term memory is just working well. Trying to adjust to another
language also comes with different phases where you try to translate everything directly from the
language that you already speak. During this process the exchanges are slow and you feel very
silly. You try to memorize key phrases like how to use the bathroom and how to say hello and
see how far you can get with it. Then you need to ask a question, so you learn the grammar
structure of a question, then past and future tenses and vocabulary to help you express yourself.
It has taken me my entire life to understand in what order I need to learn a language for it to
make sense to me and so even though that process doesn’t seem complex, it has helped me quite a bit.
With this course, I am excited to learn an even better process that is backed up with pedagogy and practice.
The language learning activities that best suit me are the ones where I watch a video with
subtitles and try to answer questions based on context and the knowledge I have acquired from
that language. I think activities that allow me to get thrown into the fire really help me because I
know that naturally, I will want to keep myself safe and in my comfort zone to avoid losing
confidence. Studying abroad helped show me that being thrown in the fire is really the only way
to develop proficiency once you have passed the elementary level. I also really enjoy activities
that allow me to engage with people that are at my proficiency level so I can get an
understanding of what I should be able to understand after having practiced and asking my peers
what strategies have worked for them. I still have to develop learning strategies that will help me
with a language I have no working knowledge of because there are no cognates to help me out
this time in the context of Malay. I am really looking for this 105 course to break down for me
the building blocks of language and compare it with the way I have studied languages in the past
to theorize what would work best for me.
One of the earliest memories I have associated with language is when I was around seven in Korea. My kindergarten teacher took me out of class and took me to a speech therapist. According to my mother, and teacher, I had trouble pronouncing some Korean vowels, and they had a hard time understanding what I was saying. In fact, my teacher told my classmates that I was going to the police station instead of the speech therapist to save me from embarrassment. Although my teacher thought going to a speech therapist was something to be ashamed about, I thought the opposite. I was glad that I was going to learn and improve my necessary language skills in order to have more efficient communication with others. And more than a decade later, I still have the same attitude. When learning a new language, I am not afraid of mispronouncing a word or writing in the wrong sentence structure because I learn through my mistakes. I learn the best when others are not afraid to correct me when I’m wrong.
My native language is Korean, but my primary language is English. Although I took Chinese in middle school and highschool, I don’t consider myself a speaker because I have not used the language ever since the AP exam. I learn fast when I am able to use language in daily interactions such as talking to friends or listening to music. I believe that I relate to the Factual and Rational types of learners. When learning things like vocabulary, I learn best by starting with the concrete definitions and moving toward the practical uses of the word. Also I think using flashcards and worksheets help a lot in remembering definitions and their practical use. However, I tend to forget the factual info if I do not use it in a practical setting like in conversation. I think I learn things well if I talk to someone about the things I’m learning about because I do think about the conversation I had with people regularly. I think of myself as an evaluative thinker as well because I need to know the bigger picture of why I’m learning something. So in terms of language, I need to understand the culture of the language and their history. Attaching real people and background to language makes me see learning language more fun than just memorizing words and literary rules.
I believe watching tv shows and listening to music accelerated my English learning significantly. I noticed that even though I did not understand every word of a tv show or a song, I could use context clues to figure out the unknown words. And because I figured out the words by myself, I would remember the next time I encountered the words. I definitely can apply the same thing to Korean. There are a bunch of Korean Dramas and Korean Pop music available for me to consume. Also, I can use the new vocabulary words I learn in conversations with my language partner and my mother.