Reflect on your language learning so far and the relationship between understanding the target culture and the target language. What do you need to improve your communicative competence?
I started this class a few weeks ago with my language partner, Atul, with the intention of brushing up on my verbal skills with the language. At family get togethers or during events with my friends from India and Pakistan, I always felt like there was a gap in my ability to communicate in Hindi due to my lack of confidence with the language. In Indian culture, it is considered quite important to be able to speak the native language. It goes without saying that communicating in one's native language establishes a sense of trust and closeness with native speakers.
Atul and I would meet regularly to talk in Hindi and occasionally pursue assignments to help me with my reading and writing. I enjoyed that our conversations were mostly impromptu and we ended up talking about school, our lives back in India, what our experiences here have been like etc. At first, I felt uncomfortable with speaking Hindi for an extended period of time and after the first hour, my head would hurt since I was having to force myself to search for words. I'd try to switch back to English, but Atul would encourage me to carry on speaking in Hindi. I appreciated this a lot since it forced me to search for words and also made me understand that 'failing' was a necessary part of learning a language. On some days, we would read articles from Hindi newspapers together and talk about phrases/idioms that I did not know. Sometimes, we discussed the worksheets that Atul's mother had kindly given us. We'd also speak in Hindi outside of class, which was great since it also made me comfortable with speaking in Hindi with my other friends. I gradually started to notice that I no longer felt as shy about speaking in Hindi, and even though I still stumble on words here and there, I'm really happy that I'm getting better.
Regarding the target culture and its relationship to the language, I think that my situation is a bit different. Given that I am Indian, my identity is defined in a major way by my native language. Respect is a big deal in our culture and the fact that Hindi has separate words for elders is an example of a way in which the language is tied to the culture. There are phrases for things in Hindi that can't be expressed in English.
Regarding ways to improve my competence the language, I think practice is the best solution. Constantly speaking the language now that I've developed a sense of confidence will be crucial in helping me to improve. Reading Dainik Bhaskar, an Indian newspaper has also helped me improve my writing and reading, so I hope to be able to do more of this as well.
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