“I just realized that I don’t need to translate what Abba says. I don’t need to translate the Hebrew back to English,” I told my Mom when I was 10 years old. My Dad (Abba) had been speaking Hebrew to my brother and me since we were babies, and we had picked up bits of the language. “That’s how it should be,” my Mom told me back.
I was always fascinated by how my father was bilingual. “What language do you think in?” and “Why do you read from right to left? were questions I would pepper him with. For many years of my life, the idea of learning a new language wasn’t just an academic thing one did in school; it was a way to connect and communicate with my family. I wanted my Dad to speak to me in Hebrew, so I would be able to communicate with my Safta (grandmother) and play games with my cousins in Israel. I am always in awe of the Hebrew language and how my Dad and family speak it. In public, when I learn people speaking Hebrew, I get excited because I understand what they are saying. I find it beautiful that, across the world, humans communicate in so many different languages.
It truly wasn’t until I was 14 years old that I was put in an actual class to learn a language, which was Spanish. My freshman year Spanish class was not a good class. Firstly, we did not have a teacher, and all the work was online. Therefore, I was unable to fully grasp the language. In my sophomore year, I had an actual teacher, and I really enjoyed this Spanish class. The class was very small with only about 12 people, so we were very collaborative and did group-based work. My teacher had us play a lot of games, like where we had to run to match words. Or we even read a 100-page book that was all in Spanish. We also had to create and film a commercial that was all in Spanish. With that commercial assignment, I enjoyed the creativity. However, I feel it is hard to be vulnerable when learning a new language when a grade is attached. While taking this class, I was always worried more about my grade at the end rather than if I was actually picking up any Spanish. This is why learning Spanish in high school is problematic.
After taking a test on educationlearner.org, I learned that I am an auditory learner, which means I grasp information best from hearing it. I feel that this makes a lot of sense for me, especially when it comes to learning a new language. For starters, I appreciate when teachers lecture and then allow me to practice afterwards. Or when my Dad speaks in Hebrew to me, I am able to pick up on what he is saying.
Then on literacynet.org, I learned that my top intelligence is body movement. This was unexpected for me at first. Overall, I prefer this style of learning, as it is more interactive and allows me to move around. I have noticed that in class I get fidgety, and in my Spanish class, I loved lessons where we played games and moved around the classroom. My second intelligence was social. This definitely seems like me. I enjoy working in groups where I am able to bounce ideas off others and work through challenges. I feel this is extremely important when learning a new language because it is all about communication. When I start to work on my Hebrew skills, the conversation can mostly be in Hebrew, so I can be social while also learning.
As I dive into learning Hebrew this semester, I need to work on my written communication. I have done a lot of verbal Hebrew work, but I have no clue how the Hebrew alphabet works, or even how to write. I am nervous about how I am going to learn a whole new alphabet with different sounds and how the letters work together. Overall, I am very excited for the semester and come into this entire process with an open mind, while always allowing myself to make mistakes and bring genuine curiosity and excitement into the process. Hopefully, when I go to Israel over spring break, I will be able to communicate with my family a little more!
I was always fascinated by how my father was bilingual. “What language do you think in?” and “Why do you read from right to left? were questions I would pepper him with. For many years of my life, the idea of learning a new language wasn’t just an academic thing one did in school; it was a way to connect and communicate with my family. I wanted my Dad to speak to me in Hebrew, so I would be able to communicate with my Safta (grandmother) and play games with my cousins in Israel. I am always in awe of the Hebrew language and how my Dad and family speak it. In public, when I learn people speaking Hebrew, I get excited because I understand what they are saying. I find it beautiful that, across the world, humans communicate in so many different languages.
It truly wasn’t until I was 14 years old that I was put in an actual class to learn a language, which was Spanish. My freshman year Spanish class was not a good class. Firstly, we did not have a teacher, and all the work was online. Therefore, I was unable to fully grasp the language. In my sophomore year, I had an actual teacher, and I really enjoyed this Spanish class. The class was very small with only about 12 people, so we were very collaborative and did group-based work. My teacher had us play a lot of games, like where we had to run to match words. Or we even read a 100-page book that was all in Spanish. We also had to create and film a commercial that was all in Spanish. With that commercial assignment, I enjoyed the creativity. However, I feel it is hard to be vulnerable when learning a new language when a grade is attached. While taking this class, I was always worried more about my grade at the end rather than if I was actually picking up any Spanish. This is why learning Spanish in high school is problematic.
After taking a test on educationlearner.org, I learned that I am an auditory learner, which means I grasp information best from hearing it. I feel that this makes a lot of sense for me, especially when it comes to learning a new language. For starters, I appreciate when teachers lecture and then allow me to practice afterwards. Or when my Dad speaks in Hebrew to me, I am able to pick up on what he is saying.
Then on literacynet.org, I learned that my top intelligence is body movement. This was unexpected for me at first. Overall, I prefer this style of learning, as it is more interactive and allows me to move around. I have noticed that in class I get fidgety, and in my Spanish class, I loved lessons where we played games and moved around the classroom. My second intelligence was social. This definitely seems like me. I enjoy working in groups where I am able to bounce ideas off others and work through challenges. I feel this is extremely important when learning a new language because it is all about communication. When I start to work on my Hebrew skills, the conversation can mostly be in Hebrew, so I can be social while also learning.
As I dive into learning Hebrew this semester, I need to work on my written communication. I have done a lot of verbal Hebrew work, but I have no clue how the Hebrew alphabet works, or even how to write. I am nervous about how I am going to learn a whole new alphabet with different sounds and how the letters work together. Overall, I am very excited for the semester and come into this entire process with an open mind, while always allowing myself to make mistakes and bring genuine curiosity and excitement into the process. Hopefully, when I go to Israel over spring break, I will be able to communicate with my family a little more!
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