105: Journal #1

[Shiksha Mahtani]

Reading the chapters by Crystal on how the brain processes languages and then how languages are structured was very interesting and very relevant to what i've been studying in Hindi. While I am not a science major, and therefore know nothing about the workings of a brain, it was cool to read about how the brain processes different information. The brain is definitely a unique organ and the explanations of how we read, write, listen, process, etc is simply fascinating. Moving on to Crystal's chapter on how to "investigate language structure," it was refreshing to read about what I have been experiencing. It helped reassure me that learning a new language is a slow and difficult process and that it takes time. It is true that the order in which words are placed makes a big difference depending on the language. Having grown up bilingual, speaking english and spanish fluently, understanding the idea that the order of words in one language may not be the exact order in which they are translated is one that is not alien to me. Having grown up listening to Hindi all my life, I can somewhat understand the order in which the words should come. However, there are still times when I struggle with that and am surprised by a word that I need to put in between two other words. Following that, one of the interesting points I think she made in the last chapter about "How We Mean," was that of isolated words. It is true that for basic every day words there are multiple meanings that could go along with the word and therefore must be put in context before defining. This can be challenging when learning another language because one must be conscious of the fact that there are some basic words that will have multiple meanings. I am trying to be careful of this while learning Hindi!