Cultural Artifact 1

[Kevin Martinez]

This is an email I wrote in Indonesian to my roommate. 

[Michael Marsh-Soloway]

Bo, you raise a valid point. It's always helpful to have access to a fluent, native speaker. They possess invaluable instincts and cultural knowledge that students often can only grasp through extended experiential contact and research. By that same token, however, native speakers often struggle to express phonological and grammatical rules. It's tough to strike a good balance with native speakers. They provide critical feedback and insights, but to fully acquire a language, successful self-directed language learners also have to strike out on their own. We all learn from mistakes and recognized gaps in vocabulary and usage.

[Michael Marsh-Soloway]

This is an excellent learning exercise, Kevin!

[Bowman Rains]

Kevin,

I bet it is super useful to have a friend who speaks the language you are studying.  When studying a language, it is difficult to find answers to specific questions you have.  It is so much easier just to ask a fluent speaker.  I am sure you found Nang very helpful in your studies.