I think our biology is the only reason why we are able to have language. We are naturally born with feelings and as we grow older we learn how to express these feelings through language. The ability to learn a language is based on our biological structure. That is why some people are better at public speaking, some are better at writing, and some are better at conversational speaking because those are the areas that people most likely had the most training in when they were young.
In the reading, it says that right-handed people’s left brain deals with the most physical functions and the right side of the brain deals with analyzing patterns. I think the right part of the brain allows us to understand parts of language such as semantics and the left side allows us to properly execute our reaction and response to what that meaning means to us.
I think is process language very similar to what the textbook says. I use context and other related words to help me understand the meaning of a new word I don’t know and I also use previous experience to help me understand the “actual” meaning of a word or whatever the other person is trying to say.
This reading made me realize that our physical body has a large effect on our learning. Now it makes me want to try physical methods to try and learn a language and then maybe my brain will be able to learn a language much more efficiently. Also, it made me realize to learn a language I need a lot of “real world” practice, so conversations from textbooks and only reading stories in a different language will most likely not be as effective towards my learning especially because I want to be conversationally fluent in Korean; therefore, I should have conversations with other native speakers and read and watch modern media in Korea so that my language skills can improve. Also, this reading made me think about my English skills, even though English is my first language. It made me think about those “what does this word mean used in this context” questions on the SAT. I would have to use other words and the context of the passage to help determine the meaning of a certain word.
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