Entry #2: Autonomous Learning

[Yazmeen Nunez]

The two readings have shed great light on how we as autonomous learners should tackle the vast and exotic land that is a new language outside of one's native language family. The two articles present relevant and useful information in very different ways; the reader must discern the way they will utilize such information, and for this particular program, I think we should use this information not only to forge a better understanding of the learning process, but to also build our self-confidence, to enunciate the idea that we, as our own teachers, have the resources within ourselves and our community to learn anything by ourselves.

The textbook reading was very fascinating, and helped me particularly in developing a sense of what resources would be most useful in conjunction with the way the brain processes language and acquires a sense of vocabulary, syntax and the many other nuances that create language. The idea that the mind does not learn words through syllabication but rather as a unit, for example, illustrated to me that the portion of Rosetta Stone that has the user repeat words syllable by syllable will not teach me vocabulary but simply acquaint me with the pronunciation of phonemes in the language I wish to acquire. Likewise, the Thanasoulas article also provided me with basic ideas regarding how I should tackle language learning resources. It also inspired me, asserting that "learners" are not born "autonomous", nor can they ever reach this autonomy, but merely approach it. It shows me that although it is difficult at times to learn an entire language on my own, it will become easier as I acquire strategies that will pique my learning preferences and make me a stronger learner and language speaker.