Before meeting with my language tutor this week, I only knew two Slovak words, ahoy and
dobry den (Ahoy is used as an informal hello and dobry den is used as a formal hello). I knew
next to nothing about the Slovak language and that terrified me. I was even caught by
surprise when I signed on to my first italki tutoring session and my tutor, Adriana, said ako
sa mas? (how are you?). I just stared back at her as I desperately tried to translate the
phrase but, eventually, I understood her question through context clues. This first moment in
my tutoring session perfectly encapsulates my experiences in Slovak thus far. I am always
on my toes due to the one-on-one attention and the completely new conventions of the
Slovak language. However, cognates and critical thinking (like using context clues) has
massively helped me to understand certain words or phrases without the help of my tutor.
There are moments in my tutoring sessions where I feel a little overwhelmed by all of the information. The pronunciations really require me to reposition my lips and tongue in order to make these new (at least to me) sounds. The English language shares a few commonalities with Slovak, but pronunciation is definitely not one of them. However, my tutor is really helpful in instructing me to properly sound out any challenging words and we continue to work on the proper sounds of each letter in the alphabet. Adriana always makes sure that I am reading my lessons aloud with the proper pronunciation and intonation. I am especially grateful for her help with pronunciation and her focus on the Slovak alphabet because an understandable Slovak accent is one of my biggest goals for this semester.
We also focused on basic verb conjugation and common vocabulary. However, Adriana’s approach to learning verbs and vocabulary is much different than my other language experiences. My language education in Spanish and Danish were much more formal because my teachers typically introduced grammar through long lectures and introduced vocabulary through study guides and flash cards. In contrast, Adriana focuses on faster pace learning with short introductions to verb conjugation or new vocabulary. After each lesson, I focus on reviewing the content by forming different sentences/discussions and practicing pronunciation.
I also really enjoy working with Adriana because she also mentions the more culturally relevant/acceptable words or phrases used in Slovak. I remember talking to one of my dad’s friends in Spanish who quickly admonished me for my constant use of Spanglish. These were phrases and words presented to me as the “right” way to speak Spanish. However, in actual conversation, I soon found out that these words and phrases marked me as an outsider, a foreign Spanish speaker. One example of Adriana’s help in gaining cultural competence is when she first introduced the word prosím as please or excuse me. However, she also added that Slovaks answer the phone with the word prosím. This a piece of cultural knowledge that I would not have learned if not for the cultural expertise of Adriana.
Despite only having a week of Slovak tutoring, I know how restricted I felt as a Spanish and Danish learner. My teachers never emphasized individual attention, individual goals or cultural competency. I am excited to continue my tutoring sessions with Adriana and excited to continue working on my Slovak pronunciation and comprehension. In the next few weeks, I want to focus on consuming different types of Slovak entertainment and news in order to find some kind of music or television program that I can regularly watch.
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