This semester of autonomous language learning has been a unique challenge. I liked the flexibility of self- directed learning, though did find it difficult to make substantial progress for some time. I had taken one semester of intensive Hindi while in India, but after just one month away from the language I was nowhere near the level I was at when I left there. So, I had to spend a significant amount of time relearning some of the material I had familiarized myself with there. I certainly relearned it much more quickly the second time around, but it was disconcerting to find that I could forget so much in a relatively short amount of time!
My time in India was my first experience learning a new language while living in the place where that language is spoken. I did not appreciate until this semester how helpful such immersion is. Last semester, I might learn something in the classroom and then hear the same vocabulary or grammar in my interactions with my homestay family or other people after I left school. This semester, my exposure to spoken Hindi was limited primarily to my meetings with my language partner. The contrast made me realize how such constant exposure can help accelerate the language learning process. In an effort to simulate this, I tried to listen to Hindi news or radio shows.
Another realization I had this semester is that self-directed learning requires a substantial amount of dedication and self-discipline. I am a serious student, but I found it difficult to maintain the same level of motivation that I came in with throughout the semester. I think that being consistent is very important in language learning; my learning experience could have been improved if I really carved out a certain amount of time everyday where I worked only on Hindi. On many occasions, I let other responsibilities take priority over my Hindi learning. I am beginning the process of applying to medical school which is very time consuming, so this semester may have been a particularly hard time to begin self-directed learning. When I was able to sit down and work on my Hindi for extended periods of time I would literally tell my friends, “I wish I could just study Hindi!” It is by far my favorite language I’ve had the opportunity to learn. I like writing in the script and overall find that Hindi requires a very different kind of thinking than I am accustomed to doing, especially in my science classes.
I also have a newfound appreciation for the structuring that goes into traditional language courses. In language learning, repetition and exposure to new elements learned is extremely important. Thus, in a traditional language course, for example, one might learn new vocabulary, read a passage which uses that vocabulary, and listen to a recording which uses that new vocabulary to reinforce it. I think this is a good system because it ensures that words are actually learned through use and repetition. This was something I found hard to replicate in my self-directed learning with only limited and unrelated books and recordings available. It was time consuming and often unproductive to try to seek out such resources on the internet. If I continue with my self directed learning, I will try to get myself a very comprehensive Hindi text and make a very organized learning plan based on that book and other resources I can gather from the beginning.
I accomplished some of my learning goals this semester including: being able to speak in past, present, and future tenses, being able to translate a song, being able to write well in the devanagari script, describe people, and learn health and body part vocabulary. I definitely did not accomplish my goal of being able to listen to and understand Hindi newscasts. The newscasts are incredibly too fast for me to comprehend. I can pick up some words and recognize the tense spoken in but I could not provide an accurate description of the topics covered. I also did not make much progress in my reading skills as I could not find much reading material at my ability level.
My language partner, Prayas, was absolutely my best learning resource throughout the semester. I would not want to attempt to learn a language without a language partner. Languages are meant to be spoken; to learn Hindi without being able to speak to someone would have felt pretty futile. I am able to learn vocabulary by myself, but Prayas was really helpful with sentence construction and taught me new vocabulary words I would not have thought to learn myself. It was fun and extremely interesting to talk to Prayas about culture and lifestyle in India and Nepal. In many ways, the cultures seem quite similar and both, of course, are very dissimilar to the US. I found it interesting that Prayas has observed cultural changes during his lifetime as far as conservatism in Nepal for example. Hearing about Nepal made me disappointed that I had not gone there while I was in India. If I do make it back to India, I would plan a trip to Nepal as well. Prayas really helped me to progress this semester. He was knowledgeable and also very patient!
I absolutely want to keep up with my Hindi this summer. I will aim at least to not lose any of the proficiency I have gained and, if possible, to progress further.
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