I went into this semester genuinely wanting to learn Farsi, but also nervous that I would not be an effective self-directed learner. I realized very quickly that “self-directed” didn’t mean “unstructured” or “un-important”. I thought in the beginning that just because we wouldn’t attend official classes in the language, or complete regulated exams and assignments that this class would be easier than others and take up less time. What I had really failed to take into consideration was the fact that being a self-directed learner actually takes more time than just being an in-classroom learner, because the student must also play the role of the teacher.
To begin as a teacher, I designed a curriculum for seven learning goals. Overall, I have successfully reached each of these goals, however there are some, such as learning the alphabet, which I was able to better accomplish than others, such as learning personal appearance adjectives. I found many times that my goals were extremely broad, making it difficult for me to judge when I had completed a task. In the future, I need to be more specific in my goals and instead of just saying that I will “learn personal appearance adjectives” I need to say that I will “learn the vocabulary for different colors of hair and for different heights”. This way, it will be easier to determine when I have fully accomplished a task.
Throughout this entire process I’ve learned a lot about the type of a learner I am. As a procrastinator, I tend to put off tasks until right before they are due, finding that the stress actually helps me to complete them. Because I did not do in-depth descriptions of my learning tasks, I was not forced to challenge myself, often finding that I learned less than I would have in a normal class setting. I realized from this, that I am a learner who also thrives on the energy of classroom settings. My want for success in the classroom encourages me to work my hardest. Usually the professor or fellow students set the bar for work; but without these two entities, I found that it was difficult to set and achieve personal goals. If I want to continue as a self-directed learner of Farsi, I will have to make specific tasks and activities and keep to a strict schedule. I must keep myself accountable for setting and achieving personal language goals. I will also have to be honest about my ability in the language so that I am able to create and complete goals that are appropriate for my language-level.
Throughout this process I have become more appreciative of my previous experiences in language learning. I began learning French at the age of 12 and still don’t consider myself fluent. However, I often grew frustrated throughout this semester whenever I’d compare my knowledge of French to Farsi. Thinking back, I realize how much effort I’ve put into ten years of French and four years of Spanish, and know that if I want to gain a real understanding of Farsi, I will need to commit even more. Language learning isn’t just an overnight or one-step process. In the beginning of this course, everyone doubted that listening to the language for 15-minutes each day was necessary to learning. However, after practicing this a few times a week, I realized that I was able to better pronounce the sounds and to even recognize words. I tested myself by seeing if I could read the words on the screen and then hear for the word to be spoken. Every part of language learning is crucial for complete knowledge. I needed to hear the sounds of the language in order to make it less foreign. Once I realized that I could form connections to the language, I realized that I could make it more relatable to my own life and then easier to learn.
For me, language learning and cultural knowledge are interconnected. It was easier to acquire new vocabulary when I could attach it to cultural knowledge. This way, I had visuals of cultural practices linked to words that had before seemed distant. I have definitely developed my skills as an observer of other cultures because I have now learned a little about middle-eastern culture. I have a new lens with which I can view other cultures, and I have new tools to understand unfamiliar practices.
When I think back on this semester, I really am amazed about how far I’ve come with Farsi. I still have a lot left to accomplish, but I believe that I’ve set a very sturdy foundation for my learning. The alphabet-task was one that loomed over my head from the first day of the semester. The letters all looked so strange to me, and I wasn’t even able to define the beginnings and endings of words. But now when I look at Farsi words, I am proud to know the names of each of the letters and to be able to read entire paragraphs. Of course, I don’t always know the meaning of what I’m reading since my vocabulary isn’t very expansive. Rosetta Stone was a great help in the beginning, but when my learning seemed to plateau, I lost a lot my incentive to go to the Global Studio. I really wish that this resource had been more accessible because I think I would have used it more often and seen greater progress. It really was an amazing experience to be able to talk to two native-speakers, Wadia and Maroof, but I sometimes found that having two language partners made things more confusing. Sometimes my partners would pronounce letters differently or would have entirely different vocabulary words. This made learning more difficult for me because I was sometimes unclear about what I was learning and wouldn’t commit to either word. From this, I again missed the structure of an organized classroom where a definitive vocabulary list is supplied. In the future, I would suggest that students only have one language partner, but that they still meet once privately and once in a group setting. I’m a learner that often has to do something in order to learn it and so it was easiest to learn while producing something. For example, I made a family tree when learning the names for different family members and practicing spelling. Because I was using the words, I had something concrete with which to remember them.
Overall, this has been a very positive experience for me. I now have a whole new appreciation for Farsi that I lacked before this course. In exploring the culture and meeting the people of Farsi-speaking nations, I gained a new connection to the language and an eagerness to learn. I plan to continue with my learning, hoping that I will be more successful now that I have realized how to better set personal tasks and deadlines. I know that self-directed learning takes a high level of commitment and that the results are often slower than in a traditional classroom, but I also know that I have the foundations to continue with Farsi and my development as a self-directed language learner.
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