Laila Hart
Final Reflection Paper
This semester I decided to take on the challenge of learning Farsi. Farsi is spoken commonly in Iran and Afghanistan, so I focused on those two countries whenever I had to make cultural connections. Farsi posed a challenge because the language uses a symbolic alphabet and is written from right to left. I found the language to be beautiful and I caught on to the writing style very quickly. I used language programs, recitals, videos, writing out all I learned repeatedly, and most importantly, a language partner, to learn the basics of Farsi.
I met with my language partner twice a week, unless something came up. She would write down an entire conversation for me and then have me write it down. From there, she would repeat it at least three times and I would repeat after her. Then, I would be responsible for reciting the entire conversation by myself. This all happened in one session each time we met. I loved this method of learning Farsi because it forced me to pick up the language. Having Susan teach it to me ensured that I would learn the correct pronunciation. I enjoyed the repetitiveness and felt that it greatly impacted my language proficiency. Writing down the conversations by myself was very effective because I wrote it clearly, so I had no trouble reciting it. I would also use Windows Movie Maker to record myself reading the conversations and I could hear any mistakes I needed to correct.
I worked with Rosetta Stone on occasion, but did not find it to be incredibly useful. Rosetta Stone taught me how to pronounce words differently from Susan, so that became confusing. Susan, who is from Afghanistan, let me know the difference was a result of Rosetta Stone using Iranian-rooted Farsi. Dari is the name of Afghan Farsi. The other challenge posed happened in the early sessions with the alphabet. I had the hardest time reciting the alphabet in the correct order, but if I wrote it out I was fine. It became very frustrating, but I must remember that it takes time. There are 32 letters in Farsi and I know them all now.
New self-directed learners should know one thing: to not be hard on themselves if they cannot pick up the language pronunciations right away. This is something I struggled with. It was hard for us to memorize the English alphabet at one point, so we should not expect to learn a completely different alphabet in two sessions. I also feel that new language learners should listen to the language spoken at least a couple of times a week. Even if you do not understand what is being said, you can pick up the rhythm of the language. Also, it really does help to write out conversations and understand what each pen stroke means. This helped me make sense of everything.
I feel that I could have been a better language learner if I had more time to practice weekly. By this, I mean practicing by myself. At times, it took me longer than I wanted to master certain conversations, which delayed my ability to move on to a new conversation. I would have also liked to listen to Farsi being spoken more times during the week. Basically, I just had issues with time management at certain parts of the semester.
My suggestions to improve MLC 105 are to have smaller presentations throughout the semester to showcase what we learned. I know that not all students shared the same learning plan, but maybe we could have presented the alphabet, greetings, how to tell time, etc. for each other. I think this would have been interesting to hear about and better measure the progress of language learners. Also, I really enjoyed hearing the cultural shock stories presented, so hearing more about that would be great. I think requiring us to film a video speaking to our language partner in the target language could also be a fun alternative to a blog post. Overall, I did enjoy the course and hope to continue learning Farsi in the semesters to come. I plan to manage my time better and learn even more.
Comments
Thank you for such thoughtful reflections on 105 and 110. I am reshaping the 110 syllabus and will certainly incorporate some of your suggestions. I'm very glad you intend to continue with Persian (Farsi, Dari), whether or not you enroll in another course. I'm planning to organize 'meet-ups' for learners starting in the spring semester.