Language Learning Experiences

[ReidSchluter]

My language learning experiences up until this point have been fairly diverse. I began in middle school by taking two years of elementary Latin. I found this very hard, and credit it for allowing me to learn other languages easily (I had the most trouble with the noun cases in Latin) as well as more enthusiastically.From that point, I took four years of Spanish throughout high school, and then took intensive intermediate Spanish my first semester at UR. Therefore, although it has not developed much recently, my working knowledge of Spanish is still quite good. Listening has always been my shortcoming as I typically cannot pick of all of the intricacies of most statements. However, I have the ability to speak it well (served as translator on construction site & spoke nearly seamlessly while spending time in Madrid) while also being able to read and write rather well. I would have to be immersed in the language--as I was in Madrid--to fully rediscover these skills since it has been a few years, but I still retain a very good knowledge of Spanish.My only other formal language learning experience was with French. I took one year of French early in high school at the same time I was in Spanish 2. I had a very easy time learning the language--at this point the fourth I had studied at an elementary level--but occasionally became mixed-up with Spanish, as I had not fully learned that language yet. Nevertheless, I did extremely well on all of my assignments and examinations. Due to the teacher undeservedly lowering my grades for 'classroom participation' and a variety of scheduling conflicts, I was forced to stop taking French Junior year. I've since forgotten a lot of it, but again have the ability to recall my skills given the proper setting.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In terms of my particular learning skills, I think I fit most easily within the 'Factual' framework. History has always been my best subject, and as a result is my college major despite the fact that I will not be pursuing any sort of historical job following graduation. I believe that I've been so successful as a history student due almost exclusively to my factual learning style. I have a very good--and specific--memory, and have always had the ability to remember a large amount of objective information--particularly facts. I also possess an amount of insightful learning qualities. I consistently do very well on papers that require me to use more factual examples in order to prove a much greater theoretical point. I consider this closely related to factual learning, and it requires some time for me to organize my thoughts.Language learning activities that fit within this factual framework would be best suited to me. I have the ability to sit down and remember almost any factual information whatsoever. In a language scenario, that means I could quickly remember all of the conjugations of a few irregular verbs. The activities I would ideally like to do would require me to apply this knowledge in order that it can be more than just memorized facts. Once I acquire an amount of facts about Dutch (be it vocabulary or something greater), I will need activities that incorporate into my knowledge as more than just facts. In other words, I will need to know a theoretical framework behind my newfound knowledge that allows me to apply it properly, since I will be able to solely remember everything on my own.I think that is the best way I could expand my learning activities into more of a rational or evaluative framework. It will be important for me to stick with factual and insightful because that is the way I retain information, and will surely produce the greatest level of success for me in this class. By utilizing the two models less suited to me, I think I could learn even more however. If I can learn more about the theoretical framework behind any segment of the Dutch language, than it will only serve to allow me to utilize and recall the tremendous amount of information I store even easier.