MLC 105 Learning Journal #5: Reading in Target Language -- Try to do some "reading" in your target language. What have you learned?
Last week, I read a dialogue between two people in the Teach Yourself Hindi book that I am following. The dialogue was between two people -- Javed and Raju, and each person was asking the other person about his family. In the Teach Yourself Hindi book, the dialogues are printed first in Hindi (Devanagari) script, then followed by a transliteration. When I attempt to read Hindi, I cover up the transliterated part (in English) with a post-it note because if I don't, I will be tempted to read the transliteration of a word if I don't understand it in Hindi first. I've noticed that I can recognize "little" words that use the common vowels/consonant sounds (probably because I see them more often), but there are also words that I have a VERY difficult time even sounding out because the combination of consonants/vowels are so intense. When I read the dialogue, I had particular trouble with recognizing the word "adhyapak" (teacher) in Hindi because in Hindi, if two certain consonants are next to each other, they become connected and half of the first letter is removed, so it's difficult to even recognize the two letters for non-native speakers. What I am learning how to do is to pronounce the word with the other letters first (that I do recognize), and then think about the word that it could be using contextual clues and my Punjabi vocabulary. This worked for me when I was trying to determine what "adhyapak" could be without knowing the "dy" letter combination. The most important aspect of reading so far, for me, has been trying to be more patient. It is frustrating sometimes that I have studied the script but still cannot recognize certain (rare) letters that only occur in writing, but I can recognize them by sound. When this happens, I try to remind myself that learning a language, particularly with regard to reading, takes time and is a continual, very gradual process. As students taking other courses as well, it is also important to ensure that with regard to reading, we are both realistic and determined in setting appropriate goals for reading, which I believe I am doing.
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