MLC 110: Reflections on Working with Language Partner

[Pamir Niaz]

My language partner for the semester, Susan, was very helpful in guiding me towards achieving my goals for the course. Upon registering for the course, I knew that I wanted to gain a basic understanding of how to read and write in Dari. Susan was very helpful in working with me to learn the alphabet, and then moving onto more complex tasks. For instance, after my fellow language learners and myself became more adequate in writing the alphabet, she usually took time during each meeting to say a word and then have us write it. This task was extremely helpful since it made me rely on properly understanding the pronunciation of each word, successfully determining what characters I should use to construct the word, and then, of course, actually spelling the word correctly. Honestly, I do not believe I could have made any progress in learning how to read and write in Dari without working with a native speaker. Susan was particularly good at finding flaws in my abilities and then informing me on how to correct them. Considering I could not read or write before this semester I was for the most part content with what I learned through my meetings with Susan. Although there were instances where I felt lost when trying to write or read something, I truly did learn so much more than I previously anticipated. At first, I thought that working with a language partner would be supplemental to my own personal learning; however, I feel that I gained the most of my new knowledge of Dari through meetings with my language partner.