I took Spanish all through high school and I absolutely hated it. I thought that language learning was just not something I was good at, and I had no interest in pursuing languages once I got to college. However, I discovered a passion in myself for Eastern European history, and I decided to enroll in Middlebury’s summer Russian program. I was expecting to struggle a bit during that summer of intensive language learning, but I actually thrived in that environment. The atmosphere at Middlebury was encouraging and fun, and I did not feel like the language pledge to only speak Russian for those 8 weeks was overly challenging. This summer, I spent two months in Russia completing a similar program to Middlebury, except this time I was fully immersed in Russian culture, and I lived with a host family. I feel like I got a lot out of that type of environment too.
It is clear to me that I do my best language learning when I focus intensely on the language of study, and try to only speak that language. Obviously, that type of environment is not possible here at Richmond, but I plan to recreate that environment as much as possible with my language partner. Once I have learned a little bit more, I will only speak Ukrainian with my language partner when we have our lessons. For now, our Skype sessions usually consist of me asking questions about grammar forms and trying to understand the differences between Ukrainian and Russian.
The types of language activities that tend to work really well for me are drill-like activities. I need to practice vocabulary (usually using flashcards) and then repeat them over and over until I know them cold. Based on the FIRE model, I fall firmly within the parameters of the “factual” and the “evaluative” learner. I have shared these results with my language partner, and he knows how I learn, so we have decided to have incorporate some vocabulary drill sessions and lots of grammar practice into our routine. For now, however, we are focusing a lot on pronunciation because I have become somewhat stuck in Russian pronunciation, and I need to practice a lot to break those habits. That being said, we have started to watch some Ukrainian kids shows to get me used to the sound of Ukrainian. I think this has been helpful for me, but I still sometimes find myself slipping back into my Russian habits.
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