Starting from my middle school years, I decided to learn French due to a recommendation from my best friend at the time. This in turn, had a huge effect on my life as I continued to pursue French all the way to my senior year of high school. During the five years of taking French classes, there were many areas of the language that I liked and disliked. One of the most enjoyable aspects of learning a new language was being able to learn and immerse yourself into their culture. By watching French movies, celebrating Mardi gras, and eating their native food, I was able to become more motivated in learning their language. Furthermore, I also enjoyed learning and expanding my vocabulary. It was interesting to find words that we did not have in English. Additionally, by expanding my vocabulary in French, it also expanded my vocabulary in English. There are many words in French that are very similar in spelling to the English counterpart. This made me realize that languages are a lot more similar to one another than we think. Therefore, although the pronunciation may be different, the way many words were spelled were similar, if not the same, to the English counterpart.
What I disliked about learning French was the addition of formalities. In English, there are no new pronouns or additions to words that are needed when talking with elders or those who have more authority over you. In Korean and French however, there are specific vocabulary and rules that are added when speaking or writing formally. If you did not include the additional rules when talking to an elder, it would be seen as a sign of disrespect. Another aspect that I did not like while learning French was the subject and verb reversal. This was hard for me to get use to because I could not simply translate from English directly into French. If I did translate it directly, it would not make sense in French. This was especially tough when I was just starting to learn the language. It took me around two to three years until I was comfortable enough to write in French without thinking that I need to say it in English in my mind first.
Based on the surveys I took, I am a visual and musical learner. I do think that the survey was accurate since I learned how to speak Korean by watching Korean dramas and listening to their music. Whenever a word that I did not know would come up, I would write it down in a journal, find out the meaning behind it, and then memorize it. By doing this I was able to become conversational in Korean, although I can still be hesitant and shy when talking to those who are older than me.
Activities such as memorizations and individual projects definitely suit me more because I am able to go at my own pace. Assignments such as worksheets that build skill competency are more comfortable to me. This is because I like to know what exactly I need to study and how it might be formatted on the exam. Therefore, I tend to prefer assignments that have one correct answer compared to ones that are more open ended. However, I would like to expand my learning activities to incorporate some that do have open ended question and those that are more discussion based. Sticking to one type of activity may be limiting and could actually negatively affect my learning as well. Therefore, I would also like to do activities that are more diverse. I think incorporating a diverse set of activities such as papers, worksheets, discussions, movies, and media all work together to give a student the best experience.
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