Thai was my first language because my parents spoke Thai to me from the day I was born. But as far as I remember, l was not fluent in English when I started school. Now, I am more fluent in English than I am in Thai. But I am able to speak both seamlessly. I think the consistency of being immersed, using the languages everyday have contributed greatly to being bilingual. Language acquisition for Thai and English has felt effortless. I started learning Spanish in 7th grade and I was able to pick up the language very easily. From then on, I always excelled in my Spanish classes through high school. However, that was not indicative of my abilities to use Spanish in the real world. I never practiced Spanish outside of class activities. After learning French, I felt that think I could ever hold an everyday conversation with a Spanish speaker, like I could with French.
French just fell upon me on my program abroad in Switzerland. I was put into a homestay with an elderly Swiss woman, who could only speak French. I remember not even being able to ask how I can get water and using a lot of hand signals with her. My Spanish background helped me pick up French fast. I think I had the advantage over my classmates because I had conversations in French everyday. I was speaking French more confidently without much processing in my head than some people who had taken French since high school. I valued the introductory French classes because I feel it is necessary to have a basic grounding of the grammar. However, I value much more learning it through immersion, where it feels effortless because I am just having a conversation. Having a native speaker correct me during a conversation, is more efficient for me to correct my mistakes than receiving feedback from a worksheet, so I really value having language partners.
Based on the surveys I did, I am an aural learner, but at the same time I need some visual and kinesthetic techniques to help me learn. I always thought I learned best when someone was explaining things to me, however in a class environment I find that I tune out very easily and it becomes difficult to pay attention especially if the professor is very monotone and the lecture is dry. For classes like that, I found myself having to learn most things myself, going through the notes was best. But conflicts for finding learning styles that suit me best are only a problem when it comes to science classes.
When it comes to languages I find I can easily pick up things from listening to people around me like their accents and specific words that native speakers use but we do not learn in class. Particularly with grammar, I find doing exercises in class, like through a workbook helps me. When it comes to beginning a language, I think I value more structure in the beginning. I like having a textbook or workbook that outlines the basic things that I need to learn. I also value having movies and other media to help me listen to what I am learning. Thus, with Korean I think I will learn best if I try to do activities like they would teach in a beginner’s class first.
Comments