I was exposed to a second language, English, at a very early age. Despite the fact that I grew up in Korea, I started to learn English when I was 5, starting with alphabets and simple words. As English is the most spoken language in the world, many people in my nation start English education very early. Some children even start to learn Korean and English at the same time in extreme cases, and it is starting to become a trend. Even though I begin to learn English relatively early, I do not consider myself as a fluent English speaker. I still stutter when I speak, have accents, and can't find an appropriate words at a right timing. Mastering and developing language skills in second language has been very tough for me.
Before I moved to the states, English education has been always focused on the grammar structure of the language. However, as soon as I moved to the states, I realized that the grammar rules and sentence structures would not get me out of the situation where I was trapped in the airport for several hours. This made me realize that I did not learn how to speak in English for past ten years, but only focused on perfunctory facts. I struggled with understanding the lectures in classes, keeping track of important announcements and socializing with friends outside of classes. However, I was able to adjust to a new environment quite quickly and change the whole paradigm of my thoughts. Still, I get self conscious about speaking English in front of many native speakers, but I'm trying to overcome this aspect through being more confident and participating more actively.
In Sophomore year of high school, I challenged myself by learning a third language, Spanish. I thought it would be easy to begin a new language, but it wasn't. Learning conjugation rules and new sentence structure seemed like a whole new world. I tried to connect this situation to a point when I started to learn English, but it was harder than I expected. There were more rules, more vocabularies, more structures to learn as I got more deeply into it, and I stopped acquiring it as soon as I got to a college. If I ever get to travel or live in Spanish speaking countries, acquisition of language would come more naturally; however, I noticed taking Spanish classes would not get me out of the airport if I ever get trapped in a Spanish speaking country unless I make more effort in order to achieve a professional level.
Through these experiences, I learned that achieving a certain level at a language is a difficult and time consuming task. Moreover, it made me realize that taking a class and getting fluent in a certain language is a totally different experience. From the surveys, I learned that I am an auditory and kinesthetic learner. I hope to engage these skills with my further interactions with languages, and to make my learning experience more effective and interesting.
Comments
It's always very tough to jump out our bubbles and start talking to people, especially in a foreign language. Do you have a mirror in your room? Speaking aloud by yourself is a good way to practice, and you can experiment with new grammatical constructions, vocabulary, and gestures. The next step will be recording yourself practicing to stimulate self-reflection. The important thing is that activate your communicative approximation of the sounds, mannerisms, and verbal cues in the new language. We have several tools in the Global Studio to assist with these kinds of activities. What do you think?