While going through school, I have had two separate language learning experiences (aside from my native language). However, the two learning processes were completely different and also at very different stages of my life. My first experience was while learning English at a fairly young age. I was born in Korea and while my school offered a class in English, my knowledge was very limited. When I moved to Texas in 3rd grade, I knew very little English outside of how to introduce myself. At the time, my parents decided that the best and fastest way for me to learn a new language would be to throw me into it.
Looking back, I agree it was definitely the best way for me to learn a new language. I honestly cannot remember having much of a difficult time learning the language. While I didn’t know any English, being surrounded by people who only speak English was a great, stress-free way for me to learn a new language. Especially because I was so young, I did not overthink the process, and it took less than 6 months to get to the level of my peers. By 4th grade, people generally could not tell English was not my first language. Therefore, like many people, I agree that the best and quickest way to learn a language is to throw yourself into it.
However, I do realize that doing this may not be difficult both logistically and mentally as an adult. However, for my personal experience, I cannot think of a con, as the process worked extremely well for me.
The second language learning experience I had was the 3 years of Latin I took in high school. Not only was I much older, Latin being a dead language made the learning process much harder. Because nobody actually converses in Latin, my learning was limited to reading my textbook, and doing written exercises on vocabulary and grammar. I have never been a fan of grammar, and this way of learning made the process even more difficult for me. Although I took three full years of Latin, currently four years, later, I can remember very little if not nothing of Latin. While it also has to do with my failure to keep up with the language after high school, my knowledge on the language was not as high as I had hoped after 3 years of learning.
Through my language-learning experiences, I can definitely say that I am an active learner. The learning style survey also tells me I am a kinesthetic learner. I am able to absorb more information by speaking to someone, actively learning in a hands-on way, or even watching a show rather than doing repetitive exercises from a textbook. While I do see the benefits of textbooks for the learning of vocabulary, writing, or basic grammar, I would prefer to limit textbook usage to the extent that I can.
In addition, because I have a background in Korean, I think it would work well for me to actually converse with people in Korean on a regular basis. Because I have the the basic knowledge, I feel that conversing would allow me to remember some of the Korean I may have forgotten over the past 10+ years.
Overall, this semester, my goal is to be able to comfortably speak in Korean to anyone, as well as expand my writing skills. With the right combination of active learning and textbook usage, I hope to improve my knowledge in Korean.
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