Reflect on your language learning so far and the relationship between understanding the target culture and the target language. What do you need to improve your communicative competence.
In order to improve my communicative competence, I need to have a strong motivation as well as a deep understanding of the language beyond the words and grammar. The ability to communicate with someone is very different from being able to speak with them. In English, we often dismiss our ability to connect with people on an emotional level, one that shows empathy and sympathy and has more meaning behind the words that we speak. When we switch to a different language, I often notice most language learners, including me, speak at one tone and tend not to emphasize words or change vocal levels and such. I think the ability to communicate with people and use all of the human senses will enhance one's ability to learn the language and culture because you can act and communicate in a way that will be genuine. This semester has taught me that genuinely is important for humans; people don't want to be around people that pretend to be someone that they are not. Self-identity is therefore extremely important when learning a new language. One has to be sure about themselves before they dive into a language because they don't want to lose esteem during the process. However, they should be open to new ideas and have an open mindset because this will help them learn faster and think in different ways about the language and culture. The idea that languages can only be learned as a child is simply not true; you may be busier and you may not be in the environment that uses the language all the time, but with hard work, dedication, and a strong passion toward the language, I believe one can become bilingual and communicate with other people as much as they can with their native language.
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