I have previous experience of learning a foreign language. When I learned English I was very young so I do not have any recollection of the process of learning the language. However, I learned French in high school and some of the techniques I used during the different stages of learning were very intuitive. As a result, I found the three articles extremely interesting because I found myself constantly associating the topics discussed in the readings to my experience.
In “How brain handles languages”, the writer discusses how the different parts of the brain are involved in the learning expressions and production of speech. It made me realize that in order to communicate a message in a foreign language, it is at first necessary to conceptualize it. For example, in order to greet someone in Korean without having to spend a few minutes trying to remember the proper word and its pronunciation, it is essential to learn the word for it by not simply memorizing as vocabulary but also associate the concept of greeting someone to the word.
Moreover, this article also made me appreciate all the numerous body parts that are involved in saying a word. In fact it is because of this sophisticated system of speaking that we do not speak in an erratic, disorganized set of noises which are also being constantly monitored as we receive the feedback with the ears. It is also interesting to know that slips of tongue do not occur randomly only happen with the words that are mostly stressed in the sentence.
In the chapter “How we mean”, the writer analyzes the role of words and the meanings they convey in a particular language. A single word can have several meanings depending on the context in which it is being used. In addition, some languages can have words for things or concepts which do not even exist in other languages. For instance, in English, there is no particular word that is used to address older or younger siblings. However, in Korean, elder brothers are addressed as ‘oppa’ or ‘hyung’ whereas elder sisters are addressed as ‘eonni’ or ‘nuna’. The writer also says that the best way to learn new words is by using them in a sentence since it not only shows the meaning of the word but its usage as well.
The last chapter talks about approaching adopting a learning plan. One of the examples provided is phonetics/ phonology/ grammar/ semantics. I realized that making a learning plan will make the learning process more structured and efficient. It also made me reconsider my goals and objectives of learning the language to make sure that I keep it realistic.
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