My first experience with a foreign language was learning German throughout middle school and high school. It was not the most popular language to learn, which I ended up loving. By eighth grade we had a cohort of people who had studied German all 3 years of middle school. It was our little community of (self-described) oddballs that continued until we graduated from high school. I think one of my favorite parts of those classes were how much our community enjoyed humor. We would be assigned skits about going to the grocery store or something equally as simple and it was a competition to see who could have the class rolling on the floor with laughter, while saying all of the German with a straight face. It was through this environment that I realized how much I loved collaborative language learning. I am now seeing how this manifests in the form of a high Social score on the Multiple Intelligences Survey and being an evaluative learner in the FIRE model. All of the statements in the E column spoke to me and made sense in the context of my learning experience with German and other languages as well.
From when I was very little I knew I was a visual learner. I wasn’t the best listener, I was distracted easily, and I needed to create my own focus in order to hone in on anything. If I could digest something put in front of me myself, I was able to comprehend it much better than anything explained to me, particularly without a visual cue. I also have always known that I am a much better writer than speaker, no matter what the language. I particularly struggled with this in German. However, I also think that our teachers were always kind to us, allowing us to have a script or know prompts so that we were not forced to speak off the cuff. However, this also ensured my speaking skills did not improve much over the 7 years I learned German.
The other language I have had experience in is Spanish. At UR, I joined geography research about the Amazon. As I became more and more invested in the less technical aspects of the research and particularly as I began my own research project, it became apparent that my lack of language skills in Spanish and Portuguese were a barrier. I had picked up key words and phrases along the way and could guess at what was being said in meetings at times. It was my first time learning a language for practical, applied reasons. I was frustrated I couldn’t take a Spanish course about sustainability, geography, and the Amazon! This experience made me realize that languages are key if I want to continue research abroad and that the way to learn a language is exposure to native speakers and having a goal of what you need to interpret and converse about. That is why I am excited for the structure and autonomy this course provides in regard to language learning.
Comments