Blogs

In this video I am explaining a Psalm from the bible.  The reason I am explaining this one in particular is because my Bangladeshi friend who lives in a slum in Bangladesh literally asked me about that particular Pslam and the meaning of it. 

I noticed I have trouble linking sentences together.  Therefore my speech sounds very staggered.  Also I realizad that I say “I” way too much.  Bengali only use personal pronouns when absolutely necessary.   If I am to sound more fluent, I must be confident that the verb conjugation alone will indicate the subject of the sentence.  I furthermore had trouble in this video with a dependent clause starting with “who”.  I know how to do those theoretically I just need to practice using them in everyday speech more often. 

Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUCYbrEgWPY

Kaitlin Education Interview

Interview

This video was me talking with my friend Kamrul who lives on the roof of an flat complex.  He works as a elevator and a driver.  I talked with him about health care in Bangladesh. 

I struggled with if then clauses, mainly because the require its a special verb conjugation.  I also forgot that Bangladeshis tend to use the if then clauses instead of the when then patterm that I am used to in English.  Furthermore, I described everything accurately, but not precisely.  In order to describe situations better, I need to improve my vocabulary.  Lastly, I had trouble adding the word “also” in my sentences. 

Contrastly, I though I switched well between persons for verb conjugation in this video.  To get better, I need to practice more with if then clauses, and well as practice using the vocabulary that I already know. 

Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyo7TxLysB0

In the video I made of giving directions from the global studio to my room, I struggled to get the verb endings correct.  Also I had trouble remember some of specialized vocabulary: stairwell, roundabout, straight through, and down. I successfully conjugated in the impersonal when I said "you can go two directions."  Also I effectively used the phrase need to say "keep going straight."

 Overall I believe I would have been able to be understood by a Bangladeshi national though.  I just need to mainly clean up the verb conjugations.

Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyo7TxLysB0

On a ACTFL phone interview I was asked to give directions in Bengali from Dulles airport to my house.  Even though I scored advanced low on the test, I struggled to give the directions.  So this semester I practiced giving directions with my Bengali tutor.  I realized that one of the reasons giving directions was hard was because it forced me to use a grammar pattern that English doesn’t use very often.  Instead of saying in English, “go right then go left.” You would say in Bengali “having gone right, turn left.”  Bangladeshis use this sentence construction all the time, but it is much less common in English.  Also to indicate that someone will be on the left or the right, you literally say that something will fall on the left or right.  Furthermore, impersonal structure is often required when giving direction both in Bengali and English.  The combination of these factors make giving directions and useful but difficult exercise. 

I interviewed my language’s partner’s dad about the health care situation in Bangladesh.  Although he is not a medical doctor, he has a Phd in social health care and works in a hospital in Bangladesh.  We first talked about the different types of health care available in villages.  Basically there are aleopathic, homeopathic, and herbal remedies as well as witch doctors, but no real doctors.  People can also to a pharmacy without a pharmacist to obtain generic medicine with the advice of the pharmacy workers. However if the medical situation deteriorates, the person is forced to leave the village and go to a city for real medical care. 

He also commented that there are a few good government hospitals that exist (mainly in the capital Dhaka) that the poor can go to for about 20 cents.  With 40% of the population below the poverty line, these establishments are absolutely crucial.   

One of the most stunning facts he mentioned was that there were only 200 hundred ICU beds in the country.  This means that with a population of 160 million even if one is rich, it may be impossible to get the treatment one needs.

We also discussed that fact that because there is no health insurance again it may be difficult for even rich people to pay for the treatment they need. 

Lastly we talked about the process of becoming a doctor in Bangladesh.  There are two different routes.  1) Get accepted by a government medical school.  However there are only about 2000 seats in the country, so only the really brilliant people can go to these.  2) Go to a private medical school.  These institutions are very expensive and low quality.  Many rich families send their children to these school because there are a lot more seats, and the qualification for acceptance are not as rigorous with the exception of tuition. 

I am very thankful that Mr. Islam was able to talk with me and give me this invaluable information. 

The principal official language of India is Hindi, while English is the secondary official language, as India was a British colony until 1947.  In addition to Hindi and English, there are other official and unofficial languages numbering in the hundreds spoken throughout the subcontinent.  India’s 1961 census recognized 1,652 mother tongues; the most recent census conducted in 2001 reports that there are 30 languages spoken by more than 1 million native speakers in India.  Some of the most commonly spoken languages after Hindi are Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil and Urdu. 

Something that I found to be really incredible when I was in India was the abundance of people who spoke more than one, two, sometimes even more than five languages.  Indians must be able to speak multiple languages as a matter of practicality; travelling even just a short distance from one’s home may mean being among a population of people who use a completely different language as their primary communication.  In recent years, the Indian government instituted a “Three Language” policy.  After grade 7, Indian students in government schools are expected to receive instruction in three languages:  the regional language, a modern Indian language, and English.  In addition to this, other languages such as Chinese or Arabic may also be offered.  It is expected that Indian students be fluent in multiple languages.  This is likely what prompted my language partner to ask me recently what other languages I speak in addition to Hindi and English (to which I could answer, “Technically I’ve taken classes in French and Spanish, but…”). 

I think India’s language system is great, and really in stark contrast to America’s, where English certainly dominates.  Here, foreign language courses are increasingly being cut from public school curricula in middle and even high schools.  I suppose this is due in part to the fact that we have much less of an immediate or domestic need to become multilingual.  However, I think it may also intimate some notion that Americans feel other people should learn English if they want to communicate with us.  Granted, this is not necessarily an entirely American phenomenon.  English has very much become the language of academia, as well.  I was at a microbiology conference this past weekend, and one of the speakers indicated that English is absolutely the standard in Science; he said that no matter where he travels, presentations are given in English and scientists from other countries must learn the language in order to contribute.  

Given our high expectation for English as the standard in America, I find it disconcerting how rather unsupportive we are of non-native English speakers in America.  This was an observation that I did not make until returning from India.  In India, any stumbling Hindi phrases I could get out of my mouth seemed just about the most exciting thing to happen all week to shopkeepers and others I talked to outside of school.  So many Indians I interacted with were absolutely enthused to hear a foreigner taking the time to learn their language.  They were also generally gracious to offer their knowledge and assistance, were sympathetic listeners, and were eager to teach new words they thought I should know.  Here, I don’t see much handholding at all towards people who are new to America and may not speak English well.  At times, people who don’t speak English are seen as an annoyance and interactions and generally short and to the point.  I can definitely say I’ve never seen anyone here beaming about a perfect stranger attempting to learn English. 

I’ve also seen that it is not just an Indian phenomenon to be supportive of language learning.  I tutor a family from Bhutan whose native language is Nepali.  They are convinced that I will just “pick up” Nepali from being around them.  I’m mildly ashamed to say that as this point I can officially remember only two words:  onion and Wednesday.  But, you can believe that anytime I say the English/Nepali phrase, “See you on Bhudavar,” it’s cause for them to celebrate because, I’m learning! 

Initially, I believed cultural competence could not be achieved and only cultural acceptance/awareness was possible. From an anthropological perspective cultural competence would require not only learning of the culture, language, and social structure but also relating to that culture and quite frankly believing in what the people of the area believe. When we first discussed cultural competence I was viewing it from that standpoint but after discussion and reading of the article I have accepted that one can become at least communicatively competent under the right circumstances. 

The reading says communicative competence is the "competence that enables us to convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally with specific contexts". From our outside class discussion I remember David saying we do not need to be experts in order to be competent' competence is merely relative and not absolute as the reading says. Communicative competence requires grammatical competence, or knowledge of the language lexicon and semantics, discourse competence, connecting sentences, sociolinguistic competence, social rules of language, strategic competence, verbal and nonverbal strategies used in communication to compensate for breakdown in communication. I found these factors to all be sufficient in labeling a person communicatively competent if they are able to achieve them. 

At the end of the day, I still believe it is rather difficult to be even communicatively competent especially in the sociolinguistic competence and strategic competence. Grammar once learned and practiced might be far more simpler but when interacting it might be difficult to call upon social rules, as many as there are, of language. And there is most often difficulty in flow of conversation once that breakdown in conversation has been reached and the subject cannot efficiently communicate in all the strategies composed in that culture

For my response to this article, I want to focus on what the article itself focuses on.  What is learner autonomy?  As identified by the article, there are seven elements of learner autonomy.  These learners have insights into their personal learning style preferences.  They are actively engaged in the learning process.  They are willing to take risks with the target language.  These learners are proficient at making educated guesses and working with them in a proactive manner.  They notice grammatical patterns and emphasize appropriate preciseness.  These learners both "attack" the target language in parts, and with this target language are outgoing in its use.

The most important element to learner autonomy and language learning proficiency is being willing to take risks with the target language.  My close friend is in the process of studying Bangla, the language spoken predominantly by the Shaikh people in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India.  During the past two summers he has studied the language in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.  He proactively took charge of the learning process, challenging himself with his language partner and purposefully putting himself into positions in which he was forced to use the language with native speakers.  When learning directional vocabulary, he would get on rickshaws and tell the rickshaw driver, "Left!", "Right!", putting himself in a position in which if he messed up his words he would have been hopelessly lost.

Now, my friend is fluent.  Instead of riding rickshaws he jokes with the drivers and tells them to let him drive.  He gives entire speeches on complicated issues in his target language, Bangla.  By taking risks in his target language, my friend is now better equipped to meet his goal, to become a doctor in Bangladesh.

Even though some people argue that a person can be competent in another language and another culture, I believe it is possible. I think sometimes you do not even have to have an advanced level in another language in order to communicate. For example, while I was studying in India I was able to talk to people, even though my Hindi was very limited. Thus, being competent in another language means more than simply being able to speak it.

I remember using hand gestures that are often used within the Indian culture, and with a mixture of Hindi, English, and gestures locals would get my message. Now after living there and having a solid knowledge of Hindi, I feel competent to communicate in Indian society. Of course, this is not to say that I should not upgrade my language skills, but that communicative competence is based not only on grammatical and textual competence, but also illocutionary and sociolinguistic competences.

Moreover, living in the US for three years of my college life, I also feel competent to communicate within the American culture. One is able to adapt her to different situations and environments by living and interacting within a new culture. Hence, exposure and experience also play an important role in communicative competence. This allows us to become comfortable enough to interact in everyday conversations such as usage of humor and nonverbal communication.