Verified Document

How Best To Learn A Foreign Language

Language Autobiography What I know about language is that it is essential in life and in learning. We use it to communicate ideas, feelings, needs, and thoughts. Being social creatures, we use language to bond with people, to create bonds of affection, and to create pillars of support for each other and for society as a whole. Language is something that can unite people; but if it is not known, it can also isolate those who do not know it.

How I learned what I know about language has come from my experience as a learner. What I remember learning about learning my native language is a real reticence to actually begin speaking: I was 5 years old before I started actually speaking; I would listen to my two older brothers have conversations and from them I learned both English and Spanish. Since my family and friends mostly spoke in English over time, I lost my Spanish and needed to retake it in school to become familiar with it again.

My parents and siblings thus played an important role in my process of learning language, as I grew up in a Spanish speaking household. However, as we all grew up, we moved more towards English because of where we lived. We needed to speak English to fit in with the society around us. Thus, English became our predominant language used.

The role that my teachers and school environment played in my language development was that in school everyone spoke English and promoted the concept of communication....

Teachers were very expressive and used language to create many feelings and ideas in our minds throughout the grade levels.
The hardest part I felt about studying a foreign language (in my case, even though I grew up in a Spanish-speaking household, this was still the foreign language for me because it was not taught as a primary language in my schools and was not used as a primary language among my peers) was learning the basic grammar rules. I had to approach Spanish when I was older like it was foreign to me, because the grammar was different from English, which I had learned. So while I knew pronouncements in Spanish and could hear the language, I did not know or understand the grammar. Learning this was the most difficult part for me. It is also why I now believe that grammar is the most important part to learning a new language, because it lays the guidelines. Once you know the rules, you can play the game, so to speak. Thus, grammar was the hard part; but the easy part of learning Spanish in school was that I was used to hearing it as a child in my home, so I could recall this exposure and it helped me get through the class.

My proficiency level in Spanish was, as a result of my household, advanced. What I found helped with my learning Spanish in school was repetition, which I got a lot of at home with my family. Chomsky's Universal Grammar language acquisition theory was used in my classes to help us see how subjects…

Sources used in this document:
References

Adichie, C. (2009). The danger of a single story. TED. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story

Gottlieb, M. (2006). Assessing English language learners: Bridges from language proficiency to academic achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Levien, R. [mediathatmatters]. (2009, June 16). Immersion [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Y0HAjLKYI

North Clackamas Schools. (2013). SIOP Components and Features. Retrieved from http://www.nclack.k12.or.us/Page/1563
Protocol. Retrieved from http://siop.pearson.com/about-siop/
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Foreign Language Learning Strategies
Words: 2081 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Foreign Language Learning Strategies This is a paper that outlines the strategies that can be used in the classroom by learners in learning foreign language. It has 6 sources. Implementation of a foreign language learning strategy may be employed by students independently, and these strategies need to be ones that focus on principles such as motivation, gender, age group, etc., in order to have the effect intended. Learning a second language is an

Foreign Language As the Culture
Words: 4565 Length: 15 Document Type: Dissertation

For both teachers, however, Boxer and Cortes-Conde highlight moments where the teacher talk lends itself to greater student interaction. At these moments, the teachers often fostered group discussions by asking students about their own cultural norms. When teachers took on the role of information brokers, students resumed the role of passive learners. The authors argue that open dialogue is crucial to fostering pragmatic and sociocultural competence, and that teachers

Foreign Language Teaching Methods Globalization
Words: 2812 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

The primary focus is therefore on hearing and speaking, while reading forms a part of the advanced stages of this approach. While the direct approach might be somewhat daunting for the introductory language student, culture is an aspect that makes language teaching meaningful and enjoyable. This aspect can therefore be included at all stages of the learning process. The Reading Approach This approach, as its name suggests, focuses mainly on reading, grammar

Foreign Language Competence: A Strategic
Words: 637 Length: 2 Document Type: Research Proposal

51). The second part of the mixed methodology will consist of survey of a convenience sample of Libyan youths to determine what they feel is the most important foreign language for them to learn and how such instruction could best be accomplished within the existing Libyan public school infrastructure. This part of the mixed methodology is also highly congruent with a number of social researchers who emphasize the need to

English As a Foreign Language in America
Words: 641 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Foreign Language Learning In DeJong's Foundations for Multilingualism in Education, the idea that multilingualism should not be viewed as a specialty but rather treated as a norm is a good one, as Dutta indicates in his experience of growing up using various languages, believing them to be one entity not separate as they are viewed in the West (DeJong, 2011, p. 1). For instance, the UK's tendency to "teach" a separate

Importance of Foreign Language Education in High School
Words: 2711 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Foreign Language Education in High School The world has about 6,000 different languages, give or take a few. Linguists predict that at least half of those may have disappeared by the year 2050, which means languages are becoming extinct at twice the rate of endangered animals and four times the rate of endangered birds. Predictions are that a dozen languages may dominate the world of the future at best. (Ostler,

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now