Entry 1: Course Introduction
Rosa Serrano's Blog
Welcome to the first entry of my blog.
Video
Learning a different language is hard because one has
to learn all the rules that go with the language. One thing is being able to
speak it and another thing is being able to write it. Growing up in a Spanish
speaking household didn’t mean that I knew how to write certain words that I
was able to pronounce. When I took Spanish in middle school, I found out that
yes I knew how to speak Spanish fluently, but when it came to writing certain
words I didn’t know where the accents went. Sometimes I have trouble
remembering a word in English, so I start to say it in Spanish or I might
forget the word in Spanish but remember the word in English. Living in the USA
sometimes it is difficult to learn a different language because it is frown
upon if someone speaks in another language other than English. I wasn’t shocked
to read in Ortega (2013) that most countries children only speak one language
which manly are the western countries. In school they do offer foreign
language, but some students don’t take them seriously. Taking the Spanish class
even though I had been speaking Spanish my whole life helped me tremendously because
I learned how to properly speak the language. I am glad that I kept my mother
tongue because it helped me to be able to translate for my mom and other family
members. I plan to pick up Italian again and hopefully this time I do keep up
with learning it.
Hi Rosa!
ReplyDeleteA lot of my Spanish speaking friends have also told me that while they are fluent in the language, writing is a different story. I have also been aware of how speaking languages other than English can be looked down up. When I was in elementary school, I had a many of my classmates tell me that they believed one should learn English before coming to America. I argue that they were kids and their opinions may not have been truly their own quite yet. However, it sends the message that their family may have that opinion. The effects of this belief is subtle at first, but it results to many primarily and only speaking English. According to Gass (2013), bilinguals experience advantages, including being more understanding of cultural differences and show greater sensitivity of communicative needs of others. By learning another language in this course, we will go through the process and have a better understanding of our students that may be learning English as a second language.
Hello Vivian!
DeleteI absolutely agree with you, I also have many friends that are bilingual that struggle to write in spanish or sometimes find it hard to figure out what word goes with the others. I never experienced anyone looking down on a language, for me alot of people that i was around wanted to learn more than one language and very exciting to learn something different than the norm. Ortega (2011) mentions, "Many people will learn at least a few words and phrases in foreign language". I have noticed that even if you do not study a different language you still get expose to it,on the tv and just being in the enviroment.
Hi Vivian,
DeleteYes knowing how to speak Spanish and knowing how to write it is two totally different concepts. I still struggle sometimes to write some words in Spanish. Often times I have to go look up the word in order to make sure that I am spelling it correctly. Also, one part about writing in Spanish that I find hard is knowing were the accents go. Nonetheless I am grateful that I know a second language because that way I will be able to comprehend the students that struggle with English.
Hello Katiana,
DeleteI agree with you that we are exposed to different languages on television and by people that are around us. I have experienced that some people do look down on people that speak a language other than English. One time I was at a store and I was speaking Spanish to my sister, a lady that was close to me made a face because I wasn't speaking English. As is stated in Ortega (2011) about people learning a few phrases in another language I agree with that statement because the United States is home to a lot of people that come from countries who speak another language other than English. Thus, people that only know English are exposed to other languages.
Hello Rosa. You mentioned that the learning the rules of a new language can be difficult for the individual learning them. From the reading of Gass and Selinkers’ book, I would think that once the learner has some footing of the new language, it would be the pragmatics of that language that would bring them some difficulty. “Pragmatics being the way in which language is used in context” (Gass, Selinker, 2008, pg. 13). Though the learner may be using the correct words it is the way in which they are using them that could lead to a misunderstanding of what their original meaning was.
ReplyDeleteCrystal Menjivar
Gass, G. M., Selinker, L., Understanding Second Language Acquisition. New York & London: Routledge, 2008