This blog post is a response to Brad Patterson's Blog Challenge - How and Why You Learned a Foreign Language. I've enjoyed reading the posts that have come out on the topic so far, so I thought I would join!
As a child, I was fascinated by secret
codes. I used to create messages in code for my sister to decipher,
and any time I could get my little hands on a kids' book about spies
and codes, I would read it at least 100 times, front to back.
 |
| Language as a secret code?? |
I grew up in various ethnically-diverse
areas of San Diego, California, and many of my friends spoke
languages other than English at home with their parents.
Additionally, my parents, who both learned Spanish as a foreign
language, would also speak to each other in Spanish if there was
something they didn't want my sister and me to understand. I came to see these
foreign languages as secret codes for English, and thus, my
fascination began.
I began formally learning Spanish in
high school, but--surprisingly--I ABSOLUTELY HATED it. In fact, I hated it so much,
that I decided that I would take American Sign Language courses at
the community college to get around my high school foreign language
requirement. Spanish just seemed so...pointless. I couldn't
understand why I needed to put so much effort into something that was
so unnecessary. I mean, everyone speaks English, right?
The next summer, I went to Panama for
three weeks to teach English, and an amazing thing happened: I saw
(and heard) people speaking Spanish – there were actually
communicating in it and it was the only language they knew! They
weren't just using it for convenience. It was also then that I
realized that a foreign language is not just a code for your native
language. No, to speak a foreign language, you have to change the way
you think about things. All of a sudden, hunger becomes something you
have instead of something you are,
and
something
you like
now
is
something
that
pleases you.
So that's the story behind the why....now to start on
the
how.
Since
I
had
stopped
taking
Spanish
courses at my high
school,
I
was
a
year
behind
the
students
who
had
decided
to
continue.
I
studied
really
hard
all
summer,
and
my
teacher
let
me
join
the
advanced
course,
where
I
had
to
work
really
had
all
year
again
to
catch
up.
I
read
everything
I
could
find
in
Spanish,
and
I
spent
time
talking
to
my
friends'
parents
to
practice.
When
I
got
to
the
University,
I
continued
my
courses,
but
I
also
began
having
Spanish
Game
Nights with friends and
listening
exclusively
to
Spanish
music.
I
wrote
emails
in
Spanish,
changed
all
the
settings
on
my
computer,
on
Facebook,
and
on
my
cell
phone,
and
I
watched
as
many
movies
as
I
could
either
dubbed
in
Spanish
or
with
Spanish
subtitles.
I
surrounded
myself
with
others
who
had
a
similar
interest
in
Spanish,
and
together
we
practiced.
It
was
a
lifestyle.
All
the
work
paid
off,
and
the
experience
of
learning
inspired
in
me
the
desire
to
study
other
languages
and
also
to
study
the
science
of
language
in
general.
Now,
I'm living in Germany and learning
German,
but
I
admit—I'm
not
nearly
as
inspired
as
I
was
about
Spanish.
However,
the
process
of
learning
a
language
in
the
foreign
language
context
(as
I
did,
learning
Spanish
in
the
US)
is
completely
different than
learning
a
language
in
the
second
language
context (I even wrote a post about it),
and
I
am
constantly
trying
new
strategies
to
increase
my
learning
prospects.
I'd love to hear more whys and hows of language learning for you, too!!
