Being A Linguistics Student At Heart

Figure 1 shows the prime window of opportunity to acquire a language. The peak age for language absorption is around five years old. So, the most important time for students to be enrolled in foreign language classes is kindergarten. “However, just 15 percent of U.S. public elementary schools offer any foreign language instruction” (Chandler 1). Students are missing out on the ability to more easily learn another language. If students have to wait until high school, learning a foreign language becomes a laborious task due to the stage the brain is in.

At first, speaking English was a bit difficult because I did not feel confident using it with others. The most advanced students sometimes made fun of my English. The students who spoke my own language made more fun of me than the ones who were fluent in English. The teasing by the students made me feel embarrassed and shy to speak the English language, giving me a fear of being made fun of or looked at differently. Practicing the English language with my own siblings and playing with the neighborhood kids who already managed the language gave me more confidence to speak English. Taking Spanish courses in school was also an advantage, which helped me to get better at my native language and kept me from losing it.

The language accent in Mexican people has a particular significance. The accent comes with stress. The Mexican Citizens put effort to learn English as a second language. However, it’s understandable that the accent of an American won’t be the same. As another person who comes from outside of the United States, An Example; in the play “Los Vendidos” Valdez talks about the multiple stereotypes of Mexican

When I began attending school my primary language was Spanish. My parents did not speak English in the home and when I went to school I knew and understood a little bit of English. I believe that having an older sibling helped me understand English. She began school a year before I did and picked up English from school and at home would speak to me in English. My parents encouraged this in our home and saw the need to begin learning basic English. My sister did not have learning disabilities growing up and from what I remember she did not have a problem learning English. Academically

The interviewee for my project, Andres Alejo, is currently a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University. He was so excited to express his opinions for this interview, as he grew up traveling back and forth between two cultures. Due to his father’s job, he traveled between the United States and the Dominican Republic until he was in fifth grade, when his family returned to the Dominican Republic to stay. During his time in the United States, his time was divided between Mt. Vernon, New York and Miami. Andres eventually returned to the United States to study Piano Performance at Boston Conservatory. His experience with learning English was not as difficult for him, since he started learning during his formative years. He mentioned that his

I like how you described one of the characters, Gonzalo, and his amazing experience of learning English in such as a short period of time. This fact reminds me about the time when my family came to the U.S., and my children were the first who learned English. Similarly to Gonzalo, they learned English from cartoons; so, TV made them smarter, and they were able to communicate much earlier than my husband and I. Usually, adults are more inhibited and stressed when it is time to talk in a foreign language since they are afraid that people will make jokes on them. Unlikely to adults, kids are less worried about starting talking in a foreign language and easily learn it. Thus, I totally agree with Gonzalo that the younger you are the

As a child, I had to navigate from an English speaking classroom to a Spanish speaking home. From eight in the morning I was given instruction in English by my professors at school. After three in the afternoon at home I engaged in Spanish conversation with my mother, father, and siblings. When the summer vacation came around, it was back to speaking Spanish only, and then I regained the Mexican accent that had faded away during the school year.

This was not surprising, nor was it an issue, since my parents both spoke Spanish at home. I recall my mother carrying around a Spanish-to-English dictionary religiously, pulling it out in grocery stores or doctor’s appointments to able to communicate with the strangers around her. The language barrier first became an issue at age four, when I was set to start preschool. I could not go in blindly, and so in the months leading up to the day my parents spent hours teaching me the little English they had acquired.

Like mentioned in lecture, “children learn English and some American ways, but retain parents’ language and cultural norms,” in Jose’s case, his own native language. Jose recalls how when he began elementary in the United States, he would complain that the “light was hurting my eyes because my school in Mexico did not have electricity.” Jose mentions the lack of resources in his home country but doesn’t seem to see it as negative, instead is appalled by this strange thing he wasn’t used to, light. He has learned to appreciate the English language and the American culture but prefers to stick to his native country and speaking Spanish. He said Spanish is easier. He often goes back and forth between both languages, “Now I often catch myself thinking in both languages but mostly in Spanish.” Even if he does choose Spanish over English, it is not a sign of downward assimilation, at least not in his case. Jose is 34 years old and has a Master of Arts in Education with a specialization in English Language Learners. The emphasis he decided to go for shows how much he values the language and wants to provide other students with the knowledge he has gained through his studies and personal

My mother and father are native Spanish speakers; they came to America when they were in there 20s. My father learned English better than my mom because he worked in hotel resorts and restaurants as a server so

While English takes most of the daily living in the United States, from television shows, cell phones, and job employments, my Spanish was becoming atrocious. I arrived here at 8 years old and the change was traumatic for me. I was pushed due to Spanish not being the “proper” language in

I cannot imagine growing up in another country. Growing up I only spoke Spanish at home with my parents and brothers. I remember the first day of school I came home crying because most of the student in my class spoke English including the teachers and I was very depressed and confused because I wanted to understand what everybody was talking about and wanted know how to speak the language everybody knew. Eventually as I started growing up and seeing my English speaking peers and teacher speak the language I started getting more and more comfortable with it. I still stumble when I come to words I don't understand but it’s a huge difference than when I started learning

Similar to Tan’s mother, I realized my limitations to having a fluent conversation with people I communicate with and I made a huge effort to attend English reading class and to frequently visit the writing center to reduce my accent limitations, so that I can be able to fluently interact with people in the school and my work place, and this has greatly helped me.

I mentioned this in class before, but while volunteering for Junior Achievement, I taught a class of third graders, and one of them was an immigrant who spoke exclusively French-Creole. I attempted to speak to him, but was unsuccessful. It saddened me to know that this boy had no one to speak to, but hopefully with a translator and the immersion in the culture, he will soon pick up the language.

For me, learning a language is a complicated process. It is different from learning other subjects. It involves a lot of practices and follow up. When I talk about my personal experience, I would say that I have a rich experience in learning English as a second language. English was taught to me for ten years starting from grade seven till graduation from university. After graduation, I felt that I should improve my language skills. Therefore, I did a lot of efforts personally to increase my fluency. Until now I still learn the language. Indeed, learning a language takes a lifetime.