The Pain Of Knowing A Second Language

Foreign language classes are often put off until high school due to the fact that this is when people believe students are most ready to learn another language. This belief is widely accepted despite the fact children are able to learn to speak like natives in foreign languages, whereas teenagers and adults usually are not able to learn how to do this. Speaking “like a native” entails being able to think in a foreign language without having to translate (Nadia 1). The ability to speak like a native in a foreign language can be easier to obtain when taught the foreign language during elementary school. Once a student passes the prime learning stages, learning a foreign language can be extremely difficult. Adults starting to learn a language have to work through an established first-language

By learning your own language it can help you understand who you are and in time it can help you express

Purpose: To highlight the difficulties students have at school and at home when it comes down to learning a language which they aren’t acquainted to and the consequences of such, depending on their social background.

A lot of incidents happened along the way of learning English as a second language and many of them are rather funny than made me in trouble. What I was doing was foolish and I had to change how I see my new world and Adapt to it. I had to force myself in order to start making new friends and learn more about the American culture. I had a lot of good neighbors who helped me pass that period of my life and made it a little easy a comfortable to speaking in English. They guided me and encouraged me to speak more and never be shy again from my language and accent. Yet, I am still working to enhance and improve my language capabilities to be much better in the future. I view this phase of me learning a new language is a work in progress instead of learning something from the beginning. I am keeping a note next to me all the time, and whenever I hear a word or phrase that I don’t know, I write it down and I keep repeating it again and again until it sticks in my mind I become confident when I use it.

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.

Having a difficulty speaking a new language can lead to problems speaking with teachers and having a difficult time in school. Students in school could also have a hard time communicating this could be extremely stressful trying to adapt to a new educational system.

All the kids that lived in my street they were all my friends, we played soccer, football, etc...Also growing in a habitat where there’s only one language that it’s spanish and everyone speaks it. Im grateful for that because thanks to that my spanish developed so great. But right now I find it like it’s affecting me but since english was my second language I still have trouble with it more than my spanish. Sometime I feel like i do need to speak it more, it’s so difficult at times trying to pronounce some words. But that’s when my spanish kicks in and I end up speaking and mixing 2 languages in a sentence. After all I still feel grateful for knowing two languages.

Learning a new language seems to have only positive effects. However, for a Mexican American, accomplishing this goal brought him drawbacks in the interaction with his family. In his essay, ‘’Public and Private language,’’ Richard Rodriguez describes the difficulty in learning a new language and the sacrifice he makes to accomplish his goal. Richard Rodriguez shares the difficulty for older people, as they learn a new language; however, for younger generations is easier to learn a new language. Also, the new language creates a lack of communication for Richard Rodriguez.

I love my friends and family, and I love talking to them, but sometimes I can’t. As you might not be able to tell, I am mixed, even if it doesn’t say so on my birth certificate (thanks, Dad.) My father is white, but my mom isn’t. Her side is Puerto Rican, Italian, and Spanish. She has three sisters in which married wither a White, Dominican, or African American man. Altogether, her side of the family can speak English, however most switch to spanish when they talk to one another because it is more comfortable to talk in a native tongue. Plus, my great grandmother doesn’t even speak English, so I just end up nodding along. Also, family friends and even most of the people I am around in Massachusetts speak spanish. It’s great to learn another language because you want to, but wanting to learn because you want to be able to communicate to family is a different story. I never know how much time I have left to talk to them. This has made me love learning about any language. I memorized words and phrases from Spanish, Japanese, Swiss-German, Italian, and more by getting interested in the language and looking information up online. Again, I am not fluent in any other

“One of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time”, Federico Fellini once stated that “A different language is a different vision of life” and I, in my turn tend to say that he was perfectly right. A person who speaks more than one language can experience multiple personalities, visions and reflections consisting which language is he speaking. High School students should comprehend the real benefit of speaking a foreign language. Being a multilingual myself and speaking fluently four languages and studying another two, I consider that I am qualified enough to persuade that my argument is strong, plausible and not ultimately-right. In the following paragraphs I am going to address the following three reasons why should other High School students learn at least one foreign language? Firstly, learning a new language enhances performances in the academic domain and makes you smarter. Secondly, knowing a new language is a high estimated and a very valuable characteristic in your professional CV. Thirdly, international travel is more pleasant through knowing a foreign language.

I was born in Hong Kong and I grew up in the Philippines. I went to a Chinese school and had to learn four different languages (Mandarin, Fukien, English, and Tagalog) all at the same time. I learned Chinese because my dad planned for us to live in Hong Kong in the future; however, there was a change since my grandma petitioned my dad to come to the United States. Schools in the Philippines teach English since it’s the most common language in the world, but the English curriculum in both countries are different. The language barrier was always, and I had to adjust to the language when I moved here to the US. Because of my previous experience with learning a second language, it was not difficult for me to adjust. However, growing up in an environment that mostly speak Chinese or Tagalog, it felt strange for me to speak in English 90% of the time. My cousins who were born here helped me adjust to the language. They helped me practice my English and taught me the proper way to write essays in English. However, since I was new in the neighborhood and in the country, I was afraid to speak because of my heavy accent. I was scared that other students might make fun of me. Despite my shyness, I was able to make some friends who made me

I believe that learning a language is fine for the right reasons. Expanding your knowledge or going to a different country, these are both legitimate reasons to learn a language. Learning a language because you will be ridiculed is not a proper reason. As Fanon stated in Mellix's essay to speak is, "…above all to assume a culture, to support the weight of a civilization2". So what Fanon suggest is that when you take on a language it is to become part of the culture almost to change your identity, and I agree with that. I find when I meet somebody who can speak multiple languages I look at them with more respect than I would if they only spoke one. Not to say I would look down on a person who only speaks one language, I just find it admirable for somebody who would take the time to learn a new language.

Learning another language introduces a new culture. It teaches about other cultures and provides you with information about how they live.

The ability to speak and understand more than one language has always been respected and praised. Most people dream of being multilingual and being able to travel the world and not have trouble with understanding the culture or media in a foreign country. There may be some difficulties that come with being multilingual, but in most cases, the advantages overweigh them. I was born in Finland, have lived in Finland for most of my life, and know four other languages aside from Finnish. In my experience, multilingualism is definitely more of a blessing than a curse.

Understanding and being able to speak a new language can only bring positive things. In addition to improving your resume, several studies claim that knowing more than one language makes you smarter, because you use parts of your brain that would otherwise be unused. In addition, if you are one of those who travel a lot, knowledge of other languages is vital for you to be able to get the most out of your travels. Having a second language is one of the most demanded requirements in the workplace, so today studying a language is no longer a whim, it is almost a necessity. Most medium or large companies have an international and not only local or national projection, so they need their employees to be able to communicate with people from