Centre TESOL English

Foreign language experienceIt’s difficult to say if my first experience with a foreign language actually qualifies as such. I was born into a bilingual home in the united states, with my father speaking primarily english and my mother speaking spanish. She had moved to this country from Mexico only a few years before, so her form of communication was almost exclusively spanish. Since she was the main caretaker while my father worked, it’s likely that I was exposed to as much, if not more, spanish than english. I grew up speaking both, with the capabilities of a young child, which are communicative yet hardly extensive. As I grew older, my exposure to spanish was limited to interactions with my mother and her family members, while every other aspect of my life was enveloped in english. Thus, spanish became my second language, although it would be fair to say that it was my first, chronologically. And I do consider it to be my second; reason being that it is one that I have to practice at continually, as opposed to english, which I have no fear of losing or becoming worse at. For that exact reason, I decided in middle school that I would always speak to my mother in spanish, so that I would not lose my natural ability to speak the language correctly. And there are few better sources, since she is a spanish teacher and can answer most linguistic questions I have a hard time with. Fortunately, in this country, it is not difficult to find opportunities to use spanish, especially living in the southwest. And despite the, what almost seems to be an exclusively, American point of view that it’s of little importance to learn another language, I do see the benefits. Even though I only took a single formal spanish class, in college, the natural ability that I have in speaking it does open up various career opportunities that would be unavailable to me otherwise. And if I chose to compound upon my knowledge by taking more classes, I would have even more potential quality in the global business world. And these advantages are aside from mentioning the personal feelings I have that it makes me a more worldly, cultured person. It’s this intrinsic quality of worth that has driven me to try to learn other languages. In high school, given the choice between french and spanish, I chose french. It seemed pointless to take a class where I already knew much of the material just to get an easy grade, and the prospect of being trilingual seemed attractive. In the three years that I studied the language I learned a good amount; probably enough to get by in a francophone country without much trouble. Learning the language was not very difficult, with the obvious Latin connection to spanish and sharing very similar grammar structures and verbs. However, mostly because of my indifference for the teacher, I decided not to continue with my fourth year. It’s been 7 years since then and I have forgotten much of the language. I can understand a lot of what I hear, especially when spoken at a slower pace, but have a hard time forming much more than simple sentences. I had always wanted to visit France to use my new toy of french and to feel validated in my abilities, but it was always easier said than done. In college, I again decided to explore another language, this time Portuguese. This language was even more similar to spanish and I felt almost at home with it once I was able to decode the unique intricacies of the language. Luckily, I made a good friend in one of the classes and am able to practice the language when I feel the need, and again, I have the desire to some day visit a Portuguese speaking country. The lessons I have learned from my experiences with foreign languages are that context is greatly helpful to the learning process and that an engaging teacher is important for the motivation of the learner. Above that, practice is key. The more it is spoken, the more the learner will retain and feel comfortable with it.