g l o b a l c o n c o c t i o n: June 2008

My teaching experience

My teaching career started in 1999..though my love affair with the language (French) began way back in the summer of 1986 when it was love at first sight.., sound.., feel.. & it has only grown since. In fact it now encompasses its other European counterparts as well - Italian, Spanish, German...!!
I have had an extremely enriching, satisfying and rewarding experience as a language instructor. Having worked with various institutions, my career has given me the opportunity to teach students with a profile ranging from children to adolescents to adults to seniors, which has helped me identify individual needs and relate better with all age groups, therefore making my teaching voyage interesting and wholesome.

Reasons (for those who need them) for learning languages

Speaking a new language helps you to get to know another people and culture, as language and culture go hand in hand. Because language simultaneously defines and is defined by the world around us, learning another language opens one's mind to new ideas and new ways of looking at the world.

In addition, when you speak another language, you can enjoy literature, film, and music in the original language. It is extremely difficult for a translation to be a perfect replica of the original; the best way to understand what the author really meant is to read what the author actually wrote.

Speaking more than one language is a skill which will increase your marketability. Schools and employers tend to prefer candidates who speak one or more foreign languages. Even though English is widely spoken in much of the world, the fact is that the global economy depends on communication. When dealing with France, for example, someone who speaks French will have an obvious advantage over someone who doesn't.

Learning another language can help you to understand your own. Many languages have contributed to the development of English, so learning those will teach you where words and even grammatical structures are from, and augment your vocabulary to boot. Also, in learning how another language differs from your own, you will increase your understanding of your own language. For many people, language is innate - we know how to say something, but we don't necessarily know why we say it that way. Learning another language can change that.Each subsequent language you study will be, in some respects, a little easier, because you've already learned how to learn another language. Plus, if the languages are related, such as French and Spanish, German and Dutch, or Arabic and Hebrew, some of what you've already learned will apply to the new language as well, making the new language that much easier.

Tips for learning a language

I'm often asked by students who come to enroll for a language class - 'How much time is required to learn a language?', 'Will I be able to speak fluently by the end of two months? (the duration for a crash/intensive course)', and a few audacious ones actually say ' I dont have much time, can you teach me pronto the entire language?!!' At such times I wish I could do 'abracadabra'.

Well, my stint with various languages, as a student and now as teacher, has helped me discover the 'secrets' to gaining fluency in a language. The first 3 without a doubt would HAVE to be
1- Practice
2- Some more practice
3- Even more practice

A few of the other infallible virtues are - practice (yes, again!), punctuality (if you are attending a class, be regular), patience (very important, Rome wasn't built in a day), perseverance (keep at it), passion (with this in abundance, the rest will follow) and lastly...? PRACTICE! (there's no escaping this :) Sorry, but scientists are yet to discover a pill that mothers can give to their children, which will have them hopping out of the womb, gibbering away in Russian, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Scandinavian, Africaans, Maithili, Polish, Ukrainian...!!Phew..thank God for that..poor mothers :)

On a more serious note, another important thing for effective learning is - mistakes. Make them a plenty,,because this is what you learn most from - yours n others'.

Breaking the ice

Some interesting language quotes

"Learning to speak another's language means taking one's place in the human community. It means reaching out to others across cultural and linguistic boundaries. Language is far more than a system to be explained. It is our most important link to the world around us. Language is culture in motion. It is people interacting with people."

Goethe:"Those who know no foreign language know nothing of their mother tongue."

E. B. White:"English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment and education -- sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street."

J. Michael Straczynski:"The quality of our thoughts is bordered on all sides by our facility with language."

Jack Lynch:Arguments over grammar and style are often as fierce as those over IBM versus Mac, and as fruitless as Coke versus Pepsi and boxers versus briefs.

Jane Wagner:"I personally think we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain."

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Friday, June 6, 2008

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