Language Learning History

I grew up in Aotearoa New Zealand, where there are two official languages; English and Te Reo Māori, the language of the first peoples of New Zealand. The New Zealand government has tried to incorporate Māori into the New Zealand culture as much as possible, and it is now compulsory to integrate Māori into lessons at the kindergarten and elementary school level. When I was at school, it was not compulsory but still used to a basic extent. I learned very basic elements of the language through casual use in the classroom, but was not able to apply this at home or really progress further as neither of my parents spoke Māori, none of my teachers were fluent in Māori, and there was no access to lessons or immersion techniques at the time.

For those who might be interested, here's a little glimpse into Te Reo Maori (I also LOVE to share this with my students as background to who I am):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbM3PwcGi0g



As my entire family speaks English, my first experience learning a new language was in high school as I learned Japanese. Our teacher relied heavily on rote learning, and I did not feel engaged with the language, or culture, because of that experience. I think a large part of that was also because I wasn't able to bring the learning home. It was very decontextualized, not related at all to my personal experiences and I had no way of assimilating that knowledge into my life, nor to bring personal prior learning into the Japanese classroom.

My first meaningful language learning experience occurred when I moved to Ethiopia in 2010. I lived in Addis Ababa doing curriculum development work for an international school there. I lived in Addis for a year, and lived in an area where there were basically no other foreigners residing. I was forced to speak Amharic (the national Semitic language), and I took informal lessons to develop an understanding of the Amharic alphabet, Fidel (ፊደል). 

Amharic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=512Y81UG71E

Nearby to where I lived.

The apartment buildings I lived in.

Some of the friends I made!

It took me nearly 12 months to really have any sense of control or ease with communicating in Amharic. I think what really pushed me to learn was being immersed (but not submerged!) in Amharic. I was forced to speak basic phrases and interact with Amharic speakers every day - to buy fruit at the markets, to get on the bus, to talk to some of the parents. Initially it was frustrating trying to communicate and not being able to express myself (hilarity ensues!), but I was dedicated to learning - mainly for survival. 

That dedication and motivation really pushed me to practice, practice, practice, and I see that in the classroom too. I feel that my ELL students that succeed (especially reflecting on my experience) have three things going for them:

a) support at home, 
b) the learning is contextualized and meaningful in their lives, and
c) they are motivated to learn

Stephen Krashen wrote that to acquire a language, you must have "meaningful interaction in the target language", which is focused on communicating content and understanding, rather than the form of what you're saying. Further to this, Anna Uhl-Chamot emphasizes the importance of contextualizing language learning, and this learning should be infused with meaningful contexts, like natural communication and applicable academic aspects. I believe both are absolutely essential to learning a language in the classroom. I didn't learn a lot of Japanese because I don't think the learning was meaningful or contextualized. On the other hand, I was able to learn the Amharic I did because the learning was meaningful and contextualized.

Now that I'm living in New Jersey, my next goal is to learn Spanish. My husband speaks Spanish fluently, and he is my language learning role model. He learned Spanish in high school and college, and then put it into practice while teaching in Venezuela. He now teaches ESL at a high school with a large Hispanic population, and is able to continue to practice his Spanish through communication with parents and students.

Wish me luck!