I felt a lot better in this class. I knew what to expect from the teacher, and I didn't feel too embarrassed when I didn't know an answer. I had studied a lot and knew the jobs list. This class was mostly review. We also talked about the position of letters in words, which affects how the letters are formed. I was pretty proud of my performance. My classmate and I each expressed relief that we could recognize the alphabet and sound out words. It no longer seemed impossible or overwhelming.
What I learned: The student feels better once the ice is broken and the class gets to know each other. Class identity/unity.
Students benefit from review. It is affirming and helps them gauge what they have learned. It isn't a waste of time.
I like learning, and I like the affirmation it provides. That makes it fun, and in turn leads to more learning. I also enjoy the code breaking involved in learning an L2. Figuring a language out becomes fun, like a game. I remember speaking Spanish in Spain and thinking I was speaking some kind of code language. I would forget that everyone around me spoke Spanish too. It seemed like my private code that I could use with my friends. I feel the same way about Arabic. I'm finally starting to understand this fascinating code that seemed impossible just four weeks ago.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Second Class
I had thought I'd done a pretty good job of studying. It had been 2 weeks since class 1, so my fervor for study wasn't quite as intense close to the class time. I studied as I ate right before class. I had also studied the colors. I hadn't studied the greetings and food words, though. It just seemed like an impossible list of meaningless words. That made me realize the importance of context for teaching vocabulary. Yet, my Arabic vocabulary is really too limited to do much with these words.
I had an aha! moment the first 30 minutes of class when I wasn't making eye contact with the teacher and was embarrassed that I hadn't studied more. I hadn't even looked at my notes, but had focused on the handouts, particularly the alphabet. Beginning to read words was more interesting to me that trying to memorize greetings, etc. The teacher kept saying, "I told you about this. I taught you this." I was pretty ashamed.
Now I realize how overwhelming these vocab lists can be. One thing I think I am doing right as a teacher is giving pictures of the words. That reduces the need for direct translation from L1 to L2. The funny thing is that my students' vocab list for this week is jobs, and my list in Arabic is jobs.
Once I got over my embarrassment, I was pretty happy with the learning process. I had the opportunity to show off what I'd learned--the colors and letters--and to begin to put words together.
In order to remember some of the grammar we learned, I really need to make some charts of words that are related. I want/Give me, etc. She told us about them, but I had trouble remembering which was which.
What did I learn? In the language classroom, it's all about small accomplishments. Studying is important. Studying what the teacher wants you to study, not just what you want to study, will make a difference in your class performance. Maybe there is a reason the teacher wants you to study X. Being able to connect words is almost as important as learning the words because it creates a more satisfying, meaningful learning experience.
Also, I couldn't sleep last night because I started to think about my classes, teaching vocabulary, and teaching reading. Reading--I need to give the students sentences from the story and have them put them in order. My students who are struggling like to look for the answers, but they don't like to read. Sentence strips will force them to read. Key words so they can try summarizing--like a colleague of mine taught us at in-service. They must do more with the stories. Vocabulary-- Is there some way I can get students to do more with these words during class without spending too much class time on them? I base the vocab lessons off of my co-teacher's book topics, but I don't know if they have the opportunities to use them enough.
I had an aha! moment the first 30 minutes of class when I wasn't making eye contact with the teacher and was embarrassed that I hadn't studied more. I hadn't even looked at my notes, but had focused on the handouts, particularly the alphabet. Beginning to read words was more interesting to me that trying to memorize greetings, etc. The teacher kept saying, "I told you about this. I taught you this." I was pretty ashamed.
Now I realize how overwhelming these vocab lists can be. One thing I think I am doing right as a teacher is giving pictures of the words. That reduces the need for direct translation from L1 to L2. The funny thing is that my students' vocab list for this week is jobs, and my list in Arabic is jobs.
Once I got over my embarrassment, I was pretty happy with the learning process. I had the opportunity to show off what I'd learned--the colors and letters--and to begin to put words together.
In order to remember some of the grammar we learned, I really need to make some charts of words that are related. I want/Give me, etc. She told us about them, but I had trouble remembering which was which.
What did I learn? In the language classroom, it's all about small accomplishments. Studying is important. Studying what the teacher wants you to study, not just what you want to study, will make a difference in your class performance. Maybe there is a reason the teacher wants you to study X. Being able to connect words is almost as important as learning the words because it creates a more satisfying, meaningful learning experience.
Also, I couldn't sleep last night because I started to think about my classes, teaching vocabulary, and teaching reading. Reading--I need to give the students sentences from the story and have them put them in order. My students who are struggling like to look for the answers, but they don't like to read. Sentence strips will force them to read. Key words so they can try summarizing--like a colleague of mine taught us at in-service. They must do more with the stories. Vocabulary-- Is there some way I can get students to do more with these words during class without spending too much class time on them? I base the vocab lessons off of my co-teacher's book topics, but I don't know if they have the opportunities to use them enough.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
My First Class
I got to the first class early, but I wasn't nervous. As the other students came in the room, I was eager to learn why they wanted to learn Arabic. We all had an L1 in common, which made things easier. Even the teacher spoke English fluently. She seemed a bit nervous and didn't smile a lot; she looked at her notes a lot. As a language teacher, that was something interesting to note. I smile a ton, especially on the first day of class, but I'm as nervous as my students, I think. I also probably look at my notes a lot, but that display of nervousness undermines a person's authority.
Anyway, we reviewed some basic vocabulary, and then we were told to "use it" and "practice." It is really difficult to practice words in isolation. I would have appreciated a dialogue. Note to self...it is hard to teach words out of context...but that is something that I sometimes do in my own classroom. Dialogues are reassuring and give a cultural framework to work with.
We also learned half of the alphabet and the color words. I was despairing a bit about how I was going to remember everything--pages and pages of vocabulary.
The next week I tried to find time to study. I found a website with flashcards for practicing the color words, and I liked how the websites showed the colors. I found it more helpful to associate the color with the word in Arabic rather than with the word in English. My co-teacher is always discouraging me from suggesting that students write the translation of English words in their L1. She says that that encourages direct translation rather than thinking in the L2. She has a point. I've always thought of it as a time saver, especially since you can't draw a picture of every word in the English language. Maybe time to change my thoughts.
I had some cool moments on those websites when I realized I was starting to be able to decode in Arabic. I could attempt to read some words. That was really exciting and gratifying. What a wonderful little victory! I'm so glad the teacher included Arabic key words to go with the letters of the alphabet we learned. It was really neat to practice decoding.
Another special moment was last week when I handed my students some reading about a bear cub. The drawing on the handout wasn't very clear on the photocopy. I asked the students if there were bears in their countries. Most of my students are from Saudi Arabia. I heard them say "dub," bear in Arabic. That was my key words for the Arabic "d." I was so proud to say, "Yes. Dub. I just learned that in my Arabic class."
So now my students know that I am on the same journey that they are on. I even told some of them how hard it was to learn something as basic as the colors. They quizzed me at the bookstore as we waited for our turn to buy books. I felt like such a dummy. I took going home and spending some time focused on studying, developing mnemonic devices to commit the colors to memory.
I can't wait for my second class to see what I learn, how I learn it, and how I feel about it.
Anyway, we reviewed some basic vocabulary, and then we were told to "use it" and "practice." It is really difficult to practice words in isolation. I would have appreciated a dialogue. Note to self...it is hard to teach words out of context...but that is something that I sometimes do in my own classroom. Dialogues are reassuring and give a cultural framework to work with.
We also learned half of the alphabet and the color words. I was despairing a bit about how I was going to remember everything--pages and pages of vocabulary.
The next week I tried to find time to study. I found a website with flashcards for practicing the color words, and I liked how the websites showed the colors. I found it more helpful to associate the color with the word in Arabic rather than with the word in English. My co-teacher is always discouraging me from suggesting that students write the translation of English words in their L1. She says that that encourages direct translation rather than thinking in the L2. She has a point. I've always thought of it as a time saver, especially since you can't draw a picture of every word in the English language. Maybe time to change my thoughts.
I had some cool moments on those websites when I realized I was starting to be able to decode in Arabic. I could attempt to read some words. That was really exciting and gratifying. What a wonderful little victory! I'm so glad the teacher included Arabic key words to go with the letters of the alphabet we learned. It was really neat to practice decoding.
Another special moment was last week when I handed my students some reading about a bear cub. The drawing on the handout wasn't very clear on the photocopy. I asked the students if there were bears in their countries. Most of my students are from Saudi Arabia. I heard them say "dub," bear in Arabic. That was my key words for the Arabic "d." I was so proud to say, "Yes. Dub. I just learned that in my Arabic class."
So now my students know that I am on the same journey that they are on. I even told some of them how hard it was to learn something as basic as the colors. They quizzed me at the bookstore as we waited for our turn to buy books. I felt like such a dummy. I took going home and spending some time focused on studying, developing mnemonic devices to commit the colors to memory.
I can't wait for my second class to see what I learn, how I learn it, and how I feel about it.
My Decision
I teach English as a Second Language to adults, and I recently decided that I wanted to learn another language. I've studied second language acquisition and learned a second language, but I wanted to experience it again as an adult so that I could better understand how my students feel in class and the challenges they face.
My L2 is a romance language, so I've decided to learn Arabic. Many of my students speak Arabic, and I wanted to learn a language that wasn't a romance language. I didn't want to be able to build on my L2. I wanted a whole new experience. I wanted to have to learn a whole new writing system or alphabet. That's what many of my students have to do.
As teachers, my colleagues and I recognize our students' challenges, but often we aren't overly sympathetic and struggle to address their needs in terms of learning to read and write.
I've told my students about my decision to learn Arabic, and I hope they respect my journey the way I respect theirs. We are all learning that it isn't easy to learn an L2, although the rewards are often worth the struggles.
My L2 is a romance language, so I've decided to learn Arabic. Many of my students speak Arabic, and I wanted to learn a language that wasn't a romance language. I didn't want to be able to build on my L2. I wanted a whole new experience. I wanted to have to learn a whole new writing system or alphabet. That's what many of my students have to do.
As teachers, my colleagues and I recognize our students' challenges, but often we aren't overly sympathetic and struggle to address their needs in terms of learning to read and write.
I've told my students about my decision to learn Arabic, and I hope they respect my journey the way I respect theirs. We are all learning that it isn't easy to learn an L2, although the rewards are often worth the struggles.
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