Service Learning Reflection #1

What I find so intriguing is the fact that I keep referencing my memories as a foreign language student to help me to understand and connect with the participants of the Adult Literacy program.  Because of my experiences as a student of a foreign language I find that I am able to relate to what these people are trying to accomplish and some of the setbacks that they are encountering.  Since English is my native language and obviously comes to me naturally at this point, I would find it more difficult to relate to what they are going through if I did not have prior experience of learning a new language.  So far in my tutoring, the students have either been from China or Korea and already have a good basis of the language.  Their goal in coming to Nashville Adult Literacy is to practice conversational English. After discussing with them the difficulties of learning a new language we have concluded that is especially difficult to listen to and carry on a conversation with a native speaker because they, usually unknowingly, speak fast and use slang terms.  Similar to my own experiences of learning a foreign language, the students can pretty easily read and write but it is the listening and speaking that prove to be a continuous challenge.  Because of this knowledge I feel that I am not only able to relate to them more easily but feel that I may be truly helping them.  I feel that because I can open up to them about some of my failures in learning a new language it sort of breaks the ice and helps them to know that I understand what it is like to be in their shoes.

As far as the lesson plans go, I definitely see similarities to how I was taught a foreign language.  Both this program and my learning of French rely heavily on list of vocab words to translate and understand and exercises developed to further the understanding of the language.  But for me, as well as for the students that I have tutored, it is practicing speaking through conversation that is the most beneficial exercise.  This is where we are able to pick up on the nuances of the language and learn all the lessons the grammar books do not teach us.  The biggest difference I have noted between my literacy experience compared to that of the NALC students is the fact that my learning experience was a chosen elective.  Other than for my pleasure and hope for going to France, my learning was not necessary.  I was given the option of what language I wanted to take and the option of how hard I wanted to study in order to retain the information I was learning.  While the NALC students still have the option of how hard they want to study, for most of them learning English is somewhat of a necessity.  Though most of the participants I have taught have enough knowledge of the language to get by, they want to improve upon what they know in order to have a more successful life in America.