Have you already summer in a situation where you were made to feel that your English was not “good enough?” Have you hesitated to participate in a conversation because you thought you would not be understood? On the contrary, has anyone ever said to you, “I’m really surprised that your English is good?” If so, this article is for you.

English is my second language. I became a fluent English speaker in third grade, so it’s been a while since I’ve thought about the difficulties that have come with the process of learning the language. On March 17, however, I was asked to reminisce about my journey while attending Overcoming the Messaging That Your English ‘Isn’t Good Enough’, a seminar organized by U of T Student Life. The event was designed for international students, multilingual students, newcomers to Canada and students who use English as an Additional Language (ALA). It covered topics such as the legitimacy of World English, accents, dialects, and the benefits of multilingualism in academic settings.

I moved to Canada when I was in elementary school. At the time, some of my teachers had an “English only rule”, meaning that in class we were forbidden to speak any language other than English. I understand that these teachers may have intended to help us learn English faster by fully immersing us in an English-speaking environment. In hindsight, however, all this rule did was completely rob me of my confidence in communication.

The biggest flaw in the English-only policy became apparent when I was bullied or got into a fight with a classmate. The fight itself was not a major issue; kids fight all the time. But since I still didn’t have a perfect command of the English language, I didn’t have the vocabulary to defend myself or explain myself. Even if I did, I felt embarrassed for not speaking properly, which would cause teachers to consider me unintelligent.

Looking back, I wish I had known that my intelligence didn’t match my familiarity with a specific language. It’s never too late to share this knowledge with someone else, which is why I’m writing this article.

This brings me to the subject of accents. If you are an EAL speaker, it may be useful to know that accent and pronunciation are completely independent terms. While pronunciation refers to how we say a specific word, an accent is the melody of the spoken language, which is unique to each person. As learning strategist and seminar host, Yaseen Ali, said, “Everyone has an accent. It’s just that there is a hierarchy on which the accents are positioned.

For many of us who have immigrated to an English-speaking country, a common experience is to feel embarrassed by our accents. This is also a point Ali made: “Having an accent is like having a fingerprint, [because] it’s so unique, and it’s so specific to you.

Ali also added that, of the two billion English speakers in the world, the majority speak it as a second language. This has led to a concept known as “translinguage”, which refers to the use of elements and vocabulary from two different languages ​​to communicate. Keeping in mind variants of speech such as “Spanglish”, does it matter if you pronounce English words with an accent?

Additionally, multilingualism is a desirable trait. At its most basic, speaking another language can help you connect with members of your community and family members. But it also lets you connect with more people, which can turn your dating pool into an ocean. In 2017, dating site Elite Singles and language-learning app Babbel surveyed 450 Canadians and found that 82% were more attracted to people who spoke another language.

There are also expressions, feelings and thoughts that can only be conveyed appropriately in specific languages. Being multilingual can promote an additional worldview, as it gives you the ability to understand concepts that would otherwise be lost in translation.

Finally, multilingualism exposes people to many more career opportunities. Studies have shown that multilingual people are able to switch tasks faster and more easily than monolinguals. They are also better equipped to process information efficiently and simply. Perhaps that is why, in the last five years, the demand for bilingual workers in America has more than doubled. Overall, your ability to speak two or more languages ​​can give you a head start in hiring processes.

Participating in Overcoming the Messaging That Your English ‘Isn’t Good Enough’ has helped me better deal with misconceptions that have impacted my confidence in language learning. While in the past I believed it was my responsibility to extend conversations with a native English speaker, I realized that all conversations had to be a joint effort to understand each other. My teachers should have tried harder to understand me in class, rather than expecting me to instantly articulate my thoughts thoroughly.My advice to anyone facing the same obstacles as me is: stop apologizing for having an accent, confusing grammar in a sentence, and sometimes being unable to get your point across. The experience you bring to the English language makes you unique — and it’s as good as it takes.

• A 47% reduction in crimes against persons, a 37% reduction in property crimes and a 40% reduction in other Criminal Code crimes
• A reduction from 37 youth charged with crimes in 2016 to zero youth crime charges in 2019
• Gains in literacy learning at school
• Cost savings for agencies
• Reduced staff burnout across all branches
• Families moving to Bashaw
• 160 at-risk families and children served and connected to programs and services
• Support services offered in the community (with a population of 840): family well-being worker, basic learning and literacy, food bank, meals on wheels, support for seniors, information and referral, family and youth programming, mental health and addictions, employability services, home support, English language learning, healthy families, home visiting, daycare and preschool, post-secondary education and technology support
• A study has shown that for every dollar spent, social value to the community provides at least $10 in benefits

Officials say the results came because Bashaw’s Community Wellness Team, which includes RCMP, Bashaw School, Adult Learning and Social Programs representatives, worked collaboratively and responsibly. integrated, rather than operating in isolation.

Jackie Northey, executive director of Bashaw Adult Learning, says Alberta is rich in resources, but poor in collaboration.

Northey says Bashaw, through the new approach, chose to “design its future and invent ways to achieve it. Through a change in mentality, the Bashaw community understood that “building a better yesterday” was not going to take the community beyond the current challenges faced by all rural communities. We knew this would require a different approach – a fresh look at the possibilities.

Myranda Shepherd, Principal of Wm. E. Hay Stettler Secondary Campus was the principal of Bashaw School when the new approach developed. She says having the school as a key member of the collaborative work was important.

“An important part of a child’s life is spent in the school system. In addition to this, schools are often the point of contact for families for a number of reasons. We are very fortunate to be a hub for our community – and therefore we have an important role to play as advocates for our community, navigators for our organizations and the first point of contact for many new families. who come to town.”

Like Shepherd, Stettler’s RCMP Staff Sergeant. Bruce Holliday was serving at Bashaw when the community began its welfare work. He was satisfied with the results of the collaborative work.

“That’s the philosophy of community policing in action. Engaging community partners to serve members of our community allows the RCMP to focus its resources on traditional policing with the ultimate goal of preventing and reducing crime, making our community a safer place to live” , shares Holiday.

Holliday and Shepherd, now employed at Stettler, would work with a number of others to establish a collaborative and integrated approach to Stettler and Stettler County.

The Stettler Group is called: “Circle of Services” and includes Stettler Elementary School, Wm. E. Hay Stettler Secondary Campus, RCMP and other agencies for a total of 32 agencies.

According to Shepherd, the group has developed terms of reference outlining how the agencies will work with each other to serve the community.

“We’re committed as a team and the spirit of collaboration is there,” says Shepherd. “We are on the right track.”

Shepherd sees work as essential for a strong future and says, “The role of schools has become increasingly complex. We understand that students cannot learn unless they are physically, mentally, or emotionally safe. Therefore, community welfare work is vital – it takes a village to raise a child and it takes collaboration and, these days, leveraging resources across organizations, to be able to create meaningful and lasting change for students and their families. ”

“I am grateful to the Stettler community service organizations for coming together and working in partnership and I look forward to continuing this work in the months and years to come,” Sheperd adds.

The Bashaw Community Wellness Team would be delighted to see this work take place in Stettler and hope it will spread throughout rural Alberta.

“We believe this model is a proven, evidence-based model for the well-being and sustainability of rural communities,” says Northey. “We hope that as rural communities begin to implement the model in their own communities, we will come together as rural communities to collaborate and develop what we need. Essentially, we should be able to replicate the model regionally with regional collaboration to serve our individuals, seniors and families.

New Jersey, United States,- This Online language learning market The report is the product of in-depth market research and commentary on important factors that influence financial decisions. Here useful information about customer demands are provided in order to launch the best product or service in the market. The adverse effects of COVID-19 on the global economic system are also captured in this way. Due to the pandemic, some companies have suffered considerable financial losses. Several companies are struggling to emerge from the deteriorated situation of COVID-19. This Online Language Learning Market report covers the major patterns that have affected every industry throughout the pandemic. It then discusses important goals, pricing strategies, and ways to help market players thrive, in addition to providing useful data. Stimulating economic activity is simple using the insights from this market research.

Get Sample Full PDF Copy of Report: (Including Full TOC, List of Tables & Figures, Chart) @ https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample/?rid=1500

Statistical surveys offer a legitimate perspective of the industry, market size and development, future patterns and trading. These are considered while creating this Online Language Learning Market report with the quantified period from 2022 to 2029. This report contains a total and conventional market situation along with the variables which may the negatively affect. It also comprehensively outlines a serious examination alongside key profiles and techniques they receive in the market to keep their situation abreast. This Online Language Learning Market report covers the general objectives and adapts with the latest developments that are likely to influence the market circumstances to a great extent. All data regarding COVID-19 and its impact that distinct industry sectors are facing is being memorized for the global market report. Some concise and broad regions are comprehensively contained and clarified for newbie business visionaries who want to understand the market and derive productive increases from it.

Key Players Mentioned in the Online Language Learning Market Research Report:

Rosetta Stone Inc., EF Education First Ltd, Babbel, Speexx, Sanako Corporation, Culture Alley

Online Language Learning Market Segmentation:

Language Learning Market, By Type

• Individual learners
• Institutional learners

Language Learning Market, By Language

• English,
• Spanish
• Chinese

Get a discount on the purchase of this report @ https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/ask-for-discount/?rid=1500

Scope of Online Language Learning Market Report

ATTRIBUTES	DETAILS
ESTIMATED YEAR	2022
YEAR OF REFERENCE	2021
FORECAST YEAR	2029
HISTORICAL YEAR	2020
UNITY	Value (million USD/billion)
SECTORS COVERED	Types, applications, end users, and more.
REPORT COVER	Revenue Forecast, Business Ranking, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Trends
BY REGION	North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa
CUSTOMIZATION SCOPE	Free report customization (equivalent to up to 4 analyst business days) with purchase. Added or changed country, region and segment scope.

It becomes easy to determine the pulse of the market with this detailed analysis of the online language learning market. Key players can find all competitive data and market size of major regions like North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Middle East. As part of the competitive analysis, certain strategies are profiled which are pursued by key players such as mergers, collaborations, acquisitions and new product launches. These strategies will greatly help industry players to strengthen their position in the market and grow their business.

Answers to key questions in the report:

1. Who are the top five players in the online language learning market?

2. How will the online language learning market evolve over the next five years?

3. Which products and applications will occupy the lion’s share of the online language learning market?

4. What are the online language learning market drivers and restraints?

5. Which regional market will show the strongest growth?

6. What will be the CAGR and size of the online language learning market throughout the forecast period?

For more information or query or customization before buying, visit @ https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/product/global-online-language-learning-market-size-and-forecast-to-2025/

Visualize the Online Language Learning Market Using Verified Market Intelligence:-

Verified Market Intelligence is our BI platform for market narrative storytelling. VMI offers in-depth forecast trends and accurate insights on over 20,000 emerging and niche markets, helping you make critical revenue-impacting decisions for a bright future.

VMI provides a global overview and competitive landscape with respect to region, country and segment, as well as key players in your market. Present your market report and results with an integrated presentation function that saves you more than 70% of your time and resources for presentations to investors, sales and marketing, R&D and product development. products. VMI enables data delivery in Excel and interactive PDF formats with over 15+ key market indicators for your market.

Visualize the online language learning market using VMI@ https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/vmintelligence/

About Us: Verified Market Research®

Verified Market Research® is a leading global research and advisory firm that for over 10 years has provided advanced analytical research solutions, personalized advice and in-depth data analysis to individuals and businesses seeking accurate research, reliable and up to date. data and technical advice. We provide insight into strategic and growth analytics, the data needed to achieve business goals, and help make critical revenue decisions.

Our research studies help our clients make superior data-driven decisions, understand market forecasts, capitalize on future opportunities, and maximize efficiency by working as a partner to deliver accurate and valuable insights. The industries we cover span a wide spectrum, including technology, chemicals, manufacturing, energy, food and beverage, automotive, robotics, packaging, construction, mining and the gas. etc

At Verified Market Research, we help in understanding holistic market indicator factors and most current and future market trends. Our analysts, with their deep expertise in data collection and governance, use industry techniques to gather and review data at all stages. They are trained to combine modern data collection techniques, superior research methodology, subject matter expertise and years of collective experience to produce informative and accurate research.

Having served over 5000 clients, we have provided reliable market research services to over 100 Global Fortune 500 companies such as Amazon, Dell, IBM, Shell, Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Siemens, Microsoft, Sony and Hitachi. We have co-consulted with some of the world’s leading consulting firms such as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain and Company for custom research and consulting projects for companies around the world.

Contact us:

Mr. Edwyne Fernandes

Verified Market Research®

USA: +1 (650)-781-4080
UK: +44 (753)-715-0008
APAC: +61 (488)-85-9400
US toll free: +1 (800)-782-1768

E-mail: sales@verifiedmarketresearch.com

Website:- https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/

• Immerse recently announced that it has raised $9 million in funding. These are the details.

Immerse – a leading virtual reality language teaching and learning platform in the metaverse – announced that it has raised $9 million in Series B funding. The funding round was co-led by the existing investor Eagle Venture Fund and new investor Mustang Creek Capital and includes participation from new and returning social impact investors. This investment brings the company’s total capital raised to $11.5 million.

Launched in 2017, Immerse disrupted the language education industry and pioneered social virtual reality language learning with the first synchronous virtual reality language teaching and learning platform. The business platform is used in partnership with the world’s top language schools to provide virtual reality English learning experiences to students in the Asian, European and Latin American markets.

Now, Immerse is poised to become the first subscription-based VR education service company in the metaverse and will bring its fully immersive, instructor-led, multiplayer language learning experiences directly to serious language learners and enthusiasts. of VR. And Immerse will launch its consumer-facing virtual reality world language learning app on the Meta Quest store this summer, starting with the release of their Spanish language learning program. A French learning program will be released in the fall, followed by German, Japanese and Italian in the coming months.

The new funding round will allow Immerse to significantly grow its team, invest in continued product innovation, and launch its VR app on other major VR platforms. And Immerse plans to grow its global team from 12 to 35 over the next 4 months and is already recruiting for a variety of education, engineering and marketing roles.

Essentially Immerse transports learners to a fully immersive virtual world where they can interact socially and physically in real time with their peers and their instructor in the target language through the eyes of their avatar. And Immerse’s new approach to language immersion enables users to express themselves authentically, engage in deep and meaningful conversations in 3D worlds, and develop real fluency.

Immerse’s virtual reality language learning experiences include:

1.) Collaborate with their peers to solve problems while escaping from a deserted island

2.) Give and follow directions while preparing a meal in the chef’s kitchen

3.) Discuss abstract art while painting together in an art studio

4.) Improve their storytelling skills around a campfire

5.) Share their opinions on fashion while trying on new outfits at a mall

KEY QUOTES:

“Over the past four years, we have developed a revolutionary product that fundamentally transforms the way languages ​​are taught and learned. We’ve partnered with some of the biggest language institutions including EC English, AEON and CCEL to launch their English VR programs, helped hundreds of ambitious language learners develop foreign language communication skills from the comfort of their home, built an incredible team and attracted world-class social impact investors. Having this extra capital behind us accelerates our mission to become the leading educator in the metaverse.

— Quinn Taber, co-founder and CEO of Immerse

“Education is one of the most exciting applications of VR since gaming and fitness, and we are thrilled to partner with Immerse to bring language immersion to as many people as possible. a laser-focused team that has already proven itself as VR pioneers and education disruptors through their B2B work in English language learning. We’re not only big fans of their technology, but also their values-driven culture.We are proud to support their work as they strive to deepen human connections and create positive social change in the world.

— Wes Lyons, General Partner at Eagle Venture Fund

Boys ages 2 to 6 with fragile X syndrome who have difficulty speaking can participate in the BRIDGE study to help researchers understand how brain development affects language growth.

The study is led by Carol Wilkinson, MD, PhD, of Boston Children’s Hospital Labs of Cognitive Neuroscience in Massachusetts, Fragile X National Foundation reported on its webpage.

Eligible boys must have a diagnosis of Fragile X based on a full mutation of the RMF1 gene, which carries instructions for the FMRP protein – an essential regulator of other proteins involved in nerve cell communication.

Participants must complete two lab visits, each one year apart. Compensation of $50 and a small toy will be given at each visit. Caregivers will also receive detailed written reports on the child’s development, including cognitive, language and communication skills. Childcare for siblings and parking will be provided free of charge, and eligible families can receive travel reimbursement of up to $350.

The data collected should help all children with fragile X, as well as those with Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorders. For those interested in participating, click here.

Most healthy people have between about 10 and 40 repeat sections of CGG in their RMF1 gene (C stands for cytosine and G for guanine, two building blocks of DNA).

But people with fragile X who carry a full mutation have more than 200 CGG repeats. Consequently, the RMF1 is disabled and produces very little or no FMRP protein, which disrupts the normal functioning of nerve cells and leads to cognitive impairment, learning disabilities and hyperactivity. Fragile X is the most common inherited form of intellectual disability.

The goal of the BRIDGE (Brain Indicators of Developmental Growth) study is to understand how electrical activity in the brains of Fragile X boys – as measured by noninvasive electroencephalography (EEG) – relates to language, learning and behavior.

At each visit, participants will undergo an EEG, as well as clinical and behavioral assessments to assess thinking, language abilities, social communication, and motor skills. Questionnaires will also be completed.

Although the risks are minimal, the study organizers note that children may become bored or frustrated with certain behavioral assessments. Others may experience discomfort when placing or recording the EEG mesh, which is designed to fit over the scalp like a cap. Likewise, they note that participant privacy can be compromised by the creation of video recordings of behavioral and EEG assessments.

The Wilkinson lab is also conducting the Fragile X neural marker study in children ages 2 to 7 to identify clinical biomarkers of the genetic disease.

It has been nearly 50 years since the Cowlitz Coast Salish language became extinct. The Cowlitz Indian Tribe is working to revive it and so far it is having success.

The tribe launched the first major set of results from a three-year partnership with The Language Conservancy at an event on February 12. The tribe announced an alphabet primer and two picture books to introduce the language to Cowlitz children and an online and mobile dictionary with more than 3,000 words. Weekend classes for adults interested in the language have been running for several months.

The new uses are all the more impressive considering how far the language had fallen into disuse. Language Conservancy experts had to rely on taped interviews from the 1960s to get an idea of ​​what Cowlitz was supposed to sound like. It was the first time the Language Conservancy had to completely reconstruct a language without the help of a living fluent speaker.

Excerpts from these original recordings are broadcast in the online dictionary as examples of pronunciations to listen to.

“You can click on a word and hear how to pronounce it from the voices of our late elder. It’s so amazing and it really brings out the ability to bring the language back to life,” said Rita Asgeirsson, Cowlitz Indian Tribe Cultural Resource Manager.

Language preservation is a nonprofit organization that works to revitalize the use of Indigenous languages ​​that have disappeared or are at risk of becoming extinct. Conservation works with dozens of tribes in the United States, Canada and Australia to preserve traditional ways of speaking.

Conservancy President Wil Meya said all the work that has been done so far will hopefully lay the groundwork for producing new, competent speakers in younger generations.

“As people learn that this language is learnable and doable, they will gain more experience, become more advanced and put in more effort. But of course the resources have to be there first,” said Meya said.

The Loss of the Cowlitz Coast Salish

Cowlitz Coast Salish is far from the only Native American language that has withered or died.

According to the Endangered Languages ​​Project, only half of the languages ​​spoken in the United States before Europeans arrived still exist. Many of those who are still there are in danger of disappearing.

The last major work done to preserve the Coast Salish people of Cowlitz was done by Mr. Dale Kinkade, a Washington-born University of Kansas linguist specializing in the study of Salish languages. In the 1960s, Kinkade interviewed two of the remaining members of the Cowlitz tribe who were fluent in the language, Emma Mesplie and Lucy James.

Asgeirsson said after the tribe gained federal recognition and established the reservation in Clark County, they began looking for the next set of priorities.

“Language has emerged as one of those most important aspects of our history that impacts all aspects of Cowlitz culture,” Asgeirsson said.

These recordings formed the basis of Kinkade’s “Cowlitz Dictionary and Grammatical Sketch” published in 2004 and work done by the Language Conservancy. An International Journal of American Linguistics article on Kinkade’s dictionary stated that his work “represents the sum total of our knowledge of Cowlitz”.

Meya said experts scoured nearly 100 hours of tape to build the current dictionary and books and preserved audio clips for around 2,000 individual words and a range of phrases and sentences.

The Salish group of Native American languages ​​can be notoriously difficult to learn. The Cowlitz alphabet has 42 letters, several of which, according to Asgeirsson, take “a lot of movement in the mouth and throat”. Cowlitz has different pronunciations for the letters c (sounds like the ‘ts’ in cats, according to the Cowlitz online dictionary) and c’ (the same sound but with a high-pitched pop).

Tribal chiefs also grapple with the question of how to adapt the language to 2022. Meya said that creating new words or adapting now-common English terms was a particularly difficult development for languages ​​that didn’t have not been actively used for generations.

“There are tens of thousands of new words that need to be invented for the things you want to talk about in a modern context,” Meya said.

Helping Tribal Members Become “Culturally Coherent”

The Cowlitz Indian Tribe takes several approaches to recommissioning the Cowlitz Coast Salish.

Alphabet books and early reading books are part of the Cowlitz curriculum focused on educating children with language familiarity. In addition to the current two books, Asgeirsson said the tribe plans to eventually build a library of 100 children’s books that will be provided through the tribe’s daycare centers and Head Start programs.

“Language provides cultural instruction, morals, ethics, values,” Asgeirsson said. “So the earlier you start with the kids, the more culturally consistent a person can be raised.”

For older members, the Cowlitz Tribe has been hosting a series of virtual language-learning weekends for the past two months. They work Saturdays and Sundays to practice speaking Cowlitz Coast Salish, using the Language Conservancy’s work as a baseline.

Asgeirsson said after the first set of classes, there were about 25 people who showed a significant affinity for Coast Salish people and had time to focus on learning them. These learners were placed on an advanced path to becoming the first group of proficient Cowlitz speakers. The initial cohort of speakers will help teach the language to other tribe members and help create video lessons and new recordings for the dictionary.

Written and spoken language can also enter classrooms in Southwest Washington. The state’s “From Time Immemorial” program requires lessons in the history of Washington’s Native American tribes with significant input from area tribes. The Cowlitz Indian Tribe works with 24 school districts to teach local tribal history, including their original names and descriptions of land features.

“What’s really important is making sure we standardize seeing the written language, seeing the images and the history of the tribe,” Asgeirsson said.

Hallo, a US-based real-time English learning platform, has announced its launch in India to help Indians learn English from native teachers and practice speaking with native speakers. other students around the world anytime, anywhere. Hallo enables virtual interactions between English students and native English teachers through live, one-to-one lessons coupled with interest-based English lessons and AI proficiency tests to assess progress. Hallo currently has more than 200,000 users in India and primarily caters to users between the ages of 18-35.

Hallo thinks the most effective way to learn English is to engage in real time with real people. By focusing on human interaction, one can build confidence, overcome fear of speaking, advance one’s career, and become fluent while learning to communicate with others. The app currently has over one million students in 150 countries around the world.

Agora’s technology and APIs power Hallo’s core features such as live streaming, video calling, and audio calling, allowing its users to connect and interact in real time on a global scale. .

Hallo is the first social real-time language learning platform on the market and has secured $2.4 million in funding from US venture capital firms such as Kickstart, RevRoad, Tamarack and Dunce Capital.

Note: “Across the Pond” is a column in which freelance writer Grace Schutte will write about her study abroad experience in Valladolid, Spain.

At UW-Eau Claire, there are requirements for students studying a language – to study abroad is one of them, and as a Spanish student I have to go abroad for a semester.

Well, damn it. Twist my arm.

But, in all sincerity, immersion is the best course of action for language acquisition. For example, I have been studying Spanish for eight years in a traditional classroom and I have progressed at a snail’s pace.

I struggled through every grammar class, did every research project and debated indicative times and subjunctive those for hours and hours. Every year it was the same lessons over and over again – every year it was the same.

I felt like a little frog sitting on a lily pad, a language-learning lily pad, oblivious to my surroundings and the world beyond my little pond.

No thought. Empty head. Just present.

But then I physically crossed the pond – literally – and soon found myself standing in the Valladolid train station, tired and slightly delirious, but speaking Spanish with my foster dad and a group of his friends.

The first week, I felt like I was getting better every day. I was stressed, overwhelmed and sweaty most of the time, but I was communicating. It was as if a door opened in my mind.

Concepts and vocabulary that I thought I had forgotten moved from the dark background to my little frog brain and mouth. As if I knew what I was talking about.

However, what happens must happen, and by the second week I felt like I was slowing down in my progress in Spanish and declining in English as well. This is the case when it comes to languages: one cannot improve without the other atrophying, if only a little.

It didn’t help that the only speaking practice I got was at school and at dinner with my family. On all other occasions I used English with friends here and in the United States.

With all the English media I still consumed, I sometimes forgot I was in Europe.

To combat this, my friends and I, along with the rest of the program, downloaded Tinder and badoo, the two most popular dating apps in Spain, with the aim of meeting and talking with Spaniards. This strategy has proven to be one of the best opportunities to practice Spanish.

I wish I could say I was lying, but it’s true.

The main downside to this – and this plan has many flaws – is that most Spaniards also speak English and want to practice their second language as well.

For example, I went on a two and a half hour coffee date my third week here, and the guy talked about the Spanish military the whole time – all in English.

After just over a month of stay, I can safely say that physically being in a country that speaks your target language is incredibly advantageous. That being said, you still need to research and work for this acquisition.

Part of me hoped that I would understand the past tense as soon as I crossed the border. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.

Living in a country that doesn’t speak your native language is intimidating. There are good days and bad days, times when I befriend the waiter and times when the interaction goes so badly that I want nothing more than to drop my lily pad and disappear a moment.

But, with practice, patience and a positive attitude, you can learn to appreciate the art of language and communication like never before.

Schutte can be reached at [email protected].

There’s a little-known former military base in the South Underground that helped America win World War II.

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese sentiment prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to set up Japanese internment camps in seven western states, which included Native Americans Japanese who volunteered at the US Military Intelligence Language School in San Francisco. The school and the volunteers had to leave the so-called “exclusion zone”.

Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen offered 132 acres of land to Savage to house the school. In 1942 Camp Savage was established.

“They approached a number of states, but it was Minnesota that ended up agreeing,” said Heather Hoagland, executive director of the Scott County Historical Society. “It was an incredibly intensive language learning program.”

The purpose of the school was for volunteers to teach the Japanese language to military personnel. This skill could then be used to interrogate POWs, translate captured documents, and aid in the American war effort. A total of 6,000 students graduated from the school before it moved to Fort Snelling in 1944.

“After the war, American military officers said that these students’ work at the language school may have shortened the war in the Pacific theater by two years,” Hoagland said.

Along Route 13, an American flag and plaque now mark the former location of Camp Savage.

The head of an organization that supports non-Chinese children in language learning says it’s time for the government to introduce a kindergarten-based program for second-language learners.

Maggie Holmes, co-founder of Chinese as an Additional Language in Hong Kong, said that with nearly 13,000 students from non-Chinese speaking families now in kindergartens, additional support is needed and stressed the need to start learning at an early age. age.

“We urgently need a curriculum for teaching Chinese as a second language that starts in kindergarten and goes through the whole school system,” she told RTHK’s #Hashtag Hong Kong program, broadcast Sunday.

“This program should be supported by progressive teaching materials…manuals, flashcards, audio-visual tools, etc.”

Holmes said there was still no “systematic support structure” for children from non-Chinese-speaking families in Chinese-language schools, while English-language schools had no Chinese curriculum as a as a second language in place.

“And we need good content,” Holmes added. “Target vocabulary and grammatical points should be explained in English. Romanization should be used. The intended learning outcomes should be clearly expressed. Assessments should be created that reflect the child’s learning experience.

“Teachers should not make these materials themselves.

“They are busy and rarely trained in teaching Chinese as a second language.”