Class 5

Adult learners:

Although many of the strategies and lessons that my teacher uses with us are lessons that are also used on the elementary age Chinese learners, tonight was a lesson that reminded me of the difference between adult and young learners. We began a discussion about some Chinese history involving the Great Wall and the Terra Cotta soldiers and that discussion ended up taking about an hour and half of the class. Everyone was thoroughly engaged, asking questions, and wanting to continue the discussion. We enjoy the stimulation of intellectual discussion that we at least have some frame of reference or comfort zone with. By this I mean that we have all studied history and world events and are able to hold a dialogue about this. This is a "safe/comfortable" zone whereas practicing Chinese is so foreign, new, and scary for us. You could feel the nervous jitters in the room slowly fade away as people became immersed in the cultural discussion. With young learners, it is quite the opposite (or so I imagine from what I can remember and what I observe). Chinese and language learning are a safe/comfort zone that children do not have many fears about. They take language for what it is and do not get scared or question the logic. If you were to begin a discussion of Chinese history with a group of second graders for example, this would be the time they would feel perhaps nervous, disinterested, or some combination of the above. So, even though adult learners and young learners may be able to utilize some of the same strategies in language learning (motions, repetition, songs, etc), we have much different attitudes about learning and where our comfort zone is.

Practice, Practice, Practice
Tonight in class I realized that I am one of only very few people who has a chance to practice Chinese with native speakers outside of class. This reminds me of how fortunate I am and makes me think that I should be moving at a move advanced level or at least retaining more with all of this extra practice. As a language learner and speaker of Spanish, I have numerous opportunities for practice, but realize that this is not the same case for Chinese learners. I am, curious, however, about how my abilities would fare in a more authentic situation. Every experience I have had has still been geared toward language learning, so I have little opportunity to practice in a truly authentic environment. I do occasionally listen when I hear my students talking with each other,but so far have not been able to make much of this.