This term in LT 436/536, we wrote a few paragraphs about why we love language as part of a class exercise on how to incorporate process writing and genre awareness into writing instruction. We’re publishing them here so that we could write for a real audience.

Hermya & Aissa 

Learning a second language comes with many challenges, such as communicating with native speakers, learning new writing systems and coping with cultural differences. But these challenges are also opportunities for growth. As an English teacher in Japan, Aissa pushed herself to learn Japanese including all three Japanese writing systems so she can help her co-workers with everyday tasks. By doing this, she was able to develop better relationships with them and learned how to become a better team player along the way. Similarly, Hermya’s experience learning Japanese developed her life goals. She became an exchange student in high school to Japan, and now she loves to study Japanese on her own, and plans to teach there after graduation. We both saw the impact language learning has on our lives and relationships and how it contributed to our personal growth, which led us to a love of language learning.

         

Cameron & Keli 

For us, the beauty of language drives our interest and love for it. One thing that we find amazing is the puzzling nature of language and how it feels like discovering a new secret code. Different languages can provide us with very different structures that give us new perspectives on communication including grammar, sound systems, and pragmatics. 

 

For example, English has subjects and objects, but other languages like Abawiri structure information by reference, using topics and focus to order words. Sound systems differ so much throughout the world’s languages; learning to discover meaning with sounds we’re using for the first time creates unique exciting experiences we would never otherwise get to enjoy. Wolof, for example, has a single and double consonant system that creates entirely new meanings out of what seem to be imperceptible differences in pronunciation. Although we also find the cultural experiences and opportunities fascinating, originally the linguistic aspects of language are what drove us to pursue language learning and teaching. 

Yueyuan 

Culture affects our core traditions and values and how we communicate with others in society, and language makes communication easy. It is out of curiosity about different cultures that I have developed a strong interest in other languages when I enjoy watching foreign TV shows and movies such as Supernatural, Marvel series, Naruto. Other cultures are fascinating from so many aspects, such as art, music, literature, the ways people think. To learn more about them, we need the language to communicate. For example, English and Chinese have different perceptions and attitudes towards time. In English culture, time flows linearly and moves continuously, from the past to the present, to the future, while Chinese is not so complicated, and there is often no need for precise descriptions of when an action occurs. Culture and language are intertwined, and we cannot separate them. 

Meije 

For me, the aspects of language, and more specifically Spanish, that I am enamored with are more culture-related. I love how Spanish is spoken by different communities all over the world, and that there’s a cohesive Spanish-speaking community as well (a culture just associated with using and speaking Spanish). I really love the micro and macro levels of language reflected by and within communities, such as the phonetical elements that display references to people and places through accents. In addition to accents, I am also intrigued by linguistical elements that are affected by history such as the creation/change of colloquialisms. Additionally, I really admire the aligning target cultures within Spanish-speaking communities. I especially am interested in how the target cultures are quite interdisciplinary, especially in regard to art, politics, and, religion. In reflection on these ideas, and aspects of Spanish related to culture and language, I have found myself finding new ways of expressing myself through the process of learning and implementing Spanish in my daily life. I have so much respect and admiration for and toward the Spanish-speaking community and I feel very honored to be a small part of it.