Friday, May 25, 2007
What language do you think in?
There is a student in one of my Inclusion classes that came here in 1998 from Haiti. I asked her what path she followed within the ESL program and she didn't tell me anything different than I've read in our packet or different from what anyone has already written about. I had this urge to know what language she thought in. She told me Haitian. She said that she hears English, translates to Haitian, and then is adept enough to answer back in English. I was truly amazed. I think that these students, or anyone else that is fluent in both English and another language, are incredible because they have to use more parts of their brain in order to function here. I think during my break I'm going to start taking lessons to speak another language - I am totally inspired by this girl!
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4 comments:
That is really interesting hear. I would have never thought to ask someone, who's native language is something other than English,what language they think in. That was a very good question. I love your way of thinking. After reading this post I then thought about what language I would think in if I had to learn anoter language. I would too hear the language and then translate into English in order to fully understand it. Atleast that's what I remember doing when I took Italian and Spanish.
I actually think in both Portuguese and English. Many times I find myself struggling to translate certain words from Portuguese to English because I only know the terms in Portuguese. Interestingly enough, I have witnessed a few of my fluent English speaking students encounter the same issue with Portuguese and Spanish.
I agree with Chrystianne, I also do speak and think independently in English and Spanish.
However, when I just arrived in the States, I thought primarily in Spanish and then, translated into English, even though I arrived with a multilingual education.
Through the years, English became my primary language, even though I kept my accent and the influence of the Spanish grammar construction.
Since I went back to college, I regained my lost abilities in Spanish, mainly the vocabulary; the words I did not practice in every day conversation or are not common in a specialized business one.
As pleased as I am to have regained that ability, I also must report that English has suffered a little decline that not many people have noticed. The bulk of my credits are in Spanish which gives me many hours of study and formal conversation.
The only thing that has not changed with time is my ability to do math in Spanish only.
Also, Spanish is not a spelling language. So I can’t spell, I must write the words in English to spell them for someone else.
Pilar
some one asked me if I dream in English or Spanish?? and if I think in English 1st or spanish first;that was something interesting.If I think in Spanish 1st I need to translated into English so that is too much work. Now, if the question is in spanish I would think in spanish, easy for me. If the question is in English I would have to answer in English, so I think in English.
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