When it comes to sharing personal
experience, it is really important to structure the story in order to not
confuse the reader. Therefore, I will follow the chronological order when
explaining how it has happened to me to learn and speak several languages.
Mentioning main linguistic domains of my formative years and delineating later languages learning, I will describe my feelings about being plurilingual.
In my childhood, I was surrounded by
Russian speaking parents, relatives, neighbors, and mass media as a result of
common Russification of the USSR territory. Nonetheless, I remember three
Kazakh speakers - my two grandmothers and grandfather. In addition, I was
taught English alphabet by my elder brother, and I was reasonably good at
telling the letters in alphabetic order. So, at the age of six I operated
active Russian and passive Kazakh vocabulary and was able to tell English ABC.
My school was a Russian medium
Gymnasium announced "experimental" due to some innovations in
curriculum like introducing English in the second grade against the fifth grade
in other schools. As a result of educational experiment, I got really
interested in English and after the ninth grade entered college to learn more about
it. Compulsory study of German as the second foreign language didn't excite me
at first, but the attitude of my teacher to our lessons and her teaching style
made me learn basic grammar and vocabulary and even attend optional courses.
Later, I wanted to inspire other people to learn languages as a teacher.
Therefore, I did Bachelor and started master’s study in Education.
Having worked as a teacher, I forgot
some German vocabulary because of the lack of practice, but I practiced English a
lot by communicating with native speakers and colleagues, explained rules to my
students, and tried to be creative while developing their language skills. As
for Kazakh, in summer I visit my aunt who lives in a village in order to get
involved into the environment of native Kazakh speakers. So that by this time I
am still fluent in Russian, I have improved my English and Kazakh noticeably,
whereas the practice in German is still needed.
All in all, emotionally I feel closely connected with every language I know, but in
different ways. I think this happens, because of different purposes of
languages use: I usually speak Russian with my family and friends, English at
university, and Kazakh in the street, shops, and public transport (especially,
in Astana). Therefore, I think my language and knowledge would be much poorer,
if I stopped using any of the languages. That is why being able to speak three
languages makes me feel socially and intellectually comfortable and affects my
personal and professional achievements.
What about you? What languages to you speak? How did you learn all these languages? How do you use them? How do you benefit and/or disadvantage from being plurilingual?
It is very interesting to read about someone`s experience in acquiring languages. thanks for sharing with us
ReplyDeleteI am also plurilingual individual. I am proficient in Kazakh and Russian equally perfect. I can speak, read and write in both languages. the third language I have learnt at school is English. However, I can`t say that my English as perfect as the previous two languages, because I use it only at university. While Kazakh and Russian are always in use at home and with friends. The fourth language I know is French. But in comparison with English, my French language is not so good.
I always try to do my best in learning languages, because I think that knowing languages makes you higher in position among another people
So, you speak four (!!!!) languages! I think it is AMAZING! What s great about being plurilingual is that you don't need to worry about the level about your proficiency.
DeleteYou are absolutely right - the more we use the language, the more proficient we become. Therefore, I sometimes substitute Russian words with English (especially when talk about study).
I am proud of our people who can easily speak several languages. I am also one of plurilingual speakers taking advantage of 4 languages (Kazakh, Russian, English, Uzbek). I agree with the author that skills in this or that language can be lost due to the lack of practice. During my bachelor studies I was a volunteer translator of Arabic on conferences (meeting guests), but now 3 years have passed and it is all greek to me). I think no matter how many languages one speaks, the native language MUST be on the FIRST place.
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