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Marianna Mercer

Dr. Cho

C&T 598

26 May 2017

My Language and Literacy Experience: Acquiring Second Languages with Perspective

I do not remember my first word, but I can safely guess it was mama, or dada

nothing out of the ordinary. However, the simplicity of these words is oddly fitting, for mama

and dada encompass much of the reason for my language development. It is certainly because

of my parents that I quickly began speaking and soon after, reading. My mom had the

opportunity to and therefore chose to stay at home, and this incredibly affected my interest in

language and learning. There are numerous photographs and home video footage of both her and

my dad reading to me as a baby and toddler, a fact I knew and saw through these recordings but

never truly appreciated. In retrospect, this habit considerably increased my vocabulary and

provided a platform for an eager, curious, and involved learner. This act of reading aloud I

previously assumed as an ordinary, common occurrence. Close analysis of my language

beginnings reveal it as clearly pivotal to my language experience, and from this realization stems

a greater acknowledgement for the many other factors that have contributed to language and

literacy in my life.

My exposure to a large vocabulary was due not only to an early introduction to reading,

but also through the environment into which I was born. As not only a firstborn child, but a

firstborn grandchild on both sides of the family, I was largely surrounded by adults my

grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends were my main socialization as a child. This

certainly increased the amount of words I was exposed to, as well as the nature of spoken
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language, as well. Perhaps, since everyone around me was speaking and reading, I was more

inclined to do the same. My mom says she does not remember exactly how I started reading, but

it was a somewhat shift from bedtime stories to my recognition of words on paper until I was

taking the initiative of reading those bedtime stories to myself.

I believe an early socialization with many adults inspired and encouraged numerous

interests that led to further reading. Conversations over the topics I was covering through reading

sparked a greater desire to discover new characters and stories. At age five, I was very engaged

with historical fiction, fascinated by the American Girls and Little House on the Prairie series. I

would read for abnormal amounts of time, checking out an unrealistic number of books from the

library with every visit. As I was homeschooled from the beginning, this also allowed my time to

be more freely filled with reading, and for various interests to be expanded upon. For example,

my horse craze was fostered by many short horse stories, which led to writing my own fiction

on many topics and eventually a larger range of creative writing I still actively pursue. History

and geography were subjects similarly fostered by reading. Therefore, opportunities through

elastic allotments of time and conversations with experienced readers allowed for an easy

entrance to mastering the English language.

It is interesting to consider how eagerly I explored the English language as a first

language, yet failed to employ the same methods when engaging second languages in middle and

high school. I believe that this was significantly due to the subliminal view of my first language

development as standard, and therefore did not possess the patience for intentional language

learning, which proved much more difficult than my standard. Furthermore, a second language

was, in my mind, a subject of disinterest due to lack of necessity and consequent irrelevance in

my life. I see this now as extremely unfortunate, for I wish I had grasped the opportunity to
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acquire another language, or at least pieces of another language as perhaps not an absolute, but

inconceivably valuable.

My curriculum as a middle-schooler required an attempt of Latin, and this online

program shifted my mindset into this idea of irrelevance. I quickly gave up. Studying Spanish in

my Junior and Senior year of high school was a more positive experience, yet it was not nearly

prevalent enough in my life to influence my language, or perception of it. Ideally, yes, I

remember thinking I would love to be fluent in Spanish, but class met once a week, and priorities

shifted my homework to cramming it all in the night before. Even with this adverse method of

language learning, there were certainly some aspects of second language learning I not only

found growth in but retained. The classroom was discussion based, and conversation in a second

language was daunting and a cause of great self-awareness. I realize now this environment that

was open to failure is exactly what I need to learn, for it is this method that allowed me to retain

the Spanish that I do. Just as immersion in conversational English propelled my experimentation

with my first language, discussion and thoughts related in Spanish introduced the challenge of

understanding further.

It was the frustration with the lack of immediacy that caused me to abandon a pursuit in

Spanish. Yet, now I can see that my productive learning patterns in a second language were

similar to the means by which I acquired English. I was not perceptive enough to grasp and take

advantage of such a concept. In addition, Spanish, in my experience, is a language significantly

concurrent to the patterns of English. Some words were easily accessible, as the U.S. is already

more immersed to Spanish as a second language than any other, and sentence structure and

grammar were arguably more rational than those of my native language. I remember I was

thrilled to successfully read and communicate with Spanish, but generally too afraid of failure to
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push myself and venture out of comfortability. My lack of competency, however, was what I

needed to accept to move towards proficiency, and this is something I could not do.

Comfortability in my native language was too available.

Reflecting on these past experiences, I have surprisingly found it as applicable to my

current encounter with the Korean language. I had automatically assumed that my perception of

language had advanced into one of not only openness, but eagerness to overcome difficulty to

communicate in a language other than my own. However, recording these past mindsets has

revealed parallels of sorts with my response to second language learning even today. I am still

extremely reluctant to move past my comfortability with my first language in order to attempt

acquisition of another one. In terms of Korean, I am hesitant to mispronounce or infer incorrect

sentence structure. Ideally, I want to study Spanish again, learn Korean, and ASL, yet I am

inertly preventing myself from doing so because of fear, and am not willing to reach outside of

what I know to try.

Through a closer analysis of my first language development, I can acknowledge what is

necessary to achieve my goal of bilingualism. Rather than settling for an ideal, I must actively

counter the engrained fear and embrace incompetence so I can truly learn. Difficulty in the face

of language is not only necessary for my growth, but incredibly important to my awareness

regarding TESOL. I want to not only acquire but experience second languages as reference for

my future students, and as a life-long learner, as well. Language, I realize, while undeniably

challenging, is an extraordinary bridge that should not stand as a celebrated model but as a trying

but worthwhile ensuing reality. Through this constant exposure to Korean, I want to challenge

my presuppositions of language learning and utilize this opportunity to grow through immersion.

Just as my environment was the most significant contributor to my previous language

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acquisition, this setting provides room to observe, consult, and communicate, thus leaving what

is familiar to accept linguistic differences, and simultaneously discover the great capacity for

intercultural relationships, in and out of the classroom.