Tag: use of language

When language fails…

Truth is, words don’t fail me often, so it’s not something I’m comfortable with when it happens. I’m a blabbermouth and love to expound on subjects that intrigue me. Whether it’s the always frightening writer’s block or pure exhaustion draining our vocabulary reservoirs or knowing the word you want but not being able to procure it from the tip of your tongue (aphasia), when we can’t express ourselves, it can be a major frustration. (Disclaimer: I understand that for some people, it’s much more than a simple frustration. They’ve had an injury or have a condition that causes aphasia and it’s not likely to go away. But for the purpose of this blog post, I’m talking about the run-of-the-mill tip-of-the-tongue problems.) It’s doubly frustrating when you’re bilingual and you can’t think of the word or words in either language that you want to use to enhance your story.

Beyond the irritation of not being able to retrieve a word from our neural databases, aphasia can be debilitating if it happens frequently. (Aphasia is an inclusive term that can be broken down into more determinate terminology for when the failure to retrieve happens or what part language is failing us.) How do we stimulate our synapses to produce what we we are looking for? For me, word retrieval usually happens at 4:00 a.m. a few days later as I wake up from a dead sleep, shouting the pesky word or name I couldn’t think of at the appropriate time.

We add to our life story daily—sometimes 140 characters at a time, sometimes in a long rush of emotion. But what happens when language fails us (especially when it’s part of our job description)? How do we get back in the language groove? And why does it usually happen in high-stress situations? Or is that just when it bothers us the most?

Writer’s block can be a little more overwhelming, especially when we’re assigned to write an article or are passionate about our subject and we can’t produce the elusive wording. Some sites offer a cure for this predicament, such as psychcentral.com in its article 5 Creative Ways for Writer’s Block or Pam Federbar’s blog post for Huffington Post, Cure for Writer’s Block. Just as with medicine, not every cure works for every would-be writer/language producer. My go-to cure? Some good loud music (think AC/DC, Korn) and I think about the subject until I just can’t think anymore. Take notes. Then write. Then delete and write some more. Then edit. Then write some more. It doesn’t always turn into the polished piece that I need or want, but it does help to storm the brain castle and jostle the thoughts a bit.

How do you get over your writer’s block? Do you have problems with some form of aphasia?

Posted on by brandeemiller 1

When basic isn’t basic enough

During my 11 years of teaching Spanish, more than once students complained, “Señorita, I took this class for an easy A. I’m getting a B. What’s wrong with this picture?”

That question angered me at first. Learning a language is difficult. It’s something that take serious study and countless hours of listening, speaking, and writing. Why would anyone think it’s easy? Then it dawned on me that there are programs that promise that you can learn a language in a month! two weeks! Take this course, and you’ll be speaking Italian! It’s true. You’ll have a starting point. But it’s an entirely different thing to retain the knowledge over a period of time and constantly practice.

My brightest and best memories are of teaching the classes that few of my colleagues had patience for: beginning levels. For me as a teacher, those were the most rewarding classes. The students came into Spanish 101 knowing how to say “Hola. Cerveza. Yo quiero Taco Bell. ¿Dónde está el baño?” And they left with the ability to form complete thoughts in present tense, some past tenses, and knowing how make some future constructions. But those who asked me that question very often were the ones who cared about their grades and actually learning. They put the required time in and reaped the benefits. I did notice that some needed to realize that learning a language is a different aptitude than just memorizing parts of speech and vocabulary.

So we broke learning language down and created a formula that worked for them. Once they unlocked that formula and went beyond the basics of memorization and wrote learning, they could go on to retain much more than someone who was just in it for the semester. There was never one formula that worked for all students. It depended on their situation, what type of learner they were, what resources they had at hand. If it came easier to them after unlocking that formula, then that’s another matter.

So no matter what you are learning, whether it be a language, math, science, html coding, if the basics aren’t working for you, go beyond the basics and find your personal formula. Here are some of the questions I would ask my students to help them realize their potential (which is really what teaching is all about):

1. What do you hope to gain from learning Spanish?

2. How can you practice to achieve that goal?

3. Realistically, how much time do you have on a daily basis?

4. What resources do you already have at hand? (Because we’re talking about students, free or already owned resources were a must.)

5. Who do you know that can help you achieve your goal?

6. What are the basics of this lesson and how can you break it down into more digestible chunks?

7. Where and when do you learn/remember the most?

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Language as a portal

Since I learned to read, write, listen, speak, and watch, language has taken me places. From a physical point: I’ve lived in Malaysia, Spain, Venezuela, and various states in the U.S. I learned a few words of Chinese at five years old. In summer school before fifth grade, my mother had me take Spanish. In seventh grade and later on in college, I took various courses of French. I took a month of Spanish Basque when I lived in San Sebastian, Spain. While pursuing advanced degrees in Spanish, I took Portuguese and German. The only languages I claim fluency in and have taught are English and Spanish. The other languages keep a firm hold on my attention, and that list grows every year.

From an imagination point: I’ve read thousands of books and articles–some of which transported me to places I can’t physically visit in this lifetime. I must admit that I’ve read much more than I’ve written. I took time off from sharing my writing (almost 19 years) to learn, listen, watch, read, and practice what I wanted to say. For most of those years, I’ve used green, red, and orange inks to edit the works of colleagues, students, friends, and significant others. Along the way, I’ve had wonderful mentors, teachers, and friends who have taught me the importance of a single word or the weight of a phrase. And for now, I’ve been bitten by the bug to start writing and sharing again. I’m not sure for how long I’ll feel the effects of the writing bug–maybe a month, maybe 10 years.

Language is fascinating, no matter how you choose to use it. We use it every day when answering questions from parents and teachers; asking questions of friends; reporting on the latest trends to bosses; texting notes to loved ones; listening to our favorite programs on podcasts, television, or radio. How we choose to use language is up to us. Some use it to delight and inspire others to be their best, others use language to frighten and chill while entertaining us. Others use language to motivate populations to purchase a product or consider a differing viewpoint.

And the best part of language? It’s constantly changing. A single word that meant so much in the rocking ’80s can hold a totally different meaning today. Language itself is not a trend, but many studies are written about the trends of our communities and technologies and how to reach a target audience, all while using the one thing that’s being studied. What’s the new buzzword or tagline? Who will respond to it? Who will ignore it?

No matter how we communicate, language transports us. I know it’s naive, but hopefully it’s somewhere new and fascinating for the reader, listener, speaker, or even the writer. How will you use language today?

Posted on by brandeemiller Featured 0