Thursday, September 13, 2007
Memories of Reading
Reading in Spanish was my first experience in reading. I was reading in Spanish until the age of nine because I grew up in the Dominican Republic and there was no English classes over there. At the age of nine I came to this country with out knowing the English language. It was like starting all over again, it was very difficult for me to learn how to read in the English language because I would pronounce the words like I was reading Spanish. After learning how to read English, comprehending what was reading was even more difficult because I had to stop and translate the words into to Spanish to understand what I was reading. It took me a year until I started understanding what I was reading without stopping to think what were the words meaning and translating it to Spanish. Even though I know how to read English and I still feel more comfortable reading Spanish even I don't practice that much reading Spanish.
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2 comments:
Hello Jose,
Thanks for sharing such personal memories. I always have a lot of respect for people who come to this country without knowing any of the language. It's a challenge that I've never had to completely experience even though I've lived overseas. (I lived on military bases where English was always spoken.)
Anyway, I did study beginning and intermediate Spanish in high school and again in college. So, I know what you mean. Whenever I had to read a story or a paragraph in Spanish, I would be translating the words into English as I read. It's a habit that is really difficult to overcome unless you have ongoing exposure to the language. Even then, however, there are many theories on second language acquisition that claim that it is almost impossible to attain native-like fluency (i.e., native use without an accent) in a second language after a critical period (i.e., a certain age.) So, unlike you, it may be too late for me to become completely "native-like" in my second language.
It never ceases to amaze me that people who learn English as a second language tend to learn it so quickly - especially being able to understand the fluent dialogue surrounding them.
Spanish has always fascinated me in the ways the words connect and how the sounds mesh together. I never got past Spanish II even in college because it wasn't required of us, but I do know that speaking it was a challenge. Reading in a different language is hard, but I feel that trying to speak it is even more difficult. Laura, I did the same as you - reading the Spanish words, but translating them to English in my head.
Learning a different language, I feel, has the reverse effect: learning to read to one's self is okay, but engaging in conversation with someone can be intimidating. Are you saying the word right? Does your accent make you sound like an outsider?
How does it feel to you to read in English compared to Spanish now?
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