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The importance of foreign languages
Importance of learning foreign languages
The importance of foreign languages
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Reflections of the world and its issues can be found in the strangest of places. Take a quilt for example, a quilt makes a beautiful pattern using colorful pieces of fabric. While the pieces do touch, the vibrant colors are forever separated by a boundary, sentenced never to intertwine. However, if one were to direct their attention to the similar, yet different masterpiece known as a tapestry, another analogy will present itself. A tapestry is a story retold not with words, but with strings colorful thread woven together. Although the quilt is beautiful and it's own way, it is a mediocre compared to a tapestry. A tapestry demands hours of hard work and patience produce the its famously beautiful portraits, but a quilt will require minimal effort to produce a pleasing …show more content…
So after studying The language a long time the brain will become fine-tuned to learning. I can speak about this topic from personal experience due to the fact I am currently enrolled in a French class and I study vocabulary words about half an hour a day every day. Even from my barely half a year of foreign language experience I'm already seeing a great improvement my memorization skills. At the beginning of the year it would sometimes take me several days to memorize 50 vocabulary words and be able to spell and translate them all without error. However, today I can hammer it out in one afternoon. Even though language does help people in ways as straight forward as being able to speak in another direct, or as indirectly as improving multitasking skills. Many wonder why must we start young? A large reason is every passing year gone un studied, the less similar to a native speaker we become. However, their are some misconceptions that come with this statement. Less like a native speaker does not mean you cannot memorize vocabulary words as well,
A human being is a complicated entity of a contradictory nature where creative and destructive, virtuous and vicious are interwoven. Each of us has gone through various kinds of struggle at least once in a lifetime ranging from everyday discrepancies to worldwide catastrophes. There are always different causes and reasons that trigger these struggles, however, there is common ground for them as well: people are different, even though it is a truism no one seems to able to realize this statement from beyond the bounds of one’s self and reach out to approach the Other.
The Bayeux tapestry was a source used for storytelling. Specifically it shows the events leading up to and, the final result William duke of Normandy’s conquering of England. When looking at the scenes of the tapestry many ideas of what is being represented can be made even without prior knowledge. While a scene is easily known it is more difficult to differentiate individual characters or groups within each scene. For example, picking the scene shown on page 236 of Lucien Musset’s The Bayeux Tapestry this scene is a major part in William’s conquest of England. The scene clearly depicts the beginning of the battle of hastings fought between the Normans and the Anglo Saxons, but many viewers debate about what identifies each group. Based off
Over the decades, art has been used as a weapon against the callousness of various social constructs - it has been used to challenge authority, to counter ideologies, to get a message across and to make a difference. In the same way, classical poetry and literature written by minds belonging to a different time, a different place and a different community have somehow found a way to transcend the boundaries set by time and space and have been carried through the ages to somehow seep into contemporary times and shape our society in ways we cannot fathom.
It is impossible to understand the innermost and ever complex thoughts, feelings, hopes, and reflections of others. To understand is to grasp the strife and pleasure of each moment’s depth through a set lens. Confined by my own lens, I have been and will always be the main character of my own book. Though I can never know another human’s cognitive glances, I can at least be mindful of the infinite complexity and reasoning of each human. Even the most empathetic cannot understand exactly how Claude Monet felt for Camille, how Beethoven felt for “Elise”, or how
In "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, two sisters want the handmade quilt that is a symbol of the family heritage. Alice Expresses what her feeling are about her heritage through this story. It means everything to her. Something such as a quilt that was hand made makes it special. Only dedication and years of work can represent a quilt.
Whether a warning to or a reflection on society, the book stimulates thought and forces the reader to look inward at his or her own...
...arkness" has a deeper meaning about life and how humans react with it. Perception causes human beings to view things differently from one another, which leads to misunderstandings and unnecessary quarreling. Misunderstandings mixed in with fear of the unknown cause prejudice to arouse and people to disregard and treat others with disrespect and inequality. The inequality of people in society is marked by Social Darwinism, in which only the fittest and most accepted survive, leaving no possibility for those who are different to thrive. The darkness of the world is truly a deeper shade of black containing the fears, nightmares, and misunderstandings of its people. A never-ending pathway is thus created for inequality amongst people who should be working side by side, forgetting their differences, and helping to make the world a better place.
Hardships, setbacks, and advantages have always been and always will be a part of life. Throughout every walk of life: the beautiful to the ugly, the rich to the poor, and the highly intelligent to the mediocre, people always encounter some type of problem. They can be trivial, significant, or even life changing; however problems take different meanings to different people. In the drama “Beauty,” by Jane Martin, the author’s main point is that people continually look at what they perceive their life is lacking rather than appreciate what they do have in their life.
...e and learned do imaginably counterpart each other equally and provide a piece of a greater picture, which neither would be able to provide by itself. This so-called bootstrap process between innate abilities and acquiring general knowledge is a different perspective in psycholinguistics, which can perhaps help us explain children development of not only language, but also other cognitive abilities. It will open up for the understanding of mentally disordered individuals if achieving information of what happens in the brain when you lose this bootstrap process. With today’s improvement of technology, it is possible to study this activity by examining what happens in the brain when e.g. looking at linguistic problem solving and general knowledge obtainment. If this bootstrap process exists, we should be able to see that one affects the other, in a developing “ladder”.
To continue with the key features, language is known to be special because of how children are able to learn in ways that are different from learning other things. (Willingham, 2007). Strong evidence shows how prepared the human brain is to learn language with very little stimulation. The results that show this point of view to be true is known to be the worldwide consistency of language learning.
Your personality plays a huge role in how you learn a language. Students that are shy, introverts may struggle with acquisition, but may not struggle with learning language. Acquisition requires you to step out of your comfort zone, and learn through putting yourself out there and making those mistakes and learning from them. The best way to acquire a language is by using it, and if you are uncomfortable talking or if you are afraid of sounding silly, then you will have a harder time learning a language. Sociocultural factors also have a major influence in acquiring a second language. Some students come from cultures that believe it is most appropriate when students go to school to sit and listen. Also, some students grow up in a situation where their culture is very tight knit and strives to keep their native language and culture intact. As a result, someone might not feel motivated to learn an L2 because they prefer their native language and don’t want to immerse themselves into the American culture. Some cultures remain more distant than others, and this can make it harder for
Eric Lenneberg was the first to propose there existed a critical period to learn a first or native language that was between that began around two and ended with the onset of puberty around thirteen years old. Lenneberg theorized that language acquisition was not possible before age two because of a lack of maturation, while post-puberty acquisition is inhibited by a loss of cerebral placicity occuring when the cerebral dominance of the language function is complete, happening around the time of puberty (Kraschen). “Children deprived of language during this critical period show atypical patterns of brain lateralization” (intro to language) Lenneberg argued that lateralization of the brain during this critical period is key to language acquisition. “The human brain is primed to develop language in specific areas of the left hemisphere but the normal process of brain specialization depends on ear...
“Children’s brains are primed for the necessary language skill developments in a way that adults’ aren’t. Many of the advantages described here will show up most strongly if you start bilingualism in your child’s early age (the earlier – the better!). Adults can acquire the same skills and strengths through bilingual training, but it happens much more slowly (how much spare time do we have in our busy adult lives?) and with a greater need for tedious repetition.
If a student writes with an accent, they will speak with an accent. Much of language acquisition and learning new grammar relies heavily on the learner’s age and ability. Age affects how many students are able to absorb a language. The amount of outside factors that determine ways that we learn languages are insurmountable, it would be impossible to tailor grammar lessons and teachings to the class because each students has a different foundation (Ellis, 2006). Aside from background knowledge, age and cognitive levels also determine how and when students are able to learn new languages. Older students in college may struggle significantly more than younger students when learning a language. Those students that have reached what Brown would describe as the critical period are adults that have lost their ability to acquire such speech and writing techniques in new languages. This can be difficult to accept, but it is best that teachers and students should both set realistic goals and expectations for classes that exist to teach foreign languages. Students learning in ESOL classrooms at an American university should not be afraid to ask questions or seek help.
Literary masterpieces are a reflection of society that helps educate by using spiritual, intellectual, and political themes. According to Woolf (2014), “…masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice” (para. 12). This paper will explore the powerful literary masterpieces from different cultures where their lessons are still relevant today. The characters and their interactions make the story entertaining, while the lesson to be learned from the characters makes it a masterpiece. Societies come and go, but the lessons from these stories never change. The purpose of this paper is to define what a masterpiece is, how it reflects on society, the qualities it contains, and how they are still relevant today.