I worked with a fourth grader yesterday who is a native German speaker. Very sweet little girl who has very severe dyslexia. That is besides the point, but I work with her on reading and writing because she struggles a lot in those areas. She chose to read a story yesterday about Guppy the Goat who was unpopular on the farm because the other animals thought he was useless. In one part of the story, Guppy noticed some boys chasing the sheep on the farm and chased the boys away. He was discovering different ways in which he could be helpful on the farm and show the animals he was not useless.
The text mentioned that the sheep were bleating. I asked my little friend if she knew what bleating meant. She replied, yeah, you know, when the red stuff comes out.
bleating
bleeding
I totally get why she said that.
Learning a language is very difficult.
I think at times, we don't give second (and third) language learners the credit they deserve.
I am attempting to learn German and having such a hard time. I do not have an ear for the language and have not surpassed the very basics of introducing myself, telling where I am from, and learning numbers. If I go to a store and the cashier tells me the total, I am extremely psyched if I know the total just from hearing it and I don't have to look at the cash register to see it.
Small victories!
I speak Spanish fairly well, but German is not coming easily.
My inability to express myself in German does not correlate with a lack of intelligence, it is just a medium of expression I have not mastered yet.
I always try to keep this in mind with my students.
It is so easy to misunderstand or confuse the abundance of new words.
How great is it that my little friend gave it a shot. She wasn't exactly right, but she was definitely on to something in thinking bleating sounds a lot like bleeding. We discussed what bleating means and I demonstrated my best sheep noises so she would understand.
She smiled.
She learned the different between the two words.
I love teaching :0)
4 comments:
Oh boy, I always give English language learners the credit they deserve, I don't know how they do it! I sat in Spanish class for TEN years and I still cannot hold a conversation in Spanish! So hard.
On a different note, do you have any good ideas for k/1st grade on US Thanksgiving? I don't want to do a lot of sterotype promoting and I know you have been working on some multicultural education stuff so I was just wondering if you had done anything you think you would be worthwhile for the little ones. Thanskgiving is so controversial I sometimes ignore it completely and just focus on the "thankful" part.
I am learning German and find it really difficult. My husband is an Ivy-leaguer and I'm pretty smart, too... but language acquisition is something we've both always struggled with. I can speak basic Spanish, and now basic German. Still, I feel defeated by the language and have been working at it for 2 months.
We don't give these kids enough credit. Overcoming the obstacle of language is just incredible. I will be so much more appreciative and thankful for ELL and 2nd language kids in my classes from now on. Everytime my German tutor has to correct me (for the hundredth time) that "von" is the "f" sound, I feel so down and out.
Learning isn't always easy, but small victories are highlights!
It's so amazing that you are across the world shaping the minds of children...you are such a blessing..
Thanks so much for all of those books and ideas. I am going to look into them. I have read Lies My Teacher told me, but not since high school, so I need to refresh my memory a bit!
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