language learning
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Maasai Mara University *
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101
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Linguistics
Date
Nov 24, 2024
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docx
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“How Languages Changed My Life” by Heather
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“How Languages Changed My Life” by Heather
Heather's book "How Languages Changed My Life" is a memoir of her life experience
with languages. It is also a story about how languages can change how we think, feel and
perceive the world. The author shares her personal experiences about the benefits of learning
new languages and how it has helped her in her career. The book discusses the importance of
learning at least one other language, as it can help to develop cognitive skills that are not
typically developed in monolingual communities. The analysis focuses on overcoming hardships,
global awareness challenges, and mental struggles as themes present in most of the stories in the
book and their relation to language learning.
First, the theme of overcoming hardships appears in most of the stories in the collection.
Heather has overcome many difficulties in her life, such as learning new languages, living
abroad, being bullied, or not feeling like she belonged anywhere. But through all these
difficulties and experiences, she has found herself and is confident in who she is. The author
starts the book with a story about her first school day when she was only six years old. She had
to learn to speak English; then, she learned to speak Spanish and French, which is an example of
how she overcame her hardships and became a successful person. Heather has overcome many
hardships to learn these languages and shares her story with the world.
Another theme present is the global awareness challenges in learning new languages.
Heather's book is about the language, cultures, and people she has encountered in her life and
gives a good insight into the global awareness issues that exist today. Her journey to learn
multiple languages and cultures opened her eyes to a new world she had never seen before. She
also shares her experiences as an international student at University in Canada and how it opened
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her eyes to different people, places, and cultures. Heather profoundly understands the importance
of embracing diversity and empathy for others when we communicate across languages or
cultures. Heather's book is a personal account of how her life changed after she learned four
languages to overcome global language barriers.
Finally, the theme of mental struggle is present in the compilations. The book discusses
some difficulties people face when learning a new language. These difficulties include: being
unable to communicate with others, not understanding what is happening around them, feeling
like an outsider, and struggling to find friends. The author talks about how she was inspired to
write this book after she learned Dutch and found that it helped her with her mental health. She
also talks about how language can be a self-expression tool and an outlet for creativity. The
author explores what it is like to live with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and how
learning German helped him manage his OCD symptoms. However, as one progresses in their
learning process, these struggles start to fade away as they feel more confident in themselves and
able to communicate better with others. They also begin to see how much easier it is for them to
do things such as go grocery shopping.
Themes of overcoming hardships and mental struggles are relevant to language learning
in different ways because they are all about acquiring a skill. Language learning is a never-
ending process that takes time, patience, and perseverance. Language is a skill humans need to
communicate with one another and overcome the obstacles of being from different cultures.
Mental struggles, such as anxiety or depression, can also be helped with language learning
because it forces people out of their comfort zone and into another culture. Global awareness
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challenges are also relevant to language learning because it is about being aware of the different
cultures and how they can affect communication and interaction with others.
I envision mental struggle being present in my world in various ways. I will have to
overcome mental blocks when learning new languages and material, and I will need to push
myself when I want to learn more. I want to explore the idea that in a world where people can
learn a new language with just one click, the idea of mental struggle is not present. I also
anticipate overcoming hardships in language learning, such that I am a student in new
environments and have to learn different languages, Chinese and Spanish. To do this, I need to
put more time and effort into it. For example, if I am studying English for a test tomorrow, I will
study for at least two hours daily. I think that the theme of overcoming hardships in language
learning is present throughout my life because it is something that we all have to face at one
point or another. I also envision global awareness issues in my world in school. As a student, I
would like to learn about different cultures and understand them more.
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References
Project MEITS. (2019).
How Languages Changed My Life.
(H. Martin & W. Ayres-Bennett,
Eds.).