Discuss linguistic
interference
Wednesday, October 16 I was excited to have my fourth day of
internship since it was also my eighteenth birthday. I stocked up on newspapers
in the metro, to make masks for Halloween with some elderly friends.
Upon my arrival, I met another volunteer named Roxie. I was
enthusiastic about practicing my English, when I learned that she is an
Anglophone.
I noticed that my second language which is French interferes
with my English. I did an oral presentation with May Ann and Julie in
Exploration about possessive adjectives where I played a teacher. I never
thought that I had a problem with this rule, until I talked to May Ann during
the internship and I realized that I mix his and her when I speak. However, when
I write I can see my errors therefore I don’t mix them up. For example,
"She went to see HER cousin in Paris". Also, I have a lot of
difficulty with my prepositions, even if I know when we’re supposed to use them.
Furthermore I remarked that I have a problem understanding
people's names when they pronounce it in English. An example of this is; a
volunteer once told me about her career that she chose in university, when I
asked her name I heard Adele, but a week later I discovered that her real name
is Heather. This happened to me several times with the other volunteers as well
as with the elderly. In the future, I will try to change my strategies and perhaps
ask them to write their name instead of repeating it many times, after all I am
a visual person.
How is
learning English different in your internship than in a classroom?
In an internship, you have the opportunity to step back and
thinking freely due to the lighter work load. In contrast, in the classroom we
practice our language by writing, and we are supposed to practice through
discussion however, not many people participate.
New words
I’ve learned:
During the activity, we were concentrated with our masks. We
did not have a lot of discussion at that time, rather I learned some new words
while decorating the masks. The materials I used to decorate the masks were glitter,
beads, feathers, fabric, yarn and
buttons. This demonstrates that I am both visual and kinaesthetic.
Every Wednesday I do my internship with May Ann. I am really
happy to practice my English with her, because she can correct me at any time.
Also, after I spoke with her in the metro, I realised that for the first time
ever I thought in English instead of French about something when I was walking.
Later, when I arrived in a bakery I ordered a cake for my birthday in English.
I did not think about which language I would order, it just came out naturally.
What amazed me is that I am always afraid to speak to someone in English
because, I don't want to make mistakes. Since my internship, I have started
speaking English without realizing and without shyness. The more I approach my
goal which is to speak fluent English, the more I am proud of myself.
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