Language has fascinated me ever since I realized I could not only speak, but think in two languages. When I first came to America at thirteen, I barely spoke any English, and must slowly learn the language through conversation and "thought translation." I remembered new English words by raking my brain for or guessing in context their definitions in Vietnamese, and I similarly expressed myself by translating my thoughts from Vietnamese into English. As I gradually improved, however, I slowly if unconsciously stopped translating and began actually thinking in the English language. And the minute I noticed I stopped, I realized that I think with language, and I have wondered since if language in turn shapes my thoughts in any way. Since college--in my ideal imagination--is the chance for me to find answers to questions I'm most interested in, I couldn't think of a better way to start college than to spend fall quarter discussing this pressing question with others just as curious and interested as I am. And that's you guys.
I sadly have only seen the U.S. and Vietnam, and spent a total of four hours in an airport in Taiwan. I hope I can add more red in the near future. (The huge block of red that is the United States looks so deceiving.)
create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide
See everyone tomorrow!
2 comments:
heyyy!
I found it interesting that you think in two languages. I always wondered which language people who were bilingual thought in, as well as which language they translated a new language into. Like if I spoke German and French, and was just beginning to learn English, I wondered which language I would translate the English words into: German or French? hmm, what do you think?
you mention that you first learned english by figuring out which vietnamese words matched up with which english words. some philosophers and linguists such as jerry fodor and steve pinker have used these observations to suggest that we are able to learn our first language because we have an innate, built in "language of thought" or "mentalese" that we match first language words onto and that all human beings share. others (including folks in our own psych and linguistic departments) disagree with this assertion. what are your thoughts on the matter? how is learning a second language similar or different from learning a first language in terms of experience and input? what about learning two "first" languages simultaneously like several people in this class?
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