Blog Entry 1
I am an EC-6 generalist at the University of Houston. I enjoy working with children, and I believe that education opens doors to opportunities. I plan on teaching in the primary grades and hope to expand my teaching career in helping unfortunate children in developing countries.
Check out my video: Blog Entry 1
Lina, thank you for sharing your journey with us. I can see you really enjoy working with children and are passionate about your future as an elementary school teacher. I can relate to you about learning in a Vietnamese speaking household, so I understand the struggle of learning English through instructional means. According to Ortega, (2014, p.6) “Most people learn additional languages from a mixture of both naturalistic and instructed experiences.” Did you find learning language through the naturalistic approach was easier, or did you prefer the instructional method? I think it is great you were able to retain both languages and are confident in speaking both. I also think trying to pick up Spanish is important, because in Texas Spanish is the second most spoken language. Being able to speak or understand multiple languages will get you far. I know you will go far in your profession and I wish you the best of luck!
ReplyDeleteI think it is awesome that Vietnamese comes so naturally to you, and that you feel so confident in your speaking abilities. I wish I felt the same way in regards to speaking my L2. Also I think your experience with being in an ESL program for 5 years will help you understand the diverse needs of your students. Since you have been in their shoes, and had a teacher who provided you with scaffolding strategies to improve your English, I can only assume you are well equipped with the knowledge on how to apply those techniques in the future.
ReplyDeleteHi Maggie!
DeleteI am similar to Lina in that Vietnamese comes naturally to me as well, but I am not as confident or fluent as Lina in her speaking abilities. I did not take Vietnamese classes when I was little so I grew up learning only by oral production from my parents’. I did not learn the grammar and I learned the language in more of a slang, rather than proper setting. I agree with you that Lina’s experience with ESL for 5 years will definitely help her understand the different needs of her students in her future classrooms. I am doing my student teaching at a predominately Spanish speaking school, and it has reminded me of my past experiences with learning English as a second language and how difficult it is. I think that being in ESL classes myself has definitely helped me to be more patient and understanding of my students when instructing them.
Hi Lina,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching your video and getting to know more about you. I will say this, I wanted to watch your video because I felt a connection on a deeper level since I am also bilingual in English and Vietnamese and that I had to take ESL classes as well. I think it is great that you grew up in Houston and were able to take that Vietnamese class once a week (or Sunday School) in order to grow upon your knowledge of the Vietnamese language. I grew up at home with my parents in a small country town, where there were only English, Latin, and Spanish masses/churches. I understood your words clearly without reading the translation at the bottom for the most part, but some words you spoke were different than the words I have learned, or were annunciated differently. I think that this is because you were actually taught in the Grammar-Translation method in a learner-teacher environment. I moreover learned in the Direct Method, in which there was oral interaction with my parents, no translation between Vietnamese and English, and little or no analysis of grammatical rules were pointed out (Brown & Lee, 2015, pg. 20). I think that us being bilingual, as well as having taken ESL classes growing up really gives us insight into how we should go about teaching our students a second or foreign language and to provide for their needs. I didn't take Spanish, but rather French, but I relate to you in that I pick up on some words and I feel very lost when actual natives speak because I feel like I can't keep up. Lastly, I think your teaching philosophy at the end is spot on and will lead to a great, and positive environment to work in for students. I have no doubt that you will do well in your future as an educator!
Hello Lina,
ReplyDeleteI found your journey to be very fascinating. I really liked your teaching philosophy and I think your mindset will help you to become a wonderful teacher. I am not bilingual so I find it interesting to hear about others who are. I can only assume that your personal experience with being in the ESL program will help you understand the needs of your possible future students. Personal connections always seem to make things more meaningful. I think that your story has just reinforced my thought that language is almost like a muscle if you don't use it, it weakens.