Week 8
Hitting my language goals was pretty rough this week. I came down with a head cold that just wouldn't let up. That made finding the motivation impossible to concentrate on language drills and translations. So, most of the work got done early in the week from before I was sick. I got only four lessons done out of the goal of seven, so just over half of my goal. I should be learning how to conjugate in the past tense soon, so I am very excited for the upcoming lessons this week.
In the Cantor and Sanderson reading, there was a lot of talk concerning resources in occupation. The presence of certain resources allow for participation in desired goals, as well as the likelihood of goal adherence. My greatest resource in this occupation for instance is Duolingo. The Duolingo program is incredibly fun and has an aesthetic interface that makes it pleasant to use. If Duolingo were not free, there are very few other free services of the same quality and I would likely not be able to continue in my occupation. Another factor that the reading mentioned was that of personality qualities as a resource. Self efficacy has been huge as I have gone after this goal, and it is the personal resource that leads me to try new strategies for learning. It also keep coming back to the occupation. Because I've learned one language already, I already know how to do it, so my self efficacy is very high. Self Efficacy leads to new opportunities in Spanish because I am confident with speaking to real live people even with a limited vocabulary.
The Nakamura reading concerning Flow comes to mind when I think of resources. All people depend on resources to work into a state of flow. If I did not have my aforementioned resource of self efficacy concerning language learning, the task would seem much too intimidating, and I would likely not return to it after suffering defeat after defeat. That was certainly how gaining my first foreign language would have been. I was discouraged every day, thinking that I would never learn it. But in that instance, I had to learn it to be effective in my station. There was no backing down, so even though I lacked the resource of efficacy, I replaced it with the resource of necessity.
Allen,
ReplyDeleteFirst off i admire your diligence as you are learning Spanish. There was a point in my life where I was apart of some lessons, and I got overwhelmed. When you say you've learned one language already are you referring to your native English; or have you learned an additional language? I am stoked that Duolingo is free and has provided you with a resource that allows you to succeed! Without resources it would be really hard to participate in things we desire. Keep up the good work! Adios!
Thank you for the compliment! I previously learned Tagalog and became fluent. Duolingo is a fantastic resource. Their story podcast is also a huge help to me because it puts Spanish words in context. It’s definitely a resource I take advantage of during my workouts
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