WOK Language - global views

"...learning additional languages enhances the learning of the 'mother tongue' as well as broadening a student's worldview."

I think learning additional languages can enhance how you learn your "mother-tongue". Learning another language improves your awareness of languages in general and how they work, which isn't as easy to do by just focusing on the language you grew up speaking. 

I also agree that learning languages can broaden a student's worldview because the culture of the group of people that speak the language you're learning is often taught with the language. As you learn about the words a language has that may be different from words in your own mother tongue can help you understand that culture more as well. Also when you are fluent in another language, there are many more opportunities available for you. Travelling to other countries and feeling comfortable is now possible and therefor a student can feel like they are a part of the larger world. 

The article says that hyperpolyglots most likely have a unique neurological structure that the majority of people just don't have. Alex and Ray both seem to have a genuine love of languages. They seem passionate about the languages that they do know, and passionate to learn more. They both have had life experiences that seem to have supported their language learning. They also immerse themselves in the languages they learn and surround themselves with native speakers. 

There is a junior in our school who I think has similar qualities. She loves travelling to other countries and learning at least basic conversational words. She takes HL French and Latin and she knows at least some Italian and Arabic. I think she has a brain that is naturally wired for languages but she also works hard to learn languages to the best of her ability and often has conversations with native speakers of those languages. 

I would classify myself as an visual learner. I think writing down, repeating and learning vocab words helps me learn the best. When I hear a language it's harder for me to learn individual words or phrases even if I do understand the general meaning of what's being said. Since I take Latin and it is not spoken a lot in class, the visual aspect is everything for me to learn. When I took French I found it easier to study vocabulary that learn using "total immersion" when everything, the directions and assignments included, is spoken in that language. That was hard for me to learn the language, even when I understood the gist of what we were supposed to do.