Entry2

Any member of a Native American tribe has an indigenous language as the first language. I am not an exception. Since the English language is more common at work, and in school settings, I had to learn English as a second language. It is common for people to learn the language that is mostly used in the country they live in. Learning the language increases their mobility. Knowing one language can limit an individual’s opportunities. This is because a person would only do things within the place where the language is used. By learning a language that is considered the official language of the U.S., an individual has more opportunities (Sun et al., 2021).  Nonetheless, language development is a long process. Age is a factor in this process. The amount of time that people need to learn a new language is different. Children take less time than adults. To get to the highest level of English, an adult would need 200 hours. Children would require less than 200 hours of learning English to proficiency. In teaching English as a second language, teachers need to use a simpler language (Sun et al., 2021). They need to use simple vocabulary. This motivates the learner in his or her learning course. The teachers should not teach the new learners of this language the way they would to English speakers. The teacher should give special and simple instructions. The teachers in my elementary school where I learned English for the first time used simple language. This made me master the language quickly. Although I was performing poorly in the English proficiency tests in the beginning, I performed excellently later.

Like many other non-English speakers, I learned English for the first time in school. This is particularly grade 5. Essentially, English is the common language of teaching and instruction in public schools in America. Most of these schools lack bilingual education programs. With this, students are not allowed to use their native languages. The schools have policies emphasizing that only one language should be used (Abril-Gonzalez & Shannon, 2021). Since English is the country’s official language, students have no choice but to learn the English language. In this regard, learning the English language was inevitable for me. This is as far as I attended an American public school. The teacher who taught us English was so passionate. I found the language difficult at first. However, I found it easy with time. I first learned how to read and write simple English words. I learned basic grammar rules. In the classroom, the teacher gave us instructions in English only. He encouraged us to communicate in English among ourselves. Besides English subjects, all other subjects were in English. In this regard, I took learning English seriously. During English classes, the teacher could give us a dictionary to look at the meaning of some words. Further, he could tell us to compose English sentences. At first, I used to make numerous grammatical mistakes. The teacher could correct me. The more practice I did, the fewer mistakes I made. I also did a number of grammar tests. After every test, the teacher commented that my English proficiency had improved. Practice in learning a new language is key. It enhances and accelerates language development.