|
|
|
|
- Business Directory
- News
- Classifieds
- Movies
- Events Calendar
- Features
- Travel
- Business
- Gastronomy
- Peru This Week E-Magazine
|
|
|
|
Features / Archive
9 November, 2009 15:37:48 | in society
Language and Culture Shock
By Marie-Louise Sai
This past Thursday, members of Lima Sunrise Rotary Club had the pleasure of listening to Maria De la Lama from the Instituto Pedagógico Nacional where she is presently the director.
Maria De la Lama highlighted the importance of mastering the English language in Lima for the purpose of business. In today’s global economy, where major firms have branches and businesses in most areas of the world, it is beneficial to be fluent in English.
At the Instituto Pedagógico Nacional, the English lessons and objectives correspond with the practical use of language learning. In other words, the students learn from real life situations, whereby the context of the language taught has a function in every day business life.
This past Thursday, members of Lima Sunrise Rotary Club had the pleasure of listening to Maria De la Lama from the Instituto Pedagógico Nacional where she is presently the director. Maria De la Lama highlighted the importance of mastering the English language in Lima for the purpose of business. In today’s global economy, where major firms have branches and businesses in most areas of the world, it is beneficial to be fluent in English.
At the Instituto Pedagógico Nacional, the English lessons and objectives correspond with the practical use of language learning. In other words, the students learn from real life situations, whereby the context of the language taught has a function in every day business life.
When I arrived in Peru, I enrolled in a Spanish course at a local language school in order to upgrade my basic Spanish speaking skills. I did not spend enough time deciding on which school of languages to attend. I felt that a course at an intermediate level would provide the standard needed to survive many of the everyday language battles. I was wrong.
I soon realized that the language school I attended had good teachers, but that the objective of the course did not provide me with the practical use of the language.
There is a lot of value in learning, memorizing and practicing new verbs and new vocabulary; however, the material taught needs to be more life serving with a focus on adapting to a new country. After all, the frustration of living in a country where the language is different brings about a condition referred to as culture shock.
In coping with culture shock it is important to accept that no matter how well prepared you are before arriving in a host country, culture shock will affect you to some extent. While living in a new country, a person usually goes through three different stages of culture shock in order to fully adapt. The first stage upon arrival is that of the honeymoon period when everything is a delight and language learning is studied with much enthusiasm. This stage is usually short lived.
After living in the host country for a while, a person will experience feelings of depression and sometime aggression towards the new culture and language. This is recognized as stage two of culture shock. I was disappointed at myself when simple incidents triggered antagonistic feelings in me. One day at the bank I became frustrated because I did not have all the necessary vocabulary to perform a task. I felt that the bank teller was making no effort to understand what I was trying to say.
The cultural differences and the lack of necessary language to perform simple daily tasks were now a source of conflict for me. In the classroom, I was loosing interest because the lessons context did not correspond to the real life situations I was living.
Eventually, I decided that to reach a level where I could speak confidently with native speakers, and where I could perform daily tasks easily, I needed to change schools. As Maria De la Lama indicated, it is important that you choose a program that meets your learning needs whether your focus is social or business.
Lima has many good language schools, but you need to take the time in finding the one that will give you the results that you wish. For me, it became important to learn small amounts of authentic material that could be easily spoken in actual conversations. I also wanted to practice speaking the language in the classroom as much as possible. If you are in a large classroom setting, it becomes more difficult to receive individual attention, so pay attention to class size when deciding on a course. Also, the content and format of the language lesson should depend on your profession, proficiency of the language and your own personal objectives.
Once you have the confidence and appreciation to communicate in the new language with native speakers, you will have reached the third step of culture shock, the acceptance stage. This stage is a rewarding period of discovery and cultural enhancement. I knew I had reached the acceptance stage when I successfully placed a phone call to a cable company and the conversation was fluid. This marvelous realization made me feel euphoric.
Adjusting to a new country is a rewarding and delightful experience but it can also be difficult. Once the language is mastered at a level of confidence for the individual, positive aspects of the host culture start to be appreciated. Problems are then viewed as a rich tapestry of living in another country.
There is a lot of value in learning, memorizing and practicing new verbs and new vocabulary; however, the material taught needs to be more life serving with a focus on adapting to a new country. After all, the frustration of living in a country where the language is different brings about a condition referred to as culture shock.
In coping with culture shock it is important to accept that no matter how well prepared you are before arriving in a host country, culture shock will affect you to some extent. While living in a new country, a person usually goes through three different stages of culture shock in order to fully adapt. The first stage upon arrival is that of the honeymoon period when everything is a delight and language learning is studied with much enthusiasm. This stage is usually short lived.
After living in the host country for a while, a person will experience feelings of depression and sometime aggression towards the new culture and language. This is recognized as stage two of culture shock. I was disappointed at myself when simple incidents triggered antagonistic feelings in me. One day at the bank I became frustrated because I did not have all the necessary vocabulary to perform a task. I felt that the bank teller was making no effort to understand what I was trying to say.
The cultural differences and the lack of necessary language to perform simple daily tasks were now a source of conflict for me. In the classroom, I was loosing interest because the lessons context did not correspond to the real life situations I was living.
Eventually, I decided that to reach a level where I could speak confidently with native speakers, and where I could perform daily tasks easily, I needed to change schools. As Maria De la Lama indicated, it is important that you choose a program that meets your learning needs whether your focus is social or business.
Lima has many good language schools, but you need to take the time in finding the one that will give you the results that you wish. For me, it became important to learn small amounts of authentic material that could be easily spoken in actual conversations. I also wanted to practice speaking the language in the classroom as much as possible. If you are in a large classroom setting, it becomes more difficult to receive individual attention, so pay attention to class size when deciding on a course. Also, the content and format of the language lesson should depend on your profession, proficiency of the language and your own personal objectives.
Once you have the confidence and appreciation to communicate in the new language with native speakers, you will have reached the third step of culture shock, the acceptance stage. This stage is a rewarding period of discovery and cultural enhancement. I knew I had reached the acceptance stage when I successfully placed a phone call to a cable company and the conversation was fluid. This marvelous realization made me feel euphoric.
Adjusting to a new country is a rewarding and delightful experience but it can also be difficult. Once the language is mastered at a level of confidence for the individual, positive aspects of the host culture start to be appreciated. Problems are then viewed as a rich tapestry of living in another country.
9 Comments
# Kurtis Smith says :
11 November, 2009 [ 02:04 ]
11 November, 2009 [ 02:55 ]
12 November, 2009 [ 10:11 ]
12 November, 2009 [ 11:38 ]
12 November, 2009 [ 03:00 ]
12 November, 2009 [ 03:01 ]
15 November, 2009 [ 06:13 ]
20 November, 2009 [ 04:38 ]
30 November, 2009 [ 06:57 ]
# Kurtis Smith says :
11 November, 2009 [ 02:04 ]
My family of six (me+wife and four kids) are coming to Lima to serve in Peru with an NGO. What language school in Lima would anyone suggest in light of this article? We have approximately six months set aside for study when we arrive there.# Alan La Rue says :
Thanks for the article and comments.
11 November, 2009 [ 02:55 ]
A very good article, and I couldn`t agree more with the spirit and the content of what Marie-Louise says. Developing a good command of the language has made my time in Peru very enriching and has opened doors that remain closed to my expat friends who don`t put in the time and effort to learn the language.# Rose Mary Boehm says :
My own experience showed me that there was a need for good, solid immersion programs in Lima, and impulsed me to develop a team of Peruvian teachers and open my own Spanish language school 8 years ago, El Sol, which is based in Miraflores. My experince with students there taught me that many want to have a base in Spanish before even touching down here, which pushed me to develop an online program, which gives students a chance to study one-to-one with a private teacher over the internet. www.webspanish.com.
I hope you will forgive the "commercial", but it seems relevant to the article.
Regards,
Alan
12 November, 2009 [ 10:11 ]
I am a writer and copywriter, thinking and working in English, fluent in Spanish and now live and work in Lima. Is there anything I can do to help? I always have some hours free during the week and would love to contribute - conversation, for example? Rose Mary# Kurtis Smith says :
12 November, 2009 [ 11:38 ]
Rose Mary and Alan, how might we contact you directly? Are either of you on Facebook? (That way you won't have to list your email addresses here if you don't want to.)# Alan La Rue says :
12 November, 2009 [ 03:00 ]
Dear Kurtis,# Alonso Robles says :
Sure, write me directly on alan_larue@idiomasperu.com. If I don't respond, it means I did not receive it. You can find our web page at www.idiomasperu.com
Saludos,
Alan
12 November, 2009 [ 03:01 ]
Hi: I am retired now but for the past years I have been preparing Peruvian students for the TOEFL, GMAT and IELTS. I went to college in Minnesota many years ago and I´d be delighted to help anyone who wishes to improve his Spanish through a lively and interesting conversation seasoned with a litlle dose of Spanish grammar as needed.# Luna says :
15 November, 2009 [ 06:13 ]
# Bettina Góngora says :I think living in a foreing country is an amazing experience that even if one does not speak the target language will always keep all of his/ her memories of this experience in his/ her heart.
I am peruana and I am more than willing to help anyone who comes to my homeland. I am also una profesora de Castellano as well as Ingles in the USA, but I will be in Peru in January. If there is anything that I can do for Americans as well as for Europeans, please let me know. I have encountered beautiful angels while staying in the USA and I hope I can be one in my homeland.
Amor y Paz en la Tierra
Luna
20 November, 2009 [ 04:38 ]
I also teach English and Spanish as a foreign language at PUCP (Idiomas Católica), and I also have been tutoring foreigners in Lima in different areas, such as mining, journalism, moviemaking, among others; as well as, middle and high school students from different parts of the world.# Rosmarie Epaminondas (Rose Mary Boehm) says :
You can contact me at: 99851-8559 or at my e-mail address:
bettina.mee@gmail.com I would be more than pleased to give you a hand on the matter.
Será un gusto,
Bettina
30 November, 2009 [ 06:57 ]
You have my e-mail which I had to add before I could write any comments. I have repeated it. Rose Mary# Kurtis Smith says :
12 November, 2009 [ 11:38 ]Rose Mary and Alan, how might we contact you directly? Are either of you on Facebook? (That way you won't have to list your email addresses here if you don't want to.)
Categories
- art, culture, lifestyle (276)
- cuisine (21)
- entertainment (43)
- environment (20)
- General (139)
- health, medicine (16)
- history (8)
- photography (4)
- politics (23)
- society (74)
- sports (16)
Last 5 posts
- Renovation plan looks to transform huacas into nighttime archaeology spots
- A Peruvian UN officer in Afghanistan: Reflections on overcoming terror
- The huacas of Lima, Part One: Huaca Pucllana
- Enjoying the sites, smells — and just surviving — as a pedestrian in Peru
- An expat visit home: Seeing family and gawking in stores
Last comments
- In Wanted: Who stole my laptop at Starbucks yesterday morning?
says :
18 March, 2010 13:58:28
Poor Shawn Thomas, don't take it personally, I can almost picture the look of surprise in your f ... - In An expat visit home: Seeing family and gawking in stores
Edgar Larrea says :
18 March, 2010 13:04:39
OMG, fruits and vegetables in Peru! I'm a Peruvian living in North Carolina, you can imagine my ... - In A Peruvian UN officer in Afghanistan: Reflections on overcoming terror
Javier Lizarzaburu says :
18 March, 2010 10:17:04
How interesting the way you compare both realities, Gonzalo. In fact, when I saw the main city ...
Features web syndication [RSS]
what is "web syndication" ?
RSS Feeds :