Learning the Lingo

Last week there were two new students in our morning class, one of whom speaks almost no English. Since our school has only one instructor who is fluently bilingual in Spanish and English, this poses some challenges.

The first day that Hernan, our new student, was in class, Ms. Muniz was not present, so Sa Bom Nim had to teach him exclusively by example. He caught on pretty well, but he seemed much more comfortable at the next class, when Ms. Muniz was able to explain things in greater detail, and also give him the encouragement that every new student needs.

Actually we have quite a large number of students in the school whose first language is not English. In addition to trying to understand the directions given in English, they also have to contend with learning commands in Korean. For some, this is really difficult.

I heard a short piece on the radio not long ago about how the brain makes actual physical connections that lead to connotation and context. This, for example, is the way the word "warm" comes to mean "affectionate," because of the way we are cuddled as infants, kept cozy and protected from the cold by our parents who love us.

We have to establish these brain pathways in order to respond quickly to stimuli, and this is where repetition comes in. We may have to hear "Ha Dan Mahk Kee" a hundred times before we remember that it means "Low Block," but we may have to hear it and execute the technique a thousand times before we can respond without hesitation - that is, when the pathway is established.

When you have to add the extra step of translating the Korean into English and then into another language, you add a whole 'nother layer of complexity. My hat is off to Hernan and all the others for whom English is not their first language.