Reflection

Learning is a daily process that occurs on a certain degree depending on the abilities of the recipient. A second language is the language that one acquires later in life after his or her native language. This paper shows the results of an interview undertaken on a bilingual student who will be given the name Basil for privacy reasons. It shows the challenges and other issues that people come across or experience as they learn a second language.

Interview on Second Language Learning

Prior to the interview, Basil had been informed the academic importance of it. A complete privacy had been promised to him. It was agreed to carry out the exercise on 4th March, 2015 in a serene location beside the swimming pool of Columbia University, where Basil pursues his degree. The activity was to take place within a maximum of 30 minutes. After a little persuasion, he had agreed to be tape-recorded. Basil is a foreign student from Kenya and his native language is Nandi. English is his second language. A set of interview questions had been prepared to acquire a lot of information from him.

On the stipulated day, punctuality was observed. Basil kept his word as he turned up. He was greeted enthusiastically and asked whether everything was alright. He was in a good mood and replied that all was well with him. The tape-recorder was placed in an ideal position in which it would capture all words with precision. Extra findings were written down in a notebook. Basil revealed that it took him more than six years to speak fluent English. He experienced a lot of difficulty in learning it. He is now 26 years old. He came to United States of America with a very little knowledge in English. This is no doubt because he started learning when he was too old. Second languages are mastered faster by younger learners that their older counterparts.

However, Basil believes it would have taken him more could did have not for his great cognitive ability. His claims were received positively given his sterling performance in the university. Since time immemorial, it has been known that learning anything ranging from subjects in classroom to various activities at home or workplace requires sharp brains. Basil’s high IQ has greatly helped him to recall difficult words, English grammar rules and appropriate phonology among others.

Basil added that he was motivated to learn English so that he could be able to pursue his degree and dreams of owning a company one day. The urge was so intense that he spent most of his time reading English and doing simple assignments. As time flew, he was able to tackle harder assignments. He knew that his dreams would be shuttered if he failed. Indeed studies show that people who learn a second under some motivational influence tend to grasp it faster than those who aren’t.

There are numerous English teaching centers in the city. At one point in time, he had to enroll in one of them to sharpen his skills. He was lucky as his teacher was a hardworking lady who had pursued English literature in a recognized university. He was assured of a quality and professional help. There, he was taught a lot of vocabularies and their meanings. He also learned how to construct short sentences, the use of adverbs, verbs, nouns, pronouns and so forth and forth. He was taught simple tasks at first and left to comprehend them. Gradually, the level of difficulty was increased until he managed to be fluent. Thanks to this help as it spearheaded his quest.

Basil later disclosed that the arrangement of words in his native language differed greatly from English. This posed a great challenge during his learning endeavor. Moreover, direct translation proved to be a menace rather than a remedy.

Conclusion

Second language acquisition is not easy. It requires a lot of devotion, motivation, professional help and good cognitive skills. It is always difficult especially if there is a great disparity between the native language and the one to be acquired.

The findings of this interview can be employed to ensure that people who want to learn a second language are taught effectively following the factors and procedures aforementioned. In so doing, learning will be easier and more fruitful.