Module 3 Discussion: Moving Students Into a New Culture

I've spent several weeks in Mexico several different years. The first time it was a combination of both exciting and intimidating.  I stayed close to friends and didn't venture far from the friends I traveled with. I mostly just observed the culture and my surroundings, enjoying most of the experiences. One of my friends was fluent in Spanish which helped a lot. After a couple of weeks, I started venturing out by myself and experiencing the culture by riding busses and walking into where the natives lived. By meeting up with natives who wanted to practice English I could practice my Spanish. I began learning the language in this way having to make my way on my own but getting help from natives. I immersed myself in the language.

In my classroom I think it would be important to pair up the non English speaker with a child who spoke both languages and could help on occasions. As the student gains confidence and makes friends he should start branching out. I also like to use the situation to help the student introduce his language to the other children in the class by asking the child "how do you say this in your language".