Successful Language Learners: Interview with Sara Elaine Magil
Over the last few months as we have built Lenguajero, and come to know more about online language learning, we have noticed that there are a lot of self-proclaimed experts in this field. While they may all be very successful language learners, many of them seem to espouse the belief that there is only “one right way” to learn a new language (Hint: It’s the way they do it.)
In addition to being avid language learners ourselves, we’ve met a lot of other language learners over the past year. Our experiences have led us to believe that there is no “one right way” to learn a language. In tribute to this belief we are starting a new interview series on our blog. We will interview successful language learners about their learning experiences, and ask them what they believe has made them so successful.
To start this series we are interviewing a good friend of ours, Sara Elaine Magil. Sara has a MS in Linguistics from Georgetown University. She is a passionate social worker who dedicates herself to working with the varied immigrant communities in Toronto, Canada.
What languages do you speak, when did you learn them?
English: It’s my first language.
Swedish: I learned all through immersion. When I was 15 I had the opportunity to study abroad
for 6 months, and then again for 6 months at age 20.
Mandarin: I learned in-class for 2 years during university, and then spent 6 months in China at age 22/23, and another 6 months at age 27. My level is somewhere around “low advanced”, but I have to practice a lot or else my level drops pretty quickly.
French: I studied 2 years in high school, not much since then. I’m somewhere around “low advanced” here as well.
Spanish: I’ve taken a few classes over the last few years, probably 6 weeks of formal classes, plus 2 weeks spent doing homestays in Mexico (at age 25 and 26). I’m pretty comfortable making small talk, and even taught a home owners information course in Spanish one time. My level is probably intermediate.
Thai: I lived in Thailand for 6 months, and used to be pretty good. Unfortunately, it’s ALL gone now. I still remember the alphabet though, so I can sound out words.
What do you do when you’re learning a new language?
First of all I usually get very excited, I love the challenge of learning a new language. I’m going to start studying Arabic this year, and I just got my first textbook. I was like a little kid I was so excited! I think that enthusiasm is very important. I don’t worry about learning languages, and I believe that I can do it. I think that makes a big difference, because I don’t expect to fail.
How does getting your MS in linguistics from Georgetown relate to learning a new language?
OK, funny story here. On my first day of graduate school, I met a woman who had majored in Spanish for her BA. She was so excited to be doing a PhD in linguistics, because she realized she didn’t just want to speak a lot of languages, she wanted to really understand them at a deep level, and look at the patterns and similarities between languages. It was a really surprising moment for me, because as she said it, I realized that I DON’T really care about the deeper understanding, I just want to speak a bunch of languages!
However, I think my education in linguistics was helpful in several ways. For one thing, I was surrounded with other people who were language-crazy like me. Linguistics also made me pretty comfortable with the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), which made me better at learning and teaching languages, because that’s what everyone else uses to figure out pronunciation. (North Americans don’t really use it, but when I taught in China students often asked whether a word was pronounced like /wʊd/ or /wud/, and I was able to tell them the answer.)
It has also helped me as a language learner. I have found that a lot of people have trouble with grammar or constructions that are very different from their native language. I think I’m able to understand that things in another language work in a very different way from what I was expecting. I don’t insist on drawing direct parallels, which means I get less confused.
In general, what kind of learner are you?
I think I’m a “guess and test” learner. I like it when the teacher presents some new material, and then we try using it. I’m less shy about using a language than many other people are – I’m willing to try to say something in a language before I’m certain I’m right. I think that helps a lot, especially with pronunciation.
Why did you study Mandarin?
I started studying Mandarin partly because I knew it would be useful in the future, and partly because people told me that it was “a hard one”. I decided that I should study the hard languages when I was relatively young, so that I could save the easier ones for when I was older and my brain wasn’t so good at it!
Is learning and speaking Mandarin fundamentally different from French or Spanish?
The only thing that’s REALLY different about Mandarin is that it doesn’t have an alphabet, so you can’t look at a word and “sound it out” like you can for most other languages. In Mandarin, if you don’t know the character, and you don’t have a dictionary with you, you may be stuck. In French and Spanish, you may be able to piece it together a bit.
How do you maintain your languages?
I am very lucky to live in North America, where there are lots of languages being spoken in most cities. In Toronto, it’s not too hard to find Chinese speakers and Spanish speakers. Also, because I’m a social worker, many of the clients I work with are immigrants, so I can use my language skills talking to them.
