Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Hardest Thing...
Teaching second language involves teaching the target culture. I have vacationed and traveled in Mexico since I was in high school. (vacationing and traveling are different) I have traveled in Colombia. I honeymooned in Costa Rica. I lived in Venezuela for a while in the 1990's. I have native Spanish speaking friends here in the US. I read books on the culture and history of Spain and Latin America. None of these experiences give me the level cultural competency I feel needed to be an upper echelon second language teacher. The seemingly, only way to address this deficiency is to move to a Spanish speaking country for a prolonged period. I just cannot see how to achieve this goal at the present time. I have a wife and two young children. I have professional responsiilities. Please share any ideas you may have. Thank you.
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Hi Russell,
ReplyDeleteEven for me that I live abroad is difficult to maintain my Venezuelan Culture, but I make an effort to belong to association like Friends of Venezuela here at OU in order to keep my traditions, but it is difficult to adapt myself to the existing culture and your own culture. My personal experience I tried to cook every week something traditional meals from my country, that never happened when I was living in my country. So I agree with you because it difficult to live and immerse into the other culture without losing some of yours.