Learning to Speak
I started studying Russian during the pandemic. During those months, language study was generally me and a book, or me and my laptop, or me and my phone. That’s where I was when I started this blog. Then after the intervention of outside forces and some wild turns of events I ended up in eastern Europe not speaking the languages I’d been studying (Russian and a little Ukrainian) but instead throwing myself into Polish, BCS (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian) languages, attempting some Bulgarian and Macedonian and even a little Albanian. And I wasn’t doing this in the comfort of my own home relying on technology. I was trying to learn languages while navigating countries, interactions, cities, and transit systems. Just as I’d convinced myself that passive input was the key to learning languages, I was faced with learning on the spot through conversations with locals. And just as I’d convinced myself that I could wait to start speaking a language I was studying, I was immediately throwing myself into speaking new languages.
Over the previous months I’d been developing strategies for reading in languages or using subtitles or even using Duolingo, but now there were no paragraphs or subtitles or encouraging little green owls in the languages. I had to find new strategies to confront the new challenges.
One of the first challenges was that in Poland and Croatia (the two countries where I spent the most time) lots of people speak English (especially in Warsaw, Split and Zagreb where I stayed). Now, that might not sound like a challenge for a traveler from the States, but when language exposure and growth is a primary goal this does become a challenge. I could have navigated almost all my interactions in those cities relying on the (English) language abilities of the locals I interacted with. But I expected this to be a summer of language exploration and I’m stubborn, so I tried to use local languages.
Many people who write about input as an approach to language acquisition emphasize that as a beginner it takes patience and lots of listening and reading, along with the help of a skilled language supporter or a high tolerance for ambiguity. Follow this approach and the language slowly grows. But when I’m trying to order a coffee I don’t have time for my language to slowly grow. I need to answer their questions they’re asking me right now. Suddenly language comes with a sense of urgency. And while some folks like Stephen Krashen emphasize waiting to start speaking in a language (which does effectively lower the anxiety around language production), these situations demanded I start speaking the language from day one. And with that came the anxiety. My strategy for this was to set an expectation for myself: I’d start every conversation in the local language and get as far as I could. If understanding broke down I (or often the person I was talking to) could try switching to English. I didn’t meet that expectation every time, but I met it often enough that I saw a whole different side to my language learning. I was communicating basic, but specific things soon. The portion of my interactions before switching to English slowly began to lengthen. Sure, there were people who immediately pegged me as an English speaker and responded to my “Dobar dan” with a “Hello, how can I help you?”. But other times, and increasingly often, I could keep those interactions going. Not talking about anything in detail, but communicating the basics of buying something to eat or drink or getting on a bus. Sometimes, I could make it all the way through one of these short interactions without ever switching to English. This happened more once I was in Croatia and had time to try lots of these conversations. My vocabulary was never extensive (and still isn’t’) in Croatian, but I learned to follow the script of the interactions.
Regardless of the country or the language there was generally a rhythm to these basic interactions. First greetings, then I could ask for something, the server would ask if that’s all and then I can wait for what I’ve ordered breathing a sigh of relief that I’ve survived another interaction. It’s this rhythm or playbook for the interaction that allowed me to navigate it in so many different languages to varying degrees of success. Sometimes the server would go off (my oversimplified) script. Sometimes I had a question I couldn’t formulate. And I’d have to ask for English. And naturally If I come into these interactions hoping to get as far as possible without using English I have to be ready and comfortable to ask for/make the switch back to English. I’m imaging the server as a bit of a tutor here. When I got lost, they were generally quite kind, interpreting their last phrase into English allowing me to catch up to what they were saying. A long time ago a psychologist named Lev Vygotsky argued that the key to learning is the help of a “more knowledgeable other” who’s assistance allows one to do things they were incapable of alone. In a sense these servers were filling that role for me. Without all the language knowledge they brought to these situations (both of their first language and English) my ability to communicate successfully would have been far lower.
When I choose to learn a new language my goals go beyond being able to order coffee. But perhaps a focus on how to learn or acquire a language has kept me too focused in the areas where I’m most comfortable (the scholastic) instead of recognizing that language is about communication — so perhaps a better question is how can I begin communicating effectively in this language? Where and when? And once I can communicate effectively around some things how can I communicate effectively around other things? It’s not always the words in my head, sometimes it’s the people around me, the demands of a situation, or the beverage that I’m craving that make the communication successful.
