Arabic training - Round II

Well, I must say that the second go at Arabic training proves all of those pedagogical classes that I took in college during my teacher training, and for my first masters, in educational leadership. The second time around studying a topic really does yield new learning, and even more synaptic connections. After having 9-10 months of Arabic study before, I am back for a refresher course with the same material being presented, almost two years later and by different teachers, and I am seeing new things and making new learning connections.

It is very interesting to experience and observe this first-hand. It is not necessarily because I have different teachers, although they are very good, and I have been blessed with good teachers throughout. However, this time around, it is as if my brain quickly recognizes the information being presented and then goes on to form new elaborations around the already known information. It is much like how I picture learning to play an instrument is. My brain has the "scales" and now it is forming new melodies. I LOVE how brains work!

My second observation is not quite so lofty. Learning a "Super-Hard" language, like Arabic, as a second language, is similar to labor-and-delivery of a child. The pain and trauma and exhaustion is quickly forgotten when it is over; but it all comes back in full, technicolor as soon as you start into it again during that second labor.

I had forgotten the sensations of the 7-hour Arabic-learning day:

~the period of mental slowness on Monday mornings, as the brain struggles to switch over to the new language (thankfully, it doesn't last as long on the other mornings of the class week);

~followed by the increasing mental-processing speed and comprehension that occurs with the repetition through the day;

~then the bogging down and feeling of mental fullness in the last two hours of the classwork, as if one more sentence will overflow the capacity;

~to that final feeling at the end of the class day, while walking out to the shuttle, that there are actual physical changes, or shiftings, occurring in the brain - sometimes it is even painful.

All I can do at that point is put the iPod earbuds in, put on a vocabulary drill and fall asleep in the shuttle on the way back to the apartment, in a sad hope that my vocab/grammar-laden brain might soak up a few more words in the day. Thank goodness, I do not have to drive back myself!

It is a fascinating experience as a former educator! I learned, after the first-time around, to know and to embrace the rhythms of my individual-style of language learning at this point in my life. I now recognize the feeling of cognitive overload, and instead of trying to fight through it, I take breaks. It actually is more efficient that way. Instead of wasting the time fighting the process, I embrace it and plan for it, so that I can more effectively use the time. When I am tired and feel the need for a nap or early bedtime, I go to sleep. Or sometimes, it is much better to get up and go exercise, or do the laundry, than to ineffectively sit and stare at Arabic words. I can return to the Arabic wajib, homework, later. Then I have the laundry done AND feel like I can tackle the Arabic again.

Hatha mumtaz!

Translation= This is wonderful!

It reaffirms all that I have ever learned as an educator.