Learning what it’s like to be an ELL or English Language Learner…

1st grade English class in the primary school

       I have four hours of Spanish class each day, Monday through Friday. I am beginning to see what it is like to be a second language learner. It is very interesting and exciting yet, challenging, overwhelming and sometimes extremely frustrating. The teacher explains things to us in Spanish, such as giving directions or just asking questions. I know many words in Spanish, but when she speaks in full sentences at a quick pace, it goes right over my head. When my peers all seem to understand, it makes me feel stupid and I get very discouraged. I imagine children learning a second language experience similar feelings. As an adult however, I feel like I am able to handle much more than a child could going through this situation.

      This past week I was sick. I could not pay attention or focus on anything in Spanish class. It was all I could do to keep my head up so I wasn’t being disrespectful. I had to leave class early to go to the doctor (that’s a whole other experience). After a couple of days of being sick, I was finally able to focus in class again. I soon realized how far behind I was. I struggled to catch up, keep up, and understand everything. I became very frustrated and I was almost to the point of completely shutting down. What happens when my students that are English Language Learners (ELLs) miss school due to illness or otherwise? How far behind will they get? How can I help catch them up or make sure that they don’t get behind at all? How far can I push them without reaching their breaking point resulting in them shutting down and no longer trying?  

After teaching a lesson on leafs in English (4th Grade)

       It really helps me when the teacher slows down, even though she is still speaking in Spanish, it is much easier to hear each word and understand what she is saying. I have a different Spanish teacher each week. My teacher this week, rarely speaks in English. I’m not even sure if she knows more than a few words in English. If I don’t understand something, she often slows down and explains further in Spanish, using other words, hand gestures, and sometimes drawings on the board. So while I’m learning what she began to explain, I am also learning other Spanish words throughout the explanation process. When learning new vocabulary, it is extremely helpful to hear the word alone, see it written, and also hear how the word is used in conversation. At the end of each lesson, we play a game of some sort, using the vocabulary that we just learned. Games create a sense of friendly competition which motivates me to practice and study more so I can succeed. All of these things are strategies that I could use in my own classroom to help my students better understand, especially my ELLs.