APU Online Learning Original

Learning 9 Foreign Languages: My Personal Educational Journey

By Dr. Karolina Kopczyński
Faculty Member, School of Arts, Humanities and Education 

Learning foreign languages is very relaxing, motivating, exciting and beneficial. The strange thing, however, is that as a child, I never planned on learning all of the nine foreign languages that I currently know.

I was born in Poland and when I was in 4th grade, Russian was mandatory due to the political situation in Poland. I was not interested in learning Russian at all, but I did my homework since not doing my homework was not an option with my father.

During Polish classes in 6th grade, I enjoyed the linguistic concepts of Polish. Learning grammar made me happy, and I remember asking my teacher to move my seat to the first row so that I could absorb information better.

I studied Russian in 4th and 5th grade. In 7th and 8th grade, I had the experience of spending my summers in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

I was convinced that I would go to a design school, as I love designing clothing. However, my father had different plans for my future education, and I had to attend school as a biochemistry major in preparation for a pre-med major in college.

As a 9th grader, I had to select two languages to study. I chose German and Russian.

My German class focused on translation and not communication skills, so I did not learn much. In one year, I had three Russian instructors, and I remember working on completing worksheets and not speaking any Russian.

Emigrating to America and Learning English to Survive

At the end of 10th grade, my father announced that we were moving to the United States. “Well!” I thought. “Here we go again!”

I didn’t know much about the English language until I arrived in the United States. What an immersion that was! As the oldest child, I had to help my parents to understand what was said to them by others.

This time, it was not about wanting to learn a foreign language. I had to learn English as a survival skill since I understood nothing.

In 11th grade, my family and I moved to a bigger town, and I was placed in my school’s English Learners Language (ELL) program. That program was a gift.

My ELL instructor, who inspired me to become a teacher, gave me a list of 125 words in English to translate and memorize every day. The following day, she would quiz me on the meaning and the spelling of every word.

As you can imagine, my daily homework took over four hours and I wanted to walk back home to Poland. But after six months, I could read, write, speak and understand the English language. How could I not? I was memorizing over 1,000 words per week.

I taught my parents English during that summer as they struggled to find jobs. In 12th grade, I took Advanced Placement (AP) courses as I knew their content very well, but the English language was a hindrance for me.

Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things but learning another way to think about things. – Flora Lewis, American journalist

Expanding My Knowledge of Other Foreign Languages

My ELL teacher pointed out that I learned English quickly and should take other languages. Frankly, I thought she was crazy. In my first year at community college, I majored in biochemistry.

My academic advisor was a Spanish instructor. She encouraged me to take Spanish, which I also thought was a crazy idea, but I did it. Boy, did I have fun! I could not learn enough. I completed two semesters of Spanish at my community college and planned to learn more.

Upon my transfer to a state university, I continued my major in microbiology. That year I took my required courses but also focused on my passion for learning foreign languages. I added three additional classes: Spanish, French and Italian.

In my senior year at the university, I couldn’t continue with microbiology as my passion for learning foreign languages was greater. In the first semester of my senior year, I took four Spanish courses as well as classes in Italian, French, and German.

Eventually I decided to change my major to Spanish. I traveled and studied in Spain for a semester, which was a fantastic experience! In Spain, I took eight more classes and completed my major.

I knew Polish, English, Russian, French, German and Italian at that time. I was greatly disappointed that I had to graduate from the university, as I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue my studies in foreign languages.

A different language is a different vision of life. – Federico Fellini, Italian film director

Acquiring Greek Language Skills

Three years after graduation, a friend of mine introduced me to a Greek coworker of hers. I enjoyed the sound of the Greek language, and I wanted to learn it immediately.

The next day, I was in Barnes and Noble and bought a book on learning Greek. On the same day, I learned the Greek alphabet. I dedicated three hours toward learning Greek every day as I am a visual learner and for me to recall the material I’m learning, I must write it down.

Even though this technique for learning foreign languages is time-consuming, it’s highly effective as it allows me to learn how to read, write and converse in another language. After 15 months of learning Greek, I went to Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2004, and lived there for three months.

I wanted to see how effective my self-taught method of learning was and it proved very effective. When I arrived in Thessaloniki, I knew a lot of Greek and I decided to take even more classes.

The conquest of learning is achieved through the knowledge of languages. – Roger Bacon, English friar and philosopher

Relearning Russian

Upon my return from Greece, I used English, Polish, Spanish and Greek almost every day. I learned all those languages because I wanted to communicate with other people.

However, Russian was not my original choice in my earlier school years, and therefore, I decided not to learn it that well. But now, I have chosen to learn Russian as I want to use it to communicate with some of my friends and students. I must admit that I surprise myself by how much Russian I remember, even though I studied it over 25 years ago.

In addition to learning Russian, I wanted to challenge myself a little bit more, so I am learning Arabic. I find Arabic to be a beautiful language, especially the written form, which is the most challenging part for me right now.

At our University, our online students can take classes in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese. I teach the Spanish 100, 101, 200 and 202 classes.

Related link: How to Be Successful Learning a Foreign Language Online

Learning Foreign Languages Takes Daily and Consistent Effort

Now that I am an instructor, I do not have three hours a day to dedicate to learning other foreign languages. When I have time, I find moments to practice my pronunciation and reading, and I also listen to music in other languages.

The only way to learn any skill, including the ability to read, write and speak foreign languages, is to use it. From my experience, if you want to learn any language, you must put in daily effort and stay consistent in your learning.

My ELL teacher used to tell me, “You will only get out what you put in.” Learning a foreign language has endless benefits: I have seen magical places, met wonderful people and made friends worldwide. But my journey with learning foreign languages is not over; I will keep learning throughout my life.

Related link: 5 Reasons Why It’s Good for You to Learn a Foreign Language

About the Author

Dr. Karolina Kopczyński is a native of Poland, and her passion is learning foreign languages and their cultures. She completed her study abroad program in Oviedo, Spain, and she also lived and studied in Russia, Mexico, and Greece. After learning nine languages, she is now learning Arabic.

Dr. Kopczyński obtained her M.A.T. in Spanish and ESOL from the School for International Training, VT. She also completed M.A. from the University of Jaén in Spain and the University Iberoamericana in Puerto Rico in Applied Linguistics in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language and Formation of Professors of Spanish as a Foreign Language. Furthermore, Dr. Kopczyński earned an M.A. in Psychology, and she is currently working on her M.Ed. in Learning and Technology. Dr. Kopczyński completed her Ed.D. from the University of Phoenix in Curriculum and Instruction. Recently, she received the 2021 Undergraduate Excellence in Teaching Award from the University. She is also a co-advisor of the Spanish Club.

Dr. Kopczyński presented at the Teaching Excellence Summit on the Implementation of Technology in Spanish Online Classes to increase participation. She has also presented at Northeast OER Summit about Interactive Tools to Engage Participation and MaFla about Podcasts for Presentational Communication and Communicative Tools for Interpretative Communication in Online Spanish Classes.

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