[Source: ASHAsphere]
Before becoming a mom I taught K-12 classes, starting in second language classrooms. It felt like I was at home because I grew up as a simultaneous bilingual — a person who was presented with two languages from birth in an immigrant household. My parents met in an ESL classroom in the Mission district of San Francisco, so I grew up learning in ways that helped all of us which meant using all modalities — visual, tactile, auditory, kinesthetic. Hearing wasn’t enough — it’s so subjective. Are you saying ‘b’ de burro or ‘v’ de vaca? This image helps one to establish in the mind that very fast sounds are distinguished by so little when coarticulation is involved. It also seems so fast when learning a second language, so physically moving or tapping out the sounds really helps. And of course, there must be a reason why so much of the motor strip targets the hands — I feel therefore I learn. In my own studying, it is not enough for me to just hear. If I can touch it, feel it, sign it — I feel like I own it like the way a toddler mouths a book or a toy.
