For as long as I can remember, people (at least the English) have been telling me this. Pursing their lips and, in my opinion, babbling like idiots trying to make me understand the difference. I don't know. It all sounds the same to me and I've spent too many years trying to understand (or my ears) how little sense some aspects of English make to even try. I usually just laugh it off, or if I'm feeling particularly sensitive that day, I notice what an improvement it is from the way I used to speak - leaving out the articles (especially the definite articles) left, right and center; dropping an "r" where it shouldn't be and completely failing to grasp the linguistic differences between certain words (there was a beech tree near my grandmother's patio; and she certainly wasn't impressed when I pointed it out to everyone and broke it). she had a pretty “dog” in the garden). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The problems I faced as a child were not unique. I am the product of an English mother and a Yugoslav father; and although born in London, I spent the formative years before my parents' divorce between Zagreb and Belgrade. Many phonetic sounds found in English and other Germanic languages ​​simply do not exist in Serbian, and since Serbian was my everyday language – the language of school; my half-brothers and sisters; the games and especially the language of Jana (the woman who took care of me) – it was the Serbian that I considered myself to be, and it was the Serbian that I spoke. It wasn't until I moved to London in the mid-90s that English really started to make an impression. In an effort to Anglicize me, my mother not only separated herself from my father, but also from my language. Until then, English was an afterthought – a language I greeted my mother with in the evening or used if I wanted to watch an American TV show. But now I was six and a half years old (the half I remembered was important) clutching Zeko (my stuffed bunny) thousands of miles from home and wondering where the hell I'd ended up and what I did to deserve it. Zeko is the Serbian word for “rabbit”] I remember the first few months were very difficult. No one spoke to me, or at least no one spoke to me in Serbian. “You are the Englishman Alexander!” my mother said “And in England, we speak English!” ". The kids at my new school didn't play with me and laughed when I mixed up my vowels. Within a few months I had decided that I didn't want to be English and would leave as soon as I could. Unfortunately, after breaking Svinja (I've always been an imaginative child), I realized it was a paltry £4. 56 plus 714 din did not equal a return ticket. Over time, I found myself losing my native language. My mother explains that it was a “necessity,” that if I had been left to my own devices, I would not have been able to take full advantage of the educational opportunities offered by a good command of English. Svinja is the Serbian word for "pig". Thanks to this maternal assassin, I can now confidently say that (without [t]he's) I acquired English as effectively as possible. However, I still don't know exactly when or how this happened. I do, however, have a few theories - one being that complete acquisition of the English language may have, in my case, produced the phenomenon known as "replacement bilingualism", whereby thefirst language is completely supplanted by the acquisition of a second. Sometimes I wonder if my Serbian is just locked away somewhere in my brain. Yet, regardless of the method used, my acquisition of English has certainly had a major impact on my learning and the type of teacher I want to be. As a learner, I experienced the concept of mechanical learning – learning by emersion, deletion and repetition. I believe it is essential that as teachers we understand this concept. Our students may not always be aware of their own academic development (just as I was not aware of my English acquisition). It is therefore essential that teachers regularly inform students of their progress. Taking note of successes and keeping students informed can be both encouraging and comforting, often contributing not only to a better learning attitude but also to increased motivation. However, building on this, I would always ensure that (in the case of EAL students) English does not supplant the ethnic language. I don't think many of us understand what really happens when children learn a second language. Quite the contrary. With immigration numbers increasing in recent years, there is growing concern among government officials, educators and the media that these new arrivals are not assimilating quickly enough into British society, l Language acquisition being at the forefront of these concerns. As educators, we need to be sure that in teaching children of immigrants we focus not only on teaching English, but also on inclusion – with the native language playing a role as well. important than English in learning. It is only through such a process that we can prevent the loss of a mother tongue; something that could well result in a fractured sense of identity. The DfE expects schools and teachers to implement “effective strategies” to effectively assimilate immigrant children into the system. But how should we interpret the term “effective”? The DfE Key Framework for Stages 1 and 2 states that “teachers should plan teaching opportunities to help pupils develop their English”. But what about retaining and supporting their native language? Language is the tool we use to understand the world around us. Using a process of cultural interpretation (which occurs through language), we attempt to understand situations and events experienced, ultimately seeking to know how we fit ourselves into the society around us. It is only through the diversity of languages ​​that we can explain to ourselves and others the richness of cultural expression. It is the means by which identity and culture intersect; and this is also why language loss is such a concern and why stronger measures should be taken by governments, and especially schools, to protect the minority language rights of immigrant students, because ultimately , our language(s) reveal to ourselves and others both a historical and cultural connection, with the loss of that first language often amounting to a loss similar to that of a connection to the past. Without such connections, students immersed in new societies may one day lose their sense of purpose: “Know where you come from. If you know where you come from, there are absolutely no limits to where you can go. "James Baldwin. "Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get now.