Learning a Foreign Language in a classroom when you have dyslexia

Deem2021
Online Community Member Posts: 2 Connected
I have dyspraxia and dyslexia and I find learning Spanish in a classroom never works for me. I am just curious if anyone else has had negative or positive experiences of learning a foreign language in a classroom? I found Spanish easier than learning Arabic but struggled in both. I hope this is a subject that is of interest to other people. I wonder how dyslexic people moving to England find learning English as well as how English speakers found learning other languages.
0
Comments
-
I think that's an interesting topic @Deem2021
I hope that someone with experience of learning a language when you have dyslexia will find your post soon!
Do you enjoy learning language? Have you ever tried a different way of learning languages outside of the classroom, such as by using an app?0 -
Thank you @Tori_scope, I am quite good at picking up words when I am in Spain. I find the classroom harder. I like to translate Spanish news stories too.
My memory for English words is very unreliable, I get round this by learning lots of ways of saying the same thing. I think it makes me good at communicating in a foreign country where you can be creative, but very slow in a formal classroom where you are learning certain words and ways of saying something.0 -
Hi @Deem2021 and welcome! I don't have dyslexia but I love learning languages, mostly dead ones, but some living ones. I love the creativity of learning 'on the ground' too, it's so much more engaging than a formal classroom as you say.
From what I remember in school, I sometimes found the classroom atmosphere quite distracting, we had a lot of substitute teachers who couldn't handle my rowdy classmates. When tests came around, I remember feeling quite pressured to do well. I think the way languages are taught in school can be very formulaic. At university my experience was more positive, because I was directly applying my learning to other areas of study.
I do use Duolingo these days, I'm learning Greek and Welsh, but the lack of explanation on grammar is a bit frustrating. I have seen that you can look for in-person events to try out through the app, depending on how local they are to you of course. Might be worth a try?0
Categories
- All Categories
- 14.9K Start here and say hello!
- 7K Coffee lounge
- 81 Games den
- 1.7K People power
- 101 Announcements and information
- 23.3K Talk about life
- 5.5K Everyday life
- 273 Current affairs
- 2.3K Families and carers
- 856 Education and skills
- 1.9K Work
- 501 Money and bills
- 3.5K Housing and independent living
- 998 Transport and travel
- 683 Relationships
- 72 Sex and intimacy
- 1.4K Mental health and wellbeing
- 2.4K Talk about your impairment
- 857 Rare, invisible, and undiagnosed conditions
- 916 Neurological impairments and pain
- 2K Cerebral Palsy Network
- 1.2K Autism and neurodiversity
- 38K Talk about your benefits
- 5.8K Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- 19.2K PIP, DLA, ADP and AA
- 7.6K Universal Credit (UC)
- 5.4K Benefits and income