EVENT 9 – Warm-up activity – Metaphors about language learning

EVENT 9 Warm-up activity – Metaphors about language learning 

 

Writing a metaphor or simile about language learning 

 

For me... 

 

Speaking English is…

or 

Learning English is like...

What is learning English like for you?

Some Americans, Asians, and Hawaiians learning Portuguese as a foreign language in Hawaii (USA) see the experience as: 

“Learning Portuguese is like wanting the sun to come out on a cold day, sometimes it peaks out, but it is still hiding behind the clouds.”

“Learning Portuguese is like math, it is hard to learn but useful in life.”

“Learning Portuguese is the constant process of me trying to find a way to express myself and negotiate identity.”

“Speaking in Portuguese feels like I’m hiking a mountain. It can be long and difficult. Yet, the great views of a hike give the same feeling as learning the culture.”

“Speaking Portuguese feels like getting hit by a huge wave. You think it is all calm and you can float, but then a huge wave comes out of nowhere and takes you down.”

“Speaking Portuguese is like trying to finish a 500km marathon while being chased by a bull. The pace is incredibly fast and the bull never gets tired.”

“Speaking Portuguese is like a blind person doing a hike in the nighttime. The journey is difficult but worth it at the end.” 

*These metaphors were collected by me in a study of metaphors and narratives of language learning carried out at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2017. As the owner of this blog, I am the legal copyright holder of all the materials on it. This means that others can’t use it to publish or reprint it without my written consent.