[B-Greek] what does "internalizing" mean?

Jeffrey T. Requadt jeffreyrequadt_list at hotmail.com
Sun Aug 2 17:56:55 EDT 2009


I'm confused with regards to a few of the recent posts. Someone mentioned
that they had a hard enough time internalizing their own native language,
English.

What I'm confused about is that I thought "internalizing" a language means
that you can understand it and communicate in it proficiently. I.e., it's
impossible to NOT internalize a language if you are already fluent in it.
You have internalized it by becoming fluent. I don't feel like I need to
internalize English anymore, because I can talk (a lot) in it. My French, on
the other hand, is not at the same level of fluency, although I can speak
and understood when I am spoken to with a large degree of success. So I
would say that I have internalized English to a greater degree than French,
but I have internalized both of them to some degree.

But since I don't have much education in linguistics or SLA (although I do
have to help children learn English while teaching them math), perhaps I am
misunderstanding the technical aspects of the term. Thanks to those of you
who can clear it up for me.

 

Jeffrey T. Requadt

Dietz Elementary

(520) 731-4000

 

"I like to talk. I also like to think. Sometimes they go together." ~ Jeff
Requadt




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