WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:03.850 >> Mine is kind of embarrassing. 00:00:03.850 --> 00:00:04.850 [Laughter] 00:00:04.850 --> 00:00:06.660 >> I was in love with Take That, 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:09.770 which is like a boy band from Great Britain. 00:00:09.770 --> 00:00:14.270 So I first wanted to understand the lyrics, of course, 00:00:14.270 --> 00:00:16.720 and then I always wanted to meet them 00:00:16.720 --> 00:00:18.950 and actually be able to talk to them. 00:00:18.950 --> 00:00:22.240 So that was like my first step 00:00:22.240 --> 00:00:26.410 to actually learning the language. 00:00:26.410 --> 00:00:26.480 [Laughter] 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.300 >> Just like Anke's experience, I was completely in love 00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:31.980 with Mariah Carey's music and Whitney's music. 00:00:31.980 --> 00:00:35.420 And in addition to that I also still remember the very first 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:37.050 day of my middle school, 00:00:37.050 --> 00:00:40.780 and then I saw this Korean who was a teacher. 00:00:40.780 --> 00:00:42.880 And she started to speak different languages. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:45.570 And she was just like me, a Korean just like me, 00:00:45.570 --> 00:00:47.170 but she speaks different languages. 00:00:47.170 --> 00:00:49.770 That was huge motivator to me. 00:00:49.770 --> 00:00:50.850 I wanted to be like her. 00:00:50.850 --> 00:00:54.910 >> Okay. Well, that a role model that, 00:00:54.910 --> 00:00:55.880 you know, there's a person. 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:57.730 And that's something that people often say 00:00:57.730 --> 00:00:58.650 that in the United States 00:00:58.650 --> 00:01:03.720 that we don't have too many role models 00:01:03.720 --> 00:01:05.380 that can help motivate us. 00:01:05.380 --> 00:01:09.520 We don't have too many bilingual role models or multilingual 00:01:09.520 --> 00:01:11.370 or at least, you know, speakers 00:01:11.370 --> 00:01:14.920 of the other language to help motivate us. 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:17.000 And it was Elena. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.090 >> So I did have to take English 00:01:20.090 --> 00:01:21.460 in my elementary and high school. 00:01:21.460 --> 00:01:24.370 And I was pretty good. 00:01:24.370 --> 00:01:26.980 I took that as one more subject. 00:01:26.980 --> 00:01:31.820 It wasn't anything special, but then when I was 15 I guess, 00:01:31.820 --> 00:01:33.580 several foreigners came to our city, 00:01:33.580 --> 00:01:36.110 and in Russia we don't have 00:01:36.110 --> 00:01:37.740 as many foreigners as you can find here. 00:01:37.740 --> 00:01:41.170 So it was something special, and I could talk to them, 00:01:41.170 --> 00:01:43.040 and I could understand them, 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:46.130 and I could translate what they were saying to other people. 00:01:46.130 --> 00:01:49.010 That was-- that felt nice. 00:01:49.010 --> 00:01:52.570 And I thought well, maybe I should become an interpreter. 00:01:52.570 --> 00:01:53.910 Maybe I should know English better. 00:01:53.910 --> 00:01:56.270 Maybe I should learn more language just to be able 00:01:56.270 --> 00:01:59.670 to learn about people in countries. 00:01:59.670 --> 00:02:02.610 >>I used to have a student. 00:02:02.610 --> 00:02:04.120 He is learning Chinese, 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:08.070 and I was asking him why do you want to learn Chinese. 00:02:08.070 --> 00:02:12.030 And he didn't tell me exactly at the very beginning, 00:02:12.030 --> 00:02:13.460 but gradually I found 00:02:13.460 --> 00:02:16.950 out whenever the class is asking questions, 00:02:16.950 --> 00:02:18.540 he's asking question like, 00:02:18.540 --> 00:02:22.270 "How do you say your name is beautiful? 00:02:22.270 --> 00:02:25.880 How do you say can I dance with you?". 00:02:25.880 --> 00:02:29.920 And finally he told me that, "I'm dating with a girl 00:02:29.920 --> 00:02:34.120 in China, and I haven't met her yet. 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:36.280 We are talking with each other through internet and phone, 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:41.000 so I hope I can learn more so that I can talk to her." 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:44.000 And also he's a person who's really good at singing. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.090 And his way of learning Chinese is also interesting. 00:02:47.090 --> 00:02:52.690 He tries to put what he has learned in Chinese into a song. 00:02:52.690 --> 00:02:55.460 Well, also, so that he can sing the song to himself 00:02:55.460 --> 00:02:57.920 and more importantly to that girl. 00:02:57.920 --> 00:03:01.200 Well, he-- well, I have 00:03:01.200 --> 00:03:04.580 like around seven students in that class. 00:03:04.580 --> 00:03:06.960 He is really-- he is a really good one. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:10.440 People come to that class with different purpose. 00:03:10.440 --> 00:03:11.910 He might be different from others, 00:03:11.910 --> 00:03:13.830 and he uses his own ways. 00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:15.000 It really works for him. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:18.490 >> I'm TA'in with heritage speakers class. 00:03:18.490 --> 00:03:23.460 And well, some of them would take Russian in this case, 00:03:23.460 --> 00:03:25.780 just because they want to get a grade, 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:28.730 and they think it would easy for them to do that, because some 00:03:28.730 --> 00:03:31.040 of them have a lot of experience 00:03:31.040 --> 00:03:34.400 of speaking the language in their family. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:38.200 They may not be good at writing, but they are good at speaking. 00:03:38.200 --> 00:03:40.640 So for some of them, it is that. 00:03:40.640 --> 00:03:44.510 But many of them are not very confident speakers of Russian, 00:03:44.510 --> 00:03:46.700 so it's a hard class for them. 00:03:46.700 --> 00:03:51.320 But they often report that it's important for them 00:03:51.320 --> 00:03:52.640 to become close to their parents. 00:03:52.640 --> 00:03:54.890 Not only do they learn language, 00:03:54.890 --> 00:03:56.780 but they also learn culture in the class. 00:03:56.780 --> 00:03:59.510 So it's a very good class for them. 00:03:59.510 --> 00:04:04.100 And they also say that this class helps them to be-- 00:04:04.100 --> 00:04:06.520 to understand their parents better, 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:10.410 to find topics to discuss.