What about Foreign Languages?

A common assumption is that a foreign language will be required to participate in international volunteer or study abroad programs. Individuals, with disabilities that might affect foreign language learning, are often concerned this will limit their opportunities to go overseas. In reality, not all exchange programs require foreign language skills to qualify or to participate – even those that take place in non-English speaking countries.

The following stories discuss how students with different disabilities  succeeded in learning a new language, or participated in international experiences that did not require foreign language mastery.

Learning Disability

“When I found out I had dyslexia, people told me, ‘Oh you’ll never speak a foreign language.’ It was like I was doomed from the beginning,” remembers Kristin Faudree. She set out to prove them wrong. Faudree became fluent in Spanish after participating on four overseas programs and with encouragement from her father. Other people with language-based learning disabilities remember similar discouraging messages, and took the advice hoping to avoid frustrations.

Lisa Baum, who now advises college students on study abroad, commented that her parents never encouraged her to fight through learning a foreign language, or at least they urged her not to let herself be defined by the struggle to learn a new language. Baum received a foreign language exemption in college that enabled her to major in Jewish Studies without learning Hebrew. She also had a fulfilling study abroad experience in England that led her toward her career path today.

“Throughout my life, my learning disability has played a big role in the decisions that I make,” says Baum. “I needed study abroad programs with classes that were taught in English, and I felt most comfortable in an English speaking country. Unlike other students I knew, I probably wouldn’t pick up a foreign language just by being immersed in it – even for small talk and getting around the city.”

Exchange participants with learning disabilities interviewed by MIUSA noted that students with learning disabilities might take longer than other students to learn a foreign language. Those who had taken classes prior to going abroad found it took them at least a month to start feeling comfortable in the language.  Like students with other types of disabilities, however, students with learning disabilities are less likely than non-disabled students to take foreign language classes in high school (2005 National Transition Longitudinal Studies-2). Students with learning disabilities who started with no skills in the language of the host country felt that they relied on gestures and single words longer than their peers without learning disabilities.  Like other students, however, the longer they stayed or more often they went abroad, the more they improved their foreign language skills.

^{Photo Caption: Immersion in the host culture, whether living with a family or going independently to the local market, can be intimidating at first but can be very helpful for foreign language practice.}

A student's initiative and perseverance, and opportunities for immersion in the language, were important factors in successful language learning. “It took so long for me to learn German because I have a learning disability,” says Rebekah Elsen, who spent a year in a German high school as part of the U.S. Department of State-sponsored Congress-Bundestag Exchange Program. After three months in Germany, she saw other students with no prior German skills using the new language comfortably while it took her seven months to achieve a similar level. To improve, she watched television and movies in German with English subtitles and made a point to immerse herself each day at school. “Every time someone wanted to speak English with me, I was like ‘Nope. I don’t understand. I’m speaking German now.’”

Brennan Rhodes, who has dyslexia and studied abroad with International Studies Abroad in Barcelona, Spain, emphasized that living with a host family of native speakers boosted her acquisition of foreign language skills. “The homestay experience was the best thing I could have done because it allowed me to speak Spanish every day,” says Rhodes. “My [host mother] could only say ‘hi’ in English, so it challenged me to think about what to say and I really improved my Spanish.”

The majority of Youth for Understanding students, including those with and without learning disabilities, haven’t formerly studied the language prior to going abroad.

Youth for Understanding USA (YFU-USA), which sends several hundred high school students abroad each year, encourages students with learning disabilities to start studying foreign language books and tapes ahead of time and not wait until they arrive in the country, according to Kathryn Hanrahan, Admissions Counselor Specialist at YFU-USA. Hanrahan adds that the majority of YFU students, including those with and without learning disabilities, have not formerly studied the language prior to going abroad. “YFU orientation sessions offer students coping mechanisms, so that they do not shut the world out if they encounter difficulties with the language while abroad. We remind students during their program orientation that the language will be challenging when they arrive.”

Kristin Faudree attended a high school in Spain, through another youth exchange program run by NACEL/Open Doors. Faudree found that a helpful, patient host brother saved the day, in absence of any prearranged disability-related services or accommodations. “When I first got there I was so bad at Spanish that my host brother thought ‘I better help this girl’ and he talked very slowly. I guess you could look at his help as a form of tutoring. Once I was there long enough and feeling comfortable, I told my host family I had a learning disability. They were understanding and even more helpful than before. They had heard of learning disabilities but had never dealt with it directly.”

Some students found that other peers in the program were the most helpful. “My daughter, Katherine, stayed with a host family for a week, and her host mother told her to not bother speaking French,” says Alison Enslein. However, Katherine was placed with another student who had taken a higher level of French classes and helped Katherine out. “When I first arrived there, I kind of knew what to do because if she said one thing I could understand, then I could pretty much figure out what she was trying to say,” says Katherine.

Benefits

“I think going overseas makes foreign language learning real [for students with learning disabilities] in the way a classroom could never do. I hear my students say, ‘Oh, I really do use this!’ when they can hear an expression in actual use,” says Amy Pasterczyk, foreign language chair at Purnell, a school for girls with learning disabilities in New Jersey. For almost three decades, Purnell has been coordinating short exchanges with foreign language schools overseas, and Pasterczyk leads a group to France each year. Pasterczyk shares her tips for teaching foreign language to students with learning disabilities in the highlighted box at the end of this article.

While abroad, many students with learning disabilities lose their hesitation in speaking a foreign language.

Pasterczyk notes that, while abroad, many students with learning disabilities lose their hesitation in speaking a foreign language. Other students report also gaining confidence in their writing skills. “I was nervous because I have dysgraphia, a handwriting disability. But for some reason I had less problems writing the Japanese letters,” says Jonathon Kull, who studied in Japan. “For example, I have a harder time writing little angles such as in an ‘A’, but in Japanese the straight line can be a little curved and that’s alright. That was really cool that for the first time in my life I could write legibly in a language.”

Speech and Hearing Disabilities

Non-apparent conditions that affect hearing can impact the language learning process, and can also lead to misunderstandings in a new language environment. “Due to my hearing loss, my ability to understand [spoken] Portuguese developed more slowly than my ability to speak the language,” says David Dye, who studied abroad with Council for International Educational Exchange (CIEE) in Brazil. “During my first few months in Brazil, people would often assume that because I spoke well, I was just as good at understanding what they were saying. Wrong. I usually became confused when the other person responded. ‘¿Como? (What?)’ became an essential word in my vocabulary at the time.” Dye persevered, and by the end of the year, understood 90% of what was spoken in Portuguese.

Other hard of hearing students, to improve their lipreading, suggest taking foreign language classes or meeting people from the host country before going abroad.

Because Dye’s level of understanding decreases if he’s not watching the other person's lips, he had to educate people about what he needed to have a successful conversation. This included avoiding strong sunlight behind the person speaking, which makes it hard for Dye to see the shadowed face, or the person turning to and getting Dye’s attention before speaking, especially in a group setting with background noise. Other students who are hard of hearing to improve their lipreading, suggest taking foreign language classes or meeting people from the host country before going abroad to help in understanding foreign words or adjusting to English words with heavy accents spoken by people in the host country.

As Jonathon Kull’s example demonstrates, the impact of some types of disabilities may be less apparent when using a different language. On the other hand, some students in new language environments may find themselves considered to have speech disabilities that they don’t have at home. “In Paris, many students are identified onsite as having speech impediments – not with the English language but in French, because French has to be so technically articulated,” says Catharine Scruggs, CIEE Program Director for Western Europe. “In France these students would be considered to have a disability and would receive tutoring paid for by the government.” CIEE hires a speech instructor to give extra lessons to those students that have been identified as “speech impaired” and who want to perfect their French.

Brain Injuries

Some students with brain injuries have difficulties with language processing and memory. While these issues can impact the ease in learning a foreign language, they aren’t necessarily barriers to study abroad.

“With my particular disability, I have a really hard time grasping foreign languages. I have a hard time relating an English word that I know with certain syllables that I’m hearing in another language,” says Betsy Valnes, who has a brain injury. However, neither she nor Jennifer Marshall, another student with a brain injury, has let this issue stop them from participating in study and volunteer abroad, or other international exchanges. They have each traveled to other English speaking countries, and to non-English speaking countries to participate in programs taught in English. Both Valnes and Marshall coped in part by using gestures when communicating with local citizens and host families. “I communicated with two families I stayed with more through gestures than words. If something came up, then I relayed it to them in actions, for example, why I needed to go lay down. At no time did this cause a problem,” remembers Valnes, who has spent time in several countries including Belgium, Bosnia, and Israel.

However, as for people with other types of disabilities, foreign language learning is not out of reach for those with brain injuries, especially if using accessible approaches to learning the new language.

“My son, Gavin, was in a small adapted class for students with memory issues who are French language learners,” says Terese Shelton, whose son acquired a traumatic brain injury when he was fifteen. “The teachers worked with him to use multimodal strategies to learn to code language and memory. It means he has to use every sense available to him in a very creative way to learn language. Because he is musical, they take the conjugations and he puts them to music. Instead of writing essays in French, he’ll write poems or do presentations because he can move and engage many more senses.” As Gavin was studying French, explains Shelton, he researched the best technology available to individuals with memory impairments, and found effective uses for visual streaming on laptops to aid in foreign language learning.

^{Photo Caption: Many people around the world speak English in addition to their national or local languages, which can assist when communication in a foreign language falls short.}

Autism Spectrum

Individuals with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s Syndrome may find that they have specific talents in language learning. “The intellectual stimulation of learning a new language gives us a rare and precious opportunity to shine,” says Mary-Minn Sirag, who has autism and has obtained degrees in French, art and classical languages. “Many autists [people with autism] are superior at the categorical thinking and rote learning that mastery of foreign languages requires. Languages make for fun and productive special interests. They keep my brain occupied with something positive, and mentally invigorated.”

For overseas settings, Sirag suggests: “If you don’t know the language, write up a mini-phrasebook on index cards.  If your memory or auditory processing freezes on you, point to the phrase book and ask the person to write the response down. Most cultures are patient with and downright impressed [when foreign visitors] attempt to speak their language.” Sirag, who has traveled primarily in Europe and the Middle East, recommends having the phrases translated into the host country language, including:

• Could you speak a little more slowly or repeat yourself please?
• How do you get there?
• How much does it cost?
• Can I have the bill?
• Does this dish have any [allergenic ingredient] in it?
• What time do you open or close?
• How much does this cost?
• Which platform does my train come in on?
• When is the next train coming?

Joshua Chen, who has autism, learned Chinese when visiting China with his family. “He said he wanted to learn Chinese by himself.  I couldn’t find any classes, so we hired a college student who knew English to communicate with Joshua,” says Rachel Chen, Joshua’s mother. “It gave him a head start before getting into the Chinese class when we returned to the United States – otherwise he’d be behind.” Joshua took two years of Chinese in his U.S. high school and then a college Chinese class. “It’s hard for him to take tests, but he can communicate with some of the senior adults and they say ‘Oh wow, you can speak Chinese now.’ It has been a positive experience,” says Ms. Chen.

Summary

Study, volunteer and other exchange experiences abroad, are possible even if one does not have foreign language skills.  International opportunities are available in a variety of English speaking countries, and some programs are taught in English even in countries in which people speak other languages. There are also programs, particularly at the high school level, that don’t require knowledge of a foreign language to qualify, but provide the opportunity to learn the host language while abroad.

On the other hand, learning a foreign language is within reach for students with diverse disabilities. Exchange alumni with learning disabilities, brain injuries or other disabilities suggested that, while it sometimes took them longer to learn the language than students without disabilities, they improved their foreign language skills and gained confidence to speak and write in new languages.  Keys to their success included time and immersion in the new language, a program with the right kind of structure, teachers willing to use creative strategies and technologies, supportive host families and their own perseverance.

Tips to Help Adjust to Foreign Languages:

1. Learning a foreign language can be difficult. Each individual must decide whether the want to take on the challenge.
2. Studying abroad does not have to mean learning a new language. Plenty of options are available in English speaking countries.
3. Classes taught in English are also available in non-English speaking countries.
4. Patience plays a key role in learning a new language. The longer you stay the more your language skills have time to improve.
5. Use gestures when communicating with local citizens and host families to clarify and communicate.
6. Living with a host family means more time spent speaking the native language, and is very helpful
7. Studying foreign language books and tapes ahead of study abroad experience also increases language skills, and comfort with the new language.
8. Some students find that it is easier to learn a language abroad because it makes it real, and can increase confidence in common phrases.
9. Finding out what helps you as an individual and educating those you interact with will increase potential to get better at a new language.
10. Research adaptive technology options before you leave to find what are available to you in the host country language.
11. Keeping a phrase book with the following phrases translated and written down will help in situations where communication is key.
12. Don’t be afraid to talk to peers and host families for support and answers.