Liz Biek - Ibcp Language Development Portfolio
Liz Biek - Ibcp Language Development Portfolio
Liz Biek - Ibcp Language Development Portfolio
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relates to, or reflects, the career-related studies of a student. Using language development as a
means of supporting the career-related studies of a student provides a way for the student to explore
how language is used in everyday situations. This exposure to ways of thinking and doing can
enhance the opportunities for a student after the completion of the IBCP. Furthermore, the use of
language development in support of career-related education directly relates to the IBCP aim of
providing “students with a basis for further study, work and leisure through the use of an additional
language”.
Students may choose to study Hong Kong has many language This is a (free) online program
one of the IB language courses tutor centres and private tutors that was recommended to us
currently offered at SIS via who specialise in language by the language teachers. Our
Pamoja the online learning provision at a time which suits one stipulation is that students
facility. The only restriction to you. If you choose this option, must select a language that is
this that it must not be one of you are likely to receive a not one they have already
the two IBDP programme tailored education and large taken. The good thing about
courses used to meet the CP improvements in your this program is that it monitors
requirements. This language language abilities but at an student performance and
course must be in addition to additional financial expense. provides a print out of their
that but, on a positive note, progress. Teachers can also
does not require final monitor progress in a
assessment of ability, simply virtual-classroom environment.
evidence of participation,
progress and completion of
this portfolio.
At SIS we offer IBDP language
courses in Chinese, French,
Spanish and Japanese.
All IB Career-related Programme (CP) students are required to maintain and complete this language
development portfolio. The language development portfolio demonstrates your ability, engagement
and evidence of language development, a component of the CP core. It is used to chart your progress
in developing language skills and intercultural experiences while providing an opportunity for you to
develop reflective practice.
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SECTION 1 ‘PROFILE’: Language Development Plan & Agreement
Prior to the commencement to your Language Development course you will need to have the document below
signed and dated by all 3 stakeholders. It is essential that you are aware of the importance of the Language
Development course as an independent area of study that must be completed to achieved the IBCP.
TASK 1: Once this is completed, please take a photo / scan the document (the app camscanner is very good for
this) and replace the image above with the completed document.
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SECTION 1 ‘PROFILE’: Self-Assessment of Language Proficiency
Task 2: Make comments on your self-assessment choices. How did you arrive at those decisions, what did you
base that decision on and how do you aim to improve?
I chose Phase 1 as my knowledge on the language as I had little to no prior experience with this language, other
than what I had learned from watching TV shows based in Norwegian. From there I spent a few hours every once
in a while to look at different words and sentence structure in the language, but still only having a very basic
understanding. I aim to improve by using duolingo frequently and re-practicing languages to ensure that I really
understand the vocabulary.
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SECTION 1 ‘PROFILE’: Language & Culture Questionnaire
Task 3: Please completely, thoroughly and honestly answer the following questions to build your language profile
and portfolio.
Background:
1. What language(s) do you currently use?
I am currently fluent in English.
2. What languages have you studied and to what extent can you communicate in those forms?
The languages which I have studied are Spanish, French, and Chinese, I took Spanish and French at a younger
age, but do not remember much from learning the languages. I am more fluent in Chinese, when compared to
Spanish and French, as I took it for my language GCSE.
3. What do you struggle most with when learning a language, even your native language?
When learning a language, I struggle the most with speaking, as I do not know if my pronunciation is correct.
4. What is your cultural background?
I am American and lived in Nashville, Tennessee till I was 11-years old, from there moving to Hong Kong. But I
also pay a lot of attention to pop culture, which has influenced the way I dress and act with other.
5. How have you learned about your culture? How do you continue to learn?
When I was younger, I mostly learned about my culture through school, but now I also learn about it through the
internet, as I believe that it is a necessity of any young adult born in the 21st century.
6. Who is your biggest cultural influence? Explain.
My biggest cultural influence is Tracey Emin, even though we don’t share the same nationality, the way that she
presents herself and her culture has persuaded me to look at certain situation from a different view point.
Additionally, she has been able to present herself in a raw natural way, which is something I want to be able to do.
7. Has your history with your language and/or your culture, influenced your career path in any way?
I personally do not believe that the history of my language has significantly influenced my career path, but I do
believe that the history of my culture has. It has always been ingrained in American culture that you work hard to
get the best, which has motivated me to work harder as it is something I have grown up with.
Language:
8. What language will you study in the IBCP Language Development core and why?
I will be studying Norwegian through Duolingo, as it is a language I find very interesting and have been wanting to
take it since I was in year 11.
9. How is this selection relevant to your career path and the future of your projected industry?
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This language is relevant to my career path as Norway is slowly becoming popular within the film industry.
Recently creating a 4 seasoned TV show “SKAM”, which was later recreated in Germany, France, Italy, and
America.
10. What challenges do you feel you may encounter in your language studies?
I believe that the challenges which I will encounter during the studying of Norwegian, is being able to speak the
language has this is my weakness when learning new languages. Additionally, remember the words and being
able to create a proper sentence, will also be a challenge.
11. How will you meet those challenges?
By continuing to practice through Duolingo.
12. Will you use your target language in the future? Why or why not?
I don’t believe I will as Norwegian is mostly spoken in Norway, which is not a location that I plan to go to for my
future career. But, I do enjoy the language, therefore I would continue to learn do to the enjoyment I get from
learning the language.
13. Why is language study important?
Language study is important as it is able to help strengthen the brain. Additionally, it gives the individual and
opportunity to learn about a new country and culture.
Culture:
14. Do you belong in more than one culture? Explain.
I am multicultural, as I have been brought up in an American and Chinese culture. Having family members that
are American and Chinese and learning the different culture normalities and traditions at a young age.
15. What languages are spoken in your culture?
Mostly English, as my family members are American or Chinese American.
16. What do you believe this the relationship between language and culture?
I believe that language can influence a culture and change how things are perceived in that culture, compared to
another.
17. Do you have friends or family from a different cultural background? How are they similar? How are they
different?
Being a part of a international school as given me the opportunity to become friends with those of different
cultures and nationalities. Nearly everyone I am friends with comes from a different cultural background, rather
it’s an Indian, Korean, Chinese, Scottish, Irish, etc. I have learned a lot about these different cultures through my
friends, which I don’t think I would have known if it wasn’t for them.
18. How have different cultural experiences affected you as a person? Be specific.
I believe that different cultural experiences has made me become more culturally aware, in addition has given my
the opportunity to celebrate different traditions.
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19. How do different cultures influence your projected industry?
It is able to bring new ideas to the table, by having people who think differently to what I am used to.
20. How can an industry be changed by entering a new emerging country and new culture?
By immersing an industry within a new country and culture, it gives the opportunities for different work styles or
in the case of the film industry, content.
SECTION 1 ‘PROFILE’: Language Development Goals Form
Task 4: After completing the Self-Assessment of Language Proficiency and the Language & Culture
Questionnaire, meet with your linguistic mentor to develop your Language Development Goals. These are based
on Language B objectives and are organized into four communicative processes – Oral Community, Visual
Interpretation, Reading Comprehension, and Writing. Students may also reference the three communicative
competencies – Receptive, Productive, and Interactive).
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to understand information, interpret, and engage with,
written text and to support his or her opinion with
personal response with evidence and examples from
the text.
Date Completed: October 11th, 2017
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SECTION 2: EXPERIENCES
The experiences section of this language portfolio allows you to document your journey in language development
and demonstrate that you have been actively engaged in language development. It should incorporate a variety of
reflections on the activities, tasks and assessments you have engaged in, your learning experiences, your
understanding of other cultures and your future goals with your chosen language.
This section of the language portfolio should be insightful, thoughtful and authentic. Its success relies on a good
understanding of the methods and benefits of reflection. The experience section requires you to document the
1-1 meetings with your linguistic mentor and write 5x termly reflections.
15/09/17 Reasons behind taking norwegian, Download app, up time that i spend
timeframe/timeline learning the language, 1 hour a week
13/10/17 How to achieve more points before end Download app, up time that i spend
of term. learning the language, aim to get to
450 points in two weeks.
a. What activities did you complete? Please be specific and include independent and class assignments.
By the end of this term, I was able to gain 929 xp points, which, helped further my learning and abilities to speak
the language. Additionally, by December I completed a total of 12 lessons that helped me develop my sentence
structure and understand more words.
b. Did you find additional resources to use? If so, please explain their relevance to your language
development.
From this language development, I’ve learned that I’m able to learn patterns easily, for example, duolingo doesn’t
explain how the sentence should be structured, therefore, after getting the questions incorrected two or three
times I was able to figure out how the sentence was meant to be structured. An example of this is in Norwegian,
if i want to say: “I don’t like him” if I used the English sentence structure I would say: “Jeg ikke liker ham”,
however, the correct answer would be “Jeg liker ikke ham”.
d. Discuss ways the new information learned impacts you as a student or you in your future career.
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By learning this new information, I have been able to have small conversations with a student in my year who
speaks Norwegian. In addition, this helps further develop my oral skills as I know when learning a new language
the aspect I struggle with the most is speaking. Furthermore, if I watch anything in Norwegian or if I read
something Norwegian, I’m able to pick up some of the things that are being said or written.
e. What challenges have you faced thus far and how did you overcome them?
My biggest challenges were staying consistent with the language and learning plurals, definite plurals, verb
present tense.
f. How are you feeling about your progress towards the language development goals you set in the fall?
I believe that I haven’t developed the language as much as I originally wanted to, this was due to a busy schedule
making it harder to constantly prioritise the language. However, by the end of term I achieved higher than the
minimum XP we were meant to be at.
My Log Book
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09/11/17 Activity: Strengthening vocabulary, finishing
the last two lessons for animals. Downloaded
app on phone.
Duration: 1 hour
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08/12/17 Activity: Finished def. Plur., V: Presents,
Counting, and Location. Total of 929 xp.
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12/01/18 Activity: strengthening skills + starting lesson
for possessives
h. R eflect on the similarities and differences between the language that you are studying and any other that
you have learnt or your mother-tongue (eg word order, tenses, adjectival agreements, gender).
As previously mentioned, the sentence structure for Norwegian is different compared to English, this has been a
challenge as Duolingo doesn’t specify how the sentence is meant to be structured till after you’ve gotten the
question incorrect.
I try to think of how the word would be spelled based off of how it sounds, additionally, repeating the quiz so I can
memorise the vocabulary than develop my understanding.
I haven’t learned much about Norway’s culture through duolingo however, I have been watching a TV series in
Norway called Skam, which, helped me learn more about their culture. For example, I learned about how they
celebrate holidays, more specifically Norwegian Constitution Day, additionally, how their educational system
works.
a. What activities did you complete? Please be specific and include independent and class assignments.
The lessons I completed over the second term of school is: clothing, that/those, direction, prep., adjectives, and
colors. I spend a majority of my time on Duolingo relearning certain lessons to ensure I don’t forget what I was
taught.
b. Did you find additional resources to use? If so, please explain their relevance to your language
development.
I’ve learned that even after a long time of not practicing the language my brain can still remember the meanings
for words that I have learned. In addition, developing my understanding of certain lessons that I had originally
struggled with.
d. Discuss ways the new information learned impacts you as a student or you in your future career.
I believe even though Norwegian isn’t a very popular language it is still really intriguing and interesting to practice
a different language that contrasts a lot to your fluent language. It is also an interesting conversation starter as
you may meet people through knowing the language.
e. What challenges have you faced thus far and how did you overcome them?
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Staying on top of learning a language was a challenge at the beginning of the year and once we had returned to
school from Christmas break.
f. How are you feeling about your progress towards the language development goals you set in the fall?
I’m really proud on how much I have learned and I feel as though I’m starting to really understand the language. I
still have certain challenges within the language like plurals, possessive, and prepositions, however, I am starting
to find questions relating to those lessons easier to answer. I am also able to say certain things to people who
speak Norwegian and they understand what I am saying, for example I say: “Det regner mann” which means “It’s
raining men”. In addition, I can start reading things in Norwegian, for example if I look something up on Google in
Norwegian I can pick up on certain things that have been written.
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21/01/18 Activity: strengthening skills +finished lesson for
possessives
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13/03/18 Activity: redo previous lessons + got 1,600 xp
h. R eflect on the similarities and differences between the language that you are studying and any other that
you have learnt or your mother-tongue (eg word order, tenses, adjectival agreements, gender).
Before taking Norwegian I was learning Chinese for GCSEs, comparing Norwegian to Chinese, I would say that
Chinese was much harder as it was completely different from English. However, Norwegian and English still have
similarities as English stems from a variety of scandinavian languages.
Just staying on top of finishing lessons on Duolingo, plus, relearning certain lessons if I feel as though I am
starting to forget things taught in that lesson.
This term I don’t think I have learned that much about Norwegian culture, as I didn’t focus on my language
development as much this term as I did last term. However, next term I want to learn more about how Norway’s
culture contrasts to my mix of Western and Asian culture.
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April - June YEAR 12
a. What activities did you complete? Please be specific and include independent and class assignments.
I completed all of the lessons at a basic level, as I took a unit test that had me apply all the knowledge I know
about the language. Having a total of 3,643 xp by the end of term, due to taking a third out of the 4,090 xp I had
gotten from the unit test.
b. Did you find additional resources to use? If so, please explain their relevance to your language
development.
From this language development, I am learning more about my capabilities to learning a new language.
d. Discuss ways the new information learned impacts you as a student or you in your future career.
Norwegian isn’t a common language, but there are some popular TV shows and films that have become popular
worldwide and are from Norway. As film is something I want to do for my career, this is a possible location to
where I can take part in film.
e. What challenges have you faced thus far and how did you overcome them?
A challenge that has been consistent throughout the whole process is just remember the different phrases and
words. Though I haven’t complete overcome this, I continue to practice to widen my vocabulary.
f. How are you feeling about your progress towards the language development goals you set in the fall?
I believe that I have been able to work my way up to my goal, as it is to become partially fluent in the language.
And due to practice, I have been able to work out certain sentences and phrases when listening or reading the
language.
N/A
h. R eflect on the similarities and differences between the language that you are studying and any other that
you have learnt or your mother-tongue (eg word order, tenses, adjectival agreements, gender).
After a year of taking the language, I have learnt that both English and Norwegian have relation to each other has
English stems from scandinavian language and Norwegian is a scandinavian language. There are cognitives
within Norwegian and English, for example: fisk = fish,
Just continuously practicing the language and finding the words in different context to help me further
understand the language as a whole.
I haven’t learnt new things about the culture, since the previous term reflection.
a. What activities did you complete? Please be specific and include independent and class assignments.
b. Did you find additional resources to use? If so, please explain their relevance to your language
development.
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From my language development I learned that I really enjoy learning languages from TV shows and movies that I
really like and this further motivates me to study the language.
d. Discuss ways the new information learned impacts you as a student or you in your future career.
I don’t believe that it fully impacts my career specifically, but I believe that any career I decide to go into, this
motivation to learn new things will help a lot, as it shows that I’m someone who is willing to try new things and
push myself to teach myself.
e. What challenges have you faced thus far and how did you overcome them?
I think just staying on top of learning these languages, as I have work from other classes so I’ll prioritise that
above this. But I used the time I spend transporting from home to school and vice versa to spend time doing
duolingo.
f. How are you feeling about your progress towards the language development goals you set in the fall?
I’m very proud of my progress as by the end of this term I was able to achieve 4,500 xp, which is the needed xp to
pass. Additionally, I believe I have learned more about my languages.
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27/08/18 Completed Level 1 of Religion, Level 2 Def. Plur., and one
lesson in clothing.
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20/10/18 Finished the first level of Italian Basics 2
h. R eflect on the similarities and differences between the language that you are studying and any other that
you have learnt or your mother-tongue (eg word order, tenses, adjectival agreements, gender).
I have not learned any differences or similarities since the last reflection.
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Constantly repeating the lesson until I feel like I am confident to know it by heart.
As I have decided to take up two languages - Norwegian and Italian, I have spent this term learning more about
Italian culture, as opposed to Norwegian. What I have learned about the Italian language is that there are many
dialects that are spoken throughout Italy, however the most common being the Tuscan dialect (of Latin).
a. What activities did you complete? Please be specific and include independent and class assignments.
For this term, I completed level 0 of Food 2, not as much was completed this term as I had already received the
amount of XP I needed. Therefore, I just referred to duolingo every once in a while to refresh my memory on
Italian and Norwegian.
b. Did you find additional resources to use? If so, please explain their relevance to your language
development.
No I did not.
I’m learning more about the similarities between Italian and English and how most countries have similar cultures
to a certain extent.
d. Discuss ways the new information learned impacts you as a student or you in your future career.
I believe that by constantly learning new languages, it forces me to engage more into other cultures, rather than
just my own. This makes me culturally aware and inclusive of others.
e. What challenges have you faced thus far and how did you overcome them?
Similar to my last reflection, my biggest struggle has been staying updated with my duolingo, as I have gained all
the XP that is required, I didn’t prioritise it as much.
f. How are you feeling about your progress towards the language development goals you set in the fall?
I believe that the goals I set in the fall have become almost a reality, as I have really developed my knowledge on
Norwegian and even decided to take up Italian. If I was to redo this task, I think I would focus a lot more on trying
to stay consistent with my practicing as I would sometimes go a few weeks without developing my knowledge on
Norwegian. Additionally, I wish I had spent more time on my oral, as I would normally practice during my traveling
to and from school. Therefore, I would skip the speaking section of duolingo. Overall, I have really developed my
skills in Norwegian, compared to when I first started taking the lessons.
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21/02/19 Completed Level 0 of Food 2 in
Italian
h. R eflect on the similarities and differences between the language that you are studying and any other that
you have learnt or your mother-tongue (eg word order, tenses, adjectival agreements, gender).
To learn new words, I tried to find similarities in my language with Italian, this made it much easier to remember
my vocabulary. For example, to say steak in Italian, you say bistecca, the “stecca” sounds very similar to steak,
which makes it easier to remember. A difference between English and Italian is that English focuses a lot more
on subject, verb, then object as the sentence structure, but this varies for Italian, example the adjective following
the noun, which is not common in English.
As I had previously mentioned, I learned my vocabulary by relating words in Italian to words in English.
What I have learned from Italian culture is that the earliest Italian-language text is over 1,000 years old.
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Section 3: Evidence
The evidence section of the language portfolio requires you to document your work and achievements in
language development.
You should create a log book in this section of your language portfolio to record what they have collected, and
when. You should also identify the pieces of evidence associated with your reflection. This could be done using
the software below, alternatively you could also use ‘Evidencer’ through the VLE.
You are encouraged to keep examples of your work in their language portfolio as a reminder of the activities you
have engaged in, as well as evidence of engagement with language development.
The evidence collected also shows how you have developed your language skills. Evidence could include, but is
not limited to, examples of tasks and assessments, letters, emails, certificates and letters of acknowledgment.
My Log Book
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09/11/17 Activity: Strengthening vocabulary, finishing
the last two lessons for animals. Downloaded
app on phone.
Duration: 1 hour
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08/12/17 Activity: Finished def. Plur., V: Presents,
Counting, and Location. Total of 929 xp.
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12/01/18 Activity: strengthening skills + starting lesson
for possessives
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13/03/18 Activity: redo previous lessons + got 1,600 xp
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23/04/18 Activity: I decided to really try and test myself
by doing one of the shortcuts, after 5-6 tries I
got through the whole test.
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17/08/18 Completed level 2 of Food
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20/10/18 Finished the first level of Italian Basics 2
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21/02/19 Completed Level 0 of Food 2 in Italian
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Section 4: Links to Career-Related Study
Written in your chosen language, how does language have an impact on your area of career-related study.
Consider the following:
- Globalisation
- Cultural Diversity
- Inclusion
Write a 750 word report explaining the impacts in detail.
Languages are significant part of any individual's culture, as it is able to shape the person and impact their norms
and beliefs. By learning different languages, I am able to become more culturally intelligent as I’m learning more
about other’s living styles. This is able to influence my culture, as I focused mostly on Norwegian, but also took
Italian. My original reasoning for beginning these languages is due to them being used in TV shows and films that
I enjoyed. For Norwegian, there is a Norwegian based TV show called “Skam”, that focuses on the lives of
different teenagers in Norway. As it is based in Norway, the language they speak throughout the shows is
Norwegian. Though I have proficient reading skills in English, I was motivated to try and learn the language as I
wanted to understand some of the phrases without having to constantly reading the subtitles. As for Italian, I was
inspired to take this by the film “Call Me By Your Name”, I was mostly inspired by the culture in Italy and how the
language was able to influence the film. I began this language near the end of my learning, sticking with
Norwegian for a majority of the 2 years.
Film is an industry that I am passionate about going into when I get older, as there are so many creative ways to
tell a story that engages and inspires people. I believe that by opening myself up to new languages, I give myself
the opportunity to become more creative. This is due to learning more about other cultures, rather than my own
and as an American, I believe that there are so many chances to teach about other cultures through film. This is
true to me as I have been inspired through other cultures being represented in TV and Film, learning more about
the language, norms, and different beliefs. Not only does learning a new language promote creativity, but it also
provokes inclusion and communication. These are two very significant aspects in the film industry, as both are
able to advance my contacts with those in film. Learning Norwegian and Italian gives me a topic to talk about,
being able to relate to people that either speak these languages or originate from Norway or Italy. This makes
others feel more included as they have relations to someone who has experience in their culture. Additionally,
through this course I have needed to research about the cultures, therefore giving me things to ask about when I
meet those a part of the culture. It is also able to broaden my communication skills because I am able to create
basic sentences that can help me in the future. This is important as film is an industry that is done internationally,
meaning there may be clients or sets that consist of people who don’t speak fluent English.
If I was to continue with these languages this would give me an advantage above others as 20%1 of those in the
US speak more than one language. By learning either Norwegian, Italian, or both fluently, I am able to show to
those I am employed by that I can speak an additional language that can be useful in the future. More things that
I have learned since beginning these languages, is the similarities and differences. For example, English and
Norwegian are similar as both are Germanic languages, the difference is English is a part of the West Germanic
language (this also includes German, Dutch, and Yiddish), whilst Norwegian is a part of the North Germanic
language. This explains why there are similarities in the sentence structure, Norwegian = subject, verb, object,
English = subject, verb, object. And there are also similar words, such as bread (EN) and brød (NW), or cat (EN)
and katt (NW). This is not entirely true for Italian, however, many words that are included in English and Italian
that relate derive from Latin.
1
LanguageLine Solutions Team. “Census: More than 20 Percent of U.S. Residents Speak a Language Other than
English at Home.” L
anguageLine Blog, blog.languageline.com/limited-english-proficient-census.
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Overall, I believe that this is very beneficial as I am given the opportunity to develop an open mind towards other
cultures. It also gives me the chance to create a more creative mindset towards film and introduce different
aspects from other languages and norms, that can be engaging for an audience. Finally, it develops my
communication skills as I am teaching myself different languages, how to explain certain things in that language,
sentence structure, etc.
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