My interview with Thaddeus Walker III was extremely interesting
to say the least. I learned so much about the hardships and also advantages in
learning English as a second language. Thaddeus is a native Yoruba speaker,
from Lagos, Nigeria. He was born and spent his early years in Nigeria until he
reached the age of 5. Thaddeus, his mother, and two older sisters followed
their father to the US, and he began public school immediately after. According
to Ortega, majority of children grow up speaking two or more languages instantaneously
just like Thaddeus had “bilingual acquisition” where he was learning Yoruba and
English during his early childhood (2011, Pg. 4). Although, Thaddeus struggled a
lot at first because of Nigerian accent, he quickly began to catch on and learn
more and more practicing at every chance he had. According to Lourdes Ortega, “…Newcomers
to their societies allegedly refuse to learn the language of the majority and
persist in settling for rudimentary survival language skills only, even after
decades of living in their new country.” (Ortega, 2011 Pg. 8) However, this was
not the case for Thaddeus, he embraced his new surroundings and took the new
language as an advantage in learning a new culture. The hardest part for
Thaddeus was his accent and learning to speak and write English. He stated, many
times he suffered because he was afraid to speak in public due to accent and
many not being able to understand him as well as respect him. I could see how
difficult it is for a child to use English during school and come home to
strictly speaking Yoruba. “Pre-existing knowledge of the mother tongue
influences interlanguage developing by accelerating or delaying the progress
learners make along the natural, developmental pathways”. (Ortega, 2011, Pg.
53) Often times he was made fun of and he often struggled writing papers in
English as well. Since Thaddeus has now been living in the United States for
over 10 years now he has learned the slang and American culture. Thaddeus is
currently a Senior at Texas State University for his BS in fine arts and
minoring in psychology. Though he stills speaks and continues to study his
native language Yoruba and culture Nigerian; he is very much connected to his
American side and second language English.
Click here to learn
more about Thaddeus Walker III. Hope you enjoy!
Ortega,
Lourdes. Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge, 2011. Print
