One of my most meaningful learning experiences came from my first French teacher. On the first day of class for absolute beginners, she stood at the door, said something in French, and walked out, leaving behind her a nebula of questions. The class’s puzzlement only started to dissipate when we turned to each other for explanation. Eventually, we found her in another classroom, smiling and inviting us (in French) to take a seat. During that simple exercise, she set the tone for the experience to come. Learning begins with confusion and curiosity, and full immersion naturally forces collaboration. Genuine understanding rarely comes from linguistic cues alone, but by putting together pieces from a larger context.

The quest for meaning is rooted within us. So is the language we use to ask questions. In language learning, however, both the object we are seeking and the means by which we are seeking it overlap. If learning starts by clearing the view from all that remains opaque, then liberating the mind from one’s own assumptions and presuppositions is a crucial step in the learning process and meaning-making.

I believe that foreign language learning provides this kind of training through paraphrase. Paraphrasing pushes for an important internal negotiation, a rehashing and rearranging of old materials to form new meanings. Montaigne, the skeptic French writer, famously compressed both the desire for knowledge and the method of acquiring it in one simple question: “Que sais-je ?” (“What do I know?”) Adopting the humble position of not knowing allows the learner to move forward under the guidance and supervision of the teacher. Moreover, by coming back to the same question frequently, by reflecting on the distance traveled, and by contemplating the road ahead, progress is made and the learner is rewarded with the empowerment to take the journey on their own.

New pedagogical technologies can be used to reinforce Montaigne’s “Que sais-je” technique. For example, e-portfolios promote reflection. Their metacognitive attribute that has been identified by numerous scholars in the field, as one of their main virtues. Combining e-portfolios with the particularities of language learning, we hit a sweet spot. E-portfolios become students’ companions to explore simultaneously both another culture, and their own learning minds. Students in French quickly realize their limitations. The “language barrier” is visible –only a few words and expressions away from them. My challenge as a teacher is to avoid giving them easy passes by answering their most frequently asked question: “Comment dit-on… ?” (“How do we say…?”) My goal is to help them sustain their interest in conquering new ground on their own, independently. For that reason, I ask them to paraphrase and reflect.

Beyond any linguistic competencies required to complete the class successfully, the abilities to paraphrase and reflect are the two skills I want my students to take away from my class. Herein lies the beauty of learning a new language. For not only does it trigger the mind to think anew, but also to think about how it does so. Learning a new language is an opportunity for self-discovery and self-realization, and I stand in front of my students as a living example of that.

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