Over the past two weeks, I have continued to focus on terms for physiology/anatomy and associated verbs and actions, with a particular emphasis on the latter. It is interesting how many cultural insights studying this alone can yield; for instance, the Malay word for 'sun' is matahari, which means 'eyes of the day.' There are plenty of songs and other fun and interactive ways to learn about badan kita ('body parts'), so it has certainly been an enjoyable lesson topic.
That being said, I have certainly spent the most time on what is essentially storytelling in Malay and determining how to effectively structure narratives with connectors and using the proper affixes and tense indicators. This has been a really great way of integrating vocabulary from last semester or earlier this semester to make sure I am using them correctly. In addition to the conjunctions and other connectors I am accustomed to using -- dan, atau, sambil, kerana, lalu ('and,' 'or,' 'while,' 'because,' and 'as a result', respectively) -- I have also been using sequence words such as pertana sekali, kemudian, seterusnya, and akhir sakali ('firstly', 'then', 'following this', and 'lastly'). This has been a way of practicing using affixes on kata nama, kerja, and adjektif (nouns, verbs, and adjectives). Within these paragraphs, I have written about exercise routines, quarantine habits, and describing my thesis defense. Melisa has helped make sure that my sentences are logical, structured correctly, and sound right, which can certainly be difficult to gauge on your own sometimes if you are not an L1 speaker. This has been a different approach to learning Malay that I think has been a nice change of pace. While most of the focus is on writing, I still get to practice pronunciation by reading it aloud and talking my ideas through with Melisa. We have also been watching videos about common and useful phrases in Malay because this is a chance to familiarize myself completely with things that I might often hear on the street as well as a time to listen to different pronunciation and regional dialects in the country.
It is almost difficult to imagine that I will be graduating in several weeks, and that this is my second-to-last bi-weekly language learning journal. I have made great strides in my Malay language learning in this semester in particular, and I think it has been very useful and worthwhile to reflect and expand upon my past methodologies to see what and where I can improve. Spending so much time at home during the quarantine begs the question of how to stay motivated and on-task in so many things we do, and independent language study is certainly one of them. That said, this is also something I have now had a decent amount of practice doing and I know what works and what does not work for me individually, which can also help me self-study Chinese moving forward as well. Whether it is children's books, speeches, TV shows, music videos, or something else entirely, there are certain mediums that are tried and true that I know can help me make progress and stay interested.
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