As I entered this class, I had (and still do have) a very broad interest in learning everything I can about Chinese culture. I was also a complete beginner when it came to language learning, so my focus in learning vocabulary has been fairly general as well. I am realizing that I may need to create a little more structure in my learning plan (especially on my own) to prepare for the project. At the same time, I have noticed that I have learned several words describing food or related details (for example, where a restaurant is located). My CET program also offers a class on Chinese Food, Culture, and Identity, which I am hoping to take next semester. When I searched for the relationship between Chinese food and language, I was surprised to find several articles on translating the names of different foods and how they relate to translation theory; I also found multiple articles on the history of food across time and region in China. I would like to complete a project on the ties between communication and food, either in terms of the evolution of language (one of my first lessons taught me that the word for “hotel” includes the character for wine because the past equivalent of hotels served wine to guests) or in terms of the relationship between food, travel, and different dialects or languages. I may need to do some more research on linguistic theory and teaching practice in order to understand this better – I plan to search some academic journals as well as online websites to accomplish this. I can also talk to my tutor about different words that feature or describe food. My project still requires some specification, but I believe it will take shape as I discover more resources and learn more about linguistics and the Chinese language.
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