I think, for the most part, my language partner and I have stayed on task about our learning plan. We have dedicated a good amount of time to reading academic and news articles in Persian. Upon reading those articles, we took the time to discuss the topic and analyze it closely. I was also able to take notes on what I read and write short reflections about the readings. Additionally, I have become more comfortable typing in Dari on the keyboard. We have also had some fun activities such as watching documentaries and interviews, reading poems and listening to songs in Persian. So overall, not much has changed about the structure of the class and our lessons.
However, I have incorporated some of the things that we have learned in the class room in my lessons with Zari. I have shared with her about phonetics and the importance of culture in learning a language. Additionally, we took the time to look at the root of languages, specifically the Persian language. The conversations that we had after watching movies, songs and documentaries in Persian has definitely made the class fun and enabled me to add additional words to my vocabulary.
Understanding the culture of Iran and Afghanistan is definitely a plus when learning the languages of these countries. Especially since the Dari dialect of Persian is different than the Farsi spoken in Iran, it’s essential to be familiar with the culture so you can communicate the language appropriately. An example of how language and culture intersect together is in the use of etiquette. When you see a person who is older than you, in Dari you have to change the form of you “tu” to “shuma”. While it’s not too big of a deal if Dari is not your native language, it can be seen as inappropriate by those from the culture. So having knowledge of this part of the culture is a significant help when having interpersonal communications with others from that culture. As Brown highlights, being aware of such scenarios helps with our communicative competence (specifically context-embedded), enabling us to convey and interpret messages meaningfully in its given contexts.
Additionally, in my language plan, there are other areas of competence that are emphasized. These include grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. In regards to grammatical competence, my language instructor and I review grammar structures in a sentence, semantics, and phonology. This area is important specifically when going between the two Dialects of Farsi and Dari. In regards to sociolinguistic competence, I feel more comfortable due to having an awareness and understanding of the sociocultural rules of the language. However, there is still room for improvement. The area that I would like to improve on is strategic competence because depending on what you are reading and discussing, you have to find the perfect balance between when and how to paraphrase appropriately. Overall, to grow in any language, you have to be aware of language competence so you are able to be mindful of the difference in dialects, cultural references, the use of vocabulary and how to manipulate certain structures.
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