So far, I am very satisfied with my language learning process. I am learning at a faster pace than I had anticipated, and I feel like I have a better grasp of grammar than I didd during my previous foreign language learning endeavors. When I was learning French I often found it tempting to translate sentences word for word. However, this is a lot more difficult to do for Turkish because sentences are structured so differently from English, so I'm surprised about my ability to avoid "directly translating" sentences. I have become more comfortable using the Turkish workbook (which has no English) and have a couple of good websites to learn from. Quizlet has also been a useful resource, as flashcards seem to be an effective way for me to learn vocabulary. But Merve really is my best resource! She explains things very clearly, and if I have a question about the intricacies of Turkish grammar, pronunciation, etc., she is always there to help me out.
From class, I've learned about a lot of different resources that are available to me. I've looked up Turkish books available at the Global Studio, so hopefully after break I will get around to reading some children's books (and check off some of the goals I set in my language learning plan). Although I am learning a lot about Turkish language and culture, looking back at my language learning plan, my goal to go to a Turkish restaurant and order food there was a bit ambitious (practically this is difficult to do, as there aren't many Turkish restaurants in the area, and I have little time to go off campus). Other than my goal to order food in Turkish, I think I have touched on all the other tasks I have set out to do in my learning plan, so for the rest of the semester I hope to continue mastering these tasks.
I think language is a lens through which people can look through to experience/perceive a culture different from their own. I really liked learning about language families in class because it made me realize that all languages are interconnected and are more similar than different. Learning a language is an ambitious task, but breaking language down into its subsets (ex: phonetics) and manipulating its building blocks makes the process much less daunting.
Grammatical competence is greatly emphasized in my learning plan and Turkish studies. I also often practice sociolinguistic competence (speaking/listening to my language partner, writing, etc.). To better improve my strategic competence, learning how to express thoughts I do not know how to convey in Turkish through circumnavigation would be a very useful skill. I think my grammatical competence for writing is a lot more sound than for speaking, so in the future, I want to improve my pronunciation and speaking/listening skills by talking more with Merve, taking audio recordings, and challenging myself by listening to dialogues that are spoken at a faster, more natural pace. Although Merve is a great resource for learning about Turkish culture, I think it is difficult to fully understand the scope of Turkish culture without being in the country/being surrounded by more Turkish influences. I've looked at videos covering the Grand Bazaar, traveling Istanbul, Turkish music, etc. on YouTube, but I've barely covered the surface of Turkish culture.
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