I wasn’t able to start my language learning this semester. However, through this class I was able to gain a new understanding in language learning. It was fascinating to learn how our diaphragm, glottis, and tongue push or pull the airstream to make different obstructions. Knowing that an international phonetic alphabet (IPA) exists and how different phonetics are put together to make a word made me reflect on a deeper level how the sounds of Korean language are produced. Also, knowing that different types of morphemes that form a word could be examined as I tear apart words or phrases in Korean and see how they are formed. Since there are some phonetics that exist in Korean but not in English it might be difficult to pronounce certain words. One of my main goals of mastering Korean is to teach other people in the future to preserve the language from dying. In order to master the language my plan is to expand my vocabulary for my listening skills by watching historical documentaries. I also want to be able to read news articles written in Korean and be able to fully understand them. Lastly, I want to be able to write a formal essay or write in Korean.
One of the activities that I did during this course was reading and watching the “Tribes revives language on verge of extinction”. It was mentioned how hard it is to bring back a language or keep a language alive. Currently, there are 7,000 languages but in a century half will be gone and most will remain only as oral languages. 80 percent of the world’s population speak major languages which is only 84 languages. Also, there is always science bias that covers how we view things. For example, it is not credible that people living in an area do not know their own species. But there are people who declare new discovered species every year. Just like that linguists are key to knowing a language. I want to know more about how linguists preserve a language and keep it alive because I feel the danger of Korean language being extinct. There are about 0.84 birth rates in South Korea which is extremely low. It is predicted that the population will start to decline from 2029 and soon we will be extinct. Although the Korean language is widespread around the world, it is a language that is spoken in mixed languages. Bilinguals who speak Korean speak the language with a mix of their other language. Soon there won’t be any speakers who solely speak Korean. I want to be able to help preserve the Korean language in the future.
Another article I found that was very interesting is “how our brain handles language”. This article states how a single area of the brain can be related to a single behavioral ability. For example, if there is damage to broca’s area it reduces the ability to speak. If there is damage to the wernicke's area it results in a reduced ability to comprehend speech. A cool fact I learned was that it is actually the interaction between words and sentence structure that convey our “sense”. Words by itself does not make sense, which is why sentences exist to enable us to make sense of the words we use. From this fact, I reflected back when I was memorizing SAT vocabulary. I should have used the words in sentences instead of just memorizing the words by itself. This made me want to study about which method is best for students to study for topics they do not know.
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Hi Rachel! I loved reading your discussion post and I definitely think preserving Korean language is super important. You should read about the Jeju Island dialect and what people are doing to preserve it!