a) What insights have you gained about yourself as a language learner and cultural explorer? What did you find difficult? What have you enjoyed? How will you continue your learning?
(b) Which readings and learning activities did you find most useful? What would you like to learn more about?
a) When I started this class, I was hesitant about ever being able to speak Hindi confidently. For years, I had shied away from speaking the language out of fear of stumbling with words. Atul, my language partner, helped me a lot with overcoming this fear and I feel like I've come a long way with the language. I found that (no surprise here!) practicing a language with the right person makes you more confident about asking questions and failing, thereby improving. I discovered that I learn best by being able to ask a lot of questions, and my language partner gladly answered all of them. When I read over newspaper articles and came across words I didn't know, I didn't hesitate to stop and note them down and subsequently ask Atul what these words meant.
I also really enjoyed learning about other languages and cultures, through the SDLC 105 component of the class. The weekly class meetings, during which we discovered linguistics, origins of languages was fascinating. I liked the presentations too -- they gave me an insight on what it would be like to learn Korean, Turkish and Hebrew. Learning about other languages and cultures was probably my favorite part of both SDLC classes.
The most difficult part of the course was probably the sessions during which I focused on writing with Atul. After not having written Hindi for several years, this proved to be more challenging than conversation. The worksheets and newspaper articles helped a lot here. Something else that I enjoyed about the class was that the conversational part of the course was organic. We would sometimes sit outside the library or take a walk around campus and practice Hindi, which also made this part of the course very relaxing.
I plan to continue my learning in Hindi by speaking Hindi with my friends and family and by not shying away from making mistakes. To practice written Hindi, I hope to read newspapers and solve worksheets.
b) The readings I enjoyed the most were the readings by Crystal on how the brain processes language, and the video on Culture shock made by the university was wonderful. So many of the things said in that video were things that I experienced and felt during my time at UR. I think that this is something that should be made available to more international students through the OIE.
The articles about reviving dying tribal languages and if bilingual speakers are smarter was interesting as well. These articles helped shape my understanding of the nuances of languages. I also really enjoyed the slides in class during which we spoke about the origins of languages.
I’d have liked to explore other linguistics studies such as the one about the tribes in Africa and how used different words for several shades of color (which affects their perception of colors vs. people in Western countries).
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