I have been learning language even since before grade school, being surrounded by a vibrant Mexican and Dominican community. Early on, that would start with learning small words and phrases from the people I knew and TV, then it turned into class for
Read more…Figuring Foreigners Out and Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture attempt to explain how cultural values shape the way people think, act, and interact. Figuring Foreigners Out introduces a set of building blocks for understanding cultural differences, suc
Read more…In Aitchison’s diagram on the 9th page, linguistics is presented as a field enriched by multiple disciplines, which include psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, neurology, and others. Each perspective highlights a very different aspect of
Read more…Language Plan
Overall Goal
Schedule
Dail
Read more…I found Crystal’s “How the Brain Handles Language” and “How We Mean and How We Analyze Meaning” to be very interesting and informative on linguistics. I’m really curious to learn more about the connections between hand dominance and the two different
Read more…After reading Crystal’s “How the Brain Handles Language” and “How We Mean and How We Analyze Meaning” made me think about language in a way I hadn’t before. I always knew language was connected to the brain, but I didn’t realize how specific areas, l
Read more…Self-Directed Korean Learning Plan
Goal:
To reach a novice level in Korean, with the ability to speak, understand, and participate in basic
conversations (introductions, greetings, simple daily activities).
1. Structure & Schedule
● Daily Practice (3
In my previous experiences as a language learner, I would say that I enjoyed being able to speak and interact with the language the most. When I studied Italian, my tutor would use a lot of examples from cartoons like The Simpsons and Family Guy to h
Read more…I've jotted down my thoughts in a Google Doc, however, I was unsure how to upload the reflections. Hence, I shall post the monthly reflections as comments to this discussion post!
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February marks an important time for Malaysian Chinese culture, as it is the start of the Chinese calendar. To celebrate the beginning of the lunar calendar, we Malaysian Chinese people celebrate Chinese New Year. While this marks the 5th year I was
Read more…I was feeling sentimental about missing home, which was only exacerbated by returning back to classes after a short winter break in Malaysia. Hence, for my cultural post this month, I thought I’d explore an aspect of Malaysian culture that is undenia
Read more…The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Magen David or “Shield of David,” is one of the most widely recognized symbols of Judaism today. Its six-pointed shape—a hexagram made by overlapping two equilateral triangles—carries deep associations with J
Read more…I’ve become increasingly interested in the history behind the foods that have stayed on the table for generations. In addition to the ever popular bagel, another icon of Jewish/Yiddish culture is challah. It is served at Jewish celebrations and somet
Read more…The bagel, a now-mainstream common breakfast item, has its roots in centuries-old Jewish life in Eastern Europe. Far more than a brunch food or supermarket staple, the bagel began as a practical and symbolic cultural staple among Ashkenazi Jews, part
Read more…The yarmulke(Yiddish), or kippah(Hebrew) is a small cap mostly worn by Jewish men as a sign of reverence and acknowledgment of something greater than oneself. Learning more about it has helped me appreciate not just the object, but the quiet symbolis
Read more…At this point in my learning, I have accomplished my goal of learning the Yiddish alphabet. It was a little difficult to pick it back up since I took a break from it, but I was able to familiarize myself with it enough to read my vocabulary words in
Read more…At this point in my learning, I hope to successfully gain new vocabulary while maintaining older vocabulary. To retain what I’ve already learned, I try to review it every other day in my spare time, alongside my new vocabulary, since I’ve added both
Read more…In my previous blog post, I mentioned vocabulary lists that I had obtained from the live online lessons I found. I have gotten through about half of the vocabulary lists, which was about 2.5 pages. The vocabulary lists are not written in Yiddish, but
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