Modern Turkish is, not surprisingly, part of the Turkic language family tree, derived from Proto-Turkic, which is actually part of the Altaic family! That surprised me a lot because I never would’ve guessed Korean and Japanese came from the same fami
Read more…Posted on PanOpto: "To be honest, I think I've been lagging behind in terms of my goals. I am obviously learning Turkish (I can see improvement in comprehension and reading, speaking, and writing abilities) but I haven't kept up with the tasks I set
Read more…The phonetic inventory of Turkish, while in some respects similar to English, is best described as a vowel harmony. I’ve mentioned it before, but vowel harmony means vowels are either front (i, e, ö, and ü) or back (ı, a, o, and u), and rounded (ö, ü
Read more…I think what interests me most about Turkish culture is its history. As a prospective history/Global Studies: Middle East major, this makes sense, but I also just enjoy learning about it because there is so much to learn about in the Anatolian/former
Read more…One significant difference between Turkish and English is sentence structure, or syntax. In English, we structure sentences in a pretty strict Subject-Verb-Object order, whereas the Turkish structure is Subject-Object-Verb. Another interesting differ
Read more…“Figuring Foreigners Out” and Hofstede’s Dimensions identify the several spectrums that define cultures and help people compare them. They both talk about values that differentiate cultures, like individualism versus collectivism and nonverbal commu
Read more…After listening to other’s learning plans, I realized I was probably biting off more than I could chew in terms of the tasks I wanted to undertake. I think staring off with simpler tasks to acclimate myself with Turkish will probably be the best rout
Read more…I took AP and IB Psych in high school, so these readings were a good refresher for me, especially when learning about language. Although I had this background, I think it was valuable to have this reading because I learned new things about how/where
Read more…The article about the function of our brain is a really interesting topic for me. I always hear people saying cerebral localization which means that each area of the brain to respond to a single behavioral ability. However, I have never known what th
Read more…I think the most important and motivating aspect of learning a new language is realizing how many doors open up to you. English may be one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, which makes it easier on native speakers like me, but there’s
Read more…Looking back, I did not follow my Quechua learning plan as close as possible, but rather modified my lessons to include what was most culturally relevant after discussions with my language partner.
Read more…I decided to include this artifact because it is one of my favorite Quechua songs, Munasquechay. The word, munasquechay, means “my loved one” and the theme of the song focuses on finally finding your loved one. It is one of my favorite songs because
Read more…This artifact is one of my favorite Bolivian drinks because of when my family would make it. Usually, in the U.S., it is very difficult to get access to the base ingredient used to make this drink, which is purple maize. In northern Virginia, you mus
Read more…This artifact has its own section in Bolivian markets and is also worn by vendors. During the winter, people wear hats that cover their ears and are made of alpaca fur. Similar to the word, aguayo, I had always thought this word was Spanish, but I le
Read more…Quechua people have a tool for raising children. When I was growing up in Bolivia, in the countryside, I would notice that many women used colorful blankets in which they would wrap their younger child and carry them on their backs. This tradition ha
Read more…For our last class, my language partner and I review most of our past lessons. We facetimed again for this lesson and after the beginning quiz portion, we review how to form sentences. I think that this is something I will work on more later on becau
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