At the beginning of the semester I set myself clear but yet realistic goals. I wanted to improve my writing skills and enrich my vocabulary in German. I am learning and improving German for years now, I lived in Germany as a little child and I studied abroad in Germany, yet I still have to practice it every day. It is very easy to forget a language. By that I mean, speaking and writing the language. Certainly, I do not really have problems understanding, but when it comes to speaking and writing, namely expressing myself, I am aware of my lack of vocabulary.

I have been a language learner and cultural explorer since I was born. Growing up in Germany in a Bosnian family forced me to learn two languages simultaneously. Because I did not attend kindergarten nor school in Germany and I spoke only Bosnian to my family at home, my Bosnian excelled while my German stagnated. Ever since my family moved back to Bosnia I had the task to keep my German alive. At the same time I wanted to keep improving my German skills and go from “baby” to academic language. And I have done that by taking German classes and learning by myself. During this semester I learned more about the ways a language can be learned and the methods that work the best for me personally.By reading all the assigned articles I understood the concept of processing words and learning grammar. I also learned how we give a meaning to a word and sentence. Least but not last, I understood the significance and the benefits of speaking more than one language when learning a new one. For example, I never realized the influence English has on my German skills and vice versa. Now that I know that English and German belong to the same language group - Germanic languages, I always try to relate those two languages and their rules when inquiring new words. Learning more about the German culture enabled me to understand culture and tradition related words, which do not have a translation into Bosnian, English or other languages. Additionally, I found it useful to learn about the history of the German language, because I have never bother to learn it before, and knowing it gives more sense to the current German sentence structure and vocabulary.

I used different techniques to improve my German language skills. I mostly enjoyed watching German shows and listening to podcasts and writing summaries and reflection papers after that. That helped me to learn new words from context, using new vocabulary and rephrasing content in my own words. Moreover, it helped me practice indirect speech, which I always had trouble with. I did not really have difficulties in learning new nouns. I just made sure that I would actually use them and make sense of their meaning. The difficult part was learning new irregular verbs, because I had to learn the infinite tense as well as the other tenses. Praeteritum was the most difficult tense for me to learn, because it is rather used in written text than in speech.

Overall, I found all the articles that we were assigned very interesting. They gave me a better insight into the learning process and how languages function. I mostly enjoyed the “Communicative Competence” chapter and the  “Are bilinguals really smarter” article, because they directly reflected on my learning habits and unconscious learning methods.

During this year I tried to read books, scientific papers and news articles in German. I do not really have a problem understanding the context of any written work, because I have a rich vocabulary. However  if the unknown word is the key word in a sentence, or even a paragraph, I try to guess its meaning, but sometimes I have to look up the word in a dictionary. I do try to use a monolingual dictionary, because I found it more useful to be able to explain a word in the same language, rather than associate it with a word in another language. In fact, bilingual dictionaries are useful for being able to translate text from one language into another. Monolingual dictionary sometimes provides synonyms and antonyms as well, which I find useful in my own writings. When it comes to writing, I still struggle with indirect speech, in particular using Konjunktiv, because it is not used that often in daily life. Furthermore, I sometimes make mistakes using the Praeteritum Tense for irregular verbs, because it is not as often used as the Perfect Tense. Basically, one has to learn all verbs and the way they change in praeteritum by heart. There is no trick, which makes it hard. I also need to improve my punctuation. It is especially hard, because the punctuation in German is different than the punctuation in English and Bosnian. Other than that, I think that my writing is good, but I do have to improve my writing style, because I tend to use informal or less scholarly language.

I was thinking about how to teach someone something in German or about the German language. I noticed that many people struggle with identifying the gender of German nouns. Although one would think that you can only learn the genders by heart, for some groups of nouns there are some consistent rules. Thus, I would teach tips and tricks about identifying the right article of a noun (der,die,das). These indicators are related to the beginning or ending of a noun. Below I will list some examples:

If the noun ends with -el, -ismums, -er ..., we can say with certainty that the gender is masculine (der Onkel, der Rassismus, der Vater).

If the noun ends with -heit -ie -schaft ..., we can say with certainty that the gender is feminine (die Freiheit, die Magie, die Manschaft).

If the noun ends with -chen, -lein ..., we can say with certainty that the gender is neutral (das Maedchen, das Buechlein).

There are also other rules. For example: dates and days are masculine. 

When I saw the title of the first readings “Why Bilinguals Are Smarter” I first felt proud and delighted. I am in fact speaking more than one language and I cannot say that I did not feel flattered. However, after a second thought and before even looking at the second reading I had the same question in my mind what the other title questioned: "Are bilinguals really smarter?"

In fact, being bilingual has great practical benefits. It lets us communicate with a wider range of people and it also eases the learning of new languages. According to research, however, speaking more than one language affects cognitive processes as well. Apparently, the second language behaves as an interference, but it enables the brain to solve internal conflicts, which strengthens the cognitive muscles. Researchers have done several experiments in the recent years that showed that bilinguals have less problems to stay focused, switch attention and ignore distraction. Since bilinguals have to switch languages quite often they tend to be better at monitoring the environment. But does that really mean that speaking more than one language makes a smarter? Is our intelligence measured by the amount of languages we speak? Other scientists argue that it is the executive function that seems to be more developed in bilinguals. The executive function is a system that helps the brain to access certain memories when prompted. What I found interesting is the fact that we do not really mix languages. When I think about the languages I speak it is true that when I speak one language I do not mix up words or the sentence order with words and sentence structure from other languages. True, sometimes I cannot remember a certain word in one language, but I am able to fill in the gap with a word from another language. Scientists argue that for each language we lean we develop a lexicon which tells our brain how to use the word. Thus, the true relation between language and intelligence is unclear, but one cannot deny that languages improve cognitive processes and that beyond all the science of brain functioning, knowing languages makes us global citizens.  

We all have probably heard about “dead” languages - languages that used to exists, but are not spoken anymore. This usually happens due to the influence of other languages that are spoken by a wider range of people and due to the globalization of the world. Tribe languages seem to be on the edge of existence, because of the popularity of the primary language in a country. For example, English has pushed many languages to the brink. Although other countries and national languages have been resistant to the “English revolution”, languages spoken by a smaller group of people within an English speaking country have been vanishing. That happened to the Siletz language in the States. There were less and less people who spoke Siletz and it almost disappeared. Luckily, those that spoke the language found a way to maintain it. One tribe member worked on a dictionary for Siletz  in order to create a record of the language. That enabled other tribe members to practice it, but also enabled them to spread of the language to other countries and waken the interest in learning it. But what if they did not do it, if the language died. We would have not only lost the language, its vocabulary and grammar, but also a part of language history and history in general. For example, Latin is also a dead language that is not spoken, but has been maintained in script. Today it allows us to trace back the roots of modern European languages and find the connection between them.

Since I have a solid everyday vocabulary in German, I focused my studies on academic, historic, and scientific lexicon. I cannot tell in exact numbers, but I have learned on average twenty new words every week. I found several good websites that provide vocabulary on specific topics. I chose the topics randomly. I also did not learn the words in any order, because my level of German is high enough that I already know patterns in words. I would always create a quiz for myself and try to solve it before actually looking at the meaning of the particular words. After my first attempt I would check which words I got right, purely based on word roots, prefixes, suffixes and similar. Then I would go over the words and actually learn their meanings. I would check myself again. Then I would try to do the quiz, but now explaining the words in German and giving examples of their usage. I would do a quiz every week and after about three weeks, I would check myself on words that I have learned earlier and see if I still remember them. Besides, learning vocabulary on a “dry” basis, I have also unconsciously learned new words doing other learning activities, such as listening to German talks and watching shows. That way I also learned how to put words into context. I believe I have realistic goals for the acquisition of vocabulary, given that I already posses good German skills.

Understanding the history of language is crucial. It gives you a better understanding of the structure of  the language and the origins of words. Knowing the language family to which your target language belongs is important. You can try to find links and connections between the languages you already know and the one you are learning. It is much easier to adopt new words, if the origin or the root of them is the same as it is for the words in your mother tongue. For instance, I speak Bosnian and English, both Indo-European languages. Therefore it is much easier for me to learn German, than for example Turkish. Especially the link between German and English enabled me to evolve my skills in both languages. Since I know that there are common words in English and German it was easier for me to understand conversations and talks in either language without knowing all the exact words that are being used. Using my knowledge in both languages interchangeably enabled me to expand my skills. It is also no wonder that Latin is tought in many schools, altough the language itself is death - it is not spoken anymore. However, many European languages have Latin roots because of the spread of Christianity in Europe. Latin was a universal language in Europe and today it is a basis and a  bridge between almost all European languages. Thus, learning those roots eases the learning of other languages. Essentially, by studying roots we learn how to take apart words and use those parts to build new words.

Communicative competence combines the structural and cognitive characteristics of communication with social, cultural, and practical implications of a foreign language. It is essential therefore to master not only grammatical competence but also social competence in order to convey and interpret messages and to function in daily interpersonal exchanges. One should adopt communication and the context in which the language is used. Thus, one needs to understand the culture and the way the language is embedded in the culture. For me, it has been particularly important to focus on the socio-cultural competence while improving my German skills, because I have already mastered the grammatical competence. As Larsen-Freeman (2004) would say, we can focus on evolving a bond between the individual and others, namely to become a member of a community. The best way to develop this bond is through conversation. Besides taking a German class and engaging in discussion during the class meeting I am watching German shows (political, historical, but also entertainment). Additionally, I tried to find people I can talk to in German. Fortunately, there are a few German speakers on campus. Furthermore, I tried to keep constant contact with friends I met in Germany, either by text messages, emails or phone calls. All forms of conversation are essential. Text messages and emails enable communication in an even higher dimension because one needs to express himself/herself and respond without seeing the reaction of the contact person. Thus, one needs to understand the meaning of the words used, how they behave in the sentence, whether they are part of some idiom, phrase or expression, but also to distinguish feelings that are behind the words in order to understand the illocutionary force within the context. In the process of learning I also had to understand when my contact person is apologizing, complimenting, thanking, disapproving, or saying yes or no. Hence, to learn the pragmatic conventions it is essential to learn cultural aspects of the target language. It is critical to recognize how body language, gestures and eye contact work. In one of my journals I mentioned that keeping eye contact while talking to someone is important in Germany. It shows not only respect, but also attention from the other participant in the conversation. Learning how the culture uses body language to convey messages is crucial. Luckily, Germans use almost the same body language as other Europeans, and coming from this continent, it was easy for me to adopt the kinesics of the German culture. Still when it comes to kinesthetics I had to learn that Germans, similar to Americans, maintain personal space and do not like to be touched that often when having a conversation. Although I come from the same continent, I come from the southern part, where kinesics involves kinesthetics. Hence, to cope in German, I had to learn and I am still learning how to integrate cultural standards into the grammar and structure of the language. Thus, I believe that the best way to acquire the necessary competence in the language is done by naturally encountering with other Germans speakers.

The video “Culture Shock” really showed the struggles that international students and faculty have at the University of Richmond and in America in general. As an international student, I can identify myself with most of the things that were said in the video. Culture shock happens every time we leave our home country. It is, in fact, something natural. It really occurs after the honeymoon period, as Dr. Bhatt would say. First we like being in a new environment, because everything is interesting. But soon, we start seeing the bad side, namely those things that differ from the country we come from and which we have problems understanding. We feel nostalgic, and we start questioning why we are even here.

I remember when I came to study here. At first, I found everything exciting. I met and became friends with other international students during International Orientation and I had the chance to visit the city. It was essentially like vacation. However, when the actual orientation started and I had a full schedule of activities with American students, I realized the difference between me and them. The way people communicate, their body language, the topics that they discuss. I felt alienated. When classes started, I felt overwhelmed with not only the class material, but the entire education system. Similarly to the international students in the video, I struggled with class participation and writing papers. I did not understand why I would have to raise my hand during the class and why there is a need for me to say anything. I thought that the professor should be the only person speaking and that students should be listening. I even started disliking other students, just because I did not have the courage to say something. Fortunately, I overcame that fear. Furthermore, writing papers was extremely difficult and time consuming. As Dr. Essid would say, international students had to do three times as much as Americans, because they had to operate in another language. The Honor Code was another big thing. First of all, I thought it was a joke, because I come from a culture where there is not even a word for something like this. I had a similar experience as the Turkish student in the video. I could not believe that a professor would ever leave the room during an exam.

Thus, my first semester was rough in terms of adjusting and adapting to the American culture, but also the university culture. However, now when I look back, I can say that I might have been too critical and that I judged too much, just because things were different, not bad. In my opinion, that is really what culture shock means, namely failing to understand and accept the culture you find yourself in, because of the parts of our own culture that we carry with ourselves wherever we go.

In my opinion most of the presentations that my classmates held were successful. All of them covered a specific aspect of a culture. We definitely learned a lot about the Korean culture. I have never really studied Asian cultures and I found it very interesting to learn some of the customs and traditions or daily life routines: from very fundamental behavioral rules, such as filial piety, over holiday celebration, to cosmetics. The students managed to bring the Korean culture closer to me and give me a better understanding of the values of that society. It was interesting to see that Koreans still have a lot of respect to the elders and that there is still a hierarchy. Fun fact was really that staying young is a big deal for them. Even men use a lot of cosmetics. Furthermore, Korean dramas seem to be very popular. I used to watch Spanish and Turkish drama, which might be similar to them based on the scenes they include. That presentation has definitely awaken my interest to watch Korean dramas too. I also enjoyed the Ataturk presentation. I already knew some of the things that were mentioned, but I did not know that every office in Turkey had to have Ataturk’s portrait. That really tells a lot about the culture. It is also important as a foreigner visiting the country to be aware of the importance this man has for the entire society. Moreover, I did not know that the McDonald’s in Israel processes their food in a special way and that Israelis cannot eat diary and meat together.  In general, all students gave their best to present an aspect of a culture. 

According to the article “How to investigate language structure” we have three main levels of inquiry: semantics, grammar, and medium of linguistics transmission. The questions is whether one should start learning a language having those three things in mind. The answer is probably yes, but then questions arise in terms of how and in what order. I believe that one first needs to identify the language itself. I am learning German, thus I need to know that German belongs to the Indo-European language family. That already reveals that the language has four or five noun cases, that verbs are marked for person, and that it uses articles. Furthermore, I need to investigate how the language is behaving in terms of regularity, whether it has a big vocabulary and if it uses idioms or not. It is important to know if the grammar matters a lot in order to be understood. Knowledge can be acquired from books, but an important aspect is also listening. This is especially important if we want to learn the informal phrases or slang, since informal phrases tend to be more used in conversations. Moreover, we need to know which alphabet the language is using and we need to make sure that we know how to pronounce every letter individually, but also when it appears in words and sentences. Using a reference grammar to study a language can be useful if we are interested in understanding how the language works. It gives us a universal understanding of languages in general. This can be useful for people who speak multiple languages, because they can compare and relate the language they are learning to those they already speak. Although, in my opinion pedagogical grammar is more useful for every learner, because one is more exposed to examples, which is more practical.

The one cultural aspect that I would like to elaborate on is body language. The language that I am trying to improve is German, hence I will reflect on readings about the German culture, but also on my own experience when interacting with Germans.

Germans seem to be very distanced people. Hugging or kissing the cheek is reserved only for very close friends or family. Furthermore, they do not like someone shouting or yelling, but they may be perceived very harsh and arrogant when talking. This might be due to the German language itself which has a rather rough sound to foreigners. The other reason might be their directness and strive for efficiency, but also their rather emotionless gaze. However, they are not aggressive nor rude in any way, although they have a special kind of humor. They are just assertive. Also, they like to keep eye contact when talking to you, and avoiding it may signal insecurity and unfriendliness. Since I come from a culture that also appreciates eye contact too, I have never had a problem to keep up with this, but I have experienced Germans getting angry and annoyed by people who look away. Keeping eye contact translates to: “Hey, I’m talking to you. Would you please listen to me!.” Parallel to this, Germans are very honest and polite flattery is not common. They mean what they say. Moreover, when going to a business meeting, Germans always shake hands. Additionally, they do not like to chat about personal life if they just met you, nor about religion and politics.  It takes time to cross that line.

The articles “How we mean” and “How we analyze meaning” explain exactly those problems that I had when I was learning a new language. My first language was Bosnian. When I think about it, Bosnian has a lot of same words that mean different things. However, I never realized that until I wanted to teach someone Bosnian. A native speaker can distinguish the meaning in context, but for someone who just started learning the language this can be really confusing. When I started learning English, however, I had a different problem. English has a lot of synonyms, hence I had a hard time understanding when to use which word when their translation is pretty much the same. Furthermore, Bosnian has genders for everything (objects) and when I started learning English it was hard to accept that objects are neutral. Moreover, words for some beings are feminine in Bosnian as opposed to English, and vice versa.

Also, I realized that learning the actual meaning (explanation) of a word is much more efficient than learning the translation. This is especially important when learning idioms, when the literal translation of every word does not lead us anywhere. It is the overall meaning of the sentence that we have to learn.

However, when languages are similar, sometimes it is easier to learn the translation. Bosnian and English do not share that many words, nor roots, however, since I also speak German, it was sometimes easy to memorize words in English using my knowledge in German. For example, “house” and “Haus” when pronounced sound identical and the meaning is identical too, although the spelling is different. But since I knew what “Haus” means, it was easy to absorb the English word. In general, I believe the more languages you know the easier it is to learn new languages.

Further, it is also effective to learn words based on the group they belong to. The way we structure these groups does not matter, as long as it makes sense to us. We can learn the words: “head, arm, leg” by grouping them into “body parts”, but we can also learn the words big and small by putting them into the group of antonyms. Grouping objects is in general a good memorization technique, so why not use it for learning new words.

That being said, to my mind, I need to learn new words by learning their meaning in a sentence, reading their description rather than translation, grouping them, but also relating them to words from languages I already speak.

reflectionpaperI.docx