This semester was interesting for me, as I was enrolled in 105 but not 110 like many of my classmates. Initially I intended to be in both classes, where I would teach myself Farsi. However, I had to think about the rest of my semester schedule and learning style realistically. I know that I require a lot of structure and methods to hold myself accountable when starting a new language. I reflected on taking Arabic in the past--a difficult language similar to Farsi--and thought about how I struggled when the professor did not really reinforce our learning. This made it difficult to incentivize me holding myself accountable. I decided that it would be best to just enroll in 105 and leave Farsi for when I had more time to devote. Instead, I would explore the fascinating cultural side of languages (an area I've always been interested in) and use my knowledge to keep up with Italian, a language I've studied extensively both at Richmond and while living in Italy.

I planned on using several methods to keep up with Italian. I have Italian books, magazines, and newspapers that I could practice reading. I also own some movies in Italian, plus have access to many more via Netflix. I had grand plans for revisiting some of the trickier rules in my old Italian textbook. Duolingo also began offering an Italian program. However, the actuality of how I practiced did not always match up with my vision. Because I wasn't taking 110, I didn't set a very firm learning schedule for myself, thinking I'd just "pick it up when I can." This was not the most effective approach, because without scheduling actual time for myself to sit down and force myself to learn in a routine manner, it was only going to get done sporadically. I also left a crucial segment out of my plan--I didn't really have ways for myself to practice speaking, which is the aspect of Italian I struggle with the most. I realized that I definitely need more structure when learning a language.

Additionally, the methods I did utilize were more passive. I was absorbing material but not necessarily practicing it actively. I watched and listened to some Italian movies without subtitles and was able to translate easily. I also got in translation practice by following my Italian friends' posts on Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps the most active thing I did was forcing myself to think in Italian at times, having a little conversation in my head. My favorite parts from my past Italian classes were when I'd leave class and think in Italian for about a 10-minute window, so tried to make myself recreate that. Nevertheless, my big plans for studying grammar and reading books in Italian really fell through. I was able to learn a lot from this experience though. In the future (starting over the summer) I plan to continue with Italian and learn more French. To really do this well, I'll need to set up a strict time schedule for myself (such as practicing for a half hour at the same time each day) and come up with some sort of "lesson plan" for each session. I know myself, and it's difficult for me to commit to self-structured language learning without imposing a very rigid practice schedule. In fact, I think this holds true for learning a lot of new things, whether it's learning a new language or another topic entirely, or finding the time and motivation to exercise. This lesson is especially important for learning more difficult languages in which it's often easier to quit or not give my all than it is to hold myself to learning. In the future I hope to work in a field where I'd have to learn and utilize critical languages to be successful, so I'd really have to establish the best methods for me of learning a language to retain it.

In addition to my personal focus on Italian, I really enjoyed 105's emphasis on the intersections between language and culture. I found the topics we discussed fascinating, and I liked hearing about everyone else's language progress and the cultural issues associated with their languages. Perhaps one of the most interesting pieces was when we talked about untranslatable words from other languages, and the repercussions (positives and negatives) of languages dying. These issues tied in closely to themes I was discussing in some of my other courses. All in all, 105 really reinforced the importance of culture for me and allowed me to reflect upon how I most effectively learn a language. These are ideas that I am certain will continue to serve me far into the future.

     "Why Bilinguals Are Smarter" made a lot of sense to me. When I've read before about how in the past people tried to get bilingual kids to stop speaking their second language, it always seemed illogical. Because the brain is using its executive function to multitask between languages, it is improving cognitive skills and opening up new pathways of thought. I know some other languages, but I really wish I had been fluently bilingual in something from childhood! In addition to the cognitive benefits of bilingualism for people, exposing children to a second language opens them up to a whole other culture. With this appreciation for differences and greater understanding of the world, children become more culturally intelligent as well. I remember my first experience learning a language other than English--when I was really little I was playing with plastic food items and my mom taught me their names in French (she had taken it in school). Even though I was very young I still remember some of those names and how interested I was in discovering something new. It was definitely easier to learn a second language as a child. When I lived in Italy in elementary school I picked up the language much more rapidly than I did when I went back to study abroad. Nevertheless, I thought it was really interesting in the article when it said that learning a second language has cognitive and health benefits for adults and even for the elderly. It gives me hope to keep striving to become bilingual!

     The article "Tribe Revives Language on the Verge of Extinction" and the related video we watched in class were really interesting to me. They made me think about the huge majority of languages that none of us know anything about! I also thought about how languages die. It's a really strange concept to think about, because a lot of major languages (like Latin or Ancient Egyptian) used to be very widely spoken but have now died out! I wonder what cultural shifts took place for that to happen. We lose a lot of culture and the benefits of the native knowledge a language may contain when languages die. On one hand, I think it's important to try to conserve languages, but on the other hand we can't save everything. It is a natural and cyclical process for languages to die out. English has changed so much over time--think about how different it was when Beowulf was written, or in Shakespeare's day--that it's practically been separate sets of languages. The video we watched also brought up some interesting questions for me. It made me think about some concepts we've been discussing in my Anthropology of Human Rights class (and I shared the video on the blog for that class!), like how it is a human right to self-identify however you want. This begs the question: do we have the right to designate a language that is dying out as important if we ourselves are not native speakers of it? It seems as if the speakers of a language aren't interested in conserving it then maybe we shouldn't force the issue--but this is a tricky subject to think about. However, I definitely agreed with Dr. Harrison's point that science takes too much of a Western perspective and should depend more upon the knowledge inherent in other cultures as well.

            Culture shock can be a really tricky part to navigate when leaving your own culture. The video we watched in class described culture shock as the way we feel leaving a familiar space or our home to enter a new culture. At first, there’s a honeymoon phase. Everything is different and new, and we’re excited to experience that. However, that soon wears off. Some of the students in the video discussed the role that language plays in culture shock. Oftentimes it can be really overwhelming to travel to a new country without knowing the language well. This creates a feeling of isolation that you really have to fight against. I worked as an international orientation leader on campus in the fall, and I noticed that many of the international students grouped together by country at first. There was an especially big group of Italian students all from the same university who constantly spent time together speaking Italian in a sense of familiarity. I know firsthand from living and traveling in foreign countries myself that it can be extremely frustrating to not be able to communicate fully. When I lived in Rome, I understood spoken Italian pretty well but wasn’t able to verbally respond as quickly. This became especially frustrating in my Italian language class—although I went to an American-model school, the Italian classes were taught by Italian nationals—if a student waits too long to give an answer in Italian schools, the teacher thinks that the student doesn’t know and moves on. For the first month or two I went crazy because I couldn’t translate my thoughts into Italian quickly enough to express myself, but then I was able to think more easily in Italian and it got a bit easier. The video also talked about silence as a form of communication that differs culturally. The professor gave the example of silence as something we’re very uncomfortable with in America, but it’s much more widely accepted in conversations in other countries. I definitely noticed that to be true as an orientation advisor, especially at the beginning. I would walk around with groups of international students or sit with them at meals. The students who were from English-speaking countries were obviously much more comfortable with small talk, but it became extremely uncomfortable for me sometimes when I would try and have a conversation with other students in my group and they wouldn’t say much. They seemed happy to be invited to lunch and enjoying themselves, but they would only answer questions. In response I would talk to fill the silence but then feel really awkward because I felt like I was talking too much. The video also addressed the differences between level of directness in communication, which was something I encountered as well.

            The video definitely reinforced many of the things I’ve noticed working with international students here at U of R. The whole concept of orientation often brings about major culture shock. The American university system is pretty much the only one that conducts orientation in this way, and many students were confused as to why they had to be shuttled around to different seminars for several days. Several of them said it was very overwhelming. We also addressed some of the issues that were discussed in the video, such as how to respond when an American student says, “Hi, how are you?” Several of the international students have been my close friends this year, and we’ve discussed some of the differences they’ve had to get used to academically, such as having homework set every day, the importance of class participation, and the level of interaction professors have with students. I was thinking about it and thought that it must be extremely challenging for some exchange students to have to cope with the amount of work assigned here, if you are not used to having regular assignments at your home university and especially if English is not your first language! I also had a bit of culture shock encountering an international friend last year. My friend Nina was from Germany. I had a Jepson class with her and she was the only exchange student, so I went out of my way to be friends with her. We would chat in class or go to lunch occasionally, but it was difficult to establish a friendship with her at first. Then once we became friends Nina felt comfortable being extremely direct and blunt. She was very well-informed on politics, both in the EU and the US. It took me a little while to realize that Nina wasn’t being mean or overly critical, she had just opened up and was expressing herself more directly, in keeping with German culture.

            I have experienced culture shock myself. I first moved to Italy when I was eight years old. I was pretty open-minded about it and overall enjoyed the adventure, but very recently after I moved I pitched a fit sobbing on the sidewalk after we’d passed a butcher shop in our little town because I could read in the window that they were selling horse meat. (My actual quote was, “They eat HORSES here?! These people are BARBARIANS!” I was very dramatic.) That was my first encounter with culture shock for sure! When I studied abroad, my culture shock was very delayed. I didn’t have the same culture shock as many of my classmates, because I had lived in Italy before and understood the language fairly well. I didn’t miss my family particularly much at first either. It was about a month in that I became more critical and frustrated. I began interning, teaching in an Italian high school, and there was a level of disorganization there that I was not used to at all. (Side note, in keeping with the video’s discussion of outside view of Americans, many of the students in my classes I taught asked me stereotypical questions about the US like if we all owned guns and if college was like the American Pie movies!) I soon realized that I was going to have to adapt to the situation if I didn’t want to be miserable teaching the whole time. I wasn’t saying that Italian schools were run better or worse than American schools, I was just adapting to the cultural practice. I tried to take this “fight” (as opposed to “flight”) approach whenever I came into a situation that gave me a little bit of culture shock. In fact, I think I experienced more reverse culture shock returning to the US—I was very disillusioned, overwhelmed, and had to readjust.

     Brown's discussion of communicative competence highlights many points important to language learning. He states that there is more of a focus on the cultural aspects of language learning than just learning grammatical concepts. This means that to demonstrate communicative competence one can't just use rote memorization of vocabulary or grammar rules, but must be able to apply what they've learned in the social context of the language he or she is learning. (For example, various languages have differences in how differntiates between individuals, or phrases that are only used in certain situations.) Brown states that language is used as an interactive communication between individuals, and takes Chomsky's ideas about language even further. Our relationship to language is relative.

     I thought Canale and Swain's descriptions of the four different linguistic competencies made a lot of sense (more so than Bachman's reinterpretation which came later). These competencies included grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. Grammatical competence is the most basic level, indicating an understanding of a language's grammar rules. Discourse competence is the next step, the ability to take all of those grammar rules and use them to connect sentences together to "form a meaningful whole." Next, sociolinguistic competence allows language speakers to understand the social and cultural implications behind saying a particular thing. Finally, strategic competence is a "compensatory strategy" that takes place when verbal and nonverbal communication is needed to fill in a breakdown in a conversation. I was able to think of all of these competencies in terms of speaking Italian. First I learned grammar rules, syntax, and constructs. Then I was able to begin forming sentences on my own and speaking to people. As time wore on, I got better at speaking with more nuance. I could use specific idioms to describe situations, and I could recognize different relationships. However, my communication would still break down sometimes and I'd have to use body language to fill in the gaps.

     I also really appreciated the part of the article that lists Halliday's many examples of language functions. It's suggested that teachers of second languages design syllabi around these different functions, and I think it's an important way to learn in keeping with the host language's culture. When I studied in Rome the different levels of Italian classes had field studies that took part in these type of activities. The 100 level courses, who were just starting out, learned essentials like how to introduce themselves, how to greet people, and how to order. They were tasked with going out into the neighborhood behind our school to order gelato and interact with the shopkeepers (we were jealous that they got this task!). My 300 level class had to practice different types of skills. We'd spent a lot of time studying different neighborhoods in Rome. One day we visited one of those neighborhoods, interviewed residents, identified certain features, and had to follow complicated navigational directions (almost like an elaborate scavenger hunt). These activities could be difficult, but they were really beneficial. All of the Italian classes each had a cooking class with their teacher in which different levels of Italian were required to be maintained throughout.

Knowing a language's history can definitely impact how you learn that language, because it provides you with a wider view of understanding. History allows you to compare the language you're studying with the language it descended from, and allows you to see how it transformed along the way. It's also useful to see how your language spread throughout the rest of the world. In my case, studying Italian, history plays a major role. Italian is a Romance language descended from Latin. Out of all the Romance languages, it is the most linguistically similar to Latin in terms of vocabulary. This was helpful to me as a student. I learned Italian originally in elementary school when I lived there, but my middle school back in the US required us to take Latin. Knowing how Italian worked really helped with Latin grammar and similar words, and then I was able to understand Italian vocabulary better because I could relate the Latin roots to them. When I studied Italian for a second time (in college, and then living in Italy again), my four years of Latin background helped make it relatable in addition to the Italian basis I already had. Latin was spoken commonly on the Italian Peninsula until the early 14th century, until the Florentine dialect began to take precedence. This later developed into standard Italian. Italian is also a language characterized by many dialects. This resulted from all of the different regions in the Italian Peninsula being separate kingdoms until Italy's unification in 1861. At that point, Italian derived from the Florentine dialect took precedence as the "mainstream" standard--although only 2.5% of the Italian population could speak that standard language in 1861! Today, knowing standard Italian can help (somewhat) in seeing how the dialects differentiate. Two variations are so different that they're considered "official regional languages" (Sardinian and Friulian). I lived in Sardinia when I was young and didn't experience this too much in the particular area where I lived, but there was definitely a distinction inland in some of the much older towns. Fortunately, both of the areas I lived in Italy (northeast Sardinia and Rome) spoke the central Italian dialect, which is most similar to standard Italian. One of my favorite Roman sayings is the greeting "salve" (pronounced sal-vay), which shows the extent of Latin's effect on Italian...the Roman salutation is also "salve" (pronounced sol-way)!

Placeholder journal...I don't actually have any artifacts since I'm not enrolled in 110! However, the methods I'm using to practice my Italian include watching Italian movies (and trying not to use the sottotitoli!), listening to some Italian songs or news reports, and reading some Italian articles when I get a chance. I also have been following some major current events stories taking place in Italy; namely, the selection of the new pope and the coverage of Elezioni 2013.

My review of Italian has been progressing slowly but surely. I've been using several different sources. Over the weekend I watched the Woody Allen movie To Rome With Love, which came out over the summer. (Fun fact: much of the movie was filmed in the neighborhood where I worked in Rome, and it was filming while I studied there!) A lot of the movie is in Italian, so I came up with an exercise for myself in which I tried to see how much I could understand without looking at the subtitles. It worked pretty well--I was able to follow most of the dialogue, although it was spoken very rapidly. I even noticed some inconsistencies in the subtitles because the English translation was cutting short. I find that watching movies in Italian is very helpful. Listening to the dialogue allows me to get into the Italian frame of mind, and I'm usually able to follow along. I've also been working my way through a chapter book that I had from living in Italy as a child. It's actually an Italian version of one of the Babysitter's Club books, which is pretty funny. Though I can follow along easily enough, it's been taking a while because I've been making myself go through and translate everything accurately instead of just getting the gist of the story. It's also a source of some less common vocabulary. After that book I plan to start Harry Potter in Italian. My friend suggested I buy a copy while studying abroad, and I'm glad I did. It's great because it's a familiar story, so I can really concentrate on vocabulary and the differences!

Body language is very important in Italian communication, as Italians are among the most emotionally demonstrative cultures (in fact, I chose to focus my presentation this week on body language and hand gestures, especially in business settings). Family is the most important affiliation in Italian society. In general, there is much less "personal space" then we're used to in the US, and pushing/shoving/crowding is not considered particularly rude. (After I returned from living in Italy, I had to dial down my aggression level when riding the metro in Washington DC!) Introductions are especially key. Cheek kissing is common among acquaintances, with pairs kissing once on each cheek. Handshakes may also be long. You will often see men ambracing, and two men or two women are perfectly comfortable walking arm in arm together. Eye contact is also important. To call over a waiter, you must make eye contact and raise your finger--otherwise, they won't bring the check. In terms of boundaries, Italy also has a very flirtatious culture, which is widely accepted. A particularly unusual custom is that without fail Italians clap when their plane lands!

                Cross-cultural communication is extremely important and inevitable in today’s age of globalization. One will likely have to interact with members of another culture at some point, whether this is in a business, school, or travel setting. I studied this topic in depth in one of my Leadership Studies courses (Leadership in International Contexts) by looking at Hofstede’s analysis of the different cultural dimensions (in addition to the other dimensions laid out in the readings here). The cultural dimensions of learning a language are usually not based on the actual words of the language but on all of the other types of communication that go along with it. Thus, it’s important to be cognizant of all forms of cross-cultural communication we’re presenting, and to be understanding, patient, and open when experiencing a new culture. These were lessons that I was told during my study abroad orientation and ones that we emphasized as international orientation advisors for exchange students back at Richmond.

                Living and studying in Italy made me very aware of some of these differences. Italian culture is much more polychronic and external than American culture. On any given morning, when I would leave my apartment for the bus stop at the same time every day, sometimes the bus would come within 5 minutes and sometimes it would take 40 minutes. Time is not to be rushed. People linger over meals and enjoy each other’s company. Relaxation and enjoying life are emphasized. Additionally, a lot of things are viewed as beyond one’s control. I often really enjoyed this approach to life. It was much less stressful and invited me to live in the present moment fully. However, it could also be extremely frustrating, such as when I got up early and walked 40 minutes to my teaching internship only to find the school closed for an obscure holiday/strike/students just decided not to show up that no one had thought to notify me of ahead of time. I had to take an internship seminar along with actually completing an internship, and these cultural differences were ones we discussed frequently. On the opposite side of the coin from Italy in terms of these dimensions, I traveled to Austria and Germany. These countries are more monochromic than the US, and much more so than Italy. This was thrown into sharp relief in a funny way when I was traveling with my family by train to southern Austria from Florence. We had four trains canceled in the same day within Italy due to delays and a variety of other circumstances, but as soon as we crossed the Austrian border everything was a model of efficiency! Other cultural dimensions play a part too. I had a German friend at Richmond who I wasn’t sure was that friendly at first—she was very aloof and after we became closer she was extremely direct. Fortunately another American friend who had spent significant time in Germany informed me that those trait manifestations were just cultural differences. I think that cultural differences are one of the most important things to keep in mind when learning a new language, but also the most interesting.

                I found these readings on how we process and analyze language to be particularly interesting. I suppose that when we’re really studying a language in depth (whether it’s our native language or something new) it’s helpful to understand the most fundamental processes. The chapter “How the Brain Handles Language” reminded me of my AP Psychology class in high school. I remember learning about the relationship between Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, and language disabilities then. I also thought the section about the neurological processes involved in tongue slips was very interesting. It’s a situation that seems so random, but is actually very formulaic—and when I was reflecting back on the times that I’d recently made tongue slips, that pattern was pretty clear to me. The chapter discussing semantics was interesting too. I enjoyed the notion of the naturalist approach vs. the conventionalist approach. I certainly think that there are words that sound like what they are (not just onomatopoetic words)—shampoo, tub, and windshield are all ones that come to mind, but those could just be my own personal associations J

                I thought the discussion of monosemic words and collocations were particularly applicable to our study of new languages. Monosemic words are so helpful in learning new languages, since they only have one use! Since collocations are groups of lexemes working together they allow us to understand language by prediction (such as what words go together). Additionally, because these collocations are understood by everyone in a given language (and are not made by personal association), they can be relied upon. I think they’re helpful building blocks of phrases to master!