First, I have learned a great deal about myself as a language learner. I did not have a great grasp on the most effective ways I can pick up on a new language because I had never really tried before this course. Throughout the semester, I have come to learn that I retain a new language most effectively when I hear another person speaking. As an example, I found the Italian talk shows and soap operas to be incredibly useful during my language learning process. One aspect of language learning I found difficult is simply starting out on this journey. It is an extremely daunting task to begin to learn a language and I was somewhat intimidated when I began. As far learning a new culture, I loved studying Italian history and geography. I have always been fascinated with Italy and this course has given me the opportunity to explore a new part of the world. Another piece of information I gathered throughout this semester is the fact that I make far less judgments about different cultural practices. By listening to my classmates present on their countries, I began to realize how there is no right way to behave and that every country has their own unique way of going about life. I plan to continue my learning by practicing my Italian and learning new vocabulary in a more casual sense. Although I have already been to three major cities in Italy, I really want to visit the Amalfi Coast and several other parts of Italy, so I hope to travel back one day and implement some of what I have studied in this course.

I enjoyed many of the readings we have completed throughout the semester; however, two, in particular, really sparked my interest. The first reading I thoroughly enjoyed was the New York Times piece on languages becoming extinct and one tribe’s goal to keep their language alive. I found this article incredibly interesting because I had never heard of this kind of action occurring. Also, it is incredibly impressive for a few individuals to dedicate so much time to building out an entire online dictionary of their dying language. The second article I particularly enjoyed was on how the brain handles learning a language. Not only was this a relevant topic for our studies, but I found It riveting to learn about the ways in which the brain processes and retains new language it comes to learn. As I mentioned, I found the in-class presentations to be some of the most useful activities we did as a class because it gave me insight into cultures and practices I had never even considered. If I were to pick a topic to have learned more about in the class, it would be the subject of bilingualism. I found the class on bilingual speakers to be very interesting because I have always wanted to fully master my second language of Spanish. With more information and education on the process, I feel I could have a better plan of attack to go about doing this.  

The process of learning to read and write a new language is an incredibly difficult journey. Over the course of the semester, I have tried my best to teach myself Italian greetings and various vocabulary words. While I struggled to retain some of the Italian I learned, I found that my background in Spanish helped tremendously. Being a romantic language, like Italian, many of the roots of words are similar across both languages. 

I am very happy with my decision to take this course because it expanded my cultural knowledge of not only Italy, but many other societies across the world!

I have always believed that people who are bilingual are more intelligent. It takes a great amount of work and brain power to fully master two languages. However after reading "Why Bilinguals Are Smarter" and "Are Bilinguals Really Smarter", I realized that it is not so clear. One of the most interesting points comes from the second article referring to changes in brain wiring. The article talks about how bilinguals have more brain activity because when they are prompted to respond they have to repress one language. I found this incredibly interesting because it's a concept I never even associated with being bilingual.

I really enjoyed reading about the correlation between bilinguals and intelligence. This is a very riveting topic and I hope one day there is a clear distinction.  

So far, I have been able to learn several Italian terms used for basic conversation. Expressions such as "Buon giorno" which means "Hello; Good Morning!" will allow me to have basic conversations in Italian. I have been able to learn these standard Italian terms by studying online websites. Also, because they are common expressions, I hear them on Italian television. 

I believe I will be able to learn additional Italian vocabulary. However, thus far, I have focused heavily on Italian culture and the geography of the country. I have found this information on Italy incredibly interesting because I have never studied the country in this much depth. 

On the surface, when a language dies, I thought this only meant that no one would communicate in this tongue again. However after reading Kirk Johnson's article, I realized how an entire history can be lost. Not only does the dialect itself get lost, but the events and tales of a society vanquish.

When looking at the Siletz Dee-ni people, I was shocked to learn that there are only five remaining speakers of their language. It is incredibly commendable of Bud Lane for spending seven years of his life to develop an online dictionary with audio entries. Although this action is extremely selfless, I fear that there are hundreds of other languages that have disappeared without much of a fight. 

The knowledge of a language's history can be extremely helpful when trying to learn a new language. A language's history has many parts to it such as the language's roots, its origins, and its variations through time. The ability to learn these different aspects can be beneficial to language learning for a number of reasons.

Firstly if an individual learns the origins of a language, they may use this to better understand different roots of the vocabulary. Often times, the roots of a language appear in many different forms. Another reason knowing a language's history helps the language learning process is because of outdated vocabulary. It is possible that a word that used to be used is no longer applicable. The knowledge of a language's history will allow you to differentiate between the vocabulary that is still relevant. 

Thus far, I have enjoyed learning about the culture and language of Italy. I have been able to use a few techniques which have allowed me to get a better understanding of Italian. Firstly, I have talked with a few of my friends who have taken Italian at Richmond. They have been able to offer me some guidance about how they most effectively learned the language. Also, I have been able to turn to them when I have needed help learning the language or if I was just curious about a particular aspect of Italian. Secondly, I have been able to watch some Italian television. This technique has proven most effective for me because I have always considered myself an oral learner. By listening to the programming, I have been able to pick-up common words and phrases of the language. Another reason why watching Italian television has been effective is because of repetition. The more and more I hear a particular phrase of Italian, the more likely this phrase is to register in my brain. 

One of the most interesting aspects of class has been looking at the culture of Italy. Through my research, I have found that Italians pride themselves on their families and their cuisine. During our first in-class presentation, I was amazed at how customary it is for Italians to have family-owned business. In America, corporations seem to only be considered with making a profit at all costs. While in Italy, even large corporations like Fiat are family-owned. This is attributed to the fact that Italians consider themselves extremely close with their families in all facets of life. The idea of "family time" and "family meals" is very common in their culture. Italians are also very well-known for their delicious foods. Through my own experience in Italy, I can understand why this is a main theme of Italian life. This research has allowed me to get a better grasp on the Italian language because it directs me to how I should tailor my studying. I want to focus on vocabulary of families and food because they are two central themes in Italian life.

Communicative competence is broken down into four parts: linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic. In order to improve my communicative competence, I need to focus particularly on the linguistic and strategic aspects. For linguistic competence, I am focusing on the syntax and vocabulary of Italian. I am going to improve this dimension by working with my friends who speak Italian and also by continuing to watch Italian television programming. For strategic competence, I am focusing on the context of Italian and the background of Italian. I can improve this aspect by researching Italian culture and learning certain Italian mannerisms. 

Overall, I feel my language learning thus far has been going extremely well. While I can not effectively speak in Italian, I am beginning to pick up on some simple Italian phrases. Also, I have started to learn more about Italian culture. I have found this learning to be incredibly interesting because I rarely have had the ability to look at another culture during my studies here at Richmond. 

The Culture Shock video was very intriguing to me. I can absolutely relate to the aspects of being immersed in an entirely new environment and the amount of adjustment it requires out of a person. 

I studied abroad in Madrid for a semester in the Fall of 2014. Being from a small Massachusetts town and coming to Richmond, I have not been exposed to a whole lot of unfamiliarity in my life. When I landed in Spain, I immediately came to the realization that it would be a place to call 'home' for the next four months. During the first couple of weeks in Madrid, I missed my family and the United States a lot. I would have trouble falling asleep some nights because I would contemplate whether I made the right choice to study abroad. Eventually, I became comfortable in Madrid and loved every moment of my time there. However, I definitely experienced a good deal of culture shock studying abroad in Spain. 

My advice for people who are traveling or going to live in a new culture is to slow down and realize that you will be able to get through the initial feeling of uneasiness. I would tell these people to immerse themselves in the culture and learn the customs and tendencies of the native people (personal space, eating and sleeping habits, etc). 

The presentation day in class was very eye-opening. I found it interesting to learn about so many cultures and their unique practices. The two presentations I found particularly intriguing were about Pakistani languages and South Korean plastic surgery.

I found it incredible that a country as relatively small as Pakistan has 26 different languages. I think it's admirable to try and learn as many of the languages as possible, so he is able to venture to different parts of the country and interact with the native people.

For the South Korean plastic surgery presentation, I found it most shocking that 20% of men are wearing make-up on a day-to-day basis. In our culture, it's not even a thought for a man to put on make-up before he leaves his house or apartment for the day. However, the video she showed of the man applying many different forms of make-up was shocking to me. 

Overall, these presentations enlightened me on many different practices I didn't even know existed. It is my hope throughout the semester that I continue to learn more about these cultures that I don't often learn about in my other classes. 

Due to my background with Spanish, I have general knowledge about basic sentence structure of Italian. Both languages are romantic languages and therefore, they share similar vocabulary. With that being said, they are not the same language. I will need to learn basic Italian sentence structure. I do not think I will have enough time in the semester to get into much depth with the language.

I plan on acquiring knowledge on Italian structure by watching Italian television with Italian subtitles. I will be able to both learn some Italian vocabulary and also learn basic Italian sentence structure. Also, I plan on using a language learning program such as Mango to help me learn Italian structure. My hope is that with repetition I will be able to pick-up Italian structure more quickly.

I do believe a reference grammar for the Italian language would be helpful. A comprehensive guide covering the major grammatical constructions would be incredibly beneficial to my learning. However, I know I learn best when the information is presented in an entertaining or interesting manner. For this reason, I am planning on sticking with the two above techniques to pick-up Italian sentence structure. 

Through my research I've found that, outside of Italy, over 15 million people in countries such as Switzerland, North America, and Australia speak Italian. Over 93 percent of Italy speak Italian as a native language. Italy is an incredibly important country in Europe for art, cuisine, and history. There are several important architectural structures in Italy such as the Colosseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Along with many famous structures, Italy also plays home to a number of famous art museums all across the country.

One linguistic aspect of Italians that I found while researching is the fact that Italians tend to stare at others. In Italy, it is not considered rude, but people genuinely are interested in watching other people. A second aspect I came across is the fact that Italians tend to be louder people. Italians just tend to speak louder. They are not irritated or annoyed, most times, this is just how they speak to one another. In fact, real aggression among Italians is much less frequent than in the United States. Lastly, I read how frequently Italians use hand gestures when they are speaking. Italians use hand gestures as a way to punctuate an expression or word and give it extra emphasis that the phrase may lack. After researching the linguistic aspects of Italian, I am even more intrigued with the language.

In the reading from this week that discusses the brain, I realize that I have to cater my learning to my own personality and mindset. By doing this, I will most effectively be able to process and pick-up a new language. Another reading talks about "meaning" in language and it highlights the need to explore different kinds of languages. This passage gave me more of a desire to set out and learn Italian because it explores so many different reasons to expand your language knowledge. These readings gave me a solid understanding of how the human brain processes information and how to use this to my advantage as a language learner. Also, I was able to garnish more of an understanding about the semantics and meaning of languages.

Over the course of this semester, I would like to be able to 1) Learn Italian greetings/basic conversation 2) Have a better understanding of Italian geography 3) Learn Italian cuisine/dining vocabulary 4) Be able to order for myself in Italian (over the course of an entire meal).

            Over the course of my life, I have learned English as my first language and Spanish as a second language. I have been learning Spanish since the 3^rd grade and I studied in Madrid for the Fall 2014 semester. Learning a new language is an incredibly difficult task and I have been working at it for over ten years. Over this time, I have learned aspects of the process that I enjoy and some that I do not enjoy. Also, I have been able to identify the kind of learning that best suits my mind and personality.

            Because I have taken Spanish classes for a long time, I have begun to realize what I enjoy about learning a language. I have always loved learning new vocabulary in Spanish. It could be anything from vocabulary about sports to vocabulary about the culture’s cuisine. I enjoy incorporating the new vocabulary I learn into conversations I have in Spanish. Another aspect of learning a language that I enjoy is learning about the culture of a particular region of the country. When I studied in Madrid, I took a class that was centered on learning about various art in Spain. We learned about famous artists and particular pieces of work that they produced. My favorite artist we learned about was Francisco Goya because I enjoyed his one piece “The Third of May” tremendously. All in all, I love being able to immerse myself in a different culture and use different vocabulary in Spanish conversations.

            Although I have loved learning Spanish, there are certain aspects of the process that I dislike. One part of learning a language that I do not enjoy is grammar and proper punctuation. Even as a young child, I have never liked learning about where to put a comma or what makes up a prepositional phrase. I have always found this piece boring and redundant. Although I recognize grammar is a crucial part of learning a language, I would rather spend this time learning new vocabulary or digging deeper into the culture. For this reason, I want to tailor most of my learning in the SDLC 105 class around the culture and vocabulary of Italy.

            Over the course of my language learning, I have recognized what methods and strategies help me to learn the best. I rely most heavily on hearing and speaking when I am learning a language. One strategy I utilize is listening to the professor say a new piece of vocabulary and repeating the word back to myself. This helps me pick up new bits of vocabulary much easier than writing them or reading them to myself. When I took the “Learning Styles” survey, my results came back as an “aural learner”, which proves the fact that the best way for me to learn a language is by hearing and speaking.

            I believe I can expand the way I learn a language by diving more into the pop culture of Italy. I am planning on learning the language by watching some Italian television shows. This aligns perfectly with the way in which I most effectively learn a language, through saying what I hear out loud to myself. Along with watching Italian television, I also plan to look into some Italian podcasts or radio shows. I believe these two forms of media will help me to learn Italian more quickly. I am excited for the opportunity to begin learning some Italian and diving into the culture and heritage of the country.