1. How did you evolve as an autonomous/self-directed language learner?

As a self-directed learner I was able to figure out what worked and what did not in terms of understanding material that I am teaching myself.  Learning Turkish was a catalyst for discovering how I learn best when autonomous.  Using this as a springboard has helped me with my CFA studying along with other topics that I want to learn.

            I understood the importance of setting a schedule and the ease in which that schedule can fall apart if not maintained or followed closely.  Overall, I became disappointed in my path to learning Turkish because I was not able to follow my plan as well as I could have.  Ultimately, I realized that it is vital to set realistic goals that I could accomplish in a timely fashion.

            In addition to creating a schedule, I also found it very helpful to be interested in what you are learning.  As a self-directed learner you take on the responsibility of learning independently which must mean that one is interested in the topic they are learning.  Who would have thought that being interested in a topic would make it much easier to learn.  Again Turkish has been the realization for this, which in turn has helped me with my CFA preparation.  Knowing that I took on the task to study this material has been very influential in understanding it.  Mainly because I want to understand!   

2. Have you accomplished your learning goals?

For Turkish I unfortunately have not accomplished all my learning goals.  I understand some vocabulary and am able to roughly conjugate the verbs that I know but I do not genuinely have the basics down.  However, this class has taught me more than just Turkish, it has taught me how to be a better autonomous learner.  This has been the main function of this class for me.  I’ve been able to learn come cultural aspects and some words but have taken more out of being independent.  So I accomplished a goal that I did not even know I had which was to become better self-directed learner.  And I did!!

3. What did you learn about yourself as a self-directed language learner?

As I mentioned above, I learned how important it is to make yourself interested in what you are learning prior to the start of your learning plan.  It is vital to either be truly interested or make yourself believe that you are interested in the topic.  This has helped me with my CFA studying because there are some topics I am genuinely interested but others that I really do not find all that thrilling.  Secondly, or quite possibly what you should do first, is create a learning plan that you can stick with and be reasonably sure that you can follow.  A learning plan that is too difficult will only add stress that inhibits learning.  I unfortunately made the mistake of creating too difficult of a plan for both Turkish and my CFA review and it just ended up creating a stressful environment that I could not keep up with.         

4. What did you learn about languages and language acquisition in general?

Overall I learned that repetition and knowing the vocabulary makes it much easier to understand and be able to somewhat converse in the language.  Whenever I spoke with Semih I would be able to use vocabulary and he could fill in the gaps.  Even if the vocabulary wasn’t there, I would be able to use the vocabulary and he could fill in the rest.    

5. Did you develop your skills as an observer of other cultures?

I think I was able to understand more how language and cultures were intermingled.  For example, there were many times were I noticed that words were used to describe certain situations or foods.  When discussing family members there re separate words for my mother’s sister and my father’s sister.  I simply do not use the word aunt for both of them.  However, that being said in America it is only one word so it shows a cultural difference through the use of words. 

6. Which language learning activities helped you most?

My self-studying definitely helped me the most.  When I was interested in what I was learning I was able to better apply myself and focus on the material at hand. Additionally, I retained the information more since I was so keen on learning it.  For example I was able to understand most of the colors and numbers pretty quickly.  Finally being able to repeat what I learned back to a native speaker and having them correct with either pronunciation or spelling was very helpful.  I feel that being a practitioner is the best way to actually understand something.  It is important to effectively mix learning with practicing to garnish the optimal results.     

Overall this semester was important to me since it helped me understand how to better learn on my own.  It seems to be a fitting conclusion to my time at Richmond since I am left with a better way in how to teach myself in the future.  

Artifact%20%234.mp3

Family

Father

Mother

Son

Daughter

Children

Dog

Horse

Fish

Cat

Bird

Little Dog

Big Dog

Dress Shirt

Pants

T-Shirt

Hat

Shoes

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How is the Weather?

Today is Sunny

Roday is Windy

Today is Rainy

Today is Cloudy

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Greeting

My name is Dylan

What is your name

How are you

I am good

Goodbye

This will be my final and last reflection on my time with Umur learning Turkish.  First of all, I was very lucky to have him as a language partner since he was extremely helpful in helping me not only learn the language but understand the language.  He significantly aided me in my presentation and even gave me places to go and visit when I go to Turkey! Antalya here I come!!!  In addition to Umur, my friend Semih was helpful as well.  He was very happy that I was learning Turkish so whenever I would see him we would at least attempt to converse a little! 

In my opinion, learning the language in this manner, and on my own terms was much more fun than learning it in class. I was able to do activities on my own time while actually enjoying the language rather than stressing about it.  Not having tests or other examination made me enjoy Turkish rather than dread it.  Overall it was a fun class and made the semester much more enjoyable.   

Two classes ago we spoke about how accents and different dialects help individuals pinpoint where others are from within a country.  The various features of pronunciation are shared and referred to as the study of areal linguistics.  How these areas develop is interesting because it is suggested that somewhere along the lines different pronunciations and dialects were adopted.  Variations took hold a certain area and it became unique and fairly significant there.

I have mentioned earlier that my mother is fluent in Italian and she has a sister that lives in Northern Italy.  Her sons of course, grew up Italian and have a distinct accent to American ears.  One that undoubtedly and unmistakable sounds Italian.  To my mother, who has the ear for Italian since she spent a majority of her childhood and teenage years there, can tell that they sounds Northern Italian and may is even able to pinpoint a major city close to where they live.   

It helps at Italian restaurants as she always ends up using this little trick.  As for myself, I am able to fairly easily distinguish between Spanish and Italian because of my immediate and extended family background.  Mother is Italian and brother's fiance is Columbian.  They have emparted to me, by the way they speak their languages, they stylistic deliveries that each language has.  For the most part they are unique and easy to identify.  To come back to the same point as before, the way Italian was delivered, my mother could tell Norther vs. Italian and which major city.      

Using my cousins and soon to be sister-in-law I can better understand and see the Ethnic side of protecting a language.  Both sets of relations speak their languages and find it important to keep speaking their languages.  It is a common theme that everyone in the culture have the same language.  As it is shared everyday part of the culture is consistently preserved.  There are even backlashes in the United States with the amount of Spanish speakers there are.  I have heard many times people say, "just speak english."  However, that is how Americans should be in other cultures as well.  It should be important for everyone to learn one another's language, or at least something about it.            

This section of HLW helps describe and define various types of discoures.  The structure of text and linguistic interactions is important to understand.  There are conjunctive and conference relationships that help individuals draw conclusions to the various meanings of a sentence.  For example, I know that I use the conference relationship close to a million times a day when speaking.  Where there is a declarative statement in the beginning and then a series of adjectives to describe that statement.  I find these types of structures interesting because you hear a lot that you "cannot come into the middle of the conversation" because you simply do not know the subject of what they are talking about.  The subject is established in the beginning and then spoken about afterwards.

HLW even goes as far to say that conversations are a series of monologues put together to create dialogues.  In a way this has some truth to it but conversations require constant breaks and continuations to work.  This idea of turn taking came as individuals need to get a point across which required others to listen.  Furthermore, parents also play a pivotal role in teaching this idea of taking turns.  I can remember as a child how many times my parents would tell me to stop and let them finish or let my brothers finish speaking.

Usually, determining what to speak breaks down into what we want from others.  Either what it is we want them to know or do.  These are broken down into representative, directive, expressive or declarative statements.  These statements are vital to understand and relate to what it is that others want.  Again, this comes back to parents because they would always tell me to use certain statements to either get what i want or make a point.  I can distinctly remember my father always telling me to make declarative statements.... basically do not be indecisive.                              

Cultural assimilation may be the biggest threat to a language dying.  This brings light to the conflict of globalization and the ever so subtle penetration of large firms into different cultures of the world.  Firms that move into these new areas put massive amount of pressure on the indigenous population whether it be political, social or economic.  As this occurs, bilingualism emerges in which many participants being to understand and use the new.  Before you know it, the language that used to be in existence is no longer there.  It is a downward spiral because as individuals stop using this language there are less and less of those with whom to speak.  Therefore, families may not teach their children the language since it may no longer be as useful.

In order to revitalize such languages it is extremely important for the community to take action.  Though it is difficult since funding is lacking, those within the community need to be willing to speak and teach others.  If a language is lost the culture may soon follow and a homogenous world, well, it simply isn’t as interesting or exciting.  Some languages that have been dead for quite some time are being revived as we speak, such as the British Cornish and Manx languages. 

The beginnings of languages, and most commonly these lost languages started out very small.  In fact, they were called Pidgin languages and were used as physical gestures to identify needs and wants.  These languages usually do not last long, maybe a year, as they are meant to provide a quick means of communication between languages.  However, the ones that do stick are dubbed creole languages and they become the mother tongue for communities. 

Creoles present a unique argument in which they suggest that cultures, not matter how different they become, will have strikingly similar languages and customs.  This is due to the fact that if the origin is the same than they are considered monogenetic and do not have many differences.

Some languages may have even been created through oral sounds that were uttered by the reaction to “stimuli” from the outside world.  For example “buzz”, or any onomatopoeia.  This can be built upon as cultures learn to use tools and record such sounds.  As this happens writing forms which creates the language on paper.  Languages will change through the culture including accents which can play a big part in societies like Britain.  Based upon how you speak individuals can tell where you are from and surmise potential upbringing.  All in all, language can be used for many things as discussed above.

Graphology, or the study of the written language is interesting since just like verbal languages, the written word varies as well.  For example, English is written from left to right while Arabic is right to left, Japanese top to bottom and some Ancient Greek bottom to top.  Not only does the physical direction of the lines change but always the way in which words and letters are written.  This study is known as chirography, and breaks down the many ways in which meaning can be represented.  From calligraphy to manuscripts meaning can be differentiated simply by the way it is written or drawn.  Consider the English alphabet, we have a dual alphabet in which we use both capital and lower case letters.  The way a letter is written can signify the beginning of a sentence or the placement of a proper noun. 

It has been suggested that writing developed independently of each other for various reasons.  The three basic types are pictographic writing, Logographic, Ideographic and cuneiform.  Writing of these types are still used in today’s society and can include such symbols used for monetary purposes or mathematical expressions.

What I found the most interesting was the section on abbreviations since we have taken abbreviations to a whole new level with the English language.  There are a myriad of words that now use acronyms instead of the actual speech.  “Internet language” seems to be taking over!! LOL, JK, TTYL, what is the world coming to?  If the rate at which acronyms increase there wont even be an English language left!  Needless to say, I am not one for the excessive usage of the “Internet Language”.

The ear to eye approach can be helpful when first learning a language that is new to you.  When I first started learning Turkish I needed to listen to the letters before I could effectively reproduce them myself.  Therefore, simply seeing them did not do me any justice since I could fully comprehend them.  Now, after a fair amount of practice I can understand the world fairly quickly from simply reading it.  This being said, it is still very hard to spell the word from listening to it.

However, what is harder always turns out to be better for you.  As it is discussed in our reading, there is no substitute for writing to remember something.  Therefore, it seems important to be able to write the word that you are attempting to learn.  Recently, I have been writing down words when on Rosetta stone to help myself remember them more and it most definitely has.  Hearing the word and then writing it down has turned out to be extremely helpful.               

As I use Rosetta Stone I find myself uncovering topics that I would not have normally thought of covering in my learning plan.  Recently, upon meeting with Umur I have discussed the various tenses that are used when addressing different types of people.  This has become very helpful since verbs would have varying ending in Rosetta Stone and I would not know what they was referring too!  

Furthermore, I continue to learn the bad words since that is helpful and fun but I have started to listen to and watch some Turkish music and television.  So far some of the music I have listen to was by Bengu "Gezegen" and Tarkan "Dudu".  In both songs I was able to understand 5 words total.  Fairly difficult since they speak so quickly!    

No two people are alike and it is personality differences that separate each of these individuals.  It is important to note that, even though values may be the same among families, how individuals perceive them creates the difference as the chance for misunderstanding becomes greater.  The comment on cultural generalizations is important and interesting since it acts as a warning for foreigners.  That being said, culture and people are not independent of one another, which is why it is vital to learn them together.

Culture is the common ideal and belief people share in a certain area.  Therefore, what we come to understand is that members of that society act a certain way because of what is and is not acceptable in their opinions.  Therefore, to understand behavior it is important to understand the values behind them.  I believe that this is what MLC 105 & 110 aim to do, give meaning to the language through culture.  Why members of that society say certain things and do certain things.  For example, my Turkish friend said when he first came to UR a teacher would constantly snap his hands together making a fist with one and then covering it with the opposite hand.  This is extremely offensive in the Turkish culture but the teacher had no idea that this gesture was offensive.

This event goes to show that individuals should not be too quick to judge as certain actions or phrases may not always have the same meaning in different cultures.  Usually, the end result is the same for most conversations but how one arrives at the answer may be completely different.  For example, there is a section about how varying cultures ask for and receive the time.  Knowing how to properly receive information is vital and wherever you end up, the most important thing you can do is understand the culture and understand what it is you need to do in order to remain respectful.                     

Understanding the semantics of how the brain processes information is vital to learning a new language.  There are various levels of meaning and it is just as necessary for an individual to know the cultural background, as it is to know the language.  There may be similar words in two different languages but could have wildly different meanings under certain contexts.

For said reason above, learning vocabulary should be done in context.  Learning with synonymy can be very helpful as the book advocates for learning through more than just simple memorization.  As we have discussed in class it is important to give the word meaning (besides its actual meaning) to you so you can have a connection with it.

This idea of meaning is different, specifically in the realm of names.  In a majority of the western world there is a given Christian name and a family name.  Such a name system does not necessarily hold up in the rest of the world.  Even if it does, the names may not necessarily mean the same exact thing.  For example, for myself and majority of the people I know their first and last names do not mean anything.  However, in a foreign language it is not uncommon for a name to have an actual meaning. 

Lucky for me, meaning can be borrowed in many cases.  Many words such as laptop or computer are borrowed from the English language and used in others.  In Turkish the name for a mobile telephone is, you guessed it, mobil.  Can make life much easier.   However, morphology can complicate things as suffixes and prefixes are added to various words.   I know the suffixes have given me a tremendous amount of trouble in Turkish since it seems that almost everything is added to the ended of the words.  Makes words much more difficult to identify. 

Though morphing is difficult, grouping words with suffixes and prefixes together can make learning them much easier.  Kimirzi cicek means red flower and I grouped them together to help me understand the two.  Makes it much easier to learn vocabulary for me.         

Who new vowels were so important for the recognition of a language?  There are many ways in which individuals pronounce and physically speak consonants but the vowels make the accent.  Vowel classification helps locate the accent, which can in turn pinpoint an individual from a physical location.  My mother speaks Italian fluently and is able to place other native italian speakers.  Any deviation from the cardinal position of the vowel creates this distinctive feature.

Following in the same vein, phonemes exist to change the sound of words to imply different meanings.  This was apparent in class today when we attempted to learn Japanese.  The intonations were very different when we changed from the phrase “how are you?” to the phrase good.  Switching the pronunciation of those ending letters helped us identify the difference. 

Identifying sound sequences is very important and is something that Rosetta Stone emphasizes.  Words are broken up to better understand the syllables and what letters may usually go together.   Understanding the tone individual’s use gives “shape to the words” and allows the listener to put better context to them.  It terms of learning the books discusses breaking meaning up into chunks, more specifically rhythmic chucks which allows better memorization. 

When babies are learning to speak their mothers respond with a different tone of voice and thus there are different reactions to various types of speech.  The simple utterances that young infants make have resemblance to language they will speak later down the road.  Both passive and active language learning comes into play.  For example, some babies may say “wawa” for water which can easily transform into the correct word.