Fionna Poon

SDLC 105

Final Reflection

In reflecting on my experience with Korean class this semester, there are things that I definitely should have done better and others that should not have been done. Therefore this paper reflects these things. Like I said earlier, SDLC 105 and 110 were supposed to be my easy classes as I finish off my senior year. However this wasn't the case as classes went under way. Learning a language by yourself is really difficult and not exactly an easy task. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. There is not enough time in a day to do everything that I wanted to do this semester. While learning Korean was hard, if I got the chance to go back and choose to not do it again, I would still do it. I don't regret that I took it. The experience was great in building my vocabulary and gaining practice in speaking Korean. It was great to have the experience in learning by myself. This shows me that after I graduate, I don't need to take a formal class in order to continue my learning. I, myself, can learn on my own. Also compared to other classes, I can't really complain about SDLC.

Looking at my first and updated learning plan, they were both definitely too ambitious for just one semester of learning. For example, I wanted to be good at listening and understanding Korean when someone speaks to me and when it's spoken near me. This means that I need to accumulate a ton of vocabulary and phrases on a variety of topics in order to even be considered an amateur. Honestly when I was making the goals though, I didn't really think much about whether I could achieve them this semester. Instead I focused more on goals that I wanted to achieve in general and as time goes on. This of course was a mistake. I should have focused more on goals that were reachable in the next few weeks than in the next 8 months. For me to achieve all my goals, it would take roughly 3-7 years of learning extensively. As a result, I didn't necessarily achieve any of my goals. Most of my goals centered on being fluent or at least proficient in the topic associated with the goal, which is extremely hard to do since I am just learning the topic. Therefore there is no way that I would be as proficient as a Korean speaker, unless I practice 24/7 and only speak and hear in Korean. Accumulating enough interpersonal skills, phrases, and words was definitely a stretch in my opinion with no chance of being achieved this semester or 2 years from now. While I'm a little disappointed that I'm not at the level that I want to be at right now, I realized that I do have big hopes and dreams for what I want to learn in Korean in the future.

In learning this semester, I would have liked to have a formal teacher when it comes to learning Korean grammar and to answer all the questions that I may have. While having a language partner is great and makes it more comfortable and less structured like a classroom, a formal teacher is more equipped in teaching the basics of grammar and sentence structure. This is something that students can't really teach onto others as efficiently. For example, I'm still a little confused as to how you make original sentences. What is the sentence structure?

As assignments started to pile up, I couldn't give Korean as much of my attention as I would have liked to. At some point, it became really difficult to keep up with assignments and everything. As a result, it was difficult finding the motivation to go to meetings with my language partner when I was so overwhelmed with everything else that is going on, like readings, assignments, tests, projects, and lab reports. Based on my experience, I think that motivation is a key component in any self learning of a language. If you're not motivated to learn, you won't and will try to find excuses to not. For me, I was unmotivated but I didn't try to find excuses to skip my meetings. It was more along the lines, I have been so busy with doing homework that I have sacrificed sleep for it. Thus, sometimes it came down to choosing Korean meetings versus catching up on necessary sleep, which is an extremely difficult decision for a college student. Additionally as the semester got closer to the end, my language partner and I found ourselves becoming busy with projects, assignments, tests, and lab reports. Therefore this sort of played a role in missing a meeting here and there. Although we didn't get to meet twice a week as I would have liked, we did try to meet at least once.

In terms of what I learned this semester, I did learn a decent amount of vocabulary and phrases from both my language partner and my Korean friends. But I do wish that I learned just a little bit more, which goes back to the motivation and meetings. I would have liked to learn a few more topics that aren't what beginner speakers would learn normally. For example, I would have liked to learn phrases and vocabulary that are related to travelling. I enjoyed speaking with my friends and surprising some of them when they found out I was learning Korean. Through my Korean learning, I felt like I was able to connect more with my friends and the culture that they are a part of. I got to understand where they come from culturally by researching and learning about their culture as shown from the various presentations and posts that I have done.

Like I said before, I don't regret taking this class. I learned so much when I otherwise wouldn't if I didn't take it. I enjoyed learning about other cultures as well. Both SDLC classes provide a worldly touch to them that is lacking in most classes at the University of Richmond. Not only am I learning about Korean culture, but I get to experience other cultures from the eyes of people learning it. I will most definitely continue learning Korean and hope one day that I get the opportunity to visit Korea and actually test out my skills. As I finish this semester, I look forward to the future and my continuation of Korean.

For a possible learning activity I will be focusing on the number system

• I will first write out the words of both number systems for the person
• Have the person read the words out slowly, making sure to pronounce everything correctly as I say them as well. So they repeat after me
• Then I will have them say it by themselves for 3-4 times.
• The person will then have to take a quiz
  • a series of cards with a number each will be shown one at a time
  • person would have to read each number on the card in Korea
  • First we'll start off with one number system, a card will be shown one at a time in random order, and the person will have to say the corresponding Korean word.
  • We do this for 2-3 times
  • Then we will switch to the next number system and doing the same process 2-3 times
  • Then the person will have to say both numbers at the same time for another 2-3 times
• After that's over, I will create a bingo for the person to do. Instead of words though, it will be numbers. I will be speaking a number in Korean and the person has to match the word with the number.
  • To be done with this, the person has to get at Bingo in at least 2 ways.
• Then I will teach the person a cute Korean children song having to do with numbers

Evaluation:

Well the person didn't like how much work she had to do. I have to say it was kind of tedious. It might have been better to cut back on the quiz or change it up in the middle. She wasn't that interested about the numbers or learning about them in a manner that wasn't that fun. I could tell that she was bored after all and was a little reluctant to continue on. Though she did say that if she was actually learning this or taking a quiz on this, she would be into it and actually want to learn. Overall while my learning activity does help people learn, it's a little too much for people to take on. Therefore I think there must be another activity that is better and efficient.

Fionna Poon

SDLC 105

Reflection #2

Before my learning began, I was very excited to learn Korean as a way to further connect with my Korean friends. Hanging around them obviously made me interested in learning Korean. It also doesn't hurt to not feel left out when they speak Korean among themselves. And so that was my motivation to learn Korean. I learned Latin in college for my language requirement for 2 years. But since Latin is a "dead language", I wanted to learn a language that was more current and one that I could use after college. Hence I chose Korean. I saw SDLC 105 and 110 as my easy classes as well so it would be a good way to finish off my college career.

My experience with Korean wasn't completely new when I first started. I was familiar with the Korean alphabet and already knew a few words, but they were a smatter of random words. For example I knew hello, thank you, sorry, i'm sleepy, i'm hungry, and are you okay? Therefore by learning Korean, it would help me create sentences and phrases with these words as well as create a sort of meaning and structure to the words.

Now that I have gotten into the swing of self learning, I realize that learning by myself isn’t as easy as I had originally thought. It's definitely hard being a language learner when you have other important things to do as well. For example, learning a language at the same time as doing work for other classes. I kind of felt like I wasn't paying as much attention to learning Korean as much as I was trying to finish homework for other classes. The reasons were because of a lack of time in a day and my inability to finish work quickly. There were times when I would have to decide whether I should forego learning Korean or forego sleep. One of the difficulties that comes with learning any new language in my opinion is that the language isn't being taught like a regular class. This makes it difficult for people to keep up and there is no feeling of responsibility to keep up. For example in a class, teachers require homework to be passed in, tests and quizzes, and participation. On the other hand, a language partner won't hold you accountable for the work that you do, you don't need to pass anything in for a grade, and you don't need to take tests and quizzes. For myself, I didn't really consider my meetings with my language partner as a class that I was required to attend like a regular class does. Attendance wasn’t mandatory and so that made it difficult for me to find the motivation to go to class after or before a busy week. In my opinion, this was a prominent obstacle in my learning process.

A difficulty though that I experienced with my language partner is his lack of knowledge. As a non-Korean speaker, I had many questions since I wasn't familiar with the language. Most of my questions centered around grammar confusions and why certain words were written a certain way. For example, in Korean there are two ways to write  the "ae" sound. Therefore, naturally I asked what the difference was between the two and in which situations would I use each one. While he did try his best to answer my questions, I could tell that he didn't know what the difference was between the 2 besides how they're written. When I asked him how I would know when to use which spelling of "ae" for each word, he didn't know either and told me to just memorize how they're written.

Grammar was an issue as well since my partner couldn't transfer the same information that his teachers taught him onto me. He couldn't provide me with more in-depth knowledge on Korean grammar. Therefore I was a bit confused about certain words, phrases, and grammar as well as why they are the way they are. Although, I am grateful that he did try his best to eliminate some of the confusion. Consequently, learning not in a classroom setting is really difficult when you can't rely on a teacher, who is very knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the Korean language, to explain certain things that are confusing. As a result, clarity is not completely present in my learning.

Creating a learning plan for the semester was definitely a first for me. I didn't really know what to say or write for it. I had trouble coming up with tasks that didn't overlap onto my goals. The learning plan definitely made me think of what I should focus on learning during the semester and tailor what I want to learn within 15 weeks of classes. I think it helped to provide guidance in my learning.

In regards to my learning, Korean in the beginning was not too hard since I was reviewing with my partner on what I know and don't know. But as the weeks progressed, it definitely got more challenging as I acquired more vocabulary and phrases. Overall though I think my learning of Korean is worth it

How well did you achieve your goals?

Looking through my learning plan, I didn't necessarily achieve my goals too effectively. I'm not good at listening and understanding Korean. This is because I haven't acquired enough vocabulary and phrases that allow me to be good. What I was learning during the semester was different to what my Korean friends would say among themselves. The specific topics that I chose to focus on in the language limited my ability to learn about other topics that were more relate-able and current to situations that I face everyday. But based on the phrases and vocabulary that I do know, I could understand them when spoken to or not to a certain extent though. When Korean is spoken in a fast tone, I can only pick out certain words that I am familiar with and have difficulty understanding the sentences. When spoken in a slow tone, I can pick out familiar words, sometimes recognize and understand the sentence if it's a familiar phrase. Overall my pronunciation is decent on the first try, but it takes me a few tries to get the pronunciation sounding perfect for a non-Korean. I still kind of have trouble with making certain sounds. I can speak clearly enough that Koreans can understand me. But for certain phrases that require more effort to remember, I tend to speak in a slower tone than I would for phrases that I can recall immediately.

I haven't tested my restaurant knowledge at a Korean restaurant yet. So I don't know if I actually accomplished my goal in being good at understanding and ordering at restaurants. One potential problem that I see with this is the potential that the waitresses will speak in a tone that makes it difficult for me to pick out words and phrases that I am familiar with. And so it would be more effective if they speak in a slower tone.

I haven't accumulated enough interpersonal skills due to a lack of time and the need to acquire certain topics in order to fulfill beginner requirements. But I think with more time, practice, accumulation of vocabulary/phrases, and experience, I should be able to accomplish this goal.

In general, I think my goals were too ambitious for the time that was available to me. But I think they're a good first start.

What were the stumbling blocks you encountered?

The stumbling blocks I encountered were a lack of time, need to meet certain beginner requirements, fast tone of speech, insufficient vocabulary and phrases, impulsive pronunciations, and the amount of practice should have been greater.

How were you able to overcome them?

I haven't really overcome these obstacles yet. Since the semester is over, some of these obstacles would have been helpful if they were overcome during the semester. However now, they're irrelevant. For the rest of the obstacles, it would require more work after the semester in order to accomplish them. It would take months to overcome these obstacles and get to a level that is comparable to a Korean speaker. I was able to overcome one obstacle though, impulsive pronunciation. I knew what sound I had to make but when it comes down to it, I impulsively say another sound. This however only occurred to one particular word in a phrase. To overcome this, I wrote out the romanticized translation of the Korean words in the phrase. Then I changed the translation of the word that I was having the most trouble with into a translation that correlates with how I should say the word actually. So for example the actual translation is meog eoss but I would change this into meog oss to make it easier for my brain to recognize what sound I needed to make. 

What was most/least interesting to you?

My most favorite part about my semester is that I was broadening my knowledge of Korean. I think of it as one step closer to being able to get around in Korea on my own by speaking and reading Korean when I one day go there. It was also interesting to hear and learn about other cultures when I normally wouldn't. It was interesting to learn new vocabulary that correlate with what a normal conversation would be like in certain situations. I learned so much about Korea itself and it's culture that would definitely be useful to know one day. I also enjoyed the Korean children song about numbers. I read a couple articles about the elderly committing suicide which I thought was really interesting. Normally I wouldn't expect this to happen since most Asian cultures value family. And so I would be interested in learning more about this and following along with it.

My least favorite part about the semester is the amount of work that I needed to pass in for SDLC 110. Like everyone else, I did not follow the syllabus and so I was a bit shocked when a list of materials was due. I definitely wished that I payed attention to the syllabus and had progressively completed the work throughout the semester than in the course of 2 days. But then again, I can't complain since it was my fault. The least interesting part about Korean is Korea's pop music industry. I honestly am not interested in Korean music and so this part of the culture which comprises a significant portion does not interest me at all. Korean dramas don't interest me either.

 What would you like to do next?

I am going to practice more with the vocabulary that I know. Maybe take a few Korean classes if there is any at the location where I end up at. One day, I'm going to live in Korea or at least visit it. It's on my bucket list. I'm also considering teaching English as a way to expand my knowledge. Though I'm not too keen with Korean dramas, I do see them as a way to build vocabulary. And so I will watch them when I have time. While I'm going to keep in contact with my Korean friends, I will use them to build my vocabulary (this sounds bad). I don't necessarily trust the internet in acquiring vocabulary but I will use my friends as a way to confirm whether the vocabulary is correct and spelled correctly.

For my progress up to week 8, I just started learning phrases associated with restaurants and ordering. So I haven't exactly accomplished my restaurant task yet. So far I have accomplished majority of the tasks that I had set for myself for the semester. I'm still kind of having trouble saying certain words. I definitely have not accumulated enough vocabulary or knowledge of phrases that are useful in keeping a conversation going. I'm not too good at listening to Koreans speak since I neither know the words and they talk at a faster rate than what I can comprehend. For the phrases that I do know, my speaking though is overall pretty good. To finish the semester, I should definitely practice more to prepare for the final. I should sound better than I am now, but it's been a very busy semester and so I haven't given as much time to Korean as I should be. My learning plan so far is fine as is.

For my final artifact I focused on months, dates, and time.

Before conducting my artifact:

Goals:

• Know how to say the date
• Know how to tell time

Tasks:

• Learn vocabulary such as month & day and anything related  
• Learn vocabulary associated with time
• Write the vocabulary out

Evaluation of success:

To evaluate the success of the artifact, I would judge to see if it is written correctly and that the written words correspond with how the word is pronounced. Also I would check for grammatical errors. This artifact is more to test my writing skills than my speaking.

After finishing artifact 4:

Like I said earlier, this artifact is more to test my writing skills. I didn't feel the need to do any speaking nor did I have enough vocabulary to even initiate a conversation. My writing is free of grammatical errors. I asked Alvin and one of my friends to look it over to ensure that everything looks fine, which it was. I definitely got some good practice in writing. Vocabulary is appropriate in the situation.

Artifact 4 is on how to say the months and dates as well as time. The system requires me to use my knowledge of the 2 number systems that I had learned earlier. The artifact is a good way to show my writing skills.  

Before conducting my artifact 3:

Goals:

• Learn phrases related to restaurants
• Learn how to order
• Be familiar with words that will be said in a Korean restaurant

Tasks:

• Based on previous experiences to Korean restaurants, I kind of new what should be said when you first enter and make eye contact with an employee.
• I would ask friends what they say when going to a restaurant
• I am going to write down the information into my notes
• I need to learn vocabulary related to food since there are so many food options available
• I need to understand the grammar in asking the questions.
• I need to learn phrases related to restaurants and ordering
• create a conversation with the phrases

Evaluation of success:

To evaluate the success of the artifact, I need to judge whether the phrases have been pronounced correctly. I will be asking friends to listen to the recording to ensure that it sounds right. If it doesn't, then I'll get them to tell me what was wrong. Then I would go back and fix what was wrong. I have to ensure that the conversation is culturally appropriate such as it is in the formal form and is polite and is appropriately said in a tone that is clear and acceptable. Recording is free of any grammatical errors.

After finishing my artifact:

While it would have been ideal to do the artifact at a Korean restaurant, I didn't really have time to do so. Therefore I had a conversation with a friend and made it seem like I was speaking at a restaurant. The recording posted is after several tries. I had so much trouble with saying "I ate well". For me the problem was that I kept messing up the pronunciation because of a reflex that I didn't intend to do. I would say meog ess instead of meog eoss. But the final recording is free of any grammatical errors, phrases are pronounced accurately, the tone is clear, and is in the formal form. Throughout the recording, how I said it was polite but when I said excuse me, it kind of came off as being aggressive which should be polite. Therefore that's one little issue with the recording but other than that, the tone is acceptable.

In preparation for artifact 2:

Goals:

• have both number systems written down
• say the number systems in a clear tone and slowly
• know when to use each system
• Can say the words
• For this artifact I'm more focused on the speaking aspect

Tasks:

• Write down the number systems
• Have Alvin tell me what the difference is between the 2 systems
• Recognize the distinctions between the 2 by comparing the 2 systems together
• Practice saying the words a loud and then practice saying it in front of friends
• Practice writing down the numbers
• Get my pronunciation right

Evaluation of Success

• first off how the words are pronounced must be accurate or at least sound close to it
• Then I need to see whether I am able to recognize the phrases characters
• Can recognize the difference.  
• Ask friends to listen to the recording and be critical about any mistakes that I may have

After having done artifact 2:

This recording is one after several attempts were made. In previous recordings, I had trouble with my pronunciation of 7 - 9 in casual system. But after a few more tries I kind of got it right. The rest of the numbers I pronounced accurately. Since both systems don't require formality, it's easier to learn. For this artifact I didn't apply it to a particular thing, so it didn't need to be appropriate in a particular context. I did write both systems down. In the recording, I probably should have paused in between systems to make it easier for a listener to distinguish. I can say the words for sure. My pronunciation isn't exactly perfect. Even today I still have trouble saying two certain sounds. But with more practice, I'm sure I'll get it to be excellent.

Artifact 3

This is my friend and I having a conversation that I would typically have at a Korean restaurant. This whole conversation is in the formal form.

My friend (A): Welcome

Me (B): Hello.

A: How many people?

B: 2 people

A: What do you want to drink?

B: Water please

A: Yes

A: What do you want to eat?

B: Can I have bulgogi please

B: More water please

A: I will do it

B: Excuse me, one more chopsticks please

A: Yes

A: Are you done with your plate?

B: Yes, I ate well (after a meal is over)

A: Do you want the check?

B: Yes thank you

B: Stay here well.

Artifact 2

Artifact 2 is on the 2 Korean number systems from 1-10

The first system is used for casual conversations and about age

The second system is used for when talking about math and dates

Finally the last 5 words are from 1-5 and is used together with an object only.

For this first artifact, I did pretty well. I had learned enough phrases in Korean that when combined together they made up a decent monologue about myself. How the recording sounded was good, my Korean friends approved it and said it sounded good. Accent sounds good. The consistency of formality was good and was appropriate in a formal setting. Words were said correctly and slowly so that the listener could hear it. Overall good job to me.

I accomplished all my goals in weeks 4 and 5. Two of the goals I needed to learn before I could do the artifact so that was accomplished. The other goal I learned but time will tell whether I retained the information or not.

Though the Global Studio has a lot of resources such as a Korean dictionary and books in Korean, I didn't really have the time to look at them during the semester. Therefore, it was easier for me to just go online and look up the phrases. If I did have time, I would probably use the dictionary to look up words from Korean to English. Using the dictionary would probably have provided me with a number of different ways of saying a particular English word than would a Korean speaker.

For weeks 4 and 5,

my goals for this week are:

• finish off introductions in order to be ready for my first artifact.
• Learn the number systems
• Know what I'm going to say for my first artifact

Tasks:

• Find out how to say my name and ask for a name formally.
• Learn how to describe myself as a student by asking friends
• Start to put the phrases together into a small monologue for my artifact
• Ask Alvin what the differences are between the 2 number systems
• Learn from Alvin the 2 number systems

Resources:

• I used my friends and Alvin to acquire the information
• I started to prepare for my monologue and so I was already starting to put the information into a one sided conversation
• I went around asking my friends how to say things
• Alvin used the whiteboard to show me how the number system is written, to which I wrote down.
• I will record myself speaking this monologue and post on ning.

Evaluation:

• I will evaluate my success by determining whether I acquired enough information to create a small monologue for my artifact
• Then I will evaluate whether my artifact recording sounds right by asking my Korean friends
• If they approve then I did a good job, if not, then I didn't do so well. 
• I'm going to evaluate how well I remember the phrases through review and being tested by friends.

Week 2: I met with my language partner a little late, probably around week 2. During this week, I reviewed what I know with my partner. I knew a scatter of random phrases here and there, which I told him. But I mentioned that I didn't really remember anything too well because hello. Basically I needed a lot of review on the alphabet. While I had them written down, I didn't necessarily remember them. During this week we learned the basics to formal and informal greetings.

• Resources I used: google, a few online dictionaries, my Korean friends
• Language partner: First we reviewed my pronunciation of the alphabet first, since if you don't know the alphabet, then you can't really learn the language. We reviewed the characters and how to read them and write them. Before the meeting, I looked up some greeting words. And so I asked Alvin if they were correct. He also mentioned how in Korean there are different ways to say each phrase. We first learned formal greetings first then informal greetings.
• I found it more effective to ask friends than look online. When I look online, I really don't know if the word is correct or not. For example, how do I know that the word is spelled correctly or is a particular word the right translation in the context that I want. Therefore it's easier to just ask friends, who can automatically tell you what the translation is.

Week 3: Building on the work that I did last week, I learned how to say farewell formally and informally.

• Resources I used: google, and Korean friends
• Language partner: this week we learned formal and informal ways to say farewell. I asked him if the words are right and I would practice saying them. I learned from my friends that there are also 2 more ways to formally say goodbye to someone in terms of whether the older person stays or leaves and whether I stay or leave. Then he would quiz me on the words to see if I was able to retain anything.
• I found it very effective to be quizzed on the stuff. It makes me try harder to remember the information so that I don't mess up.

Week 4:

• resources I used: my Korean friends
• Language partner: I learned how to say my name and ask for a name formally. I learned how to describe myself as student that was to be used for my first artifact. I reviewed the words with him to ensure accuracy. Through him, I learned how to say "how are you?" and respond to the question when asked. After learning these words, Alvin made all the words from greeting and farewell sections into a conversation along with the name and how are you parts. And so in the end, I could talk in a conversation with someone.  To wrap up, we kind of did a little conversation with the words that I learned
• It was very effective to do a mock conversation without notes to get some practice in conversing with a Korean.

Week 5: This week we learned the 2 number systems and how to write them. It was basically more of him giving me information than me being very engaging.

• Resources I used: Alvin this time actually told me how to say the number systems and write it.
• Language partner. He told me what the difference was between the 2 number systems. Then he wrote out how to say each number in each system on a whiteboard.
• More effective for Alvin to give me the information directly.

Week 6: This week we reviewed the number system. We practiced saying the number system and writing it out. Then he would quiz me on the numbers.

• resources I used: My notes and Alvin
• Language partner: I would say the number system over and over until I was sure that I retained the information. Then Alvin would take my notes away and verbally quiz me on the numbers. He would say a number and I would have to say the translation of the numbers on both systems
• Very effective to have the quizzes.This time though it was information that I learned up to this week and this week. So the quizzes forced me to actually try to retain the information. When I'm under pressure, information sticks more in my brain.

Week 7:

• Resources I used: Alvin
• Language partner: This week, Alvin taught me another way to say the number system. But this time a certain way to say the number system is only used when it's used with an object.  So I learned this this week. I also learned 3 I like sentences. I also learned a few more new words, which are a little difficult to remember.
• This week I didn't get quizzed and so not getting quizzed isn't very effective in my learning.

Week 8:

• Resources I used: Korean friends and experiences
• Language partner: From multiple experiences at restaurants, I learned a few phrases of what I should say when I'm at a restaurant. And so I had already knew a few phrases. For this week, I asked some of my friends what should be said and not said when first entering a restaurant. I learned how to order for a drink or a dish. But the downside is I don't necessarily know the different ways that could be said in order to ask for something at a restaurant in Korean.  This week was a busy week for both of us and so I was sick during this week.
• Going to a restaurant is an effective way to see how each phrase is used and where and when it is used.

Week 9:

• Resources I used: Korean friends, experiences, online dictionary, Alvin
• Language partner: This week we reviewed what I learned last week and added more to it. I learned what questions would be asked by the waitress when she's asking us what we want to order. For example what do I want to eat and what do I want to drink. We reviewed whether the terms from last week are correct. Then he put all the information into a typical conversation at a restaurant when first entering. Also this week I learned a variety of food related words. Such as pizza, pasta, hamburger. Then we had a mini conversation.
• Like I said before putting the words into a conversation is easier and more effective than having random phrases everywhere. 

Week 10:

• Resources I used: Alvin and notes
• Language Partner: this week I learned months and dates. Unfortunately though, I didn't learn the year. Almost 85% of the words associated with months and dates comes from both number systems. Therefore he only needed to tell me how to say in Korean month, day, before noon, and after noon.The rest I had already knew. And then we reviewed basically everything that we had learned this semester to prepare for the final.
• Review is very effective. It's like a refresher of everything that I learned.

Reading the article, I didn't realize that learning another language helps to improve brain activity. I'm surprised but then again I'm kind of happy that it does. This means that my brain is smarter than others. HA

In my opinion, knowing two languages does make it difficult for me to converse with people especially relatives of my native language. When I was younger, I was really fluent in Cantonese. But as I grew up and went to school, English grew to become more fluent and override the other. And so now, it's really difficult for me to converse with my grandmother for example since I forgot most words and don't talk as much in Canto as I do in English. I'm more exposed to English than the other way. I do deeply regret this. I wish I had tried harder to maintain this part of my heritage since it does really help in talking with my grandma who I don't really know too well or her history because of a language barrier.

Some cultural people that I know are also having the same issue as myself. They either didn't get the opportunity to be exposed to this part of their heritage because of their parents or they have forgotten completely. In general for me, if I got the opportunity to do this again, I would go back and actually try to talk more in the language.

It's true that bilinguals have to switch from one language to another and must adapt to what is being said and are efficient in doing so. But I think this applies only to people who are fluent in both languages and doesn't really work for people who are inadequate in one of the languages. For me personally, I definitely have difficult in adapting since I'm more fluent in English. I try to speak in Canto to my parents but it just ends up being half Canto and half English. Therefore, I don't think I can really enjoy the benefits unless I really make an effort to be fluent in both my languages.

Despite that, the article is really interesting. I was so surprised when I read that there are only 5 speakers today. It's sad to see how much urban development has affected these unique languages. Honestly, Americans should realize how much destruction they have caused to these people. Past Native American policies have pushed languages like Siletz to the very edge of extinction or close to it. I read an article that mentioned how birthrates in these reservations are extremely low. And so, this definitely makes it difficult for the language to survive with these new babies. What I don't understand is who is Bud Lane? The article mentions that everyone who learned Siletz as a first language are all gone today. But did he learn English and Siletz together? He seems pretty knowledgeable about the language, enough so that he can teach others.

I think the online dictionary is a great idea. It gives outsiders the opportunity to explore and learn the language. Additionally it helps native speakers be familiar with their culture and their heritage. But I question the quality of the recordings. Often times, digital recordings have difficulty capturing the correct pronunciation of words. Or sounds are really hard to capture correctly. Therefore, a speaker saying one word doesn't sound exactly the same as on the recording.

I'm glad though that the language has been able to survive during these difficult times when so few speakers are alive today. It definitely shows how strong the language is and could be. Thinking about North America's Native Americans, it reminds me a little of Australia's Aboriginal people and how they are having the same issue. One difference though is that the Aboriginals seem to have a much larger population. There also seems to be better cultural protection practices in place, allowing the culture itself to prosper even if they were to have few numbers.

The way that the reading was structured, it was a little hard to understand or analyze the text completely. The author talks a lot of what second language learners should do and not do, but there isn't enough evidence or examples to back up this point. Therefore, it makes it difficult for someone to read it and actually know what he/she should do in these situations. I would have preferred to have some examples for the things that the author says so that I would be able to see what should not be done and what should. Examples are definitely key when it comes to learning. The reading didn't seem to be for language learners but more for teachers on how they can teach language learners. And so, I had trouble connecting with the reading. All throughout the reading, the author uses so much citations. Every other sentence there is a citation. This makes me wonder if the author wrote any original stuff. How much of the reading is the author's own words and how much is from other authors?

Reading itself is very information based, it's not a simple thing to read. Honestly though, is knowing how sentences are broken down and what they represent really helpful in learning a language for language learners? I don't think so. Even if we know this information, there's no way that we would remember it and apply it to everyday conversations. Often times, conversations are done on a whim and randomly. Therefore I really think this reading is more as a guide for teachers on what their students should know when learning instead of for students themselves. Without someone actually putting the information in a form that we would understand clearly, this information is useless for students.

I agree conversation is much easier to learn than learning the structures first. Most children today start off by talking with their families first and learning from these interactions before learning how to write sentences. But I kind of don't understand what the author meant by syntactic structures. Does it mean how the sentences are structured?

Reading the regulatory function section, I still don't really get it. What does regulation of encounters mean? Is it something that determines how people behave when they're around other people? I think the author does a poor job at explaining the difference between instrumental function and regulatory function. It needs to be explained at a more simple level.

In reading the examples about pragmatics and sociopragmatics, we have to consider the fact that English is an extremely complex language than most languages. Therefore sometimes there are more simple languages than English. And so I think the reading is more tailored to language learners learning English than for English language learners particularly. The reading talks a lot about the difficulties and misunderstandings that foreign language learners have when they're speaking and learning English. Thus, it makes it difficult for me as a English language learner to relate most of the reading to my own studies and learning.  

Korean Cultural Presentation

In all honesty, I don't think knowing the origins of a language is very helpful in learning it. But I do see that it slightly helps in retaining information. For example, certain English words are very closely related to certain words in another language. These words sometimes are pronounced similarly and often times mean the same thing. Therefore it helps people associate the word with the English equivalent quickly. Learning the origins of a language can help someone determine languages that are similar to it. This is especially true for the English language. People can trace the language to Latin roots. Other languages that sprouted from Latin are French and Spanish. And so, it sort of explains why some words in the English language are derived from Spanish and French.

For Korean, the Chinese language is a big influence in the way that words are created. Today Korean words are a combination of chinese and hangul characters. Half of the vocabulary in Korean is derived from China. The pronunciation of these words (korean and chinese) can easily be used to identify how closely related these 2 languages are in Korean.

Though I assume that it was Mandarin that played a huge part in influencing the Korean language, I can find a few similarities with my first language, Cantonese, and Korean. For example, for the "eo" sound, I realized that it sounds very similar to the first sound made when I say "to poop" in Cantonese. And so based on this, in order to pronounce the "eo" sound, I draw on my Cantonese experiences.
The origins of Korean are still being debated today. But there are 4 hypotheses of where Korean language came from. The first is that Korean is a version of old Japanese. The second is Japanese is a version of Old Korean. Koreans is related to the Austronesian language family is the third hypothesis. Finally the last one is that Korean belongs the Altaic language family. This last hypothesis is more commonly accepted among experts since there aren't archeological and linguistic evidence to support the other three hypotheses.