Starting out in Self-Directed Language learning, I was really excited about working with Bethany and learning Kannada. I must admit, I was a little overenthusiastic and over-expectant. I expected that we would have an extensive vocabulary and be able to carry on intense conversations with the people we would meet. As we started learning, I realized that some aspects of the way I learn were exactly right: I am a audible and social learner, and the way Bethany and Aarti and I practiced together was perfect for my learning style. Our conversations would be filled with fun moments, like sitting outside in the courtyard on a pretty day, or going to the prayer room and talking about life in a sacred place. We had jokes too - like not pointing feet at people (as this is EXTREMELY rude in India). 

         My favorite moment, though, was when Bethany and I learned a song in Kannada which we created ourselves. I definitely learn by musical tones, and the lyrics of the song will stay with me. We placed the words to a popular tune that we know, and every time I hear the song, I will want to sing it in Kannada! 

          Some of the articles such as sociocultural factors and communicative competence I truly enjoyed reading because I could effectively look back at my study abroad experience and then look forward to how it will be different in India in a different culture and with a different language. For me, the articles brought in the cultural aspect that was missing from the language time with Aarti. I learned about the use of henna in India, and then started wearing henna and telling stories with it. I really enjoyed this aspect, and I have a henna pen in my room that I fully intend on using next year and learning new designs. In addition, I learned more about Indian culture in general - their views on family, on time, and on food. I think if I were to do this over, I would spend more time on vocabulary based on the culture (i.e. chutney - a favorite breakfast meal).

         When we go (now next summer) I am extremely excited about using knowledge about Indian culture; and in the meantime Aarti and I are going to keep learning together and cook together in my apartment. I felt like I grew from this class in ways that will stay with me. I fully hope to spend the rest of my life understanding cultural differences and talking to people from every people group and ethnicity and nationality. Learning Indian culture and Kannada are the first step in cultivating a greater communicative competence in my future.

                                  "Chanda" Panda!

You are pretty.          "Neevu chanda aderee"

In Kannda, beautiful/pretty is "chanda".

Do you see this panda? Isnt it pretty? Chanda panda!

Since Chanda and panda rhyme, its an easy tool to remember the word in Kannda. Remember the pretty panda and you are on your way to complimenting someone's beauty:

"Neevu  = you

"chanda" = beautiful

"Aderee" = are

This teaching method was really effective in helping one of our friends learn the word chanda. The rhyming nature of chanda and panda help recall, and then having an item that is pretty and lovable also helps with the meaning.

Please see Bethany's blog for Journal Entry 6 for our artifacts :)

In terms of our learning goals, Bethany and I did practice conversation with each other and with Aarti and I think we came out of the experience with a deeper friendship with Aarti. We had envisioned a larger amount of Bible verses to be learned that we did not get to, and we did not have time to put them all into a song - but I still want to do so, and Aarti and we will remain in touch to continue learning even after our evaluation. Some impediments to our learning were the fact that sometimes our meetings got cancelled when, for instance, Bethany had to go home, or Aarti had something unexpected come up, so at times we were behind schedule. I found our discussion of family very interesting  for example to say "I have two daughters" in Kannada is "For me, two daughters are," and this says a lot about how the view family as an extension of themselves. Overall I enjoyed the experience, and I hope to continue learning with Aarti!

The cultural presentations in class were quite interesting. I was only there for one day, given that I usually could not make the 3-415 time slot, but I heard the one about contemporary Indian music and Israeli special services. It was really interesting hearing how Indian music changed over time from the sitar lyrical music to eventual rap with sitar influences. I actually would love some of the music we listened to in my iTunes!

The presentation on how the Israeli special services fight was also very interesting because I knew that all men and women were conscripted in Israel, but I did not know how they were taught or their specific techniques. Overall... I never wish to get into a fight with any Israeli. Seriously, I wonder how the militarization has impacted the Israeli culture positively and negatively. Such a hated country in the Middle East must have many diplomatic struggles in the quest for peace.

Families in India are extensive. As compared to the United States where one lives with one's nuclear family (mom/dad/children), in India the family unit constitutes the grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and nieces and nephews as well. The entire extended family lives near each other and supports each other. Family is cherished; it is important to be a help to your family, especially for children who are raised to help provide for older family members.  Grandparents are proud of their children and grandchildren, and often family names carry weight and differing levels of respect.  Especially in India which has a caste system, your family can determine your opportunities in life; the life of a Brahmin is necessarily different from that of an untouchable, and you cannot change your caste status given at birth.

There are some cultures where time is not so much about the agenda and the appointment, not about the activity or the rendevous, but about the people one is interacting with and meeting. In India, time is less stressed, and people treat time with people as more important than being somewhere on time. If a meeting goes longer than expected because the talking is productive and needs to continue, then it needs to continue until it is finished - and this can go on for minutes or hours.  Granted, for official things like trains and business meetings, there is a more Western concept of time, but in rural areas of southern India, time is what you make of it; and you certainly are not looking at your watch every 5 minutes or grabbing food to go. 

"We are a cursed community. Men use us and throw us away," she says. Applying talcum powder to her daughter's face and tying ribbons to her hair, she says: "I am going to die soon and then who will look after her?"

- Parvatamma, a Devadasi in Mumbai

There is a practice in India, which although outlawed, is prevalent. Families give their daughters to the goddess Yellamma, the Hindu goddess of fertility.  In ancient times, the practice was instituted to dedicate young girls, often wealthy, to local temples.  They would be married only to the goddess and then take care of the temple.  In addition, they would perform for wealthy locals in arts and dancing. This practice continued for centuries, but the Devadasi came to be used as mistresses of the Brahmin or other rich patrons.  Essentially now the Devadasi are treated as prostitutes, who serve the temple and their sexual services are treated like having sex with the goddess. The Devadasi cannot leave their profession; they are considered unclean and untouchable by society and have no other life opportunity open to them. Once dedicated to the temple, they are sex slaves for life; often their children are too.

http://www.oodegr.com/english/anatolikes/indouismos/devadasis.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/8008562/Indias-prostitutes-of-God.html

The findings of this study - that immersion helps to learn a language like a native speaker better than class work - makes perfect sense to me. After learning in the classroom and by immersion, I realized that I tend not to use words I have learned unless I have to. For instance, learning French in an English class is good while you are immersed in it, but when you want to order a sandwich after class, you dont need any French vocabulary to do so. When you are in France, and you want to eat, you have to scour your brain for that vocab word or you dont get what you want.

I really enjoyed reading about Sociocultural Factors and how these relate to culture and language learning. When the authors talk about stereotypes, I realized that while abroad, many people take the image of America as portrayed in the media and think that Americans "are all rich, informal, materialistic, overly friendly, and drink coffee."  They also see American women as "loose" in comparison based on movies like American pie. When I was abroad, I remember a few times in bars where I would introduce myself and my country of origin, and I would get more attention than I wanted. By the end of my experience I had learned not to provide that fact and don a British accent when I spoke (in French or in English). This one change in my behavior changed others perception of me, and I was seen as more respectable and high and mighty!

  Secondly, I can definitely relate to this idea on p. 194 that when one learns a new language, one also inadvertently forms a new, second identity.  This process of learning a language also involves learning the culture, and conforming to that culture changes ways of thinking and feeling and socially acceptable responses. For example, when Americans get on the metro, they are often loud and boisterous, because in our culture this is acceptable. In French, a policy of respect for others' privacy and social space includes keeping noise levels to a minimum. Therefore, as one learns French, and boards the metro in France, a normally boisterous American may easily appear more reserved and professional.  There is a quote from River Town that I think perfectly describes this formation of a new identity:

"I never changed my Chinese name, but I sensed the ease with which my Chinese identity became distinct from my American self. Eventually, I came to think of myself as two people, Ho Wei and Peter Hessler. Ho Wei wasn't really a person until my second year in Fuling, but as time passed I realized that he was becoming most of my identity: apart from my students, colleagues, and other foreigners, everybody knew me strictly as Ho Wei, and they knew me strictly in Chinese. Ho Wei was completely different from my American self: he was friendlier, he was eager to talk with anybody, and he took great pleasure in even the most inane conversations. In a simple way he was funny, by saying a few words in the local dialect he could be endlessly entertaining to the people in Fueling. Also Ho Wei was stupid, which was what I liked most about him. He spoke with an accent, he had lousy grammar, and he laughed at the simple mistakes that he made. People were comfortable with somebody that stupid, and the found it easy to talk to Ho Wei, even though they often had to say things twice or write new words in his notebook..."

After studying abroad in France, I see palpable ways in which I am Bruyère ("heather" in French), this French-speaking, fun-loving, silly, outgoing, somewhat pretentious, crepe-loving, explorer of life, and how I am Heather, a quiet, kind, selfless, responsible, religious, conservative, determined lover of knowledge.  I feel like Superman in the sense that having both identities is like being both Clark Kent and Superman at once.  However, themore time I spend in one culture, the more that identity is cultivated over the other. It is an interesting question: would I be the same person if I were born somewhere else?

Communicative competence goes beyond learning the root meanings of words and the phonology of producing them. It reaches beyond grammar and syntax and form and demands that the speaker use the correct function of words in the correct context.  This is the difference between verbal language proficiency and the basic pragmatics of interpersonal skills. For example, a little child when they are growing up may not always get the words exactly correct, but they always seem to get their meaning across.  They use pointing at an object with just one word, "Ball" to convey either a declarative function (that is a ball) or an imperative function (I want the ball).  Thus it is apparent that words depend on context and their meaning is subject to their intended function.  Sometimes phrases are used to represent otehr things, or sometimes connect inter-personally, sometimes to acquire knowledge, and sometimes to play with the imagination. Knowing the word and the intended function is important in deciphering overall meaning and conveying language competence. Being able to also include cultural aspects of context within the function of the phrase conveys cultural competence. For example, in Turkey, one can say goodbye, I will see you later and also say "In sh'alla" - "If Allah wills." Ending the conversation with, I will see you in sh'alla includes a cultural context and fits into the script used in greetings in that culture.

After watching Culture Shock, I was struck by some very pertinent issues relevant to incoming international students. First of all, internationals coming into the United States may at first experience the euphoria of being in a new place with new customs and experiences, but after time, they come to experience a disillusionment or feeling of exclusion in a different culture. Exoticism leads to culture shock, which leads to tentative recovery, which leads to a form of assimilation or adaptation (or both).

To truly understand a language and a culture, sometimes you have to understand pop culture, and lacking knowledge of a famous movie or song could put you at in a position of confusion in a conversation. In addition, speaking in a language that is not your first tongue can be draining and difficult, because you are constantly translating from your native tongue to the target language, while you are attempting to listen to the other person and form your response. This can contribute to a hesitancy when speaking or an appearance of shyness in interpersonal conversation that is not truly characteristic of one's personality.  It was interesting as well to hear the discussion in Culture Shock about how Americans are very friendly initially, but this tampers off to indifference as the friendship develops. This is characteristic of our culture, and may disturb internationals who make friends much more slowly and intentionally. For example, the common, "Hey, how are you?" is more of a script one says when greeting than a real concern about how the other person is.  It is good for me to be aware of these differences, so that when I interact with others from another culture, I do not let me words seem different than my true feelings.

Main topics covered:

• Henna as an art form
• Henna as a cultural expression of celebrations (marriages, holidays, etc)
• Social activity for women (of all ages) (normally women only)
• Henna as a symbol of fertility
• Origin of henna, practical applications of usage
• Hair usage in both men and women
• Storying with henna - telling stories with art

Cultural Presentation

God made us to be with him. Devaroo numagay awaru  jo-tey-gay   e-ra-kay  maude_throo

                                                   God         us                  him       with                       to be      made

 Our sin separated us             Numma  kay-tu  nummagay  awaru  jo-tey-gay   e-ra-kay  kord-allah

From him                                       Our       badness  us             him      with         to be   impossible

We deserved death                  Numma  kay-tu  solagay na-voo  sigh  beck(bake)  agittu

because of our badness                Our          badness   for         us          die    should   have

But God so loved the us         Adthre  devaroo  numagay  asht  pree-tee maude-troo  awaru 

That he gave is only                   But          God           us                 so     loved        did        him

Son to die for our sins                     

                                               numagay avaroo One-day  Maga Isu  numa kay-tu  solagay  sigh-a-

                                                    us                 his          only      Son   Jesus      our       badness  for      to die

                                                kay  madthe  jee-vanta  aga-kay  kortrue

                                                  and         alive           to become   gave

And came back to life, that        Isu    nal-ley nummbekee itta      ourgay  more-sha     sigate

Whosoever believes in him         Jesus   in       belief           have  the one  immortality  will get

Should not perish but have

Everlasting life                                                       

Sources:

Websites:

Henna:   http://www.puja.com/mehndi/

Storying: http://www.go2southasia.org/resource/evangelism/henna/

Interviews:

Melody Harper (teacher of henna storying)

Rebecca Peters (married to an Indian man)

Kawther (origin Saudi Arabia)

Mary Linggapa (Indian resident and married to an Indian man)

After reading The Times article about diagramming sentences, I had to wonder how many of my fellow classmates had diagrammed sentences as a part of their grammar and language learning in middle and high school. Probably not many.  However, I went to a small, private Christian school that did not have money for computers in the classroom or new digital methods. Thus, I wrote essays by hand, and I took notes by hand, and I learned by hand.  It has been interesting to me to see how my collegiate peers can type faster than they can write, while I am exactly the opposite. One of the things I am so glad that I learned from my time at Grove school was diagramming sentences. I absolutely LOVED it. I was the whiz kid in grammar because there was not a sentence I could not break down into the bits and pieces and make it a piece of art. 

   The author of the article asks what the benefits are of diagramming sentences. Well, let me tell you. If you grow up diagramming sentences, you understand the parts of the sentence within the whole, and the difference between a dependent clause and an independent one by visualizing it in your head.  For example, the sentence - I really liked learning a new language - is broken down into:

    I  / liked    /    learning

                \really      \a language

                                          \new

In this way, when a student is asked whether "learning a language" is an independent or dependent clause, it is easy to see that it lacks a subject, thus it is dependent. The whole structure would be different if it were independent. 

How does this benefit students? I love learning languages, and I have found my knowledge of diagramming invaluable.  When I began learning Spanish, it helped me with adjective placement after the noun instead of before it. When I learned French, it helped me with the odd "Qui, que, dont" prepositions which all mean different forms of "that." Qui is always diagrammed as the subject, que as the direct object, and dont as an object of preposition.  Learning Kannada, when the verb has to come at the end of the entire sentence, it has helped me rethink the phrases in the context of how a native speaker would diagram the sentence.  Thus, I would hope that future generations would learn diagramming; its not yet a dead language.

In reading Cultural Competence, I realized that I often think of learning a language in terms of the phonetics and the semantics and grammar instead of learning communicative abilities in various contexts. If we think about it, from a young age we learn to communicate with others - that is the point of speech - to get an idea across (demonstrative), to command (imperative), to express desire in something, or share a part of our identity. A young child will first point to something he wants and say only the part of the word he knows, for example, "ju" for juice. I say this to emphasize Grice's 4 maxims of language learning: I ought to approach language learning as learning to say only as much as necessary for understanding, to say only was it true, and to say only was is relevant in truthfulness. Honestly, I have to admit sometimes I don't do this in English - I meander my way to the point I am trying to make. (for example I could have made that sentence - "I don't express myself concisely").

I also found it interesting that to understand a language, we need to know more than just the words and their meanings, we need to know the context around them. A very good example is where the American teacher says, "Would you like to read?" and the Russian student says: "No, I would not." There are underlying cultural rules that govern our conversations and structure our idioms. For example, a non-native English speaker (and even perhaps someone of an older generation) would not understand the sentence - "Yeah, so my coach got angry at me when I scored a touchdown and then tebowed." They would think, what is this word? Tebowing is to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different. It refers to the famous Broncos quarterback who drops to a knee and prays after every touchdown, while on national television, breaking an indirect norm not to show religious activities at a sports event. Thus, to understand tebowing, you have to know not only the word and its meaning, but the importance of sports, especially football, and the social norms surrounding sports events in America to understand the context. This is the power of the illocutionary force (or intended meaning) of words and phrases in a language.

In India, henna is an artistic representation of traditional culture. "Mehndi"is the traditional art of henna painting, while henna is the plant whose oil dyes skin, hair, leather or wool. There are two types: either black henna or natural henna. 

Henna is usually used in various festivals and celebrations. In India, people have used henna to dye their hair since 400 AD. They also use it in wedding celebrations; a woman prepares herself for her husband by marking her hands with henna and letting them ruminate over night before the wedding day. In this fashion, henna represents the love between a wife and a husband, and the length of the stain represents the enduring length of their love. Women usually apply it to their hands and feet, but men can also wear henna to very auspicious gatherings such as a battle victory. However, at any occasion, henna is a symbol for fertility. Literally the word henna means "to become queen." As an art form, it represents the cultural traditions of marriage and celebration in India.

Learning goals for culture project:

• Learn how to do henna
• Practice doing henna
• Tell a story with henna using henna storying
• Learn words in Kannada for the story

When speaking with Aarti, we talked about how in Kannada, many of the common usage words such as "to be", or "house" have a particular Kannada feel, the deeper words, such as "freedom" have a root in the original Sankrit, which influenced the formation of the Kannada language. Indeed, after doing research, I found that the influences upon the grammar of Kannada were Sankri and Prakrit. Around the 14th-18th centuries, Hinduism had a large influence on Kannada language and literature, specifically in abstract, scientific, religious, and rhetorical words (i.e. deep words). Sanskrit itself is a Indo-European language, which is similar to old Persian and is thought to have been influenced by Baltic and Slavic languages."Sanskrit" literally does not refer to a language but a refined form of speaking, and knowledge of Sanskrit equated with higher social class and education. Those of higher castes used it; therefore, while Sanskrit was the upper class written language, Prakrit was the oral vernacular. Both of these had an influence on modern Kannada, specifically Prakrit, since Kannada is more of a spoken language than a written one.

After trying to do some reading in Kannada,I have found that I am quite incapable of distinguishing between letters and words. I can only see that the script has spaces in it! But when Aarti reads it to me, I can recognize important words like she/he or "I am" and "they are." While I am still in the beginning stages, it is nice to be able to listen and divine some choice words from a completely foreign text.  Thus far we have learned 54-55 words, which fit into set phrases, or can be used to make sentences based on our surroundings.  Realistically, I hope to learn many more, and to sing a song in Kannada by the end of the semester.

Bethany and I:

• met with Aarti and learned more structured sentences and conjugating certain useful verbs such as "I am" "she is", "they come."
• read a short autobiography of a woman from India involving cultural and life differences
• continued to practice our greetings and phrases outside of class time