This semester I learned so much about the ways we can use language to gain insights about the customs and lifestyles of different cultures around the world. I had so much fun learning about different components of language since I was never taught about linguistics while learning a language in my previous school experiences, and I think it made my language learning more effective and sparked new curiosities for me as a language learner. Having the opportunity to self-direct my language learning helped me learn more about my learning styles and how previous language learning courses did not suit my goals and interests in the most effective way. Through this experience, I didn’t realize how beneficial it was to have a language partner to meet with each week to help me reach my goals. The one-on-one time with a native speaker helped me to gain more confidence as I learned Hangul and Korean grammar and syntax, especially since the alphabet was entirely unfamiliar to me so I really appreciated being able to learn at my own pace. I also enjoyed having an abundance of resources available to us through the Global Studio to enhance our language learning. I honestly wish I would have taken more advantage of the many different resources, but I really benefited most from watching videos to learn Korean pronunciation as well as informational videos about Korean culture and history, and websites such as 90daykorean.com and koreanclass101.com had very informative blog posts, learning guides, and interactive lessons which were extremely helpful outside my weekly meetings with my language partner. I think my biggest challenge this semester was learning correct pronunciation and memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary words, but with time I know these kinds of challenges will lessen in my future language learning experiences. This semester diminished my fears of getting out of my comfort zone to learn languages that seem completely different and more complex than what I’m used to, but the linguistic information I learned during class really gave me the confidence to believe in my language learning abilities and now I’m excited to challenge myself to learn even more! Over the summer, I plan to continue to study Korean in my free time and hopefully maybe next summer I can apply my skills with a trip to South Korea to visit a family friend! 

I also really enjoyed many readings and activities in class that really helped improve my understanding of language and how it connects with culture. One of my favorite readings from this semester was Figuring Foreigners Out because it’s so important to understand the culture of the native speakers for the target language that one is trying to learn. This chapter simplified the different characteristics that cultures may differ on that impact their communication and interactions with others, so understanding the values of that culture are crucial to culturally competent communication with native speakers. I also really enjoyed the Atchinson’s readings about linguistics, in particular the diagram depicting the scope of linguistics and the different disciplines that one can examine through linguistics. The diagram really gave me an idea of the foundational aspects of language to focus on in my language learning and guided me in the order I should focus on certain language goals. For example, I found it helpful to start with the phonetics of Korean as the foundation by learning the alphabet and the sounds, and with that basis I could move on to more complex concepts like morphology and syntax to be able to speak conversationally. Learning the different disciplines made me realize that language is interconnected with so many topics that I’ve been interested in, such as sociology, anthropology, health/medicine, psychology, and of course literature (stylistics), so this really sparked my curiosity of learning more about different cultures and how language shapes these different topics within their society and culture. I also really enjoyed class activities that gave us a look into the culture and communication of other language speakers. I remember the video we watched in class about a tribe that didn’t have many distinct colors in the way we recognize them, but they distinguish by different shades that to our eyes, we couldn’t recognize any difference at all! I just find it so interesting the many different ways we all see the same things in the world and how language shapes and reveals to us our values and way of life. In addition, I enjoyed the morphology activity where we had to try to interpret the meaning of Swahili words by recognizing patterns in the words we were provided. This lesson probably stood out the most to me because I began to understand how language works as a system so we are able to search for patterns to interpret meaning. Through this approach to language learning, I began to really appreciate the structure of language as it made it much easier to try to understand different words and sentences in Korean. Overall, this semester has been such an incredible language learning experience and I’m particularly excited to learn more about morphology so I can identify different grammatical structures in other languages!

Hi everyone! Here's a recap of my semester learning Korean with my language partner Jannette! It's been so much fun and she really helped me learn so much about the Korean language as well as Korean culture! 

Kayla-Podcast-Interview.m4a

Seollal (설날) is known as the Korean Lunar New Year and it is one of the most important holidays in Korean culture. Seollal marks the first day of the Korean lunar calendar which is typically around the end of January and beginning of February each year (90daykorean.com).  Although Seollal is one day long, the day before and after Seollal are recognized as Korean public holidays, so celebration festivities typically last for three days (90daykorean.com). Lunar New Year is celebrated among many countries throughout Asia, but interestingly each one has a different way of celebrating with their own unique customs and traditions (90daykorean.com). For Korean Lunar New Year, families gather from all over Korea at the house of their oldest male relative to pay their respects to both the ancestors and elders (asiasociety.org). Seollal is a a special time for families to come together through activities such as performing ancestral rites, eating traditional foods, playing folk games and traditions such as Sebae (세배) (english.visitkorea.or.kr). Sebae is the most important of the Korean Lunar New Year traditions and is the act of kneeling with one’s hands on the ground to bow deeply to their elders (90daykorean.org). Younger people such as students must bow to the elders and wish them a happy new year, and the elders return the wishes and give money known as “sebaetdon” (세뱃돈) as a gift to the youngers (90daykorean.com). Typically people wear hanbok (한복), which is traditional Korean clothing, while performing Sebae (90daykorean.com).

Charye (차례) is another important tradition of highly structured ritual of ancestral worship during the Korean Lunar New Year (asiasociety.org). Typically female relatives prepare food which is then served by the male relatives as a gift to the ancestors (asiasociety.org). The most important dish that is traditionally eaten during Seollal is tteokguk (떡국), a rice cake soup (90daykorean.org). Traditionally, eating tteokguk signified turning one year older in Korean culture, so in the past it was only eaten on Seollal, but now many Korean restaurants serve it year round (90daykorean.org). The food is set out behind the family’s ancestral tablets, and everyone bows down to the tablets to show respect to the ancestors (90daykorean.com). The final step is a ceremony called “eumbok” (음복) where everyone eats the food and thereby “gains the ancestors’ blessing for the coming year” (asiasociety.org). The prepared foods typically vary by region, but the rules such as placement of the foods are generally similar (asiasociety.org). Charye is a very traditional ritual performed by many Koreans during Seollal, but it is not quite as widespread of a practice today in Korean culture (90daykorean.com). 

There are also many traditional games that families play together during Seollal. One of the most popular games is yunnori (윷놀이) which is played between two teams and requires four special sticks that are curved on one side and flat on the other (90daykorean.com). The game is a race to the finish as teams take turns throwing the sticks in the air, and the way the sticks land determine how far players move around the board (90daykorean.com). Another popular game is called GoStop (also known as Godori - 고도리), which is a card game played by 2-3 people where players bet small amounts of money using Hwatu cards (asiasociety.org). Hwatu (화투) means “Battle of Flowers” and refers to the beautiful floral images painted on the deck of 48 playing cards (asiasociety.org). The deck of Hwatu cards is split into 12 different sets of 4 cards with each deck representing a different month of the year (asiasociety.org). GoStop is played by matching features of the cards in different combinations to score points, and after earning 3 or 7 points (depending on the number of players), the player must decide whether to continue going or to stop the game (asiasociety.org). Playing these traditional games is a fun way that families celebrate Seollal and look forward to the new year ahead.  

Sources:

https://www.90daykorean.com/korean-lunar-new-year/
https://asiasociety.org/korea/seollal-korean-lunar-new-year
https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=941952

                                  Yunnori  윷놀이                                                                                  Hwatu  화투

This month I’ve focused on learning grammar structure and syntax to word towards my goal of creating and interpreting basic sentences in Korean! There are definitely some morphological differences between Korean and English though, so it has taken longer than I anticipated to completely memorize the different grammar rules.

Learning about Korean nouns was a much easier concept for me to grasp since they have similar grammatical rules like in English. For example, to make a noun plural, you add 들[deul] at the end of the word. Just like in English, some words that are plural don’t need 들 added at the end. It’s also interesting that when the number is specified in describing a plural noun, the plural marker 들 is not needed. For example, one student” is “한 학생 [han hakseng]” and “two students” is “두 학생 [du hakseng]” in Korean, and as you can see 들 is not added to the end for two students although students is plural in this case (medium.com). I also realized how easy it is to identify nouns through learning about verbs and adjectives in Korean, as most are just the noun form with different stem endings attached.

So far I have a very basic understanding of verb conjugations in Korean. It was helpful to begin by learning the verb 하다 [hada] which means “to do,” which is interestingly used quite frequently in Korean. In fact, most verbs and adjectives are just nouns attached to the 하다 ending. This tip is very helpful because you can remove the ending to learn the noun version of the verb/adjective. However, not all adjectives have the 하다 ending as the ending stem depends on the form of the adjective. Whenever there is a 다 ending the adjective is in the infinitive form, which is “to be (adj.)” as in to be 크다 which means “to be big.” If you just wanted to translate it as a standalone adjective “big,” then you have to drop the 다 ending and add either ㄴ to the end if the word ends in a vowel, or add 은 to the end if the verb stem ends with a consonant. So to write “big” it would be 크 (verb stem) + ㄴ (ends in vowel) = 크다 “big”. There are different verb endings for irregular Korean verbs, but I will work on learning those once I gain a better understanding of Korean morphology.

Moving forward in my language learning, I will need to learn verb conjugations as there are many different endings for different forms of the word. In terms of syntax, so far I have a basic understanding of Korean sentence structure which is subject-object-verb, which is definitely a change from subject-verb-object in English. Before I can begin forming sentences, I’ll also need to learn the different Korean participles as there are many different ones that are commonly used in everyday sentences in Korean. Over the summer, I plan to continue with my studies since this has been such a fun learning experience, so I will continue to use KoreanClass101.com and read blogs on 90daykorean.com which I found to be extremely helpful in learning about Korean morphology.

Fortunately, writing in my target language has not been too much of a challenge as there are a similar number of consonants and vowels in Korean as in English, besides the addition of double vowels and consonants. The only writing I’ve done has been while learning to write the alphabet and learning to form words, but I definitely prefer writing free handed. In fact, it’s more difficult for me to type on Korean -- mainly because I don’t have a Korean keyboard on my computer -- so I’ve been using an online Korean keyboard website to help with that. As I’ve been learning the grammar structure, I’m realizing that the patterns are pretty consistent which makes it much easier to learn Korean. For example, the block structure represents the sound of a given syllable and always starts with a consonant and there will never be more than 3 letters per block structure. I haven’t quite gotten to the point of forming sentences yet, but so far my understanding is that there are Korean participles to say “something”: 는 or 은 (Subject) and 를 or 을 (Object). Formality is also a key aspect of the Korean language, so there are many different ways to conjugate a word depending on the context of the situation. In addition, the Korean word for “to be” (이다) is very distinct from English and even other languages such as Spanish. For example, in Spanish we considered “to be” to be a verb (ir/estar), but in Korean 이다 can be conjugated, but it is also distinct from verbs and adjectives as the rules are often different. I found it very interesting that in English we use the verb “to be” when using adjectives, for example, “I am pretty, hungry, smart, etc.” but in Korean there is no translation for the form of “to be,” which in English is words like “am, is are, etc.” However, in Korean “to be” 이다 is used when describing something is a noun, such as “I am a man” (나는 남자이다). It is also interesting that there are two different forms for the word “that” in Korean (그/저) but we only use one form in English. Apparently this is to distinguish between something mentioned in a previous context and talking about something we can see but not touch because it is too far away. This is only a brief introduction to the basic grammar structure of Korean, and I have so much more to learn about in terms of conjugating and forming more complex sentences!

Source:

https://www.howtostudykorean.com/unit1/unit-1-lessons-1-8/unit-1-lesson-1/

Korean cuisine has gained popularity in many different countries throughout the world. In the United States, dishes like kimchi, bulgogi, and bibimbap have become quite popular among Americans. Restaurants have also taken a Korean spin on traditional American cuisine, such as Korean BBQ and Korean fried chicken, which I myself had the opportunity to try with my language learning group at Choong Man Chicken. Before learning Korean, I’ve always heard about these dishes, but I also realized there are many foods and ingredients that are commonly used in traditional Korean cuisine as I’ve seen when having dinner with my Korean American friends on campus. By learning about traditional Korean cuisine, you can gain a better understanding of the customs and values of Korean culture. In Korean culture, food is believed to be responsible for health and illness; in fact, Korean cuisine is one of the healthiest cuisines in the world (theworldbook.org). In fact, in Korean culture food is considered similar to medicine, so it’s common for individuals to use food to cure their illness before using medications (journalofethnicfoods). One of the most important features of Korean cuisine is the fermentation method used to store and eat foods for a long period of time (journalofethnicfoods.com). The most commonly fermented foods include doenjang (soybean paste), ganjang (soy sauce), gochujang (chili pepper paste), and jeotgal (salted seafood) (journalofethnicfoods.com). Fermenting foods has many health benefits such as helping the immune system, strengthening the liver, and “and balance the propagation of the beneficial bacteria necessary for intestinal health in the intestine” (journalofethnicfoods.com). 

Some of the key ingredients in Korean cuisine include rice, noodles, vegetables, meats, and tofu (dubu in Korean) (newworldencyclopedia.org). A traditional Korean dinner meal typically consists of a main dish, rice, soup, and a variety of side dishes (theworldbook.org). This abundance of side dishes is known as Banchan, and they accompany every meal (newworldencyclopedia.org). Some examples of traditional Banchan dishes are kimchi, namul, bokkeum, jjim and jorim (theworldbook.org). These dishes are mainly comprised of vegetables but sometimes include meats and fish, and they are prepared either in a seasoned broth or sauce, fermented, steamed, marinated, or stir-fried (theworldbook.org). 

Here are some examples of common traditional Korean dishes:

Source: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Korean_cuisine 

• Bibimbap (비빔밥) - (literally means “mixed rice” in Korean) a rice dish after mixing with it an assortment of fresh vegetables, fried egg, minced beef, and other ingredients
• Bulgogi (불고기) - (literally means “fire meat” in Korean) grilled marinated slices of meat (beef or pork) in a sweet soy sauce
• Japchae(잡채)  - boiled glass noodles with stir-fried vegetables, meat, and other ingredients
• Galbi (갈비) - pork or beef ribs, cooked on a metal plate over charcoal in the center of the table
• Jokbal (족발): pig's feet served with a red salted shrimp sauce
• Sannakji (산낙지) - live octopus, served live and still moving on the plate
• Makchang (막창): grilled pork large intestines, often served with a light doenjang sauce and chopped green onions
• Hoe (Pronounced 'hweh') \hö\ (회): raw seafood dish dipped in gochujang or soy sauce with wasabi (hot radish paste), served with lettuce or sesame leaves

Sources:

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Korean_cuisine 

https://theworldbook.org/korean-food/ 

Oktay, S., Ekinci, E.K. Medicinal food understanding in Korean gastronomic culture. J. Ethn. Food 6, 4 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42779-019-0003-9

I’m so excited that I’ve finally moved past learning the alphabet and actually know how to form words now! Once you know the Korean consonants and vowels and how to pronounce them, it’s so easy to understand the structure of the block shapes and how to use those to construct words! A “block shape” (I’m not exactly sure if this is the formal phrase to describe this) is the combination of 2 or 3 letters, but always at least 2, to form a syllable that will be used as part of a word. The syllables always start with a consonant, so the format will either be consonant-vowel or consonant-vowel-consonant. When the syllable is just a vowel sound, the consonant will have the placeholder of the letter ㅇ (ieung) as it is a silent consonant when combined with a vowel such as ㅏ(a). So to correctly write it, you would combine ㅇ+ ㅏto make 아, which would sound like “a” as a syllable when pronouncing a Korean word. It is also important to understand the other use for ㅇ (ieung) in the block shape when it is used as the last consonant. The last consonant of any Korean block shape goes at the bottom underneath the other 2 letters and is called 받침 batchim, or “supporting floor.” For example in the block shape 앙 , the letter ㅇ (ieung) at the bottom is not silent anymore and has a “ng” sound since it is used as batchim, so it would be pronounced as “-ang” ( ㅇ(silent) + ㅏ”a” + ㅇ”-ng”). 

Here is an example from one of my sessions with my language partner Jannette when I first learned how to form block shapes and put the letters together to know how to pronounce them. For #1, the sound is “gok” (“song” in English) as it combines the letters ㄱ (giyeok - g/k) + ㅗ (o) + ㄱ (giyeok - g/k). Later I’ll explain why the same consonants has different sounds depending on where it is placed. For #2, it’s a little hard to tell but there are actually 2 block shapes combined so 기차 “gicha” (“train” in English) as it combines ㄱ (giyeok - g/k) + ㅣ”i” for the first block and then ㅊ (chieut - ch) + ㅏ(a) for the second block, so it combines “gi” + “cha”. I also learned a different way of writing the letter ㅊ (chieut - ch) as it is shown in the blue writing; apparently ㅊ this is the modern way of writing it and what shows up on keyboards, but the way it is in blue is the more traditional way and it used just as often. And lastly for #3, the sound is “gan” (“liver” in English) as it combines ㄱ (giyeok - g/k) + ㅏ(a) + ㄴ(nieun - n).

However, I’m still learning some of the grammar exceptions that seem to be characteristic of every language. For example, in my weekly lessons with my language partner Jannette, I was mind blown to learn that the reason 2 different sounds are indicated for a consonant such as the letter ㄱ(giyeok) which is often written as making a g/k sound means that when it is used as the first consonant it typically has a “g” sound, and when it’s used as the batchim it has a “k” sound. But as I studied outside our lessons, I quickly realized that there are exceptions to that rule, as well as with other consonants; for example in the word 공 (kong), which means “ball” in English, the first sound of the syllable is actually a “k” sound and not a “g” sound. Interestingly, when I put it in google translate, it writes it as “gong” and it says it means “zero”, but underneath it shows other translations where the word “ball” appears but it is written the same way. 

Overall, I’m realizing that although for the most part I can easily pronounce block structures, there will be some exceptions to the sounds the consonants make, especially when they are combined with other syllables to form words. Going forward, I’m excited to start learning some vocabulary words, but I’m realizing memorizing many words may be challenging. I think what will be most effective for learning Korean words is remembering the ways they are pronounced so that I can sound it out to spell the words almost accurately as I expect to come across different cases of exceptions.

When a language goes extinct, it means there are no longer any active native speakers of that language. Many times there are few native speakers remaining, but they often don’t practice the language as much and it becomes lost in their memory. As certain languages become more dominant and popular within a certain region, it often pushes aside other unique languages of smaller subcultures as they have to assimilate to the dominant culture and learn its language. Politics and colonialism has also impacted the death of languages as government policies during the 1850s displaced Native Americans tribes together that spoke many different languages and had very little in common (Johnson 2012). In this instance, the Siletz tribe became the dominant language and culture as they had the largest population of all the other tribes, which resulted in the gradual loss of culture of those tribes (Johnson 2012). So, as a language dies, so does the culture of its speakers. Therefore it is so important to preserve languages as it gives us a greater understanding of the diversity within our world. It is through language that we can understand the way of life and customs of a particular culture; it gives us insight into what makes them unique and distinct from other cultures that we may believe are similar to theirs. With advancements in technology, linguists have been working to preserve languages through electronic archives of audio entries to create online dictionaries for these endangered languages (Johnson 2012). In addition, increasing the number of speakers of the language helps to keep it alive as well. This often starts with native speakers of that language who may have already had to assimilate to the language of the dominant culture. Schools have typically been a key institution impacting the death of languages, so initiatives to teach students within their schools native Siletz as a foreign language can help increase the amount of speakers to preserve the language (Johnson 2012). Once a language dies, it’s nearly impossible to bring it back to life in it’s true cultural form without the input from native speakers, which is much harder if there’s not much interest from them in preserving their culture and customs.

Reference:

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/04/us/siletz-language-with-few-voices-finds-modern-way-to-survive.html

Looking back on my presentation of my learning plan from the beginning of the semester, I’m realizing that it may take me a little longer than I anticipated to achieve my language learning goals. So far I have achieved learning the alphabet and I know a couple of phrases to use in casual conversation such as “hello” or in Korean annyeonghaseyo (안녕하세요), but my vocabulary is lacking a lot as I’m currently learning grammar and syntax so I can form words and be able to construct sentences. In addition, I also had to re-evaluate the tools and resources to use to help me reach my language goals. For example, I quickly discovered that Duolingo made it more difficult for me in the beginning as I was trying to learn the alphabet since it started to throw me random topics that I did not know yet, especially without even knowing the alphabet. So far I think watching YouTube videos and using online websites such as KoreanClass101.com have really helped me a lot in understanding grammar structures, and I definitely think it will be helpful in the near future as I work on expanding my vocabulary. Listening exercises have been most helpful for me in learning Korean, and practicing my pronunciation with my language partner has increased my confidence in my speaking abilities. I’ve found the phonetics unit most applicable to my language learning as I learned to deconstruct parts of words in their simplest form such as in phones and vowels, which really improved my understanding of grammar structures in Korean. It’s almost like completing a puzzle by connecting different segments of language together and understanding how it changes the sounds that are made. In addition, learning about the characteristics of different cultures has really expanded my understanding of the relationship between language and culture, such as individual vs. collectivist cultures as this has given me greater insight into the ways my language and grammar must adapt in different contexts when communicating with native speakers. Based on readings by H.D. Brown, I think the grammatical and sociolinguistic competences have been emphasized the most so far in my language learning plan. I think it will take me awhile to implement discourse competence as I don’t have much vocabulary and reading/writing/speaking skills to engage in back and forth conversations, but as I become put in these unfamiliar situations this will definitely help me to improve my strategic competence as I progress in my language learning goals.

The history of the Korean language family is very complex as there are different theories about its origin. It is widely debated whether the Korean language belongs to the Austronesian language family or the Altaic language family because of Korea’s long history of contact with Chinese and Japanese (mustgo.com). The Austronesian language family covers a wide geographic area and are spoken in various countries such as Cambodia, Chile, China, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam among many others (mustgo.com). The Altaic language family derives its name from the Altaic mountain region where it is believed these languages originated from, with most of these languages spoken in Central Asia (mustgo.com). The Altaic Language family consists of three major groups: Mongolian, Tungusic, and Turkic, and it is believed that Korean and Japanese originated due to extensive borrowing and long contact with these language families, which is why there is great debate whether they belong to the Altaic language family (mustgo.com). These differences have led to the creation of the Koreanic language family, which consists of Korean and Jeju -- a language spoken on Jeju Island (wikipedia.com). Interestingly, Jeju is often described as a dialect of Korean but is distinct enough to be classified as its own separate language (wikipedia.com). All modern varieties of Koreanic languages descended from Old Korean in the state of Silla, which was the first historically documented stage of the Korean language (wikipedia.com). I honestly think it is fascinating how languages can mesh together and evolve over time as they come in contact with speakers of other languages and of different geographical regions. I also found it interesting that Korean and Japanese don’t exactly fit into the Altaic language family which includes many languages spoken in China, which I believe must be due to the vast size of the country which has led to the creation of thousands of different spoken languages and dialects, although they have derived from the same origin. Overall, learning about Korea language families has made me realize the similarities and differences in language structures of its neighboring countries such as China and Japan.

References:

https://www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/korean/

https://www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/austronesian-language-family/ 

https://www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/altaic-language-family/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreanic_languages

The Evolution of K-Pop 

K-Pop is a popular music genre that has become a worldwide phenomenon that transformed the music industry. K-Pop refers to popular music from South Korea, as pop music was mainly a genre from American and British cultures (koreanculture.org). The term “hallyu'' describes this phenomenon as “the Korean wave” -- the surge of South Korean popular culture that has grown and is becoming a major driver of global culture (koreanculture.org). Hallyu refers to many aspects of Korean culture that are popular today in the U.S., such as Korean dramas, cosmetic products, and Korean cuisine among others (vox.com).` While the Korean wave emerged worldwide around the 1980s, K-Pop began in 1992 with the band Seo Taiji and Boys, who were popularized on a broadcasted Korean talent T.V. show (vox.com). This emergence in pop music was possible due to reformation of South Korea’s democratic government in 1987 with the establishment of the Sixth Republic (vox.com). Before 1987, there were only two broadcasting networks in the country and the government had tight control over what Koreans could listen to (vox.com). This liberalization of Korean media in 1987 allowed for the expansion of radio broadcasting networks in the country, and South Koreans “became more regularly exposed to more varieties of music from outside the country, including contemporary American music” (vox.com). However, television remained the dominant centralized form of media; in 1992 99% of Korean households viewed national TV networks, with weekend talent shows gaining the highest amount of views (vox.com). Although Seo Taiji and Boys did not win and actually received the lowest score on the talent show, their debut of the song “I Know” became so popular that for over 15 years it held the longest No.1 song streak in South Korea’s history (vox.com).

The song “I Know” represented the first time that modern American pop music was fused with South Korean culture (vox.com). Seo Taiji and Boys became so popular as they were “innovators who challenged norms around music styles, song topics, fashion, and censorship” and even sang about teen angst and the social pressure to succeed within the rigorous education system in South Korea (vox.com). What makes K-Pop a unique style of music is the performance aspect: these groups have great dancing skills, a polished aesthetic and fashion style, and very catchy songwriting (vox.com). K-Pop began to influence music styles all throughout Asia, particularly in China, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore, as idol bands such as TVXQ, Kara, Big Bang, Girls’ Generation, and 2NE1 gained popularity in the mid-2000s (koreanculture.org). In the United States and many other parts of the world, Psy’s hit “Gangnam Style” garnered millions of views on YouTube and ranked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts and the popular K-Pop boy band BTS followed suit and has gained a global following of dedicated fans (koreanculture.org). Today, there are more than 150 idol groups active in South Korea, the most notable ones being BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, EXO, Red Velvet, SF9, NCT, ITZY, MONSTA X, among others (koreanculture.org). It’s also interesting to note that co-ed groups don’t really exist within K-Pop as boy and girl bands have very distinct styles and discuss different topics in their songs (vox.com). For example, girl groups tend to represent traditional femininity in South Korean culture by their adorable, school girl image and songs centered around love and relationships, while boy bands focus on exquisite choreography and song topics range from teen social pressures and other narrative concepts (vox.com). Overall, K-Pop has revolutionized the global entertainment industry and continues to diffuse South Korean culture throughout the world.

Sources:

http://www.koreanculture.org/korea-information-culture-and-the-arts

https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/16/16915672/what-is-kpop-history-explained

I’m interested in learning more about traditional Korean art forms because every culture has their own unique style of artistic expression. Through a culture’s art, you can learn so much about their history and way of life. I also think art is so beautiful as it can connect with people of all cultures and communicates a story in a way that is universal -- you don’t have to know how to speak the language to appreciate their diverse culture. What I appreciate most about Korean art is the beautiful visuals from paintings, murals, and drawings. There are so many bright colors and themes of natural landscapes, animals, and people are present throughout traditional folk art. The Korean word that describes these folk art paintings is minhwa (민화), which means “painting of the people” or “popular painting”. I find minhwa particularly interesting as it has an early history dating back as early as the late 14th century and has evolved throughout history which is seen today in contemporary Korean art. There are also many different aspects of traditional Korean art, such as calligraphy, pottery and sculpture, music and performing arts, and literature such as poetry. In terms of linguistic knowledge, learning to read Hangul would be helpful as some of the paintings and calligraphy include characters and I’m interested to learn more about the meaning behind these artworks. I believe my learning tasks to learn the alphabet is a good start to learn how to read Hangul. I will also need to incorporate learning vocabulary related to art in my lessons with my language partner. In the weeks to come, I plan to incorporate learning the Korean words to describe these various art forms, as well as learning words to describe colors, landscapes, animals, and the materials used for these artworks to learn more about traditional Korean art.

I’ve been really happy with the progress I’ve made so far in my language learning! I believe that I nearly have the basics down for the Korean alphabet (also known as Hangul). I started with learning the consonants, then the vowels, and then finally the double consonants and double vowels. Learning the consonants was a lot easier for me as many of the sounds are similar to the sounds of certain letters in English. However, learning the vowels was trickier as I had to make sounds that I am not familiar with in English, particularly the “eu” and “eo” vowel sounds since it’s kinda like having to use the “e” and “u/o” sounds in English combined together in one cohesive form. The best way I can explain it is that I can make the “e” and “u” sounds separately perfectly fine in English, but it creates a new sound having to combine both of those sounds into one. I also thought the double consonants were confusing at first, but then I realized it has a sharper articulation compared to the other consonants. I always feel weird trying to pronounce them because I feel like I’m sounding very aggressive or like shouting as I attempt to really articulate the sounds. For example, when pronouncing the character giyeok (ㄱ) which has a “g” sound, I would pronounce it as “gaaa…” vs the double consonant as “ga!”. After getting these foundations down, my language partner and I have worked on putting together these phonemes to learn how to pronounce them when they are combined together. For example, when I first learned the characters for the consonants, I didn’t know that in Korean you wouldn’t say the alphabet by pronouncing the name of the character, so I wouldn’t say giyeok (ㄱ) to say the “g” sound of the alphabet, but you would combine it with one of the vowel endings. So when saying the alphabet to a native speaker, I would use a vowel ending such as a (ㅏ)  for each consonant sound like this: 가 to make the sound “gah”.

 I still have some work to do with combining phonemes to make different sounds, so after I am proficient in this I will work on making words and then learning to construct sentences! It has honestly been so exciting and fun seeing my progress, and I’m surprised at how much I really know when my language partner assesses me. I tried to use Duolingo at first to accomplish my learning goals, but then I realized that the beginning of the lessons didn’t really have a structure that really made sense. For example, in the alphabet section it incorporated basic random vocabulary words like “girl” and “this”, and that really threw me off as I mainly wanted to just review the vowels and consonants. I’ve found the resources that my language learning partner has shared with me to be most helpful; Jannette sends me websites, videos, and visual diagrams that are relevant to the topic we are learning so I spend most of my time outside lessons utilizing those, along with KoreanClass101.com. I also hope to incorporate other resources such as Mango and to watch YouTube videos more often to help train my ears more to better recognize distinct sounds in Korean. In addition, I hope to integrate more learning about Korean culture in my lessons with my language partner so I can learn something new each week and to apply what I’m learning to make connections between language and culture.

Sound and spelling are different as sound refers to the pronunciation of a word, and spelling refers to the written form that we assign for that sound, which can vary for sounds that are the same depending on the context (Hudson 39). For example, in English the words “read” and “reed” have the same pronunciation although they are spelled differently and have different meanings. The opposite is also true as words that are spelled the same can have different pronunciations and meanings, such as “bass” which can be pronounced as “/beɪs/” for an instrument and “/bæs/” for a type of fish (Macmillan Dictionary). This is very important to keep in mind when learning new vocabulary in Korean because different words with the same pronunciation can have very different meanings in different contexts, so it is important that I learn to ask clarifying questions and understand other words that would be applicable to the context of the vocabulary words I’m learning. I’ve already been learning how similar a lot of sounds are in Korean, so it’s very important to train my ears to hear the distinctions between the sounds and to enunciate them correctly. As I first began my language learning lessons, I realized very quickly that there were many sounds in Korean that don’t exist in English, so I’m constantly learning new ways to use my vocal chords and tongue as well as pay attention to the air flow in my throat to mimic the correct pronunciations. I think the pronunciation of Korean consonants use similar or even the same sounds as most consonants in English, but the Korean vowels is where I struggle most with the new sounds, especially as some different vowels sound very similar to each other (for example, the “ae” and “e” endings for various vowels). I’m learning that constantly speaking and trying to pronounce the vowels and consonants has helped me to learn to say them correctly, and it definitely takes a lot of listening to learn the distinctions between each. I’ve constantly been asking my language learning partner to repeat the pronunciations correctly and ask if I’m pronouncing it correctly. I’ve also found many online audio samples and videos very helpful to learn the pronunciations while looking at the written form of the characters so I can learn these distinctions. 

Source: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/pronunciation/american/bass_1

Learning about language structures has helped me to better plan the kinds of methods I will use to accomplish my learning goals. For example, I’ve been working on learning the alphabet which has focused primarily on learning to say the sounds correctly, which encompasses phonetics (Jean Aitchison 8). I found the diagram to be very helpful in giving me a direction for what aspects to hone in on in my language learning; however, it is important to recognize that focusing solely on each aspect of language structure as “levels” as this can diminish the interrelationship between various facets of language (Crystal 181-182). I think of it as the levels move from the center outwards, each facet of language utilizes the skills from the inner levels beneath it. In other words, my current language learning of the phonetics of Korean will set the foundation for my future learning goals relating to syntax, which involves forming words and phrases (Jean Aitchison 10). It was also really interesting to consider the ways that language is intertwined with other areas of study and the functioning of our lives. Of all the disciplinary approaches to language, I think I have a preference for sociocultural linguistics as I’m really interested in learning about Korean culture and being able to interact with native speakers as I plan to visit Korea one day. So far, I think watching a Korean drama called Sky Castle with my learning group has helped me to apply this approach to language learning as I got to see interactions between native Korean speakers in the context of their cultural norms regarding the competitive nature of their educational system. Once I improve my language skills in Korean, I would love to incorporate stylistics and explore traditional Korean literature, and possibly anthropological linguistics someday as I’m planning to pursue a career in healthcare and have an interest in serving abroad. In addition, to prepare for our upcoming assignment to teach our classmates something in our target language, I plan to utilize applied linguistic methods in my presentation. 

The Coreana Cosmetics Museum is located in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul and is the only museum in Korea that traces the history of traditional Korean cosmetic culture (spacec.co.kr). Founded in 2003, the purpose of the museum is to preserve traditional Korean culture and to improve the understanding of the history and trends of Korean cosmetic culture (spacec.co.kr).  The museum displays various cultural and modern artifacts of cosmetic and beauty products such as cosmetic containers, makeup tools, fashion items (spacec.co.kr). In its permanent exhibition, you can learn about the chronological history of Korean cosmetic culture and view traditional cosmetic materials such as cleansers, powders, mirrors, combs, and powder jars from the early United Silla period (668 A.D.) to modern times (spacec.co.kr). It also showcases products from its neighboring countries of Japan and China, which have had early influences on traditional Korean cosmetics (spacec.co.kr). The Coreana Cosmetic Museum also features special exhibitions that change periodically, which display a theme in line with traditional Korean beauty aesthetics. I found it very interesting how these exhibitions were not solely about makeup or other cosmetic products, they also included clothing accessories such as hats (GAT), decorative items (the current exhibition is “The Beauty of Blue and White Porcelain”), exploring the daily lives of working women, the art of paper-making, etc. These exhibitions creatively showcase various perspectives of different values in Korean culture -- such as dignity, respect, labor, youthfulness, etc. -- as well as the values of different groups and social status. 

It was interesting to learn about how much traditional Korean values for beauty have become such a prominent aspect of Korean culture and how that has transformed today’s cosmetic world. I would always hear great things about Korean beauty products on social media, which prompted me to learn more about the traditional values that ignited it all. Although the use of makeup and ideas of beauty have originated early on in various cultures, in traditional Korean society makeup was seen as care for not only the external self, but the internal as well (koreatimes.co.kr). Koreans believed that a good appearance could affect one’s inner self, so Korean men and women cared a great deal about how they looked (koreatimes.co.kr). When makeup was first introduced in Korea during the Three Kingdoms Era, the beauty standard was a round face, thin eyebrows, and hairdressing, which was influenced by Chinese culture (glamourflare.com). Everyone regardless of rich or poor status was absorbed into makeup during this time, with the look of a noblewoman or maid becoming the ideal image for women’s appearance (glamourflare.com). Overtime, face powders made from lead became a groundbreaking invention for cosmetics and used widely throughout the Korean traditional societies (glamourflare.com). As makeup became more widely used, beauty and luxury became sought after ideals for Korean women, which has become a major problem in the present day with hyper-fixation on outward appearance and cosmetic surgery in Korea (medium.com). Today, Korea has been described as a very classist country with extremely high standards of beauty, which some believe is a destructive norm that is further perpetuated by Korean society through celebrities such as K-pop artists and entertainers, and even job and school application processes that ask for a picture of the applicant (medium.com). Learning about this history and present-day values of beauty through the perspective of Korean culture will be helpful in future interactions with native Koreans. It’s important to be informed about things that people value in their culture as one’s outward appearance can really impact someone on a more personal level than what it may appear to be in casual conversation, so it’s important to keep in mind and be mindful of these societal influences when addressing such topics in conversation. 

Sources:

http://www.spacec.co.kr/en/museum/museum1 

http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2013/01/135_129776.html

https://glamourflare.com/blogs/reviews/the-history-of-korean-cosmetics#:~:text=Men%20in%20the%20Joseon%20Dynasty,personality%20and%20a%20faithful%20woman.

https://medium.com/invisible-illness/the-destructive-effects-of-south-koreas-beauty-standards-65c810b6290f

In learning a new language, it is important to understand the cultural norms regarding communication behaviors for that society. For example, the way people interact with each other in their society can impact their way of communicating and relating with others; such as in individualist societies that focus more on self-interest and live separate lives compared to the rest of society ,as opposed to collectivist societies that function as a part of a larger group and have more shared experiences and therefore more focused on maintaining good relationships (25). Whether a culture is more individualist or collectivist has a great impact on communication, because societies where people have more shared experiences don’t have to rely much on verbal communication to relay a message; therefore there may be nonverbal cues and nondirect messages of communication that may be confusing to those outside of their culture (91-92). I also found it interesting mentioning the cultural values of time, since I don’t typically think about how norms regarding time impact the way we communicate with others. I found the measures of the Hofstede Dimensions of Culture to be interesting, as I’m not sure how exactly you can quantitatively measure how much a certain country demonstrates various attributes/values in their culture such as masculinity, forward-thinking, and uncertainty avoidance. I think this could be unreliable to measure as it does not take into account the multiple cultures within one country, which may have different cultural norms from others. While I agree that all cultures vary on the spectrum of these measures, I’m not sure how accurately this could be quantified. I believe the ideas in the readings are very relevant to learning about Korean Culture as Western Cultures like in the United States are more individualist, and although there may be similarities I know Korean culture emphasizes respecting those older than you, so there are definitely cultural norms of communication that differ greatly from those in the U.S.

Hi everyone! Check out my Korean learning plan here! As a beginner in learning Korean, my language tasks for this semester focus primarily on the basics like the alphabet and phrases to engage in casual conversation with others. I also incorporated tasks that were suited to my interests and future plans, such as talking about food since I really enjoy cooking as well as phrases that could help me get around as a tourist since I hope to visit South Korea someday (when this pandemic is over haha). Through putting this plan together, I've come across some really cool resources that I think will be very helpful in learning Korean, such as KoreanClass101.com, Duolingo, and Mango. I'm also definitely going to utilize YouTube to help with training my ear with sounds of the language and to improve my listening skills. Also, there are so many informational short videos on YouTube to help with more targeted topics such as the alphabet, common phrases, vocabulary for foods, numbers, places, etc. as well as just helping with grammar and writing skills! As I progress throughout the semester, I hope to be able to incorporate resources such as children's books as well as incorporating games to help me learn Korean to make it more fun! I want my language learning experience to be an immersive one, so I hope to learn to cook traditional Korean dishes, play traditional Korean games, and learn about the history of Korea throughout my studies. 

 Kayla%20Wise%20-%20Korean%20Learning%20Plan.docx

This week I had my first meetings with my Korean language partner, Jannette! We started off assessing my background in Korean -- which was none, complete beginner here! So then we discussed my previous language learning experiences and what I felt worked well and what I would like to work on this semester, which we also touched on in class this week. This week was very helpful as I learned new strategies to approach language learning that I had never considered before but would be super helpful, such as listening to the language through music or YouTube videos so I can be able to slow down and learn how words are pronounced. I also enjoyed learning about the different programs and resources that the Global Studio provides to help us improve our language skills, such as EdPuzzle, SCOLA interactive video lessons and other online programs targeted towards learning Korean, so I definitely plan on utilizing these in my learning with my language partner. As I’m continuing to work on my language plan, I shared with Jannette how my primary goal is to be able to have casual conversations in Korean so I can be more involved with my group of friends on campus who have a Korean background. Since I spend most of my time with them, I really would like to more fully understand their culture without them always having to explain things to me. In the next coming weeks, I hope to learn the basics such as the alphabet and key phrases used in conversation. I was so interested in class when we watched the TEDTalk about the key to learning multiple languages, and I never considered how there are words in our native language that give us access to thousands of words in different languages and language families. I always heard of cognates when learning Spanish, but never considered that they could apply to other languages, so as I start out learning Korean I also plan to incorporate learning collocations and trying to identify the most common words used in conversations in English so that I can learn to say them in Korean.

I also had a group meeting with Jannette and Eden, so that was very exciting and I feel like that will benefit me to be able to speak with other students who are also learning Korean. Hopefully that will take away some of my anxieties and need for perfectionism in pronouncing words correctly. We also discussed some of the activities we will incorporate to learn more about Korean culture, such as watching and listening to Korean dramas and videos about the history of Korea, as well as learning about Korean cultural artifacts and even possibly learning to cook traditional Korean dishes! I think this is a really great aspect of SDLC compared to my prior language learning experiences since we mainly were “taught” the culture through textbooks rather than trying activities to immerse ourselves in the cultural norms and practices of the target language. Overall, in terms of progress in learning actual Korean language, I learned to say hello in casual conversation and learned about how you add an ending when talking to someone older and respected. I honestly felt weird trying to mimic the sounds Jannette was making to teach me how to pronounce hello; it reminded me of comments in class feeling like an American trying to speak Korean. I finally started to understand what Dr. Marsh-Soloway meant when he told me I would have to make sounds that I’m not used to making in English! This week made me realize how much I’m going to have to practice by actually speaking to really learn the language, which was what the TEDTalk also touched on. However, I feel like my excitement with the things I’ve been learning in class have helped ease my nerves about learning Korean -- I feel up to the challenge and am looking forward to finalizing my goals for this semester!