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Leo Barnes posted a status
Journal Post 4 - Spring 2025

Recap: I’m studying Brazilian Portuguese. While before I've focused on studying the more neutral São Paulo dialect, I’m currently interested in the Rio dialect. This is because I’m going to be spending 6 months there…
Apr 26, 2025
Comments: 2
Leo Barnes posted a status
Journal Post 3 - Spring 2025

Recap: I’m studying Brazilian Portuguese. While before I’ve been studying the São Paulo dialect, I’m now switching to do more with the Rio dialect. This is because I will spend at least 4 months there this year if not 6…
Apr 10, 2025
Comments: 1
Leo Barnes posted a status
Spring 2025 Cultural Post 4

In my South African History course, we've recently been learning about how apartheid affected South Africa's regional relationships. Throughout the 1980s, to win favor with the Reagan/Thatcher renewed anti-communist…
Apr 1, 2025
Leo Barnes posted a status
Spring 2025 - Cultural Post 3

Zé Gotinha or “Joe Droplet” is an anthropomorphic vaccine droplet and spokesperson for Brazilian vaccination campaigns. He was created in 1986 and has starred in 30+ PSA films, cartoons, and children’s books selling 1…
Brazil’s Vaccinated Democracy
In March 2021, former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a current presidential candidate, posed a pointed question in a speech lambasting President Jair Bolsonaro’s Covid-19 response. “Where is our beloved Zé Gotinha?” Zé Gotinha is not…
Mar 16, 2025
Leo Barnes posted a status
Journal Post 2 - Spring 2025

Recap: I’m studying Brazilian Portuguese specifically the São Paulo dialect. I’m doing this by studying vocabulary, listening, reading, conversation, and grammar. I study vocabulary through mnemonic devices, songs, and…
Mar 16, 2025
Comments: 1
Leo Barnes commented on Joseph Jeon’s status
"Good for you following such a directed language learning assignment. I wonder about what other things you've been up to with your language study this past month. How's it going? How do you feel about what you're learning and how you're learning? I…"
Mar 11, 2025
Leo Barnes commented on Yeseul Jun’s status
"Interesting article and I love exploring food as a way to better understand a culture. I looked at Brazilian churrasco for one of my blog posts last semester and have never looked at Brazilian food the same since! When you have a minute, I would…"
Mar 11, 2025
Leo Barnes commented on Yeseul Jun’s status
"Interesting. I remember seeing Hanbok while I was in korea; but didn't know what they were. Thank you for the quick introduction. I wonder how colors are thought of with modern Hanboks; whether many colors or simple colors are in style and whether…"
Mar 11, 2025
Leo Barnes commented on Josh Pantaloni’s status
"That was an excellent goal for this month. Specific, actionable, and undoubtedly meaningful. I also like how it had the unexpected benefit of helping you feel more confident in the Korean world being able to recognize the compound characters in…"
Mar 11, 2025
Leo Barnes commented on Lavi Ohana’s status
"To your comment about not recognizing the form of the word fast enough, I totally understand that and think everyone goes through it to some degree. Connector word drills sound interesting; would love to know more about what that's looked like for…"
Mar 11, 2025
Leo Barnes posted a status
Journal Post 1 - Spring 2025:

Recap: I’m studying Brazilian Portuguese from São Paulo. I’m doing this through study of vocabulary, listening, reading, conversation, and grammar. I study vocabulary through mnemonic devices, songs, and television. I…
Feb 15, 2025
Leo Barnes commented on Josh Pantaloni’s status
"Sounds like you really enjoyed the korean bbq! I wonder what you and your friends thought about Richmond's version versus the real thing. Ssam sounds amazing. One of the Benchtop Innovation projects this year was a lettuce wrap with soy sauce and…"
Feb 15, 2025
Leo Barnes commented on Sanjna Kaul’s status
"That seems like an excellent reading plan. I have never thought about reading a book in the foreign language and then giving yourself the task of summarizing it as you read it. 
I also think it's very reasonable of you to memorize the alphabet first…"
Feb 15, 2025
Leo Barnes commented on Xiwei Gu’s status
"I've never been but after reading your post I was looking around and found the Seoul Folk Flea market in South Korea. Seems like a fantastic place to go! I love antiques and old korean drawers are beautiful. I find it interesting the idea that…"
Feb 15, 2025
Leo Barnes replied to Annie Hankin's discussion Annie Learning Journal 1: Yiddish
"I understand the difficulty of not feeling sure exactly whether you're learning your language or not. Something to consider if you haven't checked it yet is Duolingo. I saw an article that said that they've offered a Yiddish course since 2021 that…"
Feb 11, 2025
Leo Barnes posted a status
Spring 2025 - Cultural Post 2

Dam Economics and the Solar Savior?

Thanks to its large rivers like the Amazon, Brazil has been called “the world’s most water-rich nation.” These numerous rivers and their high elevation changes have made Brazil an…
Solar power by country - Wikipedia
Feb 9, 2025
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Cultural Post #1

Through independently selecting and engaging with various Korean cultural posts, I have gained deeper insights into Korean society, values, and everyday practices. The cultural artifacts I explored included social media posts, short videos, interviews, and online discussions related to Korean popular culture, social etiquette, and daily life. Besides, I also read a research paper about this. These not only complemented my language learning but also helped me better understand how culture is embedded in communication.One of my strongest reactions was to the emphasis on respect and hierarchy that appeared consistently across different posts. For example, many videos and discussions highlighted the importance of honorifics, age-based language use, and appropriate behavior in social and professional settings. While I was already aware that Korean has different speech levels, seeing how carefully people navigate these distinctions in real-life situations left a strong impression on me. It…

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Started by Krystal Lin in Spring 2025 Culture Posts
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Learning Journal 4

As the semester comes to an end, this week I focused on reflecting on the progress I’ve made and what kind of learning methods would work best for me in the future. I looked back at the tasks I completed, the strategies I experimented with, and the moments where I felt either confident or stuck in my Korean. One of the main things I noticed is that I learn best when I am actively engaged, like when I can handwrite sentences and short paragraphs, speaking out loud, and connecting language to culture or real-life topics all helped me remember structures and vocabulary much more effectively than only rereading notes. When I used tools like AI to explain grammar patterns or break sentences into subject, verb, and object as if I were five or something, I felt that I learned much quicker and easier. In contrast, purely passive methods, like just re-reading or listening without any output, felt less effective for long-term retention.​I also realized how much my emotions can guide me in…

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Started by Ariana Kamiya in Spring 2025 Ning Discussion Posts
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Cultural Artifact 1

 This image above was a part of a Funk exhibition in the Contemporary Art Museum of Rio de Janeiro. I went to see the Funk exhibit on the second to last day that it was available in Rio in March, 2025. I was stunned by this exhibit. I had a feeling that I would love it, but I didn’t think that I would love it that much! There was so much to take in. The artifacts above are two images that were a part of four image collections. In the background of each image you can see favelas. Both of the images are depicted as if they were taking place in the favela.Favelas are shantytowns that are in the hillsides of Brazilian cities. They have a very complex history, going back to the abolition of slavery in 1888. Brazil was one of the last countries to abolish slavery. Once they did, free Afro-Brazilians were left with no resources or support to integrate into society. They retreated to the hillsides of cities, like Rio de Janeiro, when they were still developing. At the time of my viewing of…

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Started by Charlie Fisher in Spring 2025 Culture Posts
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Reflective Essay #2

This semester has been wonderful in learning about the functions of language and how to apply effective studying tactics to learn any language quicker and more efficiently. I have learned that languages have patterns, and there are ways to sort of "hack the system" when trying to learn something new. In my case, Portuguese is very similar to Spanish. They have the same SVO structure and similar vocabulary, and by understanding these similarities, I can gain understanding of the language. While I might not be able to speak Portuguese yet, I definitely can understand bits of what texts are saying based on my recognition of the similarities to Spanish. With this in mind, and from the lessons within the class, I confidently can say I will have an easier time learning the basics of Portuguese.I enjoyed getting to do a deep dive on the cultures of Brazil and Portugal with my final project, as well as getting to learn a bit about other cultures through our lessons in class. I have learned…

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Started by Elizabeth Jonas in Spring 2025 Ning Discussion Posts
1 Reply · Reply by Charlie Fisher Dec 14, 2025