Nirshiee Arumugam

SDL 105

Final Reflection Paper

4/30/14

            I am very happy that I decided to take the Self-Directed Learning Course this semester. It has proved to be a challenging, yet rewarding experience for me. I am grateful to have had this opportunity to learn a language that I have always had an interest in learning.

            In the beginning of the semester, I outlined my goals and what it is what that I wanted to learn. I mainly wanted to focus on speaking because I know I would be able to utilize that skill more frequently than reading and writing. At the end of the semester, at the very least, I wanted to be able to introduce myself and make small talk. I can confidently say that I can now do that. However, I realized that I was not able to accomplish the many goals I set for myself. There is only so much I can learn in one semester. I could probably only learn and retain ten vocabulary words per week. Although I would move on to new topic each week, I sometimes would forget what I learned the past week, so my language partner and I would take time reviewing previous lessons. Because we did this, sometimes we ran out of time and did not accomplish all that we hoped for.

            In addition, one major challenge I faced, which I have previously mentioned in one of my blogs, was the self-directed learning aspect of the class. When I signed up for the class, I do not think I fully comprehended the meaning of self-directed learning. I think because I was so used to a strict syllabus with quizzes, exams, papers, etc. it took me a while to get used to this new learning style. I realized I had to push myself more during the middle of the semester when things got busy. It was easy to prioritize other classes, so I had to make a conscious effort to set time out of my day to review Hindi. One thing I wished we had was a workbook that we could keep with us throughout the semester. I was able to use some references from the global studio, but we were told we could not take them with us. When I learn I like to write and underline in my books, so not having a workbook or textbook was a bit hard. However, I found some cool online resources that I was able to use that were able to suffice for the time being.

            Something I really enjoyed about SDL 105 was our group discussions in dhall. I really enjoyed reading the assigned articles, as they offered more insight into the tie between culture and language. We had some very meaningful discussions that I have incorporated into my language learning skills. Through these discussions as well as our cultural presentations, I was able to learn about the different cultures and languages my fellow peers have been learning. I have always had a love for learning about different cultures, so I really enjoyed listening to others’ presentations.

            Overall, I have had a very productive and enjoyable experience this semester. Learning a brand new language, at this point is not an easy task. I am glad I was able to do so while still in college. However, I hope to continue my study of Hindi and hopefully one day get the chance to travel to India.

Overall, I think I did a good job accomplishing all of my goals I included in my learning plan. However, I don’t think I have retained ALL the information I learned. I have to continue to practice and go over everything I have learned this semester to be able to continue my development with the language. However, I am able to have small talk, greet people, talk about myself and my family, pronounce words correctly for the most part, and talk about my interests. I think I need more work on telling time/days of the week, as well as asking others questions.

One stumbling block I encountered this semester was not always being as self-motivated as I should be. SDL is the first class I took here, where it was up to me to really force myself each day to sit down and practice what I learned each week. It was easy to prioritize my other classes over Hindi. This was something I struggled with during the beginning of the semester. However, I later realized that I was only going to learn as much as I put in. It was up to me to make the most of it. I always wanted to learn Hindi so I decided I needed to be better at taking time out of my day to sit down and study Hindi. Another stumbling block I encountered towards the end of the semester was not being able to coordinate times with my language partner. A few times toward the end, she said she was too busy or would show up late/leave early. However, because I saw my language partner at our dance practices and SASA meetings, sometimes we were able to practice a bit of Hindi to make up for the lost time.

In the future, I definitely want to continue my study of Hindi. I will continue to use the app on my phone to learn new Hindi words as well as review everything I learned here at UR. I hope to one day visit India and be fully immersed in the culture and converse with people I meet. I am so happy I decided to take SDL course. It allowed me to better augment my language learning skills as well as learn about other cultures through the posts and discussions!

Theses are pictures of my lesson with my language partner when I learned words relating to dance, singing and acting. These became useful to me when conducting my cultural research presentation on dance in India. Since I have a passion for dance, I wanted to learn these words!!

Learning activity:

I taught my friend how to say her name and how old she is in Hindi. I first said my name and how old I was and told her to repeat after me. She had some trouble with the pronunciation, so I sounded out each syllable for her. She said this strategy was helpful, and she was able to pronounce the words more efficiently. I then taught her to count from 1 to 10. We took turns going back and forth counting up to 10. I think this activity as a whole, was pretty effective. My friend was able to learn a few Hindi phrases as well as count to 10. I tried to make the activity fun and interactive so it was enjoyable while informative at the same time.

Artifact Evaluation:

In one of my artifacts I say basic phrases about myself. For example, my name, where I am from, my interests, my family etc. These are phrases I can incorporate when making small talk with someone in Hindi.  It took me a few tries to properly pronounce all the words.

During this lesson with my language partner and I learned basic phrases that are useful when going out to eat and ordering food. My partner pretended she was the waiter and I was the customer, so I was able to practice the phrases I learned.

Week  4/5

Specific Goals

• Family members
• Food
• Drinks
• How to order at a restaurant
• How to get around if lost

Tasks

• Be able to talk about my family
• Be able to ask questions about others’ families
• Be able to describe my favorite food and drinks
• Practice ordering food as if I was at a restaurant
• Be able to ask for directions

Evaluation: I was successful in learning terms of family members as well as food and drinks. However, I did not get to practice ordering at a restaurant as well as asking for directions. I had to go back to those the next week.  When learning family vocab, it was helpful drawing a family tree. I also learned to say simple phrases such as “I have one sister.” I think I could have been too ambitious in all that I wanted to learn in one week, as I realized I could not accomplish all of it. 

Aja%20Nachle%21%20Come%20Let%E2%80%99s%20Dance%21.pptx

hindi%20history.ppt

beauty%20in%20india.pptx

I had always heard people say knowing more than one language enhances your cognitive abilities, thus makes you smarter, but I had never really given any importance to that statement because I wasn’t sure how accurate it was. Apparently, bilinguals are better able to ignore distractions and are better at solving logic puzzles. However, I think about myself and know this is not true..I can speak three languages, yet I get quite easily distracted! However, I think the part about being able to solve mental/logic puzzles is true because bilinguals can think and speak in multiple languages, thus their critical thinking ability is augmented. In addition, it is easier for a bilingual to learn a new language than someone who speaks only one language to learn another. I think because bilinguals have already expanded their mental abilities and exercised their brain’s capabilities, they are able to have an easier time picking up a new language. At the end of the day, knowing more than one language has many benefits, and I think everyone should learn as many languages as they can in their lifetime!

It is both a frightening and sad thought that there are many languages on the verge of extinction. It’s funny because when I think of the word extinction, I automatically think of animals! It’s weird to think languages can be classified as extinct as well. My parents often express how important it is for me to learn my native tongue, Tamil. I am so happy and appreciative that they started speaking to me in Tamil from a young age, because now I am in fluent in it.

Because there is such a strong need and desire to learn languages such as English and Spanish, the importance for other more less-common languages is diminished. In the article, the author discusses the reemergence of tribal languages. One method that was used was creating an online talking dictionary that quickly became popular.

I think the responsibility of keeping a language alive lies among our generation, the youth. Our ancestors grew up speaking these beautiful languages, and now it is our turn to be willing to learn these languages and continue their lifespan. I know that I will without a doubt, teach my children Tamil!

Knowing a language’s history can definitely help when learning a language. A history of a language can help in understanding the etymology of many of the words as well as influences from other languages. Hindi is a language that has a huge influence from and on a variety of other languages. Some of these languages include Arabic, Urdu, Spanish, Greek, Italian, German, etc.  Hindi and Urdu are essentially the same languages with different scripts. Hindi uses the Devangari script and is a direct descendant of Sanskrit.

Knowing the history of Hindi has allowed me to find similarities between Hindi words and Arabic words for example. I took a semester of Arabic, and realized there are quite a few words that both languages share. For example, “kitab,” meaning book, is common to both Arabic and Hindi.

The history of a language allows people to really appreciate not only the language but the cultural significance behind a language. We are able to gain a deeper understanding for both the culture and its language.

In the Indian culture, body language is very critical and important to understand when communicating, as Indians use nonverbal communication quite often. Physical contact in conversation is not as common however. So if, someone touches you while talking or puts their hand on your shoulder, it shows the intimacy of the relationship. However, physical contact between people of the opposite sex in public is frowned upon because of the conservative aspect of the Indian culture.

One main nonverbal gesture that Indians do is the head bob. Indians often bob their head in response to yes or no questions. It is a very vague response that people often misread.

Using your left hand is considered rude, as it is known as the “unclean” hand. Accepting things and eating with the left hand is considered offensive.

When people meet for the first time, they do not generally shake hands. Instead they nod their heads and bow, saying Namaste.

Again, Indians do not have a sense of time. Especially when conversing, they can go on for hours. They tend to never start on a scheduled time, instead they run on “Indian time” which is at least fifteen minutes past.

Week 1

• Alphabet/Pronunciation
• Days of the week
• Culture talk with language partner

Week 2

• Numbers
• Birthdays
• Practiced counting aloud with partner and played games with numbers. I found this to be quite helpful as it was and interactive way to learn. We also watched YouTube videos of children’s songs in Hindi.

Week 3

• Days of the week
• Greetings
• Practiced repeating phrases with partner. However, at times I found that simply repeating phrases wasn’t too helpful. Rather, it was more effective to sound out each syllable of the word and then the whole word. This way, my language partner could make sure that I was pronouncing the word correctly. Also, I found my pronunciation improved with this approach.

Week 4

• Family members
• Review from past weeks
• My language partner and I drew a family tree together. I found this to be very helpful as I am a visual learner. We also used one of the Hindi books my partner borrowed from the global studio.

Week 5

• Food
• Drinks
• How to order at a restaurant
• My language partner and I role-played as a customer and waiter. We pretended as if were at a restaurant and practiced ordering food. It was a fun, interactive way to practice the new vocab. I found this approach to very helpful. We used a Hindi vocab book from the global studio as well for this lesson.

Week 6

• Introductory phrases
• Start having simple conversations
• Review past week vocabulary
• My language partner and I started to have basic conversations with each other. We also played a game with the past vocab I have been learning. I wrote down the words that I still needed to practice. I found this to be helpful as I could go back later and review these words.

Week 7

• Body Parts
• Listened to Bollywood songs
• Worked on pronunciations of words
• This was a fun lesson. In many Bollywood songs, the lyrics describe a woman or a many using very cheesy lines. These lines often contain body parts such as, eyes, hair, lips, hands etc. So, my language partner would play a song and have me point out the words we just learned. This was a very effective approach for me.

Week 8

• Simple verb conjugations
• Practiced conversations
• Reviewed past vocab
• My partner and I used diigo this week and discovered some helpful websites that allowed me to practice Hindi phrase. I also started learning simple verb conjugations this week.

Week 9

• Statements about myself and interests
• Statements about my family
• Watched Bollywood movie with language partner. I definitely had to refer to the subtitles, but I found that I was able to recognize and understand a few words here and there. Sometimes, we would pause the movie and my partner would explain phrases to me. I also downloaded an app on my phone where I could learn Hindi vocab. It’s kind of similar to flashcards. I found the app to be very useful. Especially times where I don’t have my notes around me I can refer to the app.

Week 10

• Learned words related to dance
• Worked on pronunciations
• Pronunciations
• Since dance is one of my favorite things to do, I was interested in learning words/phrases related to dance. I also decided I wanted to do my final cultural research project on two different forms of Indian dance. Again, we used some books my partner and I borrowed from the studio.

Week 11

• Review past lessons
• Watch Hindi movie
• Discuss movie
• This week my partner and I went over past lessons that I felt I needed more practice with. We watched interactive YouTube video lessons that helped with some grammar questions I had. Reviewing past lessons was very effective. I realized that I had forgot some of the earlier words and/or lessons, so I was able to refresh my mind.

Week 12

• Talked about the weather
• Listened to Bollywood music and try to recognize words
• Had small conversations
• We used Hindi workbooks as well as attempted to try the Talk Now! Software. I found that sounding out words together was helpful. Also, when studying words I tried to make up mnemonics or refer to words I already knew to help me.

A)   Current Abilities

1. Know the sounds of the letters in the alphabet

B)   Goals

1. Be able to have a small conversation
2. Greet people
3. Talk about myself and my family
4. Ask for directions/get around a new place
5. Tell time and day of the week
6. Pronounce words correctly
7. Talk about my day and ask others questions
8. Talk about my interests/ hobbies (dancing)

C)   Tasks 

1. Watch Hindi movie/listen to songs- discuss plots with language partner
2. Discuss current events and tie in with Indian culture
3. Have conversations with my language partner and friends who speak Hindi
4. Learn everyday slang
5. Learn directions
6. Learn numbers
7. Be able to ask/give directions

Self-Assessment:

I think I have met most, if not all of my goals. However, I am still a bit rough on asking for directions/getting around new places. I can greet people and talk about myself and my family. I found that using flashcards as well as sounding words out loud has helped me improve my vocabulary as well as pronunciation. In addition, listening to Bollywood songs and watching Bollywood movies has definitely reinforced my learning of certain vocabulary and phrases. Looking back on this semester, I have definitely completed all the tasks in my learning plan. However, I need to continue practicing these tasks as I have not retained ALL the information.

Introductions%20and%20Basic%20Phrases.mp3

Numbers%20and%20Phrases.mp3

 I have thoroughly enjoyed learning Hindi this semester. Although it has proven to be a challenging experience, it has been an enjoyable one. When I first started the semester off, I could barely say a single word in Hindi. I had often listened to Bollywood songs in Hindi but could never understand the meaning.

I think creating a learning plan during the first few weeks of the semester really helped me to structure my learning sessions well. I decided what it was that I wanted to learn in these next few weeks and what would be the most useful to me. There was so much that I wanted to learn, but then I realized I had a time constraint. So, I narrowed down the topics I really wanted to focus on, and what I would be able to utilize after this semester. Also, creating a list of goals allowed me to be aware of what I learned and what I still needed to learn.

 During my meetings with my language partner, I usually start by reviewing information I learned the previous week, and then start learning a new topic. I started the semester off by learning the sounds of letters. I then learned how to introduce myself and talk about my family. Later, I learned to describe my interests and myself. So, if I were to meet someone or have small talk I would be able to say my name, where I am from, how many siblings I have, and my interests. Recently I have learned how to order food if I go to a restaurant. There is a distinction between formal and informal language. If we are speaking to our siblings or friends, we can use the pronoun “tum.” However, if we are speaking to elders, new people, etc, we use the pronoun “aap,” which is more formal. Body language is also important when communicating with people from India. For example, Indians tend to bob their head a lot in response to a yes or no question. Learning about body language and culture from my language partner allowed me to better understand communication.

Whenever I learn new vocabulary, I sound out the letters and repeat the word several times. This helps me practice the pronunciation as well as help store the word in my memory. I try to make flashcards as well for new words. In addition, I downloaded an app. on my phone for learning Hindi words. It’s a quick way for me to practice learning words when I don’t always have my notes on me. I also practice speaking with my friends who know Hindi. In addition, I watch Bollywood movies as well as listen to Bollywood music to help my speaking and comprehension skills. Sometimes, I am able to pick up random words in the songs or movies that I have previously learned. During one of my language lessons, when I was learning body parts, my language partner would play a popular Bollywood song, and have me point out words that I recognized. It was a very fun and effective way for me to review the vocabulary. Recently, I have been learning how to structure sentences. For example, in Hindi, the verb always comes at the end.

I realize I tend to forget words or concepts I learned if I do not practice them in someway a day or so after my language session. Also, setting a time to practice Hindi everyday has helped me stick to a routine and proved to be quite effective. Earlier in the semester, I would not study on my own as much. Later, I realized I need to be more self-motivated if I want to learn everything on my learning plan. I have found watching mini YouTube tutorial lessons has helped me review material I learn during my sessions. It is also a fun, interactive way to learn, as there are many children’s videos. For the remainder of the semester, I want to continue to learn the rest of what I anticipated on my learning plan as well as achieve all my goals. I want to be able to practice speaking a few phrases at a time. I want to try more discussion back-and-forth with my language partner and actually practice having conversations. After this class is over, I hope to continue practicing Hindi, by interacting with my peers, watching movies, etc. This class has allowed me to further explore my language learning abilities and has provided me helpful techniques that I will continue to utilize.

The cultural competence article was an interesting read with some good points that we have also touched on during our class discussion. I like the part of the article that discusses conversation analysis and how there are rule of conversation. However, these rules are not fully known or comprehended until we are proficient in our language skill and culture. Communication is most effective when we understand each other’s body language and social norms. I think the only way this can be fully attained is to travel or live abroad.

I hope to travel to India someday soon to augment my language skills as well as learn more about the people and culture. Once, I have a better understanding of traditions, social norms, and body language, I think my communication will be easier and faster. Often, people from India bob their head in response to a yes or no question. However, this is very vague and people are left with an unanswered question. People in India are used to this and understand what the head bob means. It’s little things like this that would help our communication.

As I watched the Culture Shock video, I could definitely relate to a lot of the comments as well as understand and empathize with the students. Although I grew up in the United States, coming from a South Asian background, I had a few similar experiences. Because American culture is quite different from South Asian culture, I had to learn to find the balance of both cultures as well as learn to adapt to different customs and/or mannerisms that were unique to each culture.

Also, I have several International friends who have told me many stories that are similar to the ones in the video. International students undergo several challenges as they live and study abroad. One thing that was mentioned in the video as well as my peers have commented about is how Americans greet each other in passing. Usually, Americans say “Hey, what’s up?” or “Hey, how are you?” yet they don’t actually expect a complete response to this question. Many international students find this frustrating and strange. Why would someone ask you how you are if they aren’t going to stop and hear what you have to say?

The video also talks about how students initially experience loneliness or homesickness when they first encounter culture shock. This was also mentioned in the reading for this week. We experience culture shock in a series of stages. First, we are amazed and excited about our new environment. However, we then may begin to feel lonely and may seek out resources to help ease the transition. Being an International student is definitely not easy. Students are placed out of their comfort zone and are forced to take risks and experience new things. It takes a while to adapt to the customs of the home country.

Watching the video also made me reflect on my abroad experience this past summer in Spain. When I first arrived, I wanted to see everything, do everything, and meet everyone! However, after a while I started to feel out of my comfort zone a little as I had to put in the extra effort to speak in Spanish and meet the natives. If I wanted to get the most out of my experience, I knew that I had to put in more on my part. It is also important to understand cultural differences instead of quickly becoming frustrated.