This semester I learned Sindhi through the Self Designed Language Acquisition Program. This idea or thought of learning Sindhi has been in my mind for a long time but I always had something more important to do so I was not able to give time to working on learning the language. I am really happy I took this class because I was able to reach my goals through the semester.

            These are few things I was able to achieve this semester:

• I learned basic greetings and I can introduce myself to anyone who speaks the language.
• I learned about the history of Sindh and the various types of Sindhis that exist. Sindhis were known according to the little towns or villages they came from.
• Through research I was able to learn about Sindhi cuisine and traditional Sindhi weddings.
• I am able to talk about my family and describe each family member.
• I learned the days of the week, the numbers, colors, fruits and vegetables, hobbies.
• I am able to have a basic conversation about likes and dislikes with someone speaking the target language.
• I can watch a short story in Sindhi and mostly understand the meaning of it.
• I can narrate a short story that I watched or heard from my language partner.
• I can tell and ask the time in Sindhi.
• I was able to do some research on the differences between Sindhis in Pakistan and Sindhis in India. Living in India I have been exposed to only the Sindhi culture within my family that is Hindus.

To achieve these goals during the semester I met with my language partner and we would talk about how our classes were going and what interesting events we were attending on campus, all in Sindhi. I did stumble and make many mistakes but with repeated attempts I was able to pick up common words in different sentences. I used YouTube videos to watch short stories. I used online websites to do research on cultural aspects.

I feel accomplished at the end of the semester. But I think the program would have been more effective if I had more resources to learn Sindhi. I would’ve loved to have books with pictures to learn Sindhi but most books use the Arabic script so I was not able to read the script. But overall I was able to learn a lot.

I narrated a short story about three fishes living in a pond and being caught by fisherman.

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This is based on the reading "Why Billinguals are Smarter"

Bilingualism has its obvious benefits. But recent research says that there are many deeper advantages rather than just being able to converse with a wider group of people. It helps with the cognitive skills, affect how smart someone is and even help the elderly.

1^st example, involves a child’s mind. Being bilingual helps a child’s academic and intellectual development. This has been proven by researchers, educators and scientists.  It helps though, in a very “blessing in disguise” format. When one’s brain is using just one language, the other is still active. This creates interference. But instead of being negative, it actually allows the brain to deal with internal conflict and gives it a workout and strengthens it. This allows bilinguals to solve problems much faster than monolinguals. This has been solved in a simple experiment using two bins, red squares and blue circles. The task involved sorting the squares and circles based on shape with conflicting colors. The result which came of it, was that the bilinguals seemed to perform the task much faster which proves that bilingualism improves the brain’s executive function which allows us to stretch our mind and put it to doing difficult tasks that involve distractions.

This is not the only advantage; bilinguals who can perform tasks that don’t involve conflict or ignore distractions, can also do many other things, but at a greater speed. They can perform activities with lesser effort in parts of the brain than monolinguals can which proves that they are efficient.

The 2^nd example involves infants. A study in Italy proved that infants who are exposed to more than one language from birth seemed to be better than the ones that aren’t. The study involved the infants to look on one side of a screen where there was a puppet. The study made the puppet come on the opposite side of the screen at moments and at these moments the infants who were exposed to bilingual environments seemed to have that much concentration and focus that they followed the puppet wherever it went, while the other infants didn’t.

A 3^rd example involves a study in California. It shows that bilinguals are more resistant than others to the onset of dementia and other symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Bilingualism has become something that every individual encourages. All parents want to see their children speak a language that they aren’t familiar with. It is something that enhances the mind to become better in all ways possible. As Nelson Mandela says “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

This is after reading the article "Tribe Revives Language on Verge of Extinction"

Language is an important part of any society, because it enables people to communicate and express themselves freely. When a language dies out, future generations lose a vital part of their culture. Language is an important aspect of cultural heritage and it becomes especially important to preserve it. New technologies such as pod casts can be used to preserve the spoken version of languages and written documents can preserve information about the native literature and linguistics of languages.

The Siletz people are a Native American tribe from Oregon and an Indigenous people of the Northwest Plateau. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon.

This American Indian language had only five speakers left. It was once dominant but was almost nearing extinction. Bud Lane, who was a member of the tribe had been working on the Siletz Dee-ni talking dictionary for nearly seven years. He had recorded almost all of its 10,000 audio entries himself. He wanted to create a group of speakers large enough for the language to remain existent.

Some people who had listened to their elders like Mr. Lane had picked up the language. Mr. Lane started taking Siletz classes. The Siletz dictionary was impressive. Other tribes adopted their language as their own cultures faded.

Government boarding schools which were attended by generations of Indian children did not allow learning tribal languages. Now the language is taught to sixth graders at the public charted school. The aim of the tribe is to have a proper teaching program in place in the next few years to meet Oregon’s high school language requirements. It would therefore allow Siletz to be taught as a foreign language in its place of origin, which is a great achievement.

Culture Shock can be defined as: “The feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.”

When we go to a new country that we are unfamiliar with we all have starting issues and one of the biggest factors of culture shock is the language barrier that many immigrants or tourists face when visiting a new place. Communication is a vital part of our lives and without it moving around in a foreign land can be disastrous. It maybe an uneasy process but sometimes vital for integration in the society.

Knowing basic greetings, non-verbal communication and basic questions in the target language can help minimize the extent of culture shock.

I am an international student at the University of Richmond. When I cam here as a freshman I did face many obstacles that can be related to culture shock but with time I learnt things about the way it is done in America and started to integrate. Even today I am learning and building on the experiences. 

A conversation with my Language partner where he asks me about my likes and dislikes.

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I had heard this tongue twister my aunt was saying once and it was in Sindhi and I never understood it or could say it. But with my progress in the language I have understood the tongue twister and I really like saying it.

I planned to teach my roommate this tongue twister:

Chari chokri chamaji

khaye khata berr

Uthjeri ojari

Gabe jer pere

चरी छोकरी चमजी

खाएँ खटा बेरा

उठ जेरी ओजारी

गाबे जेर पेर 

I wrote it down for my roommate and asked her to read it but listening to pronunciation I felt like laughing because it was so different from the real pronunciation. I told her to repeat it with me like a little song so that she could retain it in her memory.

This tongue twister is about a girl who is considered crazy because she won’t stop eating sour berries and if she eats more berries she will loose her ability to taste. 

Sindhi being an ancient language has a lot to do with History. It is the language of Saints and Rishis of ancient Sindh. It has been the inspiration for Sindhi art, music, literature, culture and the way of life. Many great poets and literati have been profoundly inspired by the beauty of Sindhi language.

Sindh is in Pakistan but vast numbers of Sindhis are Hindus who live in India or other parts of the world. Historically India and Pakistan were one country known as Hindustan and after the partition of 1947 Sindh was acquired by Pakistan. Most Hindu Sindhis fled to India and went all over the country to create a new life.

Language is definitely affected by the difference in the Muslim Sindhis and the Hindu Sindhis. Muslims in Pakistan take words from Arabic and Urdu to incorporate it in their Sindhi vocabulary whereas Hindu Sindhis take words from Sanskrit and Hindi to incorporate it in the Sindhi vocabulary they use.

Most common and popular Sindhi Dishes. The first is Sindhi Kadhi chaval aur took. That is a Sindhi curry with rice and potato fritters on the side. The second dish is Koki aur dahi. That is a wheat pancake with yogurt. The third dish on top is Dal Pakwaan. That is a lentils curry with fried chips made from flour. The last dish at the bottom is a dessert known as Seyun Batata. It is a sweet and salty dish. It is sweet vermicelli served with spicy potatoes on the side.

I have written the various fruits and vegetables using Devanagari script.

An artifact is something made by someone of cultural or historical importance. In my case I have used different things to show my learning progress in the Sindhi language. You may use videos, pictures, writings, stories etc. to create an artifact.

I plan to be able to narrate a story by myself by the end of the semester and that will be final artifact. That is one of my biggest challenges and I’m excited about creating that artifact. I want to focus only simple stories for children because the sentence structure in such stories is simple and I can use that structure to even talk to my family when narrating to them my life at the University of Richmond.

Another artifact that I plan to do is to record a conversation with my Language partner. I haven’t decided the topic of the conversation but I want to be able to let the conversation flow smoothly because there are many times that I blank out for words and start using hesitation words like “umm” or “uh” which I want to let go off.

I have posted an artifact where I wrote the days of the week and the numbers usinf Devanagiri script.

My goal I had set in the beginning of the semester was to learn how to speak and understand a basic conversation in Sindhi. Writing in Sindhi requires me to learn the Arabic script and finding books in Sindhi is tough as the language is slowly dying so I decided not to learn that. I use the Devanagiri script to write words; which is the same script used to write Hindi, which I’m familiar with.

I listen to short stories made for children on YouTube. I may not understand the entire story but that is my goal by the end of the semester. I can pick up a few words from the story and sometimes connect those words to identify the sentence. One advantage that I have is that I know Hindi. And most Indian languages have similarities with Hindi. So there will be instances that my Hindi knowledge will help me build a sentence.

I tried to listen to the news in Sindhi but it was a big challenge for me because the speed at which the language is spoken and the level of vocabulary used was above my capabilities but again I could pick up some words. They spoke about the day and time that I understood and also I picked up words like children, house, people, yesterday etc.

My vocabulary is increasing slowly because I try to talk to my family and my language partner only in Sindhi and when I can’t get a word I say it in Hindi and I make sure my family or my language partner corrects me and gives me Sindhi word for it so that I don’t repeat that mistake.

Sindhi Language is tied back to Indian culture. India is one of the most diverse countries in the world. It is a sophisticated, modern, industrial leader that is home to many primitive tribes and millions of poor people. Religion and language separate people because every state in India has its own culture, own language and won food. Like any distinct culture with a rich history, India has many nonverbal traits that it can call its own. In order to fully understand the scope and depth of any culture’s nonverbal communication you need to study the people and languages of the country. Body language in Indian culture can affect the relationships we create with each other. Here are few examples of body language that are tied to Indian culture:

• Public displays of affection are not appropriate. In India, like in Western cultures you will not find a man and women kissing in public.
• Movement of your head when you’re talking is normal.
• At a household of any Indian, people will eat food with their hands rather than utensils.
• Removing your shoes when entering a home is a sign of respect because many Indians are religious.

To fulfill my goals for learning Sindhi this semester I plan to use different methods and resources. Finding resources online for learning Sindhi are very limited since the number of people speaking the language are limited. Another drawback for me is that I plan to learn the language using Devanagiri script, which is very rare as compared to using the Arabic script to learn the language.

I plan to gain most of my information from listening to my language partner speak because he is well versed in the language. I also plan to use YouTube videos made for little kids that are in Sindhi. Another way to learn Sindhi for me is by using pictorial descriptions of objects or scenes so that I can retain it in my memory.

I also used an online English to Sindhi dictionary with audio to listen to vocabulary words with the right pronunciation. 

This week's reading was "Figuring Foreigners Out"

People belonging to different cultures across the globe have different ways of communicating with each other. Be it different languages, body language, gestures, behavior or attitude, it varies from culture to culture.

People from different cultures can be individualistic or collectivistic by nature. Individualistic means they think about themselves and their independence first. Nothing comes before self. Whereas collectivist nature takes the form of thinking and working in a group or as a group as a whole. It can mean the immediate family. The well being of the group as a whole comes to the forefront and is most important.

Nonverbal communication is the main and the root cause of mis understandings and confusions among cross cultures. It can change the entire meaning of what someone is trying to convey.                                            

The point I am going to convey now need not be catagorised to a particular culture but can be more individualistic. Different people conceive time and how to manage time in different ways. Time can be limited and should not be wasted-Monochronic or it can be unlimited-Polychronic.                                  

A persons place in the external world differs from person to person and from culture to culture. Some people believe that success is what you make of it . You can put in the necessary effort and achieve what you want whereas some people believe that effort needs to be combined with good luck.

Another cause for confusion in people of different cultures is direct and indirect means of communication. Some people are to the point and very direct and some people beat around the bush and say things in a very indirect manner.

So to come to the point, if you learn different languages it helps you to bridge the gap across different cultures. This leads to a better understanding of different types of people from varied backgrounds.

Days of the week and numbers. Used Devanagari script to write.

SDLAP – Sindhi

Week 1

• Work on the learning plan with my language partner

Week 2

• Learn basic greetings in Sindhi and introducing myself
• Have a basic cultural conversation with my language partner to get a deeper understanding of Sindh and the prevalence of the language.

Week 3

• Learn numbers from 1 to 20 in Sindhi and understand the use of counting money. Also learn basic colors in Sindhi.
• Basic cultural talk to understand the different sects of Sindhis.

Week 4

• Learn food related vocabulary including fruits, vegetables etc.
• Basic cultural talk discussing popular Sindhi dishes and what are eaten during what time period.

Week 5

• Learn the days of the week, and understanding tenses.
• Basic cultural talk on a traditional Sindhi wedding.

Week 6

• Learn family related vocabulary and construct short sentences related to family.
• Basic cultural talk about formality and informality in Sindhi culture.

Week 7

• Listen to short stories on YouTube with my language partner and try to understand the meaning of the words.
• Have a basic cultural conversation with my language partner on concentration of Sindhis in different parts of the world.

Week 8

• Review my progress in Sindhi and see my memory of simple words post Spring Break.
• Conversation with my language partner about Spring Break in Sindhi.

Week 9

• Listen to short stories on YouTube with my language partner and try to understand the meaning of the words.
• Have a cultural conversation with my language partner to understand the differences between Sindhis in Pakistan and Sindhis in India. 

Week 10

• Building my vocabulary by writing down simple objects, animals, professions etc. in the target language.
• Conversation with my language partner in Sindhi and fixing my grammatical errors.

Week 11

• Deciding a topic for my final presentation and working on that. Using online resources to research on the chosen topic
• Cultural conversation with my language partner on stereotypes about Sindhis.

Week 12

• Narrating a Sindhi story I watched on YouTube to my language partner and translating it back into English.
• Conversation with my language partner on understanding the history of the language.

Week 13

• Review of the semester and planning of my monologue and dialogue for the final exam.

This semester I am learning Sindhi. Sindhi is one of the many languages spoken in India. I am a Sindhi and want to integrate myself into my culture by learning the language, which is slowly dying. Growing up, my family barely spoke in Sindhi and used more of Hindi to talk, which made it hard for me to learn the language. Through the SDLAP I plan to be able to have a basic conversation with my grandfather because he is the one who motivates me to learn my language.

In my learning plan I made sure to not only include learning of words and phrases but also to understand certain cultural aspects of Sindhis and Sindh. Sindh is located in Pakistan and I have never been there and because of the political tension between India and Pakistan I don’t know if I will ever get a chance to go to Pakistan. So learning about the culture through this program is one of my major goals for the semester.

I also want to be able to tell stories so that I can narrate my life in Ricmond to grandfather in India. I plan to achieve this goal by reading short stories made for children so that I can get a hang of that. By the end of the semester I also plan to be able to talk about my family and introduce the different members in my family.

This is based on the reading "How the brain handles Languages" 

The human brain is divided into 2 great lobes-the right cerebral hemisphere and the left cerebral hemisphere. Information is transmitted from  one hemisphere to the

Other. The hemispheres control movement.

It is said that in right handed people, it is the left hemisphere that is dominant in  language and vice versa but not necessarily so.

The learning of languages helps the brain to stay in shape by allowing certain parts of the brain to grow. Learning a new language and putting in great efforts to learn show a definite growth in the cerebral cortex which is involved in language learning.                               

Sometimes it is very easy to forget the neurological planning that goes into the production and comprehension of language—be it spoken or written. It involves several steps that take part in the brain. This is called Neurolinguistic Processing. The analysis of slips of the tongue also tells us how the brain works and functions and about the neurological process that underlie speech.

Learning foreign languages definitely has a miraculous effect on the brain.

I have always had a deep desire to learn various languages because every time I hear something that seems foreign to me, I get excited and try to find out the meaning of that sentence or phrase. Language is an extremely integral part of my life. I can communicate with and understand people around me through language. When I was a baby I had no knowledge of any English. I spent a lot of my time around my maid who took care of me. She only spoke Tamil, which is a local language in India. By just listening to her speak most of the time; I was able to pick up a few words of Tamil. Before I went to school the only language I could relate with, was Tamil. This was my first experience with language and I always think of this story and wonder where I am in life today with no memory of any Tamil words.

            According to the Learning Style survey and the Multiple Intelligence Test, it was found that I am a kinesthetic learner. I couldn’t disagree with the results of these surveys because I know that when I am made to study something by going through books or notes it bothers me. I get restless and bored easily. If I am told to perform an activity that helps me learn the subject I can enjoy my learning experience. I thoroughly enjoy games like charades and Pictionary because I can perform what I learn. I can use my body to enact a word or sentence while playing charades and use my drawing skills while playing Pictionary.

            The FIRE model helped me understand what kind of a learner I am. While reading the different aspects of a learner I found myself to be evaluative. I like learning where I can listen to others opinions and have a discussion on topics. I like group activities and projects because I think that the more I interact with people, the more I will learn. I dislike memorizing and lecture based classes. I love practical learning. During my time at school I would enjoy working in the Chemistry lab because I actually got to see, smell, ear and feel different reactions taking place. I could use all my senses while learning the concepts of Chemistry. When I learnt Chemistry theoretically, I was not a big fan of the subject. I disliked writing equations and memorizing them.

            I have taken the Self Directed Language Program to learn Sindhi. Sindhi is my mother tongue but unfortunately I have very little knowledge of the language. My great grandparents moved from Sindh (Pakistan) to India during the partition of India in 1947. During this movement most Sindhi’s who did shift to India went and settled down all over the country and thus there is no single state in India where Sindhi’s are located. I grew up in South India around people who spoke local languages like Kannada and Tamil thus limiting my resources to learn Sindhi. I am at a stage in my life where I have a keen interest in learning the language of my origin.

            Self-Directed learning can seem challenging but what I like about it is that I get to choose my methods and strategies for learning the language. I hope to learn Sindhi by a number of resources. I want to use visuals and audio so that I can retain what I learn instead of simply memorizing. I hope to speak basic Sindhi by practical learning rather than theoretical learning.