Fifth Cultural Post:  Reflect upon what you have learned about the culture(s) you have been studying. 

Reflection:

The cultures that I have been studying were the regions, dialect, cuisine, the flag, and some customs and traditions. For the language aspect, I was able to get a better understanding of different dialects of native Koreans. I was able to learn ways to differentiate them into the 6 regions in Korea. Not only being able to know the regions, I was also able to learn more about their specialty cuisine (which I plan to taste when I travel to Korea).

Because Lunar New Year had past during this semester, I was able to learn more about the traditions and customs done on that day. For example, I learned how to properly bow to the elders (to get lucky New Year's Money). It was definitely a big contrast to what I am use to. In Vietnamese culture, we don't usually bow as deep as they do in Korean culture, and we also have to give specific words/phrases/wishes to the elders to get the lucky money.

I think what surprised me the most was the meaning behind the South Korean flag. If I had not done research I would have not known the deeper meaning behind each symbol on the flag. For the most part, I understood the ying and yang symbol in the center, representing wholeness and balance. What surprise me the most were the black symbols/characters on the four corners of the circle (you can read more about it in my other blog post).

What I took away most from this project was a better understand of the culture and language. I was also able to see how the culture and language both influence each other.

Cultural Project:

My Cultural Project is about the different dialects spoken in South Korea. Like how each region has their own speciality cuisine, they also have a distinctive way to speak. My presentation will highlight the different dialects and how to listen to the differences. I will also provide examples of the different dialects in comparison to the standard Korean language. 

My Cultural Project:

South Korean Satoori - Teresa Do

Reflection

As a language learner and cultural explorer, I find myself, now, more eager to delve into the target language’s culture. I also find myself thinking about a target language’s “big C” and “little c”. As a language learner, I definitely enjoyed learning about the language itself, but also the history of the language and the language culture. I still do find it difficult to completely understand the true nature of a language, but it is still enjoyable when I don’t dwell too deep. Compared to being a language learner, I think being a cultural explorer was more fun and rewarding. Though language is a huge part of culture, I find learning more about the culture of a target language was more interesting and covered unique topics.

For SDLC 111, I focused a lot more on the culture aspect of the language. I think that was very beneficial, in that I was able to understand the history behind certain things like the flag or dialects. It was a different approach then I did last semester, working more on the learning of vocabulary and utilizing them in context. 

For next semester, I hope to be able to combine these two techniques (learning through the standard method-textbooks, and learning a through understanding culture) and become a better language learner. 

Self-Assessment

My learning plan: Korean%20Language%20Learning%20Plan.docx

Reading in my target language has definitely improved as well. I find myself reading every Korean word/phrase/sentence I encounter on a daily basis. Before this journey started, I was able to read very limited words and read them very slowly. Now, I am able to read familiar words/phrases/sentences with ease, though some words may take a little longer, I am still able to read them.

I am now able to write simple sentences, conjugate some verbs, and even some complex sentences. So, not only has my writing improved, but also my grammar.

My understand of culture has most definitely improved, especially as I had to do more research as I delved into the different cultural topics.

Though my speaking skills are still lacking, they have improved from last semester. For next semester, as well, I plan to focus more on the speaking aspect of the language learning process. 

Because I really like BTS (방탄소년단), for one of my artifact, I decided to translate their song "Spring Day" ("봄날"). This artifact took a few days to finish (I had to go back and forth from the translation dictionary). This artifact was also helpful for me to get use to typing Hangul on the keyboard. 

방탄소년단 - 봄날

Another topic I decided to study is the food specialty in each region of South Korea. 

There are 6 main regions:

1. Seoul & Gyeonggi (서울 & 경기) 
2. Gangwon (강원) 
3. Chungcheon (충청)
4. Gyeongsang (경상) 
5. Jeolla (절라)
6. Jeju (제주)

Each region has their own cuisine specialty, what they are best known for. 

경기도
With easy access the sea, and a mild climate, a variety of dishes are specialities of 경기도. These include galbi, suyuk, samgyetang, and kongkkusu.

강원도
Cuisine in 강원도 is very simple, yet delicious. Popular dishes include Chuncheon dak galbi, gamjajeon, ojingeosundae, and namul.

충청도
충청도 also has easy access to the sea and is watered by the Baengma River which makes it good for growing grains. Dishes from this region include yukhoe, pat sirutteok, byeongcheon sundae, and kalguksu.

경상도
Being close to the sea means that you can find a variety of great seafood here. Dishes that this province is known for include Masan Agujjim, Andong Jjimdak, bupyeon, and dongnae pajeon.

절라도
절라도 cuisine keeps with a lot of tradition from Korea's Joseon Dynasty. Popular dishes include Jeonju bibimbap, ddeokgalbi, dureup bugak, and samhap.

제주도
제주도 has a wide range of seafood to choose from and many other dishes as well. One of the most popular being heuk dwaeji (black pig), as well as jeonbokjuk, tilefish, and jarimulhae

I decided for my cultural post that I wanted to focus on the different dialects spoken in Korea. In my previous culture post, I talked about the different regions in Korea, like food, each region has their own distinct way of speaking.

The most commonly recognized dialect is the Gyeongsang (경상) dialect. Some people also refer to it as the Busan (부산) dialect because it is one of the bigger cities in the the Gyeongsang region.

I tried practicing some of the Busan satoori (the way people from Busan speak). The video I watched also provided the correct way to speak in the dialect (where specific intonations/accents should go).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5IyWUwK__w

First Artifact:  Record and post a conversation that reviews what you learned in SDLC 110 and adds something you have learned in weeks 1 - 3.

Self-Introduction.m4a

During weeks 1-3, we worked on adding more to the original self-introduction I made. 

We started forming simple sentences on what I like and dislike and my hobbies. 

나는 춤과 노래를 좋아합니다. (I like to dance and sing.)

나는 음악을 듣는 것을 좋아한다. (I like to listen to music.) 

내 취미는 자고 있습니다. (My hobby is sleeping.)

나는 공부하고 싶지 않습니다. (I don't like to study). 

This is an interactive map I played with to understand the geography of South Korea (regions and cites). 

First Cultural Post:  What are your cultural learning goals for this semester?

• Which one or two topics will you explore during the course of the semester?
• How do you expect to explore these topics?
• What do you hope to learn through your exploration of these topics?

My learning goals for this semester is too be able to work on my reading, writing, and speaking skills. Last semester, I focused mostly on my reading and writing skills. This semester, I hope to develop a better understanding and be able to communicate using simple phrases and simple sentence constructions.

Two topics I will explore during this semester is Korean culture (traditions and customs) and grammar (sentence constructions). For the culture topic, I plan to 1) learn the basic customs (phrases, gestures, and or actions), 2) celebrate/personally experience those actions (for example, the traditional ways of bowing to elders on New Year's). For the grammar topics, I plan to work more towards creating sentences and being able to conjugate words. 

By exploring these topics, I hope to develop sentences that will help me communicate better (not just using simple phrases, but later developing more complex sentences). I also hope to understand the culture to prepare myself if I do study abroad in Korea.

For this cultural post, I wanted to look specifically at the South Korean flag. Every country has a different flag, which has a deeper meaning behind it. To better understand the language, I thought I should start with the meaning behind the flag. 

The red and blue, creating the circle, represents the yin/yang symbol which means wholeness.

Yin and Yang are two halves that together complete wholeness. Yin and yang are also the starting point for change. When something is whole, by definition, it’s unchanging and complete. So when you split something into two halves – yin/yang, it upsets the equilibrium of wholeness. Both halves are chasing after each other as they seek a new balance with each other.

The white represents peace and purity. The black characters that make the 4 corners of the flag represent justice, fruition, wisdom, and vitality. The strokes of each character is explained in the image below.  

For the Lunar New Year, Joora taught us how to do a proper 세배 (traditional New Year's bow). It is different for men and women.

For men:
1. Place your left hand on top of your right hand.
2. Stand up straight with your hands resting in front of your stomach.
3. Raise both hands to your chest.
4. Bend both knees to kneel.
5. Place both hands on the floor as you kneel.
6. Bend your upper body and bow your head.
7. Once your head touches the back of your left hand, stand up by raising your right knee first.
8. Raise both hands up to your chest once more before returning your hands to their natural position.

For women: 
1. Place your right hand above your left hand.
2. Stand straight with your hands resting - in the correct position -in front of your lower abdomen.
3. Release your hands naturally as you bend your knees and sit.
4. Rest your hands in front of your knees, placing them at shoulder's width.
5. Then bow our head as you bend your upper body.
6. Take your hands off the floor as your raise your upper body.
7. Resume standing with your hands in front of your lower body - again in the correct right over left position.

Post Final Reflection Paper (500 words):
Reflect on your learning experiences this semester. 
(a) What insights have you gained about yourself as a language learner and cultural explorer?  What did you find difficult?  What have you enjoyed?  How will you continue your learning?
(b) Which readings and learning activities did you find most useful?  What would you like to learn more about?

As I reflect of my language learning journey for this semester, I think that I have grown tremendously. Before starting this journey, I did have prior, limited knowledge, from my previous language journey during middle school. However, I think that now that I am older and relearning the basics, I find myself understanding concepts and ideas better.

Beginning with my writing. Before starting this journey, I was able to write out the Korean alphabet and write simple things, like my name. Now that I have reached near the end of the semester, I can tell that I have grown. I am now able to write words, simple sentences, and even some complex sentences. So, not only has my writing improved, but also my grammar. During the 110, my language partner gave us several dictation quizzes, which were difficult at the beginning of the course, but is a lot easier to do now.

Reading in my target language has definitely improved as well. I find myself reading every Korean word/phrase/sentence I encounter on a daily basis. Before this journey started, I was able to read very limited words and read them very slowly. Now, I am able to read familiar words/phrases/sentences with ease, though some words may take a little longer, I am still able to read them.

As a language learner and cultural explorer, I find myself, now, more eager to delve into the target language’s culture. I also find myself thinking about a target language’s “big C” and “little c”. As a language learner, I definitely enjoyed learning about the language itself, but also the history of the language and the language culture. I still do find it difficult to completely understand the true nature of a language, but it is still enjoyable when I don’t dwell too deep. Compared to being a language learner, I think being a cultural explorer was more fun and rewarding. Though language is a huge part of culture, I find learning more about the culture of a target language was more interesting and covered unique topics.

Now that I have completed the 105 and 110 course, I plan to continue onto the 111 course, and study more about the Korean language and culture.

The readings that I found most helpful was actually the bilingual articles. Though the understanding of the brain and functions was very intellectual, I find that the articles were more relatable and easier to follow. The learning activity I found most useful was the activity when we were given a vocabulary chart of words, and break the words apart to find out what each part meant (I don’t quite remember the language we were doing). But, it was fun, and I have used that technique when tackling a word I don’t know. By breaking up the word into smaller words, I was able to define it without a dictionary.

I don’t have anything specific that I would like to learn more about, but I am open to learning about new things.

Eighth Cultural Post:  Reflect upon what you have learned from the cultural projects presented in class.

I have learned a lot from the cultural projects presented in class. It was very nice and interesting to see everyone’s individual cultural interest. I could tell that everyone put in a lot of time and research to create such great presentations.

From the cultural projects, I was able to learn more about robotics in Korean culture, which I had absolutely no idea about. David’s robotics presentation was very unique. Jessica’s presentation on the Korea education system was very thorough and well-researched, it was something I wanted to learn more about. It will showcase the rigorous Korean education system. Manya’s presentation on common phrases/sayings in Turkish were so cool and her Kahoot activity was also very fun and interactive. When she told us the meaning, I was constantly shocked by the meanings of the phrases.

I have learned so much from these presentations, like Brenda’s presentation on the isolationism in Korean social life, which I will probably watch again to prepare myself for when I study abroad

These are just a few of the presentations, but all of the presentations were above and beyond. It made me want to learn more about each cultural topic. They all covered ideas that I would have not thought to research or look at.

*Attached is my Cultural Project.Family and Kinship: Terms and Relationships.pptx

Family is a very important aspect in Korean culture. Though Korea has an independent culture, but family is a very dependent culture.

In American culture, once you are 18, you are legally an adult and can leave the family. Some American families have their children move out at 18 to help them get a sense of the real world. However, in Korean culture, kids are expected to live and stay with their family until they get married, but some still stay in the main home after marriage.

Since young, children are taught the idea of filial duty. Things like treating parents respectfully at all times, taking care of them in their old age, mourning them well at proper funerals, and performing ceremonies for them after their death. Filial duty is the way for children to repay their debt to their parents for giving birth and raising them. Aside from the actions/performance that are done as filial duty, to completely repay the debt in full, the children must have children to continue their family line.

Sixth Cultural Post:  Attitudes about Time in the Target Culture

“Korean time” is a term used to describe the tardiness or the relaxed attitude towards appointment times. In Korea, it is common for people to be a few minutes late without giving prior notice, but even being over an hour late is common.

In contrast with their fast development and very fast internet, Korean’s generally have a relaxed attitude and run on their own time.

Korea is very similar to Japan, an extremely time conscious culture. Korea emphasizes on time management and efficient lifestyles. Instead of worrying about being on time, they worry about what can be done in that time. This leads to feeling less rushed and frustrated.

Fifth Cultural Post:  Identify a topic for your culture project and your learning goals for your topic.

The topic for my culture project is family and kinship in Korea.

My learning goals for this topic is understanding relationship and terms between immediate and extended family, and to understand the roles in a family and comparison to American culture.

With family and kinship, I want to be able to know the terms to call everybody in the immediate and extended family. I started researching a bit into some extended family terms, and it is very complex, and there seems to be a different term for everybody (like there is a term for your second uncle’s wife).

I also want to research the importance of family in Korean culture and the role each individual plays.

Fourth Cultural Post: Target Language's Writing System

The Korean language writing is a phonetic system. Structurally, the letters are placed into square syllabic blocks, which are combined to form words.

The Korean alphabet consists of 14 consonants and 10 vowels.

14 consonants: ㅂㅈㄷㄱㅅㅁㄴㅇㄹㅎㅋㅌㅊㅍ

10 vowels: ㅛㅕㅑㅐㅔㅗㅓㅏㅣㅠㅜㅡ

The characters are written in vertical columns from top to bottom and right to left, or from left to right in horizontal lines.

When written the vowels cannot be written alone, so you place the consonant ㅇ(“i-eung”) in front of the vowel and is silent. For example,

ㅏ(“a”) + o (“i-eung”) = a

Couple Culture in Korea

In Korea, couples really like to “show-off” that they are couples. Wearing matching clothes, shoes, accessories, socks, backpacks, etc. is a common norm for couples.

Couple rings is a very normal thing for couples to exchange while they are dating. This is very different to American culture, where you usually exchange rings after a long and committed relationship. However, when they get married, there are some couples that don’t wear their rings, which is the opposite in American culture.

Anniversaries and important days are different in Korean culture. For dating couples, they celebrate days like 100 day anniversary, 200 anniversary, 1000 day anniversary, etc.  and it continues.

In Korean culture, couple holidays seem to fall on the 14^th of each month. For example:

February 14^th- Valentine’s Day (girl gives chocolate to a guy and if he accepts, he has to give her something for white day)

March 14^th- White Day (guys give gifts to girl^)

April 14^th – Black Day (Singles’ day)

May 14^th - Rose Day (guy gives girl a rose)

June 14^th –Kiss Day

July 14^th - Silver Day (exchange of rings)

and so on.

Second Cultural Post:  Formality and Informality in Target Language

In Korean, speaking in formality and informality is an important part of their culture. Korean has six formal speech forms and one informal speech form, showing different levels of respect in the language.

In Korea, it doesn’t matter if a person is a year older than you, they are still older than you, and you must speak in a formal and polite form of speech to them. If you are born in the same year, you are considered 친구 (friend) and can use informal and impolite form of speech (반말) with them. You are also able to speak 반말 those younger than you.

Not using formal or polite speech to someone elder is considered rude and disrespectful. So, you should also speak in a formal or polite form of speech to someone older, unless they tell you otherwise. This is common when you become closer to someone and they don’t mind you speaking on a casual level with them.

The level of formal speech depends on who you are talking to:

1. Extremely formal and polite- traditionally used when addressing a king, queen, or high official; now used only in historical dramas and the Bible
2. Formal and polite- Used commonly between strangers
3. Formal, of neutral politeness- Spoken form used nowadays only among some older people.
4. Formal, of neutral politeness- Generally used only by some older people when addressing younger people, friends, or relatives.
5. Formal, of neutral politeness or impolite- Used to close friends, relatives of similar age, or younger people
6. Informal and polite-Used mainly between strangers, especially those older or of equal age.
7. Informal, of neutral politeness or impolite- Used most often between close friends and relatives, and when addressing younger people.

First Cultural Post:  What is your interest in 'your' language and what do you hope to accomplish this semester?

My interest in Korean is the language, culture, pop culture, social life, history, just about everything about Korea is interesting to me.

My interest in Korea started around when I was in 5^th grade. I started listening the Korean pop (K-Pop) music then and started to grow an interest in Korean music and entertainment. During my middle school days I started dancing to the K-Pop and started watching Korean dramas. When I was in 7^th-8^th grade, I started my Korean learning journey. My science teacher assistant, a Korean exchange teacher, at that time, was a good resource and helped me on the side. I’m going to be honest, learning a language by yourself, with no guidance, just textbooks borrowed from the library, is very difficult.

When I got into high school, I had to focus more on the language course I was taking at school, French, so I had to push my Korean language journey to the side.

 This semester I hope to improve my Korean and start again from the basics. This time, I hope to build a stronger foundation (with the basics), then build upon. This semester, I hope to be able to not only read and write in Korean, but also work more on the speaking aspect.

Complete Reflection Paper #2 (500 words) 
Reflect on your language learning so far and the relationship between understanding the target culture and the target language.  What do you need to improve your communicative competence?

So far, I have been jumping around on my learning plan, because in the 110 course, we some of the topics overlap with other dates (weeks) on my plan, so I have had to adjust some things around. However, I do think that I doing great progress and am relatively pacing myself with the learning plan. The learning plan is very effective and makes sure I am staying on track, which is usually difficult because this is a self-directed course.

All the activities I have arranged in the learning plan have been extremely helpful. The Mango languages lesson help me learn new vocabulary, and review the older ones. The videos were fun and supplemented my lessons for the week. They were also good for a study break. This is my second attempt at a self-directed language, and I feel that I am taking on a lot more than I can handle, so the videos are a fun and good de-stressor.

I think some of the topics on my plan will have to be pushed back to next semester. As I make progress in the language, the vocabulary gets more difficult as well as the grammar. There is also a lot to cover in a topic, and I don’t think that a week is enough to cover all of it. As of right now, I won’t change it, because I think I can manage it, but if it gets too difficult in the coming up weeks, I might have to modify my plan.

So far, the relationship between understanding the target culture and the target language has been quite easy. I haven’t encountered too many problems. My learning plan has, thus far, been on track with the cultural learning part, so when I am studying or learning a lesson, I find topics that overlap with the cultural aspect. But there are some culture topics that I would like to explore, but don’t correlate with my learning plan. I will most likely just research and study it on my own. I am finding myself getting more interested in the cultural aspect of my target language, rather than the actual language itself.

Communicative competence is the ability to understand and use language effectively to communicate in authentic social and school environments. To improve my communicative competence, I will need to learn more vocabulary. I currently vocabulary bank is very small, so, to be able to communicate more effectively I will need to increase my vocabulary.

Understanding more about Korean culture will also improve my communicative competence. Learning more culture will help me have more awareness in nonverbal behaviors, social rules, and cultural references.

To also better improve my communicative competence, I will need to work individually in sections of: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. After working and improving on the process of each section separately, then I can say that my communicative competence has improved.