Discussion Post #8

Unfortunately, languages have gone extinct, and there are fears that half of the world’s seven thousand languages could go extinct in the next one hundred years. Elders almost exclusively speak many indigenous and at-risk languages. In these cases, languages are at risk of dying when the elders pass away. When new generations stop learning a language, that language is more likely to go extinct. People may stop learning indigenous languages due to factors such as a more popular language dominating their area, and/or colonialism. For example, colonial forces tried to wipe out Gaelic and many Native American languages forcibly. Many languages at risk of extinction have not been written down, and we “do not know what we’re losing” when they are lost. Generational knowledge is erased when languages die. The idea of a language dying saddens me, and I sincerely hope that revitalization efforts work and are met with open arms. Although my target language is Indonesian, Gaelic and its history…

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Discussion Post for Tuesday, March 31

As a beginning language learner, I would be curious to compare learning styles and strategies across English and Mandarin. I would try to study language learning for children growing up speaking only English and only Mandarin, and then compare language learners who were native speakers of one language and beginning to study the other. To simplify this process, I would focus on school programs and compare children and college students to understand prevalent educational strategies, although a similar study on self-teaching in the future could also be beneficial. This would also allow me to control for age (I would set different age ranges to group the data I collected and compare experiences across time). One aspect I would be curious about would be which elements of language learners seem to grasp more instinctively or easily (for example, in English, the order of types of adjectives is something people generally assume but cannot necessarily explain), and I would want to contrast…

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Language Learning Journal 3

My language learning has continued along a mostly similar path to the strategies described in my last post. However, I do feel that I have learned more about making small but impactful adjustments that can improve my development and introduce me to more ideas. We have now created a system for reading practice, where I provide myself the Pinyin text above or next to the characters in the text (although this does generally draw my eye to the Pinyin first, it helps me relate the characters more easily), and I translate the words I read into English line-by-line. It has been difficult to find worksheets, but I am continuing to seek out practice opportunities, and I have found several sites created by colleges for beginning users that give me a good benchmark for the topics I should work on. I have also realized just how difficult pronunciation can be. I am generally able to make myself understood, but often, I mistake the sounds of the characters other speakers are using and easily…

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Discussion Post #6

Bahasa Indonesia is a beautiful language with a fascinating history. Indonesian originated in the 7th century, and was originally written in ancient Malay, which comes from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Javanese and Sanskrit influenced Malay, which was spoken by many Indonesians, but Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese, and English colonial influences set Indonesian apart as its own language. Indonesian is part of the Austronesian language family, which spans across Southeast Asia and to the Pacific Islands. Other examples of Austronesian languages include Tagalog and Hawaiian. Bahasa Indonesia has also been impacted by Arab and Persian influences on the island. Bahasa Indonesian was officially recognized as its own language in 1928, but kept a Dutch spelling system until the country gained independence in 1945. A common greeting in Indonesia is “Salam”, which comes from the Arabic “Assalamualaikum”. The verb “ada” (to be/is) comes directly from Javanese, as does “Candi” (temple). The…

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