Unitha  Cherry

SDLC: Final Reflection

Dr. Solloway

The biggest insight I gained about myself as a language learner is that I didn’t understand the nuances of language learning but also that I need a better understanding of language in order to retain any real information. Language means so much more to me when I can see all the possibilities that come with the new communication form. That is what motivates me to study other languages, the idea of new friends, experiences and opportunities. It’s that aspect of language that makes it exciting. The biggest difficulties for me came with figuring out how to structure my studies. Anything that was too ridged made it harder for me to connect to the material while at the same time I did not have the basis that I felt I needed to make watching Israeli shows or listening to music to be a productive activity.

 When I think about where I want to be with my Hebrew studies and how the language as a whole play into my future goals, I see myself without a doubt continuing with my instruction. I do however think that I will need to get a formal basis before I am able to further enrich my knowledge on my own. When I looked at my personal studies with Spanish and compared them to Hebrew, I realized I was having issues because in Hebrew I did not have the same foundation. I have been studying Spanish since I was in third grade or so and while that was not always as thorough or detailed as I would have wished I have known how to read, write and sound things out even if I didn’t always completely understand. When it comes to Hebrew, I have none of that foundation. Learning to read and write was extremely difficult and even now is something I still struggle with. Because I don’t have that foundation, I don’t have the liberty of following my language passions. With Spanish watching shows or listening to music is productive for me because it doesn’t just feel like white noise as it does with Hebrew. I think without a doubt I will have to draft a new plan that will, much to my disappointment, include some formal education at least to help me learn to read and write. At the very least I would like to have the skills of a 5^th grader.

My favorite exercises were the ones that looked at how language impacts the brain and all the nuances of it all. I especially loved the articles that looked at languages, especially ones that are disappearing, are vital to culture. I think that especially in my case they are beyond interconnected. While you can have Hebrew without Judaism and vice versa in my personal language and religious journey they are tied together.  I want to learn more about the actual phonetics of Hebrew. I think understand that would not only help me understand how the language forms in the mouth but would also make it easier to connect each of these sounds to their English equivalents. Something I also enjoyed were all of the chances I had to share knowledge about my language and its culture. It was a fun way to learn more outside of important but otherwise monotonous aspects of language learning. Overall I would say that the class set up the foundation I needed to be able to pursue language studies on my own in a way that will be enjoy and most effective for me so for that I must thank Dr.Solloway.

Hebrew mas much of the same basic sounds as in English but pairs the sounds differently it also has many sounds that do not appear in English and there are sounds that appear in English that do not appear in Hebrew. For example the equivalent to the letter ‘a’ (aleph) in Hebrew does make the same sound as the letter ‘a’ in English and is sometimes silent. The same is for the letters dalet, hei, and teit to give a few examples. The sounds that are the hardest to me to reproduce are the ones that don’t exist in English or at least not in the same context. The sound that comes to mind is cheit in Hebrew which makes a ‘ch’ sound. In English it’s the start of the word cherry but in Hebrew it tends to be at the end of words and I have yet to determine if it is a cultural marker or how the language functions, but it always when pronounced comes from the back of the throat almost harsh. Another sound that does not exist in English is tzadei which is meant to make a ‘tz’ sound. This sound alone does not exist in English and I thought it  strange sound to specify but then realized how often it comes up, at least in conversations surround specific topics like prayer.  Specifically for Hebrew I think one of the hardest things to learn or get past is the fact that some letters when at the front or end of a word make different sounds, sometimes having a role in the word and sometimes silent. Additionally I think this is where parroting comes in handy for me because replicating the sounds is what makes them easier to make the issue for me lies in being able to hear  the differences between sounds that are similar to give an example kahf ‘kh’ sound and qof ‘q’ sound the same to me, I physically cannot hear a difference and I think in that instance understanding the different is going to have to come as I learn more and understand differences in spelling.  

I have not yet started writing in my target language outside of being able to write my name in Hebrew along with words that are common in services. As of right now I will say that if I have to write in Hebrew I prefer to write it free hand because I still have a bit of trouble recognizing the different characters but if I am using the transliteration then I prefer to type it. It looks strange to me when I see it written. The pattern of subject verb then object that English has applies to Hebrew also. I have done readings on sentence structure and how it differs in Biblical and Modern Hebrew. I wouldn’t say that I have be able to notice any patterns because I am still relatively illiterate in HHebrew,but I did learn that Hebrew both modern and biblical have a marker that indicates what is the indirect object in a sentence that we don’t have in English. I say the relationship between simple and complex sentences is that Hebrew allows for clauses in complex sentences which is essentially a simple sentence. Because there are nuances like terms of possession, singular or plural I would say that I am not able to effectively communicate in the written outside of simple sentences that revolve around shul or what I would like to eat.

I think the farming the article does of languages that win the linguistic sweepstakes” makes the  fact that a language can disappear more understandable but sad reality. In the case of Siletz Dee-ni I found the story of how it survived to be fascinating, but also very sad. The fact that only five people speak a tribal language when more than five people belong to the tribe to me speaks to the realities of assimilation. Even in my own experiences with language I don’t speak the community language that my father does. I think this is in part because it makes it easier for adults to speak freely but also my father may not have seen a point in teaching my brother and I. We were born in America, went to catholic schools and outside of our family patois would not have been spoken. It was part of my Dad’s culture but in us not being immersed did not become the part that he brought with him to give to us when he moved. I see the same thing to some degree in the story of Siletz Dee-ni. Many people do not grow up with it being their first language and with the rise of the digital age it seemed to fade into the past which is quite sad when you consider the fact that it was once one of the most widely spoken native languages and that it was even adopted but other tribes as their own cultures began to fade. The article also made me think about the role that other countries, entities have in language production.  The reason that Siletz Dee-ni became integrated into other native dances is because the U.S government forced a collection of different tribal communities to live together when they often shared nothing culturally.  In this there is a forced reckoning the U.S. government grouped them all together so they then began to bleed into each other. They had a role in its erasure and I wish they would take a more active role in its preservation.

Reflecting on my language learning I would say that for me and the language I’m studying, language and culture are so entangled. Hebrew and Judaism are so wrapped up in each other that in learning about one I have learned about they other. I think that because Hebrew is the language of Judaism and Jewish culture, I am picking it up passively. I am not sure if I would say that the discussions about language structure have helped my understanding of my target language but they have been insightful. They have helped my understanding on language formation. I liked the discussion on competence because it speaks to how different languages form meaning and de facto rules. It also made me wonder how far someone could take the self-study program. AAVE is by some considered to be a different language and has words that English does but with different meanings. Is it worth its own study? It also made me think about what is defined as a language. Is it different meaning, understanding, or forms of  communicative competence?   A lot of my current study is very passive. I have two apps I have been using that give me lists of words for the day. As my study relates to my journey with Judaism  I have had to choose a name for my conversion and been able to use what I do know about the language structure of Hebrew and my starter vocabulary to help with that. The one thing that has changed with my plan is that I want to use a metric to track my growth. I have found a few online programs that have good reviews that I would like to use when I move to the 110 section. I have become frustrated with my language learning only because I currently don’t have to opportunity to learn my language in the way I want. I have been going to services and using the other method I outlined to start though I think I want to move away from a more free form of study to one that is regimented. In my plan especially because Judaism is to some degree tied to my study I think I am focusing on that particular aspect of competence. 

 Hebrew is a Semitic language and belongs to the Canaanite group of languages, but its language family is the branch of Northwest Semitic languages. Its predecessors appear to be other Canaanite languages along with Amharic languages. On the language database Ethnologue it is also listed as being Afro-asiatic which would be its primary language family. The Kevin Morehouse article he talked about how the different families of languages tell you which may be similar and informs you of the relationships between them.  Additionally, understanding language family can help with mastery. It may make it easier to grasp certain language concepts if you understand where the language came from. For the article about origin of the family of languages being in Anatolia I thought it was interesting that a biologist was even entering the conversation. I thought it almost arrogant that the biologists thought that they had solved a long-standing problem when experts in the study of language had been working on a solution for years. I have recently been exposed to some of the statically methods they may have used but I do think that consideration needs to be made for the evidence that contradicts the biologists claims. I found the argument that the language had to be spread through fighting before the spread of agriculture from Anatolia. The evidence of words for wheeled vehicles makes the most sense for me because how would a language develop a word for something they don’t have. I also thought it was interesting that the words that are used to track language development and spread are the same words that are used for body parts, familial relations and pronouns because they then become cognates and you can track them to a parent language.

Unitha Cherry

SDLC

In my starting research I have found that what interests me most about my target culture is the intersection of Judaism into Israeli culture. While in America for the most part there is a separation of church and state to some degree Judaism is Israeli culture. Hebrew being the language of Judaism is the language of Israel. Many travel blogs recount that to foreigners’ Israeli people can seem rude but it is due to the bluntness of the Hebrew language and in reality, many Israelis are very friendly. In the case of Hebrew and Judaism I think that because Judaism is based in the promise between G-d and the Children of Israel is it so enmeshed in society. For example, no transportation is available on Shabbat which starts Friday night and is until Saturday evening. This is because in Jewish tradition one is not supposed to drive, work or cook on Shabbat. When it comes to the intersection of Hebrew, Judaism and Israeli culture I think that I do need some language in terms of understanding the religion but I think that because of my own involvement with Judaism I have some understanding of how to talk about it. I will say however in the vain of Communicative Competence I do think that will be gaining the needed Sociolinguistic competence will come as I learn more about the culture and even still it may not come because that is something you get from being in a culture. Sensitivity to different dialects comes from being aware that there are linguistic nuances and being able to hear them and I can not yet do that. 

To begin I want to say that I have been thoroughly enjoying all the articles that appear to come from this book. I think often times because something, like language, is so ingratiated into our lives one can fail to see and understand the complexities of it. Very much like when people state that the English language is the hardest to learn as a second language because it has always been a part of my life it seems very hard to comprehend. I think the idea of learning language of the levels of its composition is important because there are a million and one minutia that people don’t even think of when it comes language that exist inside the different levels the article talks about. I agree with the position that sometimes separating out these levels creates a vacuum that actual language does not exist in. When you separate them out you forget that the different levels have a huge role in how language functions in our lives. In learning language, I think that the level approach is primarily useful for academics. I think that people who are studying a language and trying to learn one maybe be overwhelmed by trying to understand the complexities of language. It is important in understanding how two different language may orient their construction, but that knowledge also come with general langue study. In Hebrew I won’t say that I have observed any particular structures Hebrew but I will attribute that to my current study being very surface level. I do plan to in the future combine mixed forms of media into my studies along as a more holistic approach.

I will say that I was suprised with the Figuring Foreigners Out article. I expected a perspective that was much more them versus us based off the title and I got a well rounded essay in cultural relativism. The first memory that came to much was the idea of personal space. In Chile it is customary to kiss people on both cheeks when you are meeting them but in America if someone were to do that I would feel like my personal space was being invaded. It also reminded me of a poll I did when I returned to the states. I was asking if people would rather be greeted with a handshake or with a kiss, all of my abroad friends chose kiss while my friends stateside were disgusted at the suggestion. I think exposure to other cultures opens our eyes to new possibilities/ ways of living and you sometimes even find new habits that you are more comfortable with. I think this is especially important in language learning because more often then not things like idioms and little language quirks can only be understood in the context of the language. For me I think that understanding an of both Judaism, and Jewish  culture, along with understanding Israeli culture will help my understanding ad even acquisition of the Hebrew language. I was doing some outside reading of Israeli culture and I found that because of how direct the Hebrew language is people are sometimes seen as rude but that isn’t the case and additionally small talk can actually be seen as rude and a sign that one isn’t close to the person you are talking to.  I think the assessment of how the different cultures value various areas of their lives is along important as a kind of gateway into another culture.

I have decided that I will not be taking the full unit until the spring semester so that has taken some of the pressure I was feeling off and given me more time to since back and think about what I actually wanted and how I was going to go about achieving it. I plan to block out a time like I would any other class in my schedule and make that Hebrew time. While it was exhausting at time I do think I would follow the drill model and maybe set aside 30 minutes a day to review and learn new words. This will also be ideal because I plan to use resources like Drops and Duolingo.  This fits in much better because I already assume  that I will have a really busy schedule. So far I have learned prayers along with what  can only be considered the very basic/ bare bones of the Hebrew language. I have a short running list of textbooks and other resources (the textbooks are on amazon ) that I think would be helpful especially with alphabet learning but I don’t think that I will purchase them, or ask for it to be purchased until next semester.  My interest was piqued with my conversion process and since I want things to happen on the same time line it makes sense for me to push forward with the language component as my conversion process comes to an end.  Both Chester and Esmee thought that my learning plan was well fleshed out but I do plan on asking Chester for some advice since we have the same target language while also listing some definite goals that will make tracking my progress easier.

Unitha Cherry

SDLC

Reading Reflection #2

After reading How the Brain Handles Language, I was first fascinated with the idea the damage to a particular part of the brain could result in a reduced ability to understand speech, but you would still be able to speak and then vice versa for comprehension and speech in Boca’s area. I think that it is to some degree scary to know that speech, such a vital part of everyday life is controlled by such a seemingly small part of the brain. It also made me wonder what about speech would make the act harder to preform because in theory people who had damage to either Boca’s area or Wernicke’s are should still be able to read and thus would not have their reading or writing comprehension affected. I enjoyed the breakdown of what speech is and what it involves. The example of the hi, how are you made me think about how language becomes so second nature that it feels almost innate but that there are a million and one different processes going on inside the brain to connect the dots. I was amused by the analysis on tongue slips primarily because I speak very fast when excited or slur my words horribly when tired and more often than not say thigs that don’t make sense for example hold my brothers car keys and asking repeatedly if they were his “key cars” looking quite puzzled but not being able to notice what was wrong. It makes sense that sometimes because words sound the same or involve the same tongue and mouth movements your brain would make mistakes. It also poked a giant hole in the idea of Freudian slips having any psychological because it is truly a simple mistake. The article made me think about all the ways that because come up with their own ways of communicating specifically people who are selectively mute or have developmental delays. Their forms of communication are not any less valid because they are more often nonverbal, but I think looking into how the brain makes up for that and how then then process speech would be very interesting. For the How we mean article I was interested in the idea that there is a relationship between how a word sounds and what it refers to. I first find issue with the concept because Plato spoke Greek and without a doubt that may have been the case but in English not so much. It is easy to make that assumption when your language is combinations of other words or builds off of root words but not all languages are like that and in that regard, I am more of a conventionalist because I do believe that naming and words can be wholly arbitrary. I will concede that language is a delicate balance of the two and to me the most important factor is the sense of a word in language. I liked the portion about sense and reference and it made me think about all the words primarily insults that people use for each other but because they have a sense of the word they are aware it is not the reference but some new meaning as a result of how languages change.

Unitha Cherry

SDLC 105

Reflection Paper #1

In the past as a language learner I have been taught through rote memorization and basic drills. There was never any practical need for the languages I studied in my life outside of what could be memorized. I studied Latin but didn’t need to understand the language outside of the prayers that were said in school. I never got practice outside of saying hello to my teacher. It was more of the same when I moved on to study Spanish in middle and high school. The biggest change came in college fulfilling the COM 2 requirement. I found that having class was very helpful. Practice every day is what I need to ensure the information I’m learning doesn’t go in one ear and out the other. Additionally, while sometimes it was exhausting having a drill in which I can only speak my target language and I have to answer questions on the fly without the chance to think about them gave me the confidence to know I knew the material and that I was capable of speech. When I decided to study abroad the fact that very few people around me spoke English helped my language acquisition a lot. In order for my host mother to understand what I was saying I needed to be able to communicate properly so I would ask for help from native speakers and make sure that my pronunciation was where it needed to be.  Something I’ve always been really good at is parroting or repeating people. It has always helped me with pronunciation and making the words feel natural instead of so foreign. When talking the surveys, I found out that I am an auditory learner which isn’t really surprising. Hearing how a language is supposed to sound has always helped me. In high school watching movies in my target language really helped me to not only become comfortable with the language but also practice the nuances of language. I think that as I study Hebrew and to some degree biblical Hebrew scripture, commentary and outside materials will be helpful in becoming familiar with it. I also think that in the beginning I may have to revert to the rote memorization tasks at least until I am comfortable enough with the language. I think the biggest challenges and frustrations will come from not having the same alphabet and needing to get used to the new sounds. In the past I have found success with games and other ways of learning that don’t feel so ridged. Something I have liked in the past is the immersion that comes with being in a new culture and being forced to speak to people in your target language. I think that as I’m moving forward that is surely going to be something, I included in my learning plan.  My only worries come from not having people in the community that speak Hevrew at the level I need it outside of biblical Hebrew which is relevant but I have yet to decide if that’s what I want to study.