My%20Learning%20Plan%20.docx

I have structured my learning plan to a more achievable and more realistic form that will help me and challenge myself in the process of learning a new Language. I have decided to first start speaking the language, and in order to do that I will first improve my listening. Through watching more Korean television series and dramas, I hope to pick up their speech pattern and also learn some one the most simple phrases and most commonly used words. I will then practice pronunciation and learn the basic grammatical structure with my language partner to harden my skills. I will also be writing down all the things I have learn and constantly review them to enhance my writing. 

I have had my first Korean lesson with my language partner Brenda this week. In the first lesson Ive learnt how to introduce myself: my name, age, birthday, major, family member, etc. We have discussed what our basic learning schedule will be in order to achieve our goals. We have agreed on the use of some additional resources such as textbooks and videos that we will watch that will help us learn the fastest, and we will also be having some cultural based lessons, such as exploring the Korean food and music culture, maybe through visiting a Korean Market in Richmond or by listening to Korean Pop Music. 

The first reading discussed the composition of the brain, and the biology of language learning. The article analyzed the characteristics of specific parts of the brain, and how each individual parts contribute in  forming our language learning abilities. Though human’s biological nature do shape our ability to comprehend speech, our ability to acquire more knowledge and learn more languages are defined by neurology. In the section “Localization,” the work of neurologists Paul Pierre Broca and Carl Wernicke only suggested that “damage to specific areas of the cortex correlated with the loss of certain kind of linguistic ability in their patients.” (Crystal, 174) Physical defects could affect one’s ability, but there is no evidence suggesting that some people are physically more capable in language learning than others. Like the TED talk we heard from Benny Lewis, language is not a purely biological phenomenon, and anyone can learn more languages with the right method.

While reading the second assigned article “How we mean,” the section on the necessity of studying both the “sense” and the “reference” of different languages, in order to understand their distinctions, reminded me of one discussion session during my HIST299 ST: Human Rights Course. During our seminar, we were studying the meaning of “Human Rights” and how it had evolved during time, and I noticed that in Mandarin Chinese, Human Rights is 人权, which is also a word of word translation of the phrase. What was interesting is that 权also means power and authority in Mandarin. The difference in the sense and reference of this phrase could imply larger cultural and social differences between the Chinese and Western Civilization, and this further indicates the significance of analyzing the distinctions between “sense” and “reference”.

English is a mandatory course in Chinese School since elementary school and even now in Kindergarten. I remember taking three extra-curriculum English courses on my weekends to become top achievers in class and to gain extra credits in my application for Middle School. The Chinese school textbooks placed the majority of their emphasis on grammar. I hated memorizing tenses and different grammatical structures through text-completion exams. Throughout my journey in learning English, I disliked learning new vocabularies through mechanically memorizing the meaning of the words. I would rather learn new words by using them in conversations and utilizing them in real-world situations. For a period of time, I found myself only able to read and understand the language, but unable to converse with others. When I transferred to a British School during Fifth Grade, I felt 'muted.' It wasn't until forcing myself to only speak English with my classmates and teachers, that I gradually became more fluent. My interest in Japanese and Korean culture pushed me to began learning these two languages, and I have already learned the Korean and Japanese alphabets on my own through video courses. However, realizing the importance of physically using the language and talking to native speakers, I decided to apply for this Self-Directed Learning Language Course.

One of the surveys I have taken states that I lean more towards a visual learner, and I believe that through visualizing the application of the new language will help me understand and remember. Another thing that I have noticed is that I am good at copying pronunciations of different languages, even of languages that I don't speak, including Spanish, French, Korean and Japanese. I hope this characteristic would encourage me to become more vocal when learning Korean and other languages. Moreover, I believe that through immersing yourself in a foreign language can help you dramatically in improving in both listening and speaking. Since the steps of becoming fluent in a language go from Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing, we must force ourselves into the environment. When I first began learning English, my teacher told me to watch American TV series in order to get used to the "sense of the language:" the flow, pronunciation, and even grammatical structure. During this semester, I need to spend a lot of time learning new vocabularies and the grammatical structure of the Korean language, but I will also watch Korean TV series and films, in order to improve my listening skills. On the other hand, through watching these shows, I will also gain a better understanding of Korean society and their cultural values. Furthermore, as History Major, I hope to study more about Korean History during the 19th - 20th Century and their relationships with China and Japan.