- Reflect on how knowing a language's history can help you learn the language
I think the history of a language allows you to look into the past and see how the language developed and evolved over time. It can also help you see how it connects to other languages. For example, I know early in Korean history Chinese characters were used, meaning there was probably Chinese influence in the culture and society. It still relates to the present because some words may be similar to Chinese words such as the Chinese numbering system, numbers 3, 8, and 10 are very similar in sounds. Because I knew the Chinese numbering system before learning Korean so it was very easy for me to learn the Chinese version numbering in Korean and numbers 3, 8, and 10 were particularly easy for me to learn. Thus, being able to establish links to other languages helps make it easier to remember certain words and maybe even grammar patterns. I definitely understood the French grammar system easily because I had 6 years of Spanish before. Otherwise I would have been forever trying to understand the subjunctive and be able to use it. Being a native English speaker also made it easier to guess certain words when I tried to speak Spanish or French. For example if I wanted to say person, I could guess according to the style of the language, just adding an a making it persona or saying person with a french accent. I think learning about recent history of the language can also help with learning idioms and slang phrases. For example, the past Japanese invasion in Korea could have lead to cultural and language influences. But looking more recently Japan may continue to have connections to Korean culture and language particularly with Japanese kawaii culture and Korean aegyo and the way they change word endings to make it sound more cute.
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