Do some preliminary research on what most interests you about the target culture, and describe how this topic relates to language. Do you need any special vocabulary or linguistic knowledge to engage this topic? If so, have you included objectives in your learning plan to engage this topic?
Ever since my interest sparked in the Korean language, their culture found it's way to me, intriguing me to learn more. Korean customs are very different from the ways of America which makes everything I learn that much more foreign and interesting. One of the main aspects of Korean culture is the level of respect for elders. There are many actions that younger generations do or don't do around their elders in order to show utmost respect; the violations of these norms lead to harsh social consequences. The biggest example is the use of tenses in the Korean language. There is a tense for speaking to people of lower authority or age, same age but have never met before, someone of higher authority or older, and extremely formal business situations or how one would address the president.
Asking someone's age soon after you meet them for the first time is very common in Korea so they know which tense to use. If anyone younger speaks informally to an elder, it is shameful and they will be scolded, given strange looks, and told to correct themselves immediately. Tenses can also create distance in relationships. For example, if people who have met a month ago are becoming close friends, they will switch to an informal tense to show the development of their relationship. Usually this will come about in conversation. People will also sometimes comment like "Oh, I see we're still using the formal tense with each other" and may ask to change it. For my purposes of learning at the moment, if I stick with the formal tense, I will be set whenever I go visit Korea. This is because almost everyone I talk to will be people I'm meeting for the first time or older than me. When in doubt, it's always best to go with formal as to not offend anyone.
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