Reflect on your language learning so far and the relationship between understanding the target culture and the target language. What do you need to improve your communicative competence?
My language learning so far puts more emphasis on readings and writings. However, I think it is not enough for me as a language learner because the most essential thing about learning a language is to be able to communicate with other people and also be able to understand what other people talk about in the target language. Thus, as I wrote in several previous learning journals, I want to practice my speaking more.
I think the relationship between understanding the target culture and the target language is very tight and strong. By understanding the target culture, language learners can understand how the people react to each other, and what kind of expressions they will make while encounter certain situations. By watching Korean dramas and making local friends, I have learned and experience a lot of their cultures, and through understanding their cultures I can know how to use my target language adequately for certain situations. For examples, Korean people always put “being polite” in the first place when they meet a new friend. In Korea, they really take people’s ages seriously. Once someone is elder than another person, the younger one should always be respectful to the elder one, no matter in a family or in the working place. Thus, when the younger person talks to the elder one, he or she must use formal and respectful formats unless their relationship is very close. Also, when Korean people meet each other for the first time, a formal format is required. If someone use improper format, the one he or she is talking to will feel they are offended and think the person is acting really rude. Thus, Korean language learners should know this culture first before they begin to learn the language. Another culture aspect is that the Korean people would call each other as “brother” or “sister” even they are not really related. It is because that Korea is a country that emphasizes on the concept of “union”, so they think all the Korean people in the country are like their family. Thus, if they want to call each other they will use these kinds of words to show that the person they are chatting with is very close with them like their family. Thus, if a Korean language learner doesn’t understand their cultures before talking to the local people, there might be a big chance that the Koreans they are talking to will find this person not being polite.
To improve my communicative competence, I need to talk to the natives in Korean to improve my speaking and also practice my listening by watching Korean dramas or listening to their songs. I think by these two methods, I can improve my speaking and listening a lot and learn it correctly. Thus, I will also focus on practicing my communicative ability by the above two methods, and hope that I can have progress in this field at the end of this semester.
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