When I first decided to enroll in the self-directed language course, I had very little knowledge of not only the Turkish language, but also Turkish culture. I honestly could not locate the country on a map or simply greet someone with a friendly hello in the language. Therefore, I was a bit nervous to start completely from scratch in an area so new to me. However, with my experience of previously learning to speak Spanish I figured that I had already developed many of the skills that would be necessary in trying to learn another new language. At the start of the semester, I knew nothing. But, as we approach the last week of classes I have completed close to all of the tasks that I originally set forth for myself. Currently, I am able to greet others, introduce myself (name, where I am from, age), count, briefly talk about family, ask questions such as “who/what is this/that?”, describe the weather, and indicate the names of the week/month/season all in Turkish. In addition, I have gained an understanding of the Turkish culture in regards to the Turks most important values and ways of life.
Although I am proud of the progress I have made thus far, the road to getting where I am today has not been an easy one. Teaching myself a language has challenged me in ways that I could not have imagined. Self-directed language learning requires a lot of self-discipline and motivation. Therefore, I found it much easier to attend class and review new vocabulary and grammar rules with my language partner than I did watching Youtube videos and trying to teach myself on my own. However, the more I practiced independently, the easier it became. I think that the most difficult challenge for me was pronunciation. While memorizing words and rules about sentence structure required a lot of mental effort, pronouncing words correctly required more of a physical effort. It was very frustrating at times because I would know what a word is supposed to sound like but I struggled with shaping my mouth and moving my tongue in just the right way to produce the proper sound. With lots of practice and continuously watching Youtube videos, I learned to improve my pronunciation and Turkish accent.
One thing that I really enjoyed this semester was having the SDLC 105 course in addition to the SDLC 110. The SDLC 105 course really allowed me to not only demonstrate the progress I was making in speaking the Turkish language, but also gave me the opportunity to delve more into the culture of Turkey. Additionally, the course exposed me to other cultures that my classmates were studying like Korea, the Czech Republic, Brazil, and Spain. The juxtaposition of each of these cultures really emphasized their uniqueness and changed my perspective on the way in which we should view others who may be different from us. Taking both of these courses has opened my eyes to the importance of learning about other cultures. It brings us together and provides us with an understanding of where others come from. By continually spreading awareness of different backgrounds we can truly make the world a better place.
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