SDLC 110: Reflection 1

[Casey Murano]

During the first two weeks of learning Bahasa Indonesian, I have been working on a variety of tasks. So far, I have practiced answering yes or no questions, introducing myself and my friends, and discussing my daily routines. I have also learned vocabulary and cultural insights about public transportation, public places, and food places in Indonesia. During these next two weeks, I hope to be able to introduce myself and have an introductory conversation without looking at my notes and be able to count to twenty.
My language learning has mostly been based on the daily, one-hour zoom meetings with our Indonesian teaching assistant, Farida. As a professional language instructor, she has created a syllabus for me and a fellow student learning Indonesian and has guided us through the basics of Indonesian language and culture. We have grammar-focused classes on Monday and Tuesday, and culture-focused classes on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, we have a less formal language table as well as the opportunity for one-on-one tutoring. As discussed in SDLC 105 this week, speaking practice is key to language development. By meeting with Farida 5-6 times a week, I have the opportunity to use the language with a native speaker. We spend a significant portion of each class working through speaking activities, and I feel like I have made progress, though I need to be actively taking notes so that I can retain the new vocabulary.
This format has held me accountable for making language learning a daily practice, provided ample opportunities for speaking practice and insights on Indonesian culture. During class, I take notes. At the end of the week, I then reorganize these words into a folder reserved exclusively for my Indonesian vocabulary. Another strategy I have to remember vocabulary is to write new words on color-coded sticky notes, which I then hang in my bedroom to practice informally. This week, Farida has also prompted us to start a daily practice of memorizing 5-10 new vocabulary words each day. This daily practice of memorizing new vocabulary words is a manageable habit that will culminate in significant progress and help me achieve long-term goals. By the end of the month, I will have between 150 and 300 new words! Since I am a visual learner, writing these words in sentences and making little doodles beside them has helped me to retain vocabulary. When learning new words, I usually try to limit myself to one part of speech. For example, today I memorized 10 new verbs. I will build on the grammatical structures and vocabulary by also learning about Indonesia’s culture. Today, we studied food places and applied the grammatical skills to actual conversations we would have if ordering food in Indonesia. Learning about the culture is helps to reveal nuances about the language and read between the lines. During these next two weeks, I will evaluate the effectiveness of my notetaking and organization strategies and reframe if necessary. If I find that I am having trouble remembering my new vocabulary words, for example, I may try a new approach, such as saying them aloud 10 times or coming up with a mnemonic device. I will consider how to make the most of my time in class with Farida. For example, I might spend five minutes before class reviewing notes from last week, or maybe it would make more sense to transfer new vocabulary to my nice folder every day instead of once a week.