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This past week I have wrapped up my first learning goal which was expressing daily life in Korean. I had been doing that by keeping a daily journal (although I did skip writing in it some days when I couldn't think of anything). Since, I enjoyed the exercise I plan on continuing with it through the rest of the semester and incorporating new grammar points and I learn them. 

This week I had originally wrote that I would be working on keeping to-do lists in Korean but I decided to change that. I'm currently reworking my learning plan and I think that my next goal will be changing my resume to Korean. I'll work on that slowly over the week and then send it to either my language partner or a Korean friend to look over. I need a Korean resume for some of my job applications. However, this might take much longer than one week when considering the changes I'll need to make to the style of my resume

Other than that, I will be keeping up with my grammar lessons in my textbook and cover Unit 12 "Requesting and offering services," Unit 13 "Talking about planned activities," and Unit 14 "Talking about planned activities."

One of my biggest hurdles now is just creating a schedule for myself. I often find myself spending 2 hours on Korean one day and then going 2 days without doing more than listening to Korean music/podcast. Then I'll realize I'm off track or that what I learned in the last lesson didn't stick since I didn't have any practice time. So, I think my next step is really figuring out how to make it all stick and build the skills genuinely. When I was in Korea, my Korean class met 2 hours everyday and it would be half instruction and half practice. I'm considering scheduling myself in a similar way.

During my time in Korea, I experienced many new forms of body language.

• #1 is bowing (of course). 
• Hugging is a no-no, even if it's with a same-sex friend. They find it uncomfortable and at times invasive. Some Korean like hugging but I'd recommend waiting for them to initiate the hug.
• Hugging and any sort of PDA between couples is super-duper-okay. I've seen some pretty weird things at cafes. Korea has a strong couple culture and it's very evident no matter where you are from the subway to a restaurant to a bus stop.
• When you give someone your credit card at a shop or even giving a paper to a friend, you are supposed to do it with one hand outstretched (holding the item) and the other hand supporting the outstretched hand (either at the wrist or by your elbow). You use both hands when handing items to people older than you (bosses, teachers, etc.) and handing important materials (business card, resume, etc.). The two-hand style is also used by cashiers when giving an item to a customer (receipts included).
• When you call someone over to you, you do so with your palm facing down rather than up. That one never stuck for me so I would just do it with my hand facing sideways, towards my chest.
• Women tend to cover their mouths when they laugh. Some told me it's because of bad breath (Korean women tend to brush their teeth between every meal and carry around toothbrushes & paste in their bags).
• Man-spreading is not common on public transport. Almost everyone sits with both feet planted on the ground. I didn't see a lot of leg crossing in general.
• Personal space is much smaller, especially in areas like Seoul and Busan where every place is crowded.
• I would say eye contact was pretty normal. However, I was never in a business situation where eye contact might be different. 

Asking basic questions in Korean can be very different or similar to English depending on the question. Question words in Korean (who, what, where, how, etc.) don't tend to be in the beginning of the sentence. They are usually placed after the Subject of the sentence to show exactly what the question refers to. IMPORTANT NOTE: The word "you" is not used when asking a question in Korean. Using "you" is seen as rude because you are creating distance between you and the speaker. The word "I" is often used when speaking and writing but not "you"

• For example, when asking for the bathroom you say 화장실이 어디예요? (lit. Bathroom where is?), switching the order wouldn't make sense (where is? bathroom.)
• However, asking for time is more similar to English structure 몇 시예요? (lit. How much time is it?)
• The structure is most often Subject + Question Word + Verb
  • (저는) 한국어를 공부하고 있어요 = I am studying Korean (lit. I korean studying am)
  • 한국어를 왜 공부하고 있어요? = Why are you studying Korean? (Korean why studying are?)

It is amazing to see how many resources are available to learn a new language. I first checked out the global studies for resources on learning Korean, but I only found one book and it was the Korean dictionary. This is a really helpful resource for strengthening my vocabulary that will help me have more flowing conversations in Korean with my family and friends. I appreciate how it comes with both Korean-English and English-Korean parts. I will probably use the latter option more because I am more comfortable with English, so I will be trying to translate what certain words in English mean in Korean. A resource that I think the global studios can add are Korean books and/or magazines. I think even children’s books are good because they are not as intimidating as actual novels/articles, so it would be really helpful and less intimidating for new learners.

Other online resources are helpful too. I like Mango because each chapter helps you understand a whole conversation in Korean. I used chapter 1 to help me with learning greetings and formality in Korean. BYKI guided me to an option to have a new Korean vocab word/phrase emailed to you everyday, which I signed up for to help me increase my vocabulary. Two other online resources that I found are study tips on Pinterest and a Korean matching game.

Formality and Informality (Korean)

Formality is very important in Korean culture and language. There are usually ways to say almost everything formally and informally, starting with even greetings, which was one of our learning task. Formality is especially important when speaking to elders because formal language shows respect. For example, to say hello to your friends, you can use the informal and simple version of “ahn-young.” But, to say hello to an adult, you add “ha-sae-yo,” to get “ahn-young-ha-sae-yo.” Ending a phrase with “yo” usually turns an informal phrase into formal, although there are exceptions. If a younger person does not speak formally to an older adult, it is considered very rude. As a result, I learned the importance of formality and informality in Korean and made sure to practice this in my daily life.

As I mentioned in my learning journal #1 post, my first important goal is to have better phone and in-person conversations with my family and friends, while my significant goal is to be more comfortable with writing and typing in Korean. The following are specific tasks that I’d like to achieve to help me accomplish my goals.

-Talking about field of study courses (Science, History, Art)

-Talking about jobs and professions (Pharmacy, Lawyer, Accountant)

-Talking about health (in relation to career?)

-Talking about schedule / daily activities

-Talking about weather

-Asking/giving directions

-Strengthening my previous knowledge about the second way to say numbers (birthdays)

-Strengthening my previous knowledge about family relationships (mom’s and dad’s side)

*These tasks are subject to change/develop across the semester.

Although I was born in a Korean household, my first language was English because I was born in the United States. As a result, I am taking SDLC 110 in Korean because although I have previous experience in learning this language, I would really like to develop my skills better and learn more about the language. One of my goals this semester is to strengthen my vocabulary to allow me to have a more diverse conversation with others. I would especially like to learn how to talk about field of study courses, such as Chemistry, because I am hoping to go towards this field. Another goal is to improve my Korean writing skills. Although I know the alphabet, I struggle with correctly writing the words because of the tricky arrangement of what goes under the consonant and vowel. In order to achieve these goals, I will set smaller goals along the way, which I mention in my cultural post #1.

I believe that I am at the intermediate developing 1 stage, according to the Levels of Competence and Can-Do Statements. However, I am stronger in the speaking and reading categories, while I need more improvement in my writing. Therefore, I will be focusing on all categories, but put a main emphasis on writing, so that all of my skills can reach the intermediate developing 2 stage or beyond!

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• What are your cultural learning goals for this semester?

My cultural learning goals are:

• To understand the social norms embedded in everyday conversations -- what are the boundaries in Bahasa Indonesia that are different from those in English. And what do these differences reveal about Indonesian culture, specifically that of Bali? For example, what is culturally appropriate to say. Or, is it okay to call someone fat? In Bahasa Indonesia, it is. But, there is more than one way to say "fat." So, we must choose wisely. 
• To understand the role animals play in society. For example, how are dogs viewed and what are their roles in households. Animal/animal characteristics is one of my topics that I will explore this semester. First, and in particular, dogs represent a large part of my life. As a result, I would like to delve deeper into their place vis-a-vis other animals. Why do Balinese families -- for the most part -- understand dogs as "guard" dogs? In this light, how are these families' mindsets different from the more urban, younger individuals who view dogs as part of their families?

I plan to consider these questions through A) a children's book whose theme is animals (Although, more research must be done to unpack the nuance presented in bullet point number 2, I'm sure.) Thus I will explore animal rights associations' websites and articles to identify the roots of these observations. And B) through conversation. Admittedly, my learning patterns have historically been directed toward "doing," if you will. So, these boundaries will present themselves through countless hours of speaking in Bahasa Indonesia with my language partner, whom I can assure will steer my understanding of what is culturally appropriate to say in the correct direction. More than I would like to admit, these social norms will be illuminated in the texts that I will read.

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The readings were helpful to read especially one of the readings about the brain because they were a reminder of what I learned in my neuroscience class I had to take for my Psychology major. As mentioned in my first blog post, I lack good memory and so this was a good way of reinforcing my knowledge. Chapter 29 and 30 of the articles were a bit discouraging because it discussed the idea of semantics, word meanings and how arbitrary they are. Even the idea of collocations was discouraging because it reminded me that learning vocabulary was not the only important part of learning a new language, I also have to learn placement as well. The readings were a window into how tough this course is going to be. I will be learning Korean as a complete beginner. I have to first master the writing and reading hangul and then learn vocabulary and making sentences. Thinking about word references and how gender plays a part in it is also quite daunting. Despite that, I am still very excited to learn Korean. I have friends who are Korean and I watch a bit of Korean drama television as well so it would be very helpful for me. I am looking forward to mastering the Hangul.

When it comes to languages I am afraid I have never been good at it. When I tried learning Hindi and my friend’s language, Nagamese, which are both Indian dialects, I was never able to remember the words. I think learning new languages is hard for me because of the memorization part of it. I did not have trouble learning the Hindi alphabet or how to read it. I always had trouble memorizing the words. I was never taught how to construct sentences in both the languages but I feel that once I have those tools in hand it would be easier. I have no recollection of learning English and my native language, Khasi, from scratch. I remember taking lessons to improve my vocabulary but that is about it. My English vocabulary has improved a little bit since I came to college but not to an extent where I can construct a well written essay. I suppose this is why I have always been a bit hesitant and afraid of learning a new language since I have barely mastered my own mother tongue. By looking at the FIRE model, I know that I am a rational learner however, I think I am a bit of a factual learner as well. When it comes to task work I prefer detailed descriptions of what I am expected of while learning. When I took higher level Biology in highschool, it was easy for me because remembering facts was easy. I used methods such as story-telling and mnemonic techniques, which perplexes me because it is so much harder to do now. I prefer organization as well instead of clusters. I need to know organize the approach to which I am going to learn and I need to organize my notes as well so in this way I am also a bit of an intellectual learner. I feel that I am a bit of both the three. I need to be organized but I dislike structure as well. I cannot learn under routines or schedules because I grow tired of them. However, I think in this self-directed learning, I will experiment using routines since it is advised. Language is about memorization and for better data encoding routine is the best method.

State your learning goals for this week and how you went about accomplishing these goals

My learning goals this week are to find a book in Korean to read, listen to Korean music, and watch Korean news/tv show. I plan to find a book that I’ve read before that has been translated into Korean. Therefore, I’ll have a certain idea of what the book will be about, and I’ll be able to make assumptions based on my limited vocabulary. I plan to read the book for a month and then respond to it in a journal, describing my opinions, emotions, and reactions to it. I also plan to pick a Korean song, and listen to the tune while reading along with the Korean subtitles. I hope to be able to listen well enough that I can hear the words without the subtitles by the end of the week. I am also going to pick a song that I’ve heard before so that I am slightly familiar with it. Lastly, I plan to watch either the Korean news or a tv show. I wrote that I wanted to watch the news, but after speaking with my mom, I decided that understanding the news right now is a bit out of my abilities. Therefore, I plan to watch a tv show I’ve watched before.

Cultural topic of your choice

For my cultural topic, I decided to talk about Korean cuisine because it’s very different from other cultural cuisines. In Korea, it is normal to eat rice with many side dishes. The meal structure of rice and side dishes often does not differ, but the type of side dishes served do. Some common side dishes are kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage), various soups (for example: mee-yuck-gook which is a seaweed soup), o-ee kimchi (cucumbers in the kimchi sauce), kkakdoogee (cubed daikon radish), seasoned spinach (sheegeumchi), and more. The cuisine is largely vegetable based, but there are non-vegetable side dishes such as fish cakes, eggs, and potatoes. My favorite side dish is kkakdoogee (cubed daikon radish) because it’s crunchy and spicy.

• Do some research about the culture of your target language and write about the 'linguistic aspects', e.g., body language, how people talk about time, etc.

In Korean culture, time in monochronic. Being quick and efficient is seen as the superior way to manage time. There is a certain level of importance placed on getting things done, and interruptions are not appreciated. It is polite in Korean culture to be punctual, and housewarmers expect calls from guests saying they will be late if they are going to be late.

Koreans are collectivists, meaning that they value the group over their individual selves. For example, when referring to possessions, Koreans usually say “our” when they refer to something that is their own possession. Furthermore, eating and drinking together is common.

Koreans have an indirect high context way of communication. They will often assume, suggest, and imply in order to value the harmony of the group. In my experience, I notice that when I first meet Koreans, they will often carefully ask unfinished sentences such as “And your name is…” and “And your grade is…” and expect me to finish the sentence. In a small example like this, it is evident that Koreans like to be polite and careful to not cause any potential disruptions.

Northern Virginia is known for its large population of Koreans. Growing up in NoVa allowed for the majority of my friends to be Korean. I’ve been exposed to their culture for a while and I fell in love with their food. More recently I developing a liking for Kpop and I’ve been watching variety shows. I also go to Korean church occasionally whenever I don’t feel lazy to wake up Sunday morning. 

Currently I’m novice-low in Korean and by the end of the semester I hope to at least reach novice-high but ideally intermediate-low. I’m mainly aiming to be able to communicate casually with my Korean friends and also to be able to communicate with natives and be able to get around when I travel to Korea next winter break. I also want to improve on the speed at which I read and improving on my accent as well. 

Both of my parents immigrated from Bolivia so I grew up having them mostly speaking in Spanish to me. I learned how to understand the language fluently, however, I rarely spoke it so I had trouble speaking conversationally. I studied Spanish in high school in order to improve on this and learning came easy to me because of my exposure to the language while growing up. I quickly improved on my grammar which allowed me to construct sentences to speak conversationally. 

All of my experience in language learning has been “easy” to me so it’s definitely a new experience trying to learn Korean. Everything is completely new including the alphabet so it’s difficult forming patterns to help me memorize words. I’ll have to really devote my time to studying and practicing if I want to make significant progress in learning the language.

Reflect on the readings.  How does this knowledge help you shape your language learning process?

How the Brain Handles Language helped me to understand different views on how brain works in language learning. I learned that our brains take feedbacks that they receive information from ears, the sense of touch, and the internal sensations generated by the movement of parts of the body. It encouraged me to plan out learning through listening, speaking and reading at the same time to stimulate the feedback in my brain when I study Turkish. Learning semantics and syntax helped me to understand that there are different types of words. Therefore, I applied the knowledge to increase the efficiency of learning Turkish vocabularies by differentiating words that are describing sounds and got meanings by promise among people. In addition, because words by themselves do not actually 'make sense' and sentences exist to enable us to 'make sense' of words (How Language Works, 2005), I will try to understand and memorize Turkish words in sentences (memorize vocabularies with example sentences).

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Formality and Informality in Korean

In Korea, there is a distinct way of speaking to peers and speaking with elders/ other respected individuals. Body motions and specific actions are done so to convey respect to elders. For example, when meeting an elder, it is polite to bow and not make eye contact when speaking to him/her. Furthermore, the elder is treated with more respect that he/she is prioritized. In my personal experience, I remember not being allowed to eat food until my grandpa sat down and ate first. Essentially, nonverbal language conveys as much as verbal language in Korean.

Regarding verbal language, with peers, informal language (bahn-mal) is perfectly acceptable. However, with elders, one must use honorifics (johne-deht-mal). This usually means ending the sentence with “yo.” In addition, the word to describe oneself changes from “nah” to “juh.” There are also changes that must be made to the end of the sentence structure that vary depending on what is being said. Verbal and nonverbal language is something that one must be conscious of when studying Korean.

I went to the Global Studio last week, and there was only one Korean book there. It was the Korean Standard Dictionary. What was nice about this dictionary was that it translated from Korean to English as well as English to Korean. It is a versatile resource that I plan to use in the future. One resource I would suggest for the Global Studio would be the drama series, Boys over Flowers. It is one of South Korea’s most famous dramas in history and thus would be a way to have fun and also learn.

Resources such as BYKI, Mango Languages, and my Diigo bookmarks will be useful to me because they are all tailored to make learning as effective as possible. For example, one of the resources I chose to post on the Diigo page was a Reddit site aimed to enhance an individual’s ability to learn Korean. This will be effective for me because I enjoy scrolling through Reddit. Therefore, by finding a specific Reddit site about learning Korean, I’ll be more excited to try it out. In addition, I think Mango Languages will also be useful to me because it aims to make language learning fun. The graphics are alluring, and the company aims to teach language learners to speak the language to a certain degree after every single language course. With the information I learn from these resources, I plan to put them to use by watching dramas and variety shows.

I did not meet my language partner yet, so my learning schedule is still not yet established. However, I did practice my language tasks by speaking with my mom on the phone. Since she is my elder, I have been practicing my greetings and farewells with her with the respective Korean honorifics. In addition, I also read mini Korean stories to my friend. She is currently playing a Korean game she downloaded on her phone, but she doesn’t understand the language. Therefore, I translated what was happening such as when one of her characters from the game was introducing himself and sharing about his life. Lastly, I have downloaded an app called Eggbun on my phone where I can practice basic Korean through flashcards.