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Language Learning Journal #1

Within this past month, I have planned my learning schedule, started my learning journey, and connected with my learning partner. In building my learning plan, I tried to focus more heavily on my current level and struggles in Korean and what resources will not only improve but arouse my interest in learning. The resources I am currently using are YouTube videos (news and shows), films (mostly Netflix), Naver (new articles), and connecting with my partner, Vivian. 

I have started a Netflix show called “The Glory” which is about a young woman who is seeking revenge after getting bullied in high school. Although I just started, it seemed like bullying happens quite often in high schools in Korea. Currently, I am starting off with English captions to get used to the flow of the drama. Another activity that I did alone was reading a news article on Naver every day. 

During the first meeting with my language partner, we talked about the semester overview and which areas I needed improvement on. We planned our meetings according to the four sections, cultural, reading, writing, and speaking aspects. We have decided to meet every Monday to go over my weekly writings, watch or read the news, and have casual conversations. More specifically, my language partner will help me improve my fluency, grammar, and pronunciation. 

Once we were settled with my learning objectives and my learning schedule, we started our learning journey.

During our meetings, we practiced having casual conversations talking about how my week was, and reading news articles. An example of a casual conversation we had was about how my birthday celebration went. I described what I did during the celebration such as eating out, drinking in America for the first time, and hanging out with my friends. 

Some terms I learned that are commonly used for birthdays are 생파 and 생축 which are shortened words for the phrases, “birthday party” and “happy birthday.” Vivian and I also talked about the legal age differences in America and Korea. We felt like Korea had more trust in college students with legal activities than in America. 

Another activity that we focused on was reading the news coverage together to review the terms, pronunciation, and flow. We read a piece of news on one of our favorite actor, Song Jun Ki, and his new partner and their pregnancy. The vocabulary terms that we went over were 신뢰 (trust), 직종(occupation), 열정(passion), and 덧붙였다(add on). The first three words were definitely more advanced than the words that I would normally use. For example, the word 믿음 is a way I would normally define as “trust.” The last word, 덧붙였다, was a spelling I would have gotten wrong. When we pronunciation it, I would have used the character “ㅊ” instead of “ㅇ” and my partner taught me that “였다" would be the typical ending for formal writing. 

I was quite surprised that I was able to understand most of the news, except for the few terms I was unfamiliar with. However, I noticed that I found the pronunciation of complex words difficult. Next time I will focus on repeating the phrases and paragraphs to allow my mouth to accustom to the cutting syllables.

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Discussion Post #2

The Figuring Foreigners Out reading was an interesting look at placing cultures on a sort of spectrum with two extremes on either end. There was Individualist vs. collectivist, the different levels of nonverbal communication, Monochronic vs. polychronic, Internal vs. external, Indirect/high context vs. Direct/low context, and each of these analyzed the ways in which a culture may be able to be categorized. I personally thought it was really interesting to think about the monochronic vs. polychronic divide in cultures and how societies value and orient their time. I think that it is very difficult to think of some of these attributes as cultural tropes that sort of create these stereotypes. So many of these categories involve incredible levels of generalization. I think that that can be very dangerous and misleading when trying to understand a culture and the different identities that exist within those cultures. For example, with America I think that it would be very difficult to make an accurate generalization for many of these categories. That being said, one cultural category I think that has some validity is monochronic and polychronic, mostly because I have personal experience that I can refer to. I definitely see how Italian culture was far more polychronic, living in Italy, you can see how the systems are built with different values. Time is far less of a currency and the culture is not built on efficiency, but rather on quality of time. Alternatively, categorizing a culture as Internal v. External seems far too much of a generalization for me. Although I completely see the validity of core values of a culture influencing people’s personalities, I think that this is far more of a personal life outlook and that there would be too much differentiation to categorize a whole culture as one or another. The maps on the Hofstede Dimensions of Culture surprised me, and the data that was collected was at times difficult to read. I was surprised at some of the European country's data points, and similarly the data from African countries went against all that I had previously learned about those cultures. 

I think that with French culture there are a lot of generalizations, trope making, and stereotyping. There is a connotation of sexuality, of rudeness, of the diet especially that paint the French as very specific and nationalistic. I think that this can especially be a deterrent for learning the language. I have heard multiple different implications that French people will not respond to you if your French is not good enough, and that they don’t like foreigners. Leaning into this stigmatized behavior makes the idea of learning French a bit intimidating, but I know that hearing one thing about a culture and letting that control your thoughts and fears is not  productive. Food is a big cultural factor in French culture and the sentiment that dining should take time and that there should be no rush. I think that this one thing that kind of drew me to wanting to learn more about French people. 

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SDLC 110 cultural post #1

Food is a huge part of Korean culture and any culture in general, but I think Korea has one of the most diverse and interesting foods in the world. There is so much to Korea’s food culture that makes it so interesting. For example, Koreans film themselves eating Korean food and this is not only big in Korea but became very popular in America. These videos are called 먹방 (Mukbang). In a mukbang there is a wide variety of food and the video consists of usually just one person eating all the food. There is usually no commentary just a video of someone eating food. I don’t find these videos interesting but millions of people all over the world love watching mukbang. Nevertheless, I thought it was very cool because people were recognizing and enjoying a part of Korea’s culture which makes me happy. After all, my food is known to other people in other cultures in the world. Another branch of food culture in Korea is Korea’s food delivery system. In Korea, it is very common to have food delivered to your house/apartment instead of cooking at home. Families will often have food delivered instead of cooking a meal at home. Even though in America delivery services such as GrubHub and uber eats deliver food from all restaurants, food delivery is offered by almost every. A third major part of Korea’s food culture is 김치 (Kimchi). Kimchi is a staple of all Korean food. It is a side dish that is eaten with almost every meal and is often eaten on its own. Kimchi is simply spicy fermented cabbage. Kimchi was created roughly 4,000 years ago. It was made so that the people could have something to eat during the harsh winter. An interesting fact about Kimchi is that it did not always have its famous spicy flavor. It was made without chili flakes and only changed during the 19th century. Thank God because the spice makes it taste way better. As I mentioned earlier, Kimchi is often eaten by itself. In America the classic school lunch is a sandwich; however, in Korea, the classic lunch is Kimchi and rice (and other foods but kimchi and rice are always the main foods). My dad told me that when he was in school his go-to meal was Kimchi and rice every single day. I asked him if he ever got sick of it and he said no, but to be fair I ate a sandwich almost every day from kindergarten to my senior year of high school. I even see him eat Kimchi and rice to this day. This shows how prominent and loved Kimchi is in Korean culture. The final food culture I want to discuss is Korea’s street food. When I went to visit Korea in middle school my dad made sure that I had the full Korean food experience. Thus, he took me to a random street where there was a street full of food vendors. Similar to New York, there are street food carts all over the place, but they don’t usually sell meals only quick bites. The main foods that are served are called 떡볶이(Tteokbokki, spicy rice cake), 순대(sundae, blood sausage), 김밥 (gimbap, seaweed rice roll ),만두 (mandu, dumplings), 오뎅 (Fish cake), and many other delicious foods. I would love to describe each and every food, but I will only pick one to describe. 떡볶이 romanized as tteokbokki is a dish that primarily consists of spicy rice cakes. Rice cake is most popular for its chewiness. It is a one-of-a-kind food that I can’t compare with other food. Tteokbokki include fish cakes, egg, and sometimes ramen noodles with it. Its taste differs from person to person. Some people will make it spicy beyond anyone’s spice tolerance and others will lean more toward the sweeter side. This dish is a nice snack to have after school or late at night. 

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20201217-how-kimchi-rekindled-a-decades-long-feud#:~:text=%22Kimchi%20is%20a%20traditional%20Korean,many%20Koreans%20died%20of%20starvation.

https://www.qustodio.com/en/blog/what-is-mukbang/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQfWxm9oQpk&ab_channel=JanandAnn

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Discussion Post #2

Figuring Foreigners Out suggests that individualism and collectivism exist in different cultures. These two elements can also be manifested in persoanl identities. To be specific, individualism is prominant throughout countries using English and other European languages. In addition, it also talks about the existence of nonverbal behaviors such as body languages and facial expressions in many regions. 

Geert Hofstede's Analysis provides several dimensions in cultures. These dimensions are used to describe and compare cultural differences between societies. The most interesting one is masculinity vs. femininty. I notice that masculinity is dominated all over the world. 

I agree with most of the arguments according to my own understanding and cogent analysis in the articles. However, oversimplication of complex cultural differences that reduce cultures into sets of dimensions is problemtic. Cultures are so complex that thye need to be fully comprehended in many different ways instead of simple models. 

I realize that it is important to understand the cultural values and beliefs that shape our interactions with people from other cultures. This helps to avoid misunderstandings and to promote effective communication. Understanding the cultural differences between one's own culture and the target culture can also provide insights into the motivations and behaviors of people from that culture, leading to more effective and meaningful interactions.

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SDLC 110 Language Journal

The task I worked on this week was memorizing basic vocab words. I started off with groups of words. The groups of words I memorized were food, weather, colors, numbers, activities/ hobbies, and family. What I hoped to accomplish was to memorize the vocab words not only from Korean to English but also from English to Korean, and my language partner would then quiz me at the end of the week to see if I was able to memorize the vocab words from Korean to English and English to Korean. I created flashcards on quizlet. Quizlet reads the word to me in Korean which I think will help me with my auditory skills. I didn’t sit down for an hour and memorize the words. On my walks to class, and dining halls, to meet friends I would work on my flash cards. Also, I would try to point them out in the physical world to help me create a real-life connection. After I memorized from Korean to English I would memorize it from English to Korean. After I would memorize the word both ways I would continue to review and then try to use the words in my normal day-to-day speaking. I think my learning strategies were very effective. Spitting up my study session into multiple short sessions a day helped me retain the information much better, rather than sitting down for an hour each day and running through each vocab word. Also, memorizing the vocab words both ways allowed the Korean words to flow through my brain much more fluidly. If I only memorized them from Korean to English then I would only be developing my Korean brain and not my bilingual brain. Each week I will continue to memorize more vocab words until I reach the point where I have enough vocab memorized that I can move on to the next step which is writing sentences. I will use the words I have memorized and write sentences describing an event that happened in my day. What I liked the most about how I learned the vocab words was a number of things. The main learning strategy I liked was the small consistent efforts I made throughout the day. Having many short study sessions spread throughout my day allowed me to be more concentrated on what I was doing and not lose focus and retain the information better. I was constantly reminding myself what the vocab words were so that by the end of the day I would not forget. Rather, if I just sat down for an hour and studied the words I would have most likely forgotten them within a few hours. Also, I like how the words were applicable to my daily life so I could use the words immediately after memorizing them. Therefore, when I move on I will pick activities and resources that interest me personally. Another strategy I like is how I would randomly think about the vocab word in my brain and then if I couldn't remember it then I immediately searched it up and repeated it to myself. For example, I was walking to the dining hall and was looking at the sky and saw some clouds. I remembered that I had to memorize the vocab word for cloud but I couldn’t remember what the word was in Korean, so I searched it up and then repeated the word in Korean out loud to myself until I felt confident it stuck in my brain. Another example of this strategy was when I dedicated a day to learning colors so as I was memorizing the flashcards I would also look for the color somewhere in the real world and then say the color out loud so that I could build a visual/ physical connection between the Korean word for that certain color and the actual color. Another learning strategy I used was learning one group of vocab words at a time. I would dedicate one or two days to learning only one group of vocab words at a time. I did this so that I could focus on one set of vocab words at a time instead of flooding my brain with all of them at the same time. This allowed me to learn all the words much more effectively.

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Discussions Post #2

Through the reading, Figuring Foreigners Out, it was very interesting to see how culture can be sectioned into categories and how every culture can lean toward certain notions. The reading sections into five, including individualist/collectivist, nonverbal communication, monochronic/polychronic, internal/external, and direct and indirect communication. Although I believe that it is hard to put culture into categories as presented, it is reasonable that culture can tilt more heavily to one of the dimensions. 

While reading this, I was trying to think of which notion Korea factors more heavily under. For example, for nonverbal communication, I was thinking of how Koreans tend to be very expressionate through nonverbal behaviors such as bowing to elders to show respect. Another interesting idea that I read on the side note is how Koreans prefer to maintain a peaceful atmosphere, indicating that Korean culture tends to factor more under indirect context communication. I realized that the way the language is expressed can be very different because of these dimensions. 

Using Hofstede Insights, South Korea values the most of power distance, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation. These show the cultural mindset that Koreans hold, such as linking to the past, wanting to be the best, and expecting equality of power. 

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Discussion post #2

Figuring Foreigners Out splits cultural values into five categories. The first one is about being either alone or belonging to a group of people. If you are alone then you must take care of yourself by yourself. However, if you are in a group then you rely on others to take care of some of your needs. The second one was about communication verbally or non-verbally. In a culture how do people primarily communicate with each other? Do they say everything verbally or rely on physical cues or both? The third is about how cultures view time. Is time limited or is time unlimited? Do you have to make use of every second of the day or believe that you have tomorrow to finish a task? The fourth area that is talked about is internal vs external. Are the results in your life directly correlated with your actions or do some things happen to you randomly without reason? And the fifth and final subject that is talked about is how well people communicate with each other. How well can people in the same culture understand each other indirectly? Hofstede also puts cultural values into five categories one of the categories Hofstede mentions is masculinity. How strongly does a culture put emphasis on masculinity? I personally like Hofstede's cultural values more than Figuring Foreigners Out. Hofsteded examples such as masculinity are much more prevalent in cultures I have seen. In Korean culture, men are required by law to join the military but women are not. However, in American culture men and women are treated the same. I feel like the categories in Figuring Foreigners Out can be seen in all cultures at all sorts of ranges. For example, the value of indirect and direct communication. In America and Korea not all of the population is on the same level of understanding. The people in each country are on a wide range of direct and indirect communication. One culture doesn't act all the same.

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Learning plan

I organize my autonomous learning plan by setting specific, measurable and achievable goals for each language learning goal. I have found resources that meet my goals, such as textbooks, language learning applications and online language courses. I also set aside time to learn and practice language every week. So far, I have learned the basics of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. I am also working on improving my listening and speaking skills by practicing with native speakers. My studies will allow me to investigate the target language and culture more deeply by providing opportunities to engage with the language in real-life situations, such as watching TV shows, listening to music, and speaking with native speakers.

I was first prompted to start learning this language due to my wish for visiting the country. I have always been fascinated by the way language shapes our perceptions and understanding of the world.

I have received positive feedback from my classmates regarding my progress and dedication to language learning.

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SDLC 113 Language Journal 1

At home, I speak “Chinglish”, which is the combination of Chinese and English, specifically Cantonese. Cantonese is a dialect spoken in the Southern parts of China such as Guangdong Province and Hong Kong. This language has nine tones compared to Mandarin, which has four tones. Through this class, I took my first formal Cantonese class through iTalki, and it was eye opening. Many native speakers who learned how to speak their mother tongue at home through conversation don’t realize how much detail and grammar rules are involved in their specific language. I told Stephy, my iTalki tutor, that I would like to focus more on medical terminology。 I expected that we would dive deep into terms used in the medical field, but I actually had to start learning the basics.

In Mandarin, we used the pinyin system to get each character’s romanization. In Cantonese, there is a system called jyutping, and that includes the tones, which is a total of nine. Stephy showed me what the tones sound like on a musical note scale, but I couldn’t differentiate sounds right next to each other on the musical note. I could easily differentiate the tones that were further apart. Nevertheless, I never thought about the tones for speaking Cantonese because I hear the sounds and I mimic them. This is the reason, I think, it is much more difficult to learn Cantonese than Mandarin because of the nine tones. During our sessions for this month, I learned how to say body parts, abnormalities in day-to-day conversation and what is professionally appropriate. The other aspect I want to improve on is recognizing traditional characters. Places that speak Cantonese like Hong Kong use the traditional character system rather than the simplified version. Traditional characters are more complex with more strokes. While some characters are more obvious than others , it takes more practice to recognize the ones that are not that similar. 

I enjoyed meeting with Leyao for my language partner meetings. It was interesting to hear how she speaks Cantonese because I only speak Cantonese with my immediate family. There is not a large population in Richmond that speaks Cantonese as compared to Manhattan, New York. Therefore, speaking to someone for the first time in Cantonese in Richmond was a new experience for me. It also made me realize that my vocabulary is limited, and I don’t speak as fluently and eloquently as compared to English. Because I want to focus more on medical terminology, Leyao and I watched a Hong Kong TV Drama called “Kids’ Lives Matter”. This way I can expose myself to more medical terminology and take a glimpse of the medical system in other countries. We also discuss these differences between Hong Kong and USA medical systems. 

For the month of February, I hope to learn more medical terminology involving specific diseases such as diabetes and recognize more traditional characters. My plan is to take my previous Chinese textbook from other courses and read the traditional character version of the text. I would also like to start learning how to write Chinese characters as I do not know how to write in Chinese. For this goal, I have the character workbook, so I will use that to practice at least three times a week. 

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Language Learning Journal #1 - David Kim

Language Learning Journal #1

David Kim

30262888

david.kim123@richmond.edu

In the beginning, I planned out my learning plan within the course SDLC 105. Since I am confident in basic listening, speaking, reading, and speaking, I wanted to study advanced modern Korean literature, especially poems. So I selected two poems each for three topics and decided to write my own poems too. However, after meeting my language partners, I acknowledged that I have set my plan in a narrow-minded and limited way.

On January 28, Somyung took me and Rachel outside of the campus to refresh our minds and talk about our goals and activities that we want to accomplish throughout the semester. As I talked about my passion for modern Korean poetry, Somyung positively approved my plan and goals. She said I am almost the first person to study poetry. However, she advised that repeated topics and studies could result in mastering a particular area, but might cause negative effects. I could get bored as the semester goes on. In addition, I would only learn in a narrow and limited way. To prevent all of these outcomes, she recommended more learning and activities from other areas. That way, I could experience other aspects of Korean culture, not only surface academics.

The first way of studying Korean and experiencing the culture that Somyung recommended was through Korean music songs. Somyung and I are both participating in the Worship team at Richmond Central Presbyterian Church. I play the piano and she plays the bass for worship. There are other people who play instruments or sing in SDLC 110. Somyung bring up the idea of performing Korean songs altogether in a band form. Even though I listen, play, and make music a lot, I did not have the idea of learning the culture through their music. As a musician myself, I am looking forward to starting and working on this project type of learning.

The second way of studying Korean and experiencing the culture that Somyung recommended was through Bible in Korean. Even though I am a pastor kid, I am not used to reading Bible on my own. Like the first way, the Korean Bible was a way of learning that I never thought of. Since I interact with many people who go to Church, I think this way will help me to have better communication with them.

The last piece of advice that my language partners told me is that interacting with other learners and mentors was the most effective way of getting better at language and learning culture. If possible, we are planning to have a big meeting with all who are studying Korean. By communicating with new people in Korean, I will improve my communication skills and abilities.

\Before I met my language partners, I was not sure about my plan and which way of approaching the Korean language and culture. After I talked with Somyug and Rachel, I am getting excited to experience Korean culture more deeply with great people. I already feel more comfortable and prepared. I can not wait to study and learn the language and culture.



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Discussion Post #2 - David Kim

Discussion Post #2

David Kim

30262888

david.kim123@richmond.edu

In Figuring Foreigners Out, it talks about how individualism and collectivism are possessed throughout the culture and personal identity. It also states that nonverbal behaviors, such as body language and facial expressions, are significant in high-context cultures. The three categories that sort nonverbal behaviors in cross-cultural context was the most interesting part of the reading. I totally agree and support the details of these categories because some nonverbal behaviors can bring worse situations with confusion instead of help. One thing that I learned is the fact that no culture only uses either the direct or indirect approach, but tends to be more one way than the other.

Through the Collectivism - Individualism World map, I could see that individualism is dominated in countries that mainly use English and Europe languages. Also, masculinity was dominated almost all over the world in the Femininity - Masculinity World mapDimension maps: Long-term Orientation and Dimension maps: Indulgence represents the unity in continents, but differences all around the earth. As a person who has experienced different countries, I already knew that there were big differences between cultures but realized this again.

These resources motivated me to not only study the surface part of languages but also their inherent characteristics. Now I can think about similarities and differences between each language, country, and continent from a wider perspective.



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My Learning Plan

The way I have organized my learning plan for Korean is by sectioning the areas I want to become proficient and fluent in. I have first identified the areas I am lacking. Although I would say I am pretty proficient with my basic Korean skills, I currently struggle with reading long paragraphs, professional vocabulary and phrases, casual words (such as slang), and a lack of knowledge of Korean culture. So, I have sectioned my learning into culture, speaking, reading, and writing. I have also identified the learning tools and resources based on what I normally enjoy using in my daily life to arouse my interest in learning. For my cultural learning experience, I have decided to meet up with my partner to explore new Korean foods and watch Korean films and dramas to identify cultural differences. An example is by watching the Netflix show “The Glory” where the show portrays the lives in high schools as well as how the hierarchy affects people in Korea. For my speaking skills, I want to learn how to have business professional and casual conversations. I will pursue better casual conversations by having conversations with my partner and watching Korean entertainment shows on YouTube to learn the slang and common phrases used in daily life that are not portrayed in the books. For my professional aspect, I will watch Korean television news and events from Korean broadcasting platforms such as KBS and SBS (also provided on YouTube). Watching these news talking about the topics of the economy, politics, and the market will definitely highlight the formal structures of Korean speaking. For reading (the area I lack the most), I want to improve my speed and understanding. I will be using the platform Naver, a Korean search engine that I often used in Korea, to read Korean entertainment news, general news coverages, and novel books of my choice. I will be reading at least one of these choices every day to become familiar with and expand my vocabulary. Finally, for writing, I will be highlighting unfamiliar vocabulary from the previous activities and practicing writing sentences and paragraphs with the vocabulary terms. I will return to my partner weekly to go over the writing I have done. I will be focusing on the spacing and grammar of the writing. 

I have noticed that incorporating the apps and resources that I normally enjoy using is helping me stay motivated to learn every day. I have also noticed that I am already surrounded by a lot of resources to increase my Korean skills. 

I believe that I also have a good balance of becoming proficient and fluent by practicing both casual and professional Korean skills. 

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Learning Plan

I created a PowerPoint presentation to organize my learning plan because I think that's the best way for me to stay on track and consolidate the information I wanted to be a part of my learning plan. I will try my best to transfer that information onto a blog post. Firstly, as any language learner first learns when they set out on their journey to learn a language on their own, especially, but also in the context of an externally-designed class is that setting a goal for yourself is extremely important. My main goal that I hope to work towards throughout this semester in regard to my self-directed Afaan Oromo journey is to 1) speak with a native at a conversational level and 2) understand/listen to the language at a higher level (so improve my comprehension skills). However, merely setting a goal is not enough. It's valuable to understand for yourself why the goal you set is important to you and your life, finding your "why" essentially. My "why" is to connect with my Oromo roots, foster stronger connections to my Afaan Oromo-speaking family, learn the mother tongue of my father, and become a better asset for my future career prospects (because as an International Affairs student that hopes to do a lot of work in Ethiopia knowing both the national language and the most widely spoken language of the country will increase my value and impact). In terms of technicalities, there are 12 weeks starting now in the semester~as required I will spend 2 hours/week speaking with my native partner and 3-4 hours/week engaging in other language learning activities/tasks. Additionally, outside of the two main goals I set initially, to better orient my studying, I will set bi-weekly goals that are narrower and will allow me to orient the activities/tasks I do in that week to fulfill these smaller goals. An example of these smaller goals is learning 30 new vocabulary words or being able to speak everyday pleasantries without hesitations. Thirdly onto my task-based plan. There are four language learning fields-speaking, listening, writing, and reading. For my personal learning, I have prioritized each field based on which I want to focus and improve the most by the end of the semester (1. Listening 2. Speaking 3. Reading 4. Writing). So what this essentially means is that I am not going to be overly concerned with my Afaan Oromo writing skills and thus will dedicate less time working on that skill and more time working on listening and speaking. This then allows me to delegate/identify which activities/tasks I will be doing for each respective area/field. For Listening, I have identified 4 tasks that will allow me to investigate Afaan Oromo through an 'input' lense: children's books (YouTube 'Oromo Fairytales' Channel), Oromo music (w/ lyrics), Edpuzzle, and simple movies on YouTube. For speaking, my native language partner will be my biggest source. As well as an Oromo textbook that I have purchased which will hone my grammar skills and expose me to different phrases and vocabulary for speaking. For reading, I have found a BBC News website in Afaan Oromo. This is great because I am already invested in Ethiopian politics and such, and so this will allow me to do something I am already interested in in my target language. And lastly, for writing, I can hone these skills through text messages to my family in Afaan Oromo and answering short simple writing prompts (and increasing how much I write and the complexity of the prompt as time goes on). 

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My Learning plan

Learning plan-Caro Bisese

For my learning plan I have tried to organize my exercises so that they correspond to my strengths and I made sure my plan takes into account what has worked for me in the past, and keeps in mind what has not worked in the past. As reflected in my personality quizzes I took the first week in this class, it reaffirmed my knowledge that I am primarily an auditory learner, then a hands-on learner. I focused my future studies on listening exercises like watching children's TV shows that are geared towards education. I remember that watching similar education based grammar teaching shows helped me acquire Spanish phrases and vocabulary. The interactive aspect of these shows also help me understand sentences and phrases first hand. Other listening activities include listening to SlowNews, printing out lyrics and listening to songs to hear the grammar in action, and finding both educational and cultural (more advanced, more for exposure than comprehension). 

Then, I also have purchased a grammar workbook/textbook that goes over the systems and has exercises that follow units. This structure, especially being able to follow it at my own pace, has always been one of the ways I best gained comprehension. Also, simply rewriting the grammar structures and tenses in a repetitive pattern helps drill it into my memory. Other daily activities include reading/labeling objects in my room to help with conversational vocabulary. Also writing about my day in the diary to help with describing everyday activities. I think that these sorts of exercises help to identify conversational terms and phrases. 

Ultimately, I think that the route of my learning plan is patience with myself and learning at my own pace. I know that in the past sometimes the pace of the course and the direction that the course takes makes it so that I loose the effort to truly learn the information that I am studying.

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My Learning Plan - David Kim

My%20Learning%20Plan%20-%20David%20Kim.docx

My Learning Plan

Learner Name: David Kim

Semester: Spring 2023

Language: Korean

Course: SDLC105, SDLC110

 

Where are you now?  What can you do?  What do you know?

Use the Levels of Competence document and the LinguaFolio® checklists to assess your current abilities in your language.  For more information, see the SDLAP Wiki.

Interpersonal Communication

I can do free talking, informal communication, and formal communication.

Interpretive Listening

I can understand almost everything someone says, except difficult terms.

Interpretive Reading

I can easily read informal writings. I need plenty of time to read academic or advanced writings.

Presentational Speaking

I am confident in presentational speaking.

Presentational Writing

I need to revise for better quality of writing, more attempts and time than presentational writing in English.

What is your ultimate goal?  What is your goal for this semester?
What do you want to be able to do with this language at the end of this semester and in the future?

I want to be able to do presentational writing and formal writing similar to my writing in English. At the end of this semester and in the future, I want to be better in academic reading and writing.

What tasks will you complete and what activities will you do this semester to meet your goals?  How will you document and evaluate your progress?

Novice learners should consult the ‘Language Tasks’ page of the SDLAP Wiki and incorporate the required tasks in their learning.  Be as specific as possible when planning activities, e.g., “I will watch YouTube videos to learn how to talk about the family.” or “I will consult a grammar text to learn about possessives.”  Make sure you include some tasks that are relevant to your interests, e.g., “I will learn to understand soccer commentary.” or “I will learn to talk about the stock market.”  Culture and language are, of course, inseparable.  It is expected that all your language will be culturally appropriate and that every task will contribute to your cultural competence.

 

Task 1

I will watch YouTube videos to learn about modern Korean poetry background and history.

Type of Task

_O_ Interpersonal Communication      ___ Presentational Speaking
_O_ Interpretive Listening                   ___ Presentational Writing
_O_ Interpretive Reading

 

What do I need to learn to complete this task?  (goal)

I need to learn how modern Korean poetry was started and spread. Also, I want to learn who were the important figures that played significant roles to reach what we have now.

How will I learn? (learning activities and resources)

https://youtu.be/cCyd4w7uNhY - important terms used in modern Korean poetry

https://youtu.be/cWOEPhYjgBk - History of modern Korean poetry

How will I document what I have learned?  (artifacts)

I will write a paragraph in English of what I have learned through this video. My learning, analysis, and questions will be written.

How well can I accomplish this task?  (self-assessment)

After I am done with my writing, I will do a simple presentation to my learning partners. I can also receive feedback or possible improvements.

 

 

Task 2

I will read a poem written during Japanese Colonial era

Type of Task

_O_ Interpersonal Communication     ___ Presentational Speaking
___ Interpretive Listening                   ___ Presentational Writing
_O_ Interpretive Reading

 

What do I need to learn to complete this task?  (goal)

I need to read the poem and learn how the writer structured sentences. Also, I need to do research about the reason why he wrote this poem and how he wrote it.

How will I learn? (learning activities and resources)

윤동주 <쉽게 씌어진 시>

Yun-Dong Ju <Easily Written Poem>

How will I document what I have learned?  (artifacts)

I will write a paragraph in Korean to practice prior to my poem writings. It will include my learning, analysis, and questions.

How well can I accomplish this task?  (self-assessment)

After I am done with my writing, I will show it to my learning partners and share what I have learned. I can also receive feedback or possible improvements.

 

Task 3

I will read a poem written during Japanese Colonial era

Type of Task

_O_ Interpersonal Communication     ___ Presentational Speaking
___ Interpretive Listening                   ___ Presentational Writing
_O_ Interpretive Reading

 

What do I need to learn to complete this task?  (goal)

I need to read the poem and learn which terms the writer used. Also, I need to do research about the reason why he wrote this poem and how he wrote it.

How will I learn? (learning activities and resources)

김지하 <타는 목마름으로>

Kim Chi-ha <With the burning thirsty>

How will I document what I have learned?  (artifacts)

I will write a paragraph in Korean to practice prior to my poem writings. It will include my learning, analysis, and questions.

How well can I accomplish this task?  (self-assessment)

After I am done with my writing, I will show it to my learning partners and share what I have learned. I can also receive feedback or possible improvements.

 

Task 4

I will write a poem in Korean about freedom

Type of Task

_O_ Interpersonal Communication     ___ Presentational Speaking
___ Interpretive Listening                   _O_ Presentational Writing
___ Interpretive Reading

 

What do I need to learn to complete this task?  (goal)

I need to write a poem of 10-15 lines. I will write the poem as if it was written in Japanese Colonial Era.

How will I learn? (learning activities and resources)

I will write the poem from what I have learned from the 2 poems above (Easily Written Poem & With the burning thirsty).

How will I document what I have learned?  (artifacts)

After I write my poem, I will also write self-feedback of what I have learned, felt, well accomplished, and struggled.

How well can I accomplish this task?  (self-assessment)

By showing my poem to my learning partners, I will do a simple presentation of what I learned about this culture and history through the poems.

 

Task 5

I will read a poem about purity of nature and life.

Type of Task

_O_ Interpersonal Communication     ___ Presentational Speaking
___ Interpretive Listening                   ___ Presentational Writing
_O_ Interpretive Reading

 

What do I need to learn to complete this task?  (goal)

I need to learn how the writer expressed nature and beauty. I need to learn how he used metaphors and special phrases in writing.

 

How will I learn? (learning activities and resources)

박남수 <>

Park Nam-Su <Bird>

 

How will I document what I have learned?  (artifacts)

I will write a paragraph in Korean to practice prior to my poem writings. It will include my learning, analysis, and questions.

 

How well can I accomplish this task?  (self-assessment)

After I am done with my writing, I will show it to my learning partners and share what I have learned. I can also receive feedback or possible improvements.

 

 

Task 6

I will read a poem about an idealized and beautiful landscape

 

Type of Task

_O_ Interpersonal Communication     ___ Presentational Speaking
___ Interpretive Listening                   ___ Presentational Writing
_O_ Interpretive Reading

 

What do I need to learn to complete this task?  (goal)

I need to learn how the writer expressed nature and beauty. I need to learn how he used metaphor and special phrases in writings.

How will I learn? (learning activities and resources)

박목월 <산도화>

Park Mok-Wol <San Do Hwa>

How will I document what I have learned?  (artifacts)

I will write a paragraph in Korean to practice prior to my poem writings. It will include my learning, analysis, and questions.

How well can I accomplish this task?  (self-assessment)

After I am done with my writing, I will show it to my learning partners and share what I have learned. I can also receive feedback or possible improvements.

 

Task 7

I will write a poem about nature and natural beauty.

Type of Task

_O_ Interpersonal Communication     ___ Presentational Speaking
___ Interpretive Listening                   _O_ Presentational Writing
___ Interpretive Reading

 

What do I need to learn to complete this task?  (goal)

I need to write a poem of 10-15 lines. I will write the poem of praising and appreciating nature and landscapes.

How will I learn? (learning activities and resources)

I will write the poem from what I have learned from the 2 poems above (Bird & San Do Hwa).

How will I document what I have learned?  (artifacts)

After I write my poem, I will also write self-feedback of what I have learned, felt, well accomplished, and struggled.

How well can I accomplish this task?  (self-assessment)

By showing my poem to my learning partners, I will do a simple presentation of what I learned about this culture and nature through the poems.

 

Task 8

I will read a poem about modern people who are struggling with their self-awareness

Type of Task

_O_ Interpersonal Communication     ___ Presentational Speaking
___ Interpretive Listening                   ___ Presentational Writing
_O_ Interpretive Reading

 

What do I need to learn to complete this task?  (goal)

I need to learn how the writer elaborated Modernism and their self-awareness. I need to learn how he used different techniques to write what he wants to express.

How will I learn? (learning activities and resources)

이상 <거울>

Lee Sang <Mirror>

How will I document what I have learned?  (artifacts)

I will write a paragraph in Korean to practice prior to my poem writings. It will include my learning, analysis, and questions.

How well can I accomplish this task?  (self-assessment)

After I am done with my writing, I will show it to my learning partners and share what I have learned. I can also receive feedback or possible improvements.

 

Task 9

I will read a poem about loss of humanity due to modern civilization

Type of Task

_O_ Interpersonal Communication     ___ Presentational Speaking
___ Interpretive Listening                   ___ Presentational Writing
_O_ Interpretive Reading

 

What do I need to learn to complete this task?  (goal)

I need to learn how the writer elaborated humanism and their hope of recovery. I need to learn how he used different techniques to write what he wants to express.

 

How will I learn? (learning activities and resources)

정한모 <가을에>

Jeong Han Mo <In Autumn>

 

How will I document what I have learned?  (artifacts)

I will write a paragraph in Korean to practice prior to my poem writings. It will include my learning, analysis, and questions.

 

How well can I accomplish this task?  (self-assessment)

After I am done with my writing, I will show it to my learning partners and share what I have learned. I can also receive feedback or possible improvements.

 

 

Task 10

I will write a poem in Korean about inner struggles in modern society

 

Type of Task

_O_ Interpersonal Communication     ___ Presentational Speaking
___ Interpretive Listening                   _O_ Presentational Writing
___ Interpretive Reading

 

What do I need to learn to complete this task?  (goal)

I need to write a poem of 10-15 lines. I will write the poem of problems what modern people are going through. It will mainly focus on their inner struggles.

How will I learn? (learning activities and resources)

I will write the poem from what I have learned from the 2 poems above (Mirror & In Autumn).

How will I document what I have learned?  (artifacts)

After I write my poem, I will also write self-feedback of what I have learned, felt, well accomplished, and struggled.

How well can I accomplish this task?  (self-assessment)

By showing my poem to my learning partners, I will do a simple presentation of what I learned about this culture and society through the poems.

 

 

 

 

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2023 Monthly Language Learning Journal #1

As the semester just started, my partner and I have done less language exchange and rather more structuring of our course/plan for the semester. After my first SDLC semester with my partner, I could feel my Korean conversational skills improved, or at least I felt more comfortable and at ease using it. However, after going to Korea, I realized I was far from fluency. So for this semester, I wanted to focus on 2 things: more strenuous/technical/niche/faster/complicated conversations, and writing skills. With writing, however, I will allocate more time outside of our sessions

So for the past 2ish weeks, my partner and I have been engaging in lengthy conversations in Korean, as planned. As with most conversational activity, it is much, much easier to select a topic and converse about it. Luckily, since I had the same partner as last time, we mostly talked about how each other's semester has been and caught up. I had told her beforehand that I wanted her to speak naturally, and that she didn't have to dumb down any words, and encouraged her to use harder/complicated terminology if possible. Immediately I could tell she had been slowing down her words for my sake, and our conversations became a lot faster paced. 

As with writing, it is harder to meaningfully practice with a partner once past a certain level. So, my partner has decided to rather give out tasks/topics to write about, in which I complete for the next session. I have gotten used to typing in Korean, which often has suggestions and autocorrect, and therefore am a bit helpless when it comes to paper and pencil writing. I hope to improve a lot more in that regard.

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2023 Cultural Post #1

A trivial yet interesting difference between Korean and American universities is the cheering squad. Most of us are probably familiar with American cheerleading, which is usually formed to support sports teams and present different dances, formations, chants, etc. And while there are male cheerleaders and/or separate male cheering squads, they are quite uncommon. In Korea, however, the cheer squads in universities are composed of a lot more males than in America, and the gender connotation is a lot weaker. The outfits are completely different in their cheering squads, perhaps an interpretation of aristocratic fashion, with many frills and of various colors. Just like American cheerleading, they actively perform at sporting events and have different dances, but whereas American cheer squads focus more on gymnastics, Korean cheer squads focus much more on dancing. 

Korean cheer squads have their own special events, and in Korea many students actively attend these events. For example, Yonsei University and Korea University, two of the biggest schools in Korea, have an “합동응원전”, or a collaborated cheering match. Thousands of students attend, with students dressing in their school color, clothing, and accessories. Each school has their list of themes/anthems/songs that all the students somehow seem to know, as well as a dance that accompanies it. In the cheering match, a school would perform, and the other school would perform in response, and so forth, all whilst taunting each other. Whilst this may sound lackluster on paper, in real time it is quite overwhelming. Students wrap arms around each other in long lines, creating a giant wave. Cheering squads dance or perform flexibility abnormalities, and the whole event lasts for hours.

There has even been a recent Korean show centered around cheering squads, called “Cheer Up”. They actually filmed numerous scenes on the campus of Yonsei, and I saw many of the filming equipment/crew around, albeit no actors. But it was interesting to see how the cheering culture in Korea varied from America’s. In Korea, it really builds onto school spirit and love for the school, and after such events, students from both schools go out to drink in the nearby areas, either getting to know each other better, or start fighting.

Here is a video of a recent 합동응원전, if interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKalHGAhN4U

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My Learning Plan

My learning plan

The first step in my learning plan is learning vocab words. In order to understand a language you need the basic building block of vocabulary, and I lack a lot of vocabulary in my speech. Then, I will test my vocabulary and write a sentence or two describing my day.  After this, I will test my language skills by watching a Korean kid's video and seeing if I can understand it. Then I will read a Korean kid's story and do the same. After, if my skill is proficient enough I will also start an audio journal and transcribe what I say and see if I can recognize and correct my mistakes. This will make the learning process a lot more personal and enjoyable. Enjoyment is key to learning that is why I will not approach learning Korean like any other academic class. After, I will expose myself to more Korean media such as reading a Korean news article, listening to Korean music, translating it all, and watching a Korean show without subtitles. Finally, to see how fluent I've become I will record a short conversation between and native speaker and me and transcribe our conversation. I will see if I can recognize and correct my mistakes and also compare how the native speaker and I speak and try to see what I can do to sound more fluent.

I chose music and tv shows because those are forms of media I consume daily so including them in my daily life would be hopefully less stressful for me as I wouldn't have to add something new that I possibly might not enjoy as much into my life. Also, I picked journaling because first I already journal normally and second journaling allows a lot of self-learning to happen because I am doing all the work myself and I also use the words I would use most frequently because I am speaking. The practice is coming from myself not a textbook that might have words in it that I possibly would never use. 

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Discussion Post #2

Figuring Foreigners Out, as well as Hofstede’s findings on cultural markers of difference were quite enjoyable to learn about. Viewing major categories as a spectrum seemed to be a good approach, such as the individualist-collectivist spectrum with which I was already familiar. This seems to be a pretty well-known differentiation between western and eastern cultures, and though I think cross-cultural interactions are beginning to blur the lines, it is still a palpable difference. I feel this mainly within families, as my parents often tell me, “Isaac, you’re our retirement plan”. Not necessarily purely in a monetary sense, but in the sense that their sacrifices for me will be reciprocated once I am able to offer such sacrifices. However, in the text, the examples given were very straightforward and overly simplified. I admittedly was not the biggest fan of having a quiz-like structure to determine which end of the spectrum a culture is since it presents culture as being something that is meant to be textually examined. Of course, being able to express how one culture views, say, time (moly/polychronic), is an exceedingly difficult task without being able to experience differences first hand. Though Hofstede’s visualizations of the globe and each country’s respective score on each measure were very enjoyable, I would like to use this information as a generalization, not an unchanging fundamental to each society. As I stated earlier, this knowledge is better understood when experienced in person, but for those who have not been able to travel to their target country, then I do think overarching perspectives are as valuable to know as specifics, such as the currency.

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Learning Plan

My learning plan will follow a more, "day in the life" format. Meaning, I will plan activities to do in the morning until night in chronological order. 

In the mornings I hope to incorporate podcasts, with a specific podcast from TalktomeinKorean being helpful in the past. I hope the podcast will allow me to focus on the words themselves to a degree greater than music or watching content since visual or sonic elements can easily distract me. Following weekends, I intend to have a conversation with my parents for about an hour or so strictly in Korean. If I do not know a word, I will use circumlocutions until my parents tell me the specific word, and from there I can restate said word to add it to my repertoire. This will occur on the weekends mainly, as well as once during the week. Additionally, I work at the global studio, which houses an impressive collection of Korean textbooks and resources to aid my learning. Using Yonsei textbooks and Korean-to-English dictionaries will be a concrete resource at my disposal during my week. Apps are also a tremendous aid, and one app in particular, StoryKorean, has children's stories along with comprehension quizzes at the end to not only improve reading speed but also comprehension. 

As for the reasoning behind these methods, I strongly believe in immersion. For instance, I have changed my phone settings to Korean, to add an additional layer of immersion throughout quotidian interactions. Speaking with my parents who are native speakers is a major bonus since I have already found native speakers to converse within a comfortable environment. Resources such as the TalktomeinKorean podcast serve a similar role in hearing common conversations beyond a textbook. Auditory elements are crucial in hearing intonation and prosody, which are particular to each language, and will help me sound more native, which consequently gives me the confidence to speak in the first place. Motivations regarding my interest in learning Korean relate back to my heritage, visiting Korea never ceases to put me in a state of awe and reverence for my ancestors and culture which has shaped some of the most important people in my life. Knowing there is a barrier between me, and some of these loved ones is a motivator rather than a deterrent. 

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