Korean language does not exclusively belong in one language family since Korea was historically influenced by many of the surrounding countries. Because Korea was exposed to other countries’ languages, it is considered to be a part of the altaic language family, austronesian family, and the Japonic family. Korea was especially exposed to China and Japan, so it has been the most influenced by those two languages. China, for example, influenced the ancient Korean language, since the Korean language at that time period was mainly comprised of hanzas, and it carried onto even the present times, and it has had influence on definitions and sounds of Korean words. Japan had influence on the Korean language with the grammar. Based on my personal experience of being a native-Korean speaker and learning Japanese, i learned that the two languages have a very similar grammar structure. Because I know that Japanese and Korean are in the same family language, I was able to find the similarities between the two languages, making it easier for me to learn Japanese. And while I was learning Japanese, it refreshed my memory of some Korean words I forgot about, so both languages were helpful to learn and refresh another. I believe the languages change over time mainly due to convenience. Slangs, which are languages used by the younger generation, are words that are usually shortened for another word, and are used for the purpose of convenience. Also, I believe that the influence of other languages also affects how the language changes over time. For example, modern Korean slangs include a lot of the english alphabets and words, and they have definitely changed compared to the Korean language beforehand.
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There are differing views on what language family Korean belong to, most scholars even stated that it is a language isolate because of the origins and historical contact with China and Japan. The Korean language, according to Southern theories, are classified into the Austronesian language family, whereas Northern theories believe that it belongs to the Altaic language of central Asia. Others would argue, because of the extensive interactions with Japan and similarities within the two languages, this suggests that Korean might belong in the Japonic family. As a result, many sources classified Korean as a language isolate. I know that in Hanja, a more ancient form of Korean language, has characters that have their origins in China, so the words are similar or the same as the Chinese language. These make me more comfortable in learning that language, knowing that Korean has possible roots in Chinese suggests that my Chinese background could come in handy, especially with more sounds in my arsenal beyond English. The Korean language has changed in terms of writing a lot, Hanja is no longer being used and Hangul took its place as the more prominent form of writing. It was invented in 1444 during the reign King Sejeong, the adoption was to better categorized the sounds and make the language a lot easier to study, because there is a link between the spoken word and the written word.
The Turkish language belongs to the Altay branch of the Ural-Altaic linguistic family, which is the same language family Finnish and Hungarian belong to. This was actually quite surprising to me as I did not expect these European languages to be sister languages or very closely related to Turkish, at least not that of Finnish. Hungarian makes a bit more sense to me as it is a bit closer to Turkey, but Finland is so far away! Despite this, the actual language family of Turkish consists of the Turkic languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani (or Azeri), Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tatar, Turkmen, Uighur, Uzbek, and many other languages from Central Asia, the Balkans, northwestern China, and Siberia. Turkish itself refers to the language spoken in Turkey, however.
The existence of a great many Arabic and Persian loan words is a huge indicator of all the times Turkey has been in contact with Arab and Persian countries throughout its history. It seems that in almost each new Turkish vocabulary set I make or discover, there is a large number of Arab and Persian loan words that I recognize almost immediately. The Ottoman, Arab, and Persian empires have had many, many points of contact for hundreds of years, whether it be through the Silk Road, each empire conquering the other, the spread of Islam, or many, many other countless events of contact. Even before the Ottoman, Arab, or Persian empires being of existence, these people in that part of the world were in constant contact with one another and always in exchange of culture and language.
There is also the presence of many English and French loan words in Turkish, as there is in many languages across the world. This is an indicator of both previous colonialism and European influence in Turkey, as well as, in a more recent context, popular words being adopted into Turkish from popular Western cultural items that are known internationally.
All of this is a clear indicator of how language changes and adapts with culture. Language is a communicator of culture; just as culture is ever-changing from outside and inside influences, language is as well. Learning about the other influences that have impacted Turkish, such as Western languages and Arabic and Persian, can serve as a great supplement to my learning of the Turkish language. Additionally, learning Turkish can help me with all these languages as well! I am, though unintentionally, learning vocabulary for them as well as Turkish.
My goals/objectives for these past two weeks:
- Complete chapter 5 “Persoalan Kota” chapter 6 "Pernikahan," and chapter 7 "Sepuluh Tahun Kemudian" in Let's Speak Indonesian Level 2.
- Meet with my language partner to work on my reading, writing, and speaking skills;
Reflection:
I spent about 2 hours each week completing two chapters.
I learned/reviewed the following:
- How to express pity, how to offer two comments, how to include additional information in order to persuade, how to express an intention, how to inquire about and explain payment options, how to express gratitude and relief upon hearing good news, how to say something is great, exciting or fun, and how to politely criticize.
These chapters included a variety of activities: Oral tasks, written tables and charts, and writing exercises. In addition to these activities, I took grammar notes and listed new vocabulary words.
In addition, I met with my language learning partner for 4 hours -- 2 hours/week. Our time was spent on engaging in oral conversational activities like role play and dialogue chats, as well as going over new grammar points and vocabulary.
My goals/objectives for these past two weeks:
- Complete chapter 1 “Antar Tetangga,” chapter 2 "Berbelanja untuk Hari Raya," chapter 3 "Di Desa," and chapter 4 "Kerja Sama Orang Desa" in Let's Speak Indonesian.
- Meet with my language partner to work on my reading, writing, and speaking skills;
Reflection:
I spent about 2 hours each week completing two chapters.
I learned/reviewed the following:
- How to use small talk to start a conversation, how to express surprise about a situation, how to offer help, how to welcome a newcomer, how to report information to others, how to ask someone to wait, how to offer good wishes for a religious holiday, how to request a favor, how to politely complain, how to make a comparison, how to express hope, and more.
These chapters included a variety of activities: Oral tasks, written tables and charts, and writing exercises. In addition to these activities, I took grammar notes and listed new vocabulary words.
In addition, I met with my language learning partner for 4 hours -- 2 hours/week. Our time was spent on engaging in oral conversational activities like role play and dialogue chats, as well as going over new grammar points and vocabulary.
This post elaborates on Balinese culture from the perspective of Balinese gamelan. Trance is a common phenomenon in Balinese culture and is a part of the Balinese Hindu-Buddhist religion. It is believed that trance indicates possession by a spirit -- either a good or evil one -- and the possessed person speaks with the spirit's voice, which gives instructions for offerings or ceremonies or helping to heal. In the context of gamelan, entranced dancers are elemental of temple festivals and dalangs (leader of the trope) may become entranced too during the course of the music. This fact highlights the shamanistic beliefs embedded in the Balinese culture, which are manifested through gamelan. And through gamelan, communication with the spirits is enabled.
In contrast to the refined, elite-led gamelan in Java where the music is played and celebrated in the Royal Courts, Balinese gamelan is not centralized the artistic knowledge in one elite class. Rather, the Balinese gamelan is enjoyed horizontally; that is, the music is spread out throughout the island and celebrated communally -- in contrast to Javanese gamelan celebrated more vertically. I saw this firsthand when I was in Bali last two summers ago. Whereas gamelan would be enjoyed in the midst of an intellectual caste at a High Court, the Balinese gathered around at a performance center in its capital to listen to and enjoy different tropes from around Bali. The three-day event was informal and welcoming.
Source:
"Relationships of Musical and Cultural Contrasts in Java and Bali." Fredric Lieberman.
In lieu of my original artifact plan to record a conversation between Thalia, Zack, Boe, and myself, I decided to use content from my homework. Ibu Juli told me to write about my time in DC before the Fall Break, where I went to a concert to see my favorite band play at The Anthem. Here it is:
Paragraf ini adalah tentang kunjungan saya ke DC. Dua minggu yang lalu, pacar saya dan saya pergi ke DC sebelumlibur.Kami pergi ke DC pada jam 3:00 sore. Saya ingin pergi lebih awal tetapi pacar saya tidak bisakarena dia tidak ingin melewatkan kelasnya. Sore itu jalannya tidak macet. Jadi, kami tiba jam 5:00 sore. Konser dimulai pukul 8 malam. Selama tiga jam bebas, kami berjalan berkeliling, membeli hadiah kecil, dan makan di restoran Meksiko. Meskipun restoransangatmahal, makanannya enak sekali. Meskipun cuaca buruk, kami berjalan di dermaga. Kami duduk di dekat sungai dan mengambil foto. Akhirnya, konser dimulai jam 8 malam. Tidak banyak orang di sana. Kami berdiri sepanjang waktu. Jadi kami berdiri dekat panggungnya. (Beberapa hari kemudian, ketika saya sedang membaca halaman reddit artisnya, saya melihat video yang saya masuki.) Musiknya sangat bagus, sedih, dan emosional. Kami semua bernyanyibersama. Konser itu berlangsungselama tiga jam. Kami berangkat DC pada pukul 11.00 dan tiba di UR pada pukul 1:00. Diperjalanan pulang, hujan turun. Juga dalam perjalanan pulang, saya menyanyikan lagu-lagunya.
The words in bold: Ber- is used to construct a verb that means “doing something, being something, have something, or having a certain attribute." I often confuse this verb construct with another verb construct -- the me- prefix, which precedes a verb depending on the verbs the first letter. The me- construct does the same thing as the ber-, as far as I can tell. I will have to explore this topic further.
My goals/objectives for these past two weeks:
- Finish the Let's Speak Indonesian Level 1 book
- Spend two hours each week reviewing my notes
- Meet with my language partner to work on my reading, writing, and speaking skills;
Reflection:
This process was relatively straightforward for, in theory, I knew everything. However, this book is different from the first Indonesian level 1 book I read and offered different material.
I spent about 3 hours each week reviewing the book.
The book's chapter included a variety of activities: Oral tasks, written tables and charts, and writing exercises. In addition to these activities, I took grammar notes and listed new vocabulary words.
I spent two hours each week reviewing my notes.
In addition, I met with my language learning partner for 4 hours -- 2 hours/week. Our time was spent on engaging in oral conversational activities like role play and dialogue chats, as well as going over new grammar points and vocabulary.
What are your cultural learning goals for this semester?
My cultural learning goal for this semester is to learn about Gamelan. Gamelan is an Indonesian music ensemble of Java and Bali in Indonesia. Gamelan is frequently played on formal occasions like rituals and ceremonies. For most, it is a unique expression of Indonesian culture. Typically, dancers accompany the musicians. I would like to focus on the Gamelan in Bali. In Bali, almost all religious rituals incorporate gamelan performance. Certain pieces are believed to have magical powers, which can be used to ward off evil spirits. In this way, focusing on gamelan in Bali can shed light on the Balinese people's propensity for superstition and rituals.
What's more, in Bali, all Gamelan instruments are kept together in one space -- meaning, no one has full ownership over them. People believe that the instruments belong to the local community. This fact illustrates the communal nature of the Balinese culture.
There are a few resources I can use to explore this topic. First, a professor in the music department is a master gamelan who frequently travels to Indonesia to play and study the music and culture. His extensive training in Bali means that he can be an important resource. Second, the music library has a copy of Gamelan Gong Keybar: The Art of the Twentieth-Century Balinese Music by Michael Tenzer. This resource will offer a rich cultural analysis of gamelan in Bali.
As one of my main goals this semester is to work on my reading skills in Korean, my learning partner and I have been reading the book that I mentioned in one of my previous Bi-Weekly Reports. My progress so far is that I have definitely increased my vocabulary. The following are some of the new words that I have learned through this book: poverty (“bein-maan), government (“jeong-boo”), labor (“no-dong), and refuge (“pee-nan”). These terms are essential to the story in this book because it talks about these topics in depth. Throughout the book, the author paints a picture for us, so that we can really feel the poverty and hard work that the characters had to go through. Although these are hard topics to talk about, the author does really well in handling these issues.
Through reading this book, I have been able to increase my reading comprehension and speed! I like this book because not only is the story interesting, but also I am able to learn more about the culture and history that shapes South Korea. I am excited to see how this book unfolds till the end.
As for my learning plan, reading is one of my main goals, so I know that I will be working on this a lot during this semester. Even just focusing on this goal itself will help me so much in the future. Therefore, I may continue this goal for next semester, if I was unable to finish this book this semester. Even if I did finish this book this semester, I can continue to work on this goal by reading another book next semester!
One of my learning goals is to learn more about the culture and history of South Korea. I am accomplishing my cultural goals through the cultural posts, while focusing on the historical aspects during my sessions with my learning partner.
One of the major events in the history of South Korea is the Korean War that started on June 25, 1950. This date is so important that in Korea, they call this day “yook eeh-oh,” which is simply this date translated into Korean. When they reference the war, they simply say the date in Korean because it is known as the name of the battle. This was interesting to learn because I am used to calling it the “Korean War” and not by the date. Also, on another note, the president during this time was Lee Seung-Man, who was appointed by the U.S. and became the first president of South Korea!
Since this event is quite significant in South Korea, they have a specific word called “ee-san ga-jok sang-bong,” which translates to “family unification for separation by the Korean War.” This was to represent the certain days that allowed the unification of families who got separated into North vs. South Korea during the times of the Korean War.
Overall, it was interesting to learn more in depth about the history of the Korean War because all I ever learned about it is what they taught in U.S. history during high school. I only knew the dates and what generally happened, so it was nice to learn even more, during the semester!
- Recording: Artifact #2 (Angella Lee)
- Translation:
Hello! My name is Angella Lee. This week, I learned about South Korea’s national anthem because it is one of my learning goals. It contains 4 verses, which relates to what we learned last week about the importance of the number “4.” In the national anthem, the flower and tree of South Korea is mentioned. The flower is called “moo-goong-hwa” and the tree is “so-namu.” I am excited to have learned about what each part of the national anthem means! Thank you.
After reviewing my presentation, I found that my learning direction has shifted from vocabulary composition to communication-based learning. My learning partner and I now are focusing on everyday conversation, including greeting, self-introduction, and dialogues in the restaurant. In order to understand basic sentence composition rules, I was asked to memorize some sentence frames. For example, the difference between agreement and disagreement, and also how to end a sentence with a question. Understanding the target culture, us very essential in target language learning. Since the Korean language borrows a certain amount of pronunciation and sentence composition rules, it is easier for me to refer back to my native language in order to understand the grammar. In order to improve my communicative competence, it is necessary for me to remember some common phrase to compose simple sentences.
In the rest of the semester, I would focus more on the communication and employ various methods including listening to Korean songs and watching cartoons with subtitles. I will also make an adjustment on my learning plan to set up a more detailed goal and demonstrate how I could achieve them.
As for my Korean language learning, I am really happy with my progress. Watching my previous video is really funny and meaningful. Basically, I followed my original plan. I have learned all the vowels and consonants and now trying to use the vowels and consonants to learn sentences. My process might be slow comparing with other students, but for me I am really happy with it. Because I did not take SDLC 112, the most difficult part is make sure that my pronunciation is correct.
My overall learning objective is to speak fluently with my friend. So, I am planning to take SDLC 112 next semester. I will just stick with my plan later in this semester and accumulate more vocab. I will keep watching Korean drama show to learn more about Korean culture. During my learning in Korean, I learn not only language but also culture. I think I am more interested at learning a country’s history and find out some characteristics of Korean society.
As for my Korean studies, I've made huge steps in reaching my ultimate goal of studying abroad in Korea. The most difficult part of my learning was definitely the Korean proverbs. Not only do proverbs teach the language, but it also teaches the major aspects of the culture and how people think in Korea. I can relate some American proverbs to Korean proverbs that are similar to each other (i.e. killing two birds with one stone); however, most proverbs are completely new and very different. I've also learned countless slangs that Korean students use in their daily lives. As I'm studying the language, I feel I'm soaking up a lot of cultural aspects that come with the language as well. Learning the target language dives into the target culture but only to a certain extent. Culture is a different topic that overlaps a little with language. I feel I need to improve vocabulary in order to significantly improve my communicative competence. I don't know certain English words in Korean, so I have to describe the word. Also, vice versa, I don't know a lot of Korean words, so I have to keep asking what it means.
My ultimate goal still stands as studying abroad in Korea, and in order to achieve this goal, I have learn not just the language, but the culture and the everyday life of Korean college students. There are still multiple checkpoints that I need to reach in my PanOpto recording, but with the current way of studying and exposure to the language and culture will definitely get me to my goal just in time.
One of the goals that I listed in my PanOpto recording is being able to have basic conversations in Korean. And this is what my learning partner and I have been focusing on during our tutoring sessions. I have already learning a lot of commonly used phrases -- I can introduce myself, ask others about them, their names, where they are from, etc.. I have also continued to listen to Korean recordings to work on my pronunciation. One of the things that I have experienced the most difficulty with is learning the alphabets. In fact, I understand Korean grammar rules better than I can remember the alphabets. A lot of the times I need to refer back to my charts to remember which letter is which. One of the things that I did learn a lot about is Korean culture -- which isn't something I was planning to focusing on this semester. However learning more about the culture from my language partner has helped me understand why certain phrases and certain grammar rules are used in the Korean society. I want to continue to doing this to improve my communicative competence. I believe having more interactions and conversations with native speakers will help me understand, and remember, the vocabulary and their context better.
My main learning goal for this semester is to improve my reading skills, which I am working on with my learning partner through reading a book called “괭이부리말 아이들.” This title is hard to directly translate into English, but the first part is the name of a location and the second part is “children.” As a result, it can be roughly translated as “the children in this location.” This title may not be super descriptive, but this book details the stories of children who grew up in this poor community and how it affected them.
Through reading this book, I have been able to increase my vocabulary and learn about the history that has shaped South Korea. I learned about the extremely descriptive language used in Korean, for instance, they use “살아 숨쉬는 과거” to describe “alive and breathing history.” Instead of just saying “alive history,” they also described it as “breathing,” which relates to how they use a lot of metaphors to provide visual depictions of what they are trying to describe. Although metaphors are used in the U.S. as well, I noticed that this was a specific theme in the book that we are reading to allow the reader to truly feel as if they are apart of the story. Therefore, it was a little hard to understand certain parts of the book because of the complicated metaphors, but this is when my learning partner and I would stop to try and understand what I am confused about.
So far, this book is very interesting and I am excited to see how the story continues. It is a little on the sad side, but it allows for a good and meaningful story.
Through one of my weekly sessions with my learning partner, we learned about the importance of the number 4 in South Korean culture. In Korean this is called “sa-ja-seong-euh,” where the first part represents the number 4. One example of this is shown on the South Korean flag, where there is 1 group of stripes on each of the 4 corners of the flag. The representation of the 4 corners are the 4 seasons and/or the 4 directions.
The 4 directions in the U.S. are typically known as North, East, South, West, which I remember through the acronym NESW aka Never Eat Soggy Waffles. In contrast, the directions in South Korea are remembered as East, West, South, North. These directions in Korean and in this order are “dong, seoh, nam, boouk.” It is interesting to see the theme of the number 4 in Korean culture and how it can be different to similar concepts in the U.S.!
My first artifact talked about the general things that I learned in SDLC 111. Since I was preparing for my semester abroad at Yonsei University during this semester, I learned about the terms that a typical student would use at a Korean University. I think I did well in remembering these vocabulary terms because I was about to recall them and make connections to why I learned about these words. However, I can always improve by being able to remember more of the terms. I can make these improvements by reviewing and practicing what I learned in previous semesters during this semester.
