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Respond to the reading, reflecting on what is lost when languages die.  (You might want to watch the interview with David Harrison posted to the front page of the Ning.)

As we’ve discussed in class, language influences how a speaker thinks and processes life, so if a language were to die out so would a unique way of filtering the world. The article seems to apply a ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality to the survival or domination of any given language. It cites English, Spanish, and Mandarin as ‘winners’ in the global competition for lingual dominance because all three of these languages have a large body of speakers and, more importantly, these languages are supported by a system that can guarantee its proliferation. These types of socially supportive systems, such as school, are what ensure the existence of one language while simultaneously driving languages deemed as insignificant to the brink of extinction, as seen in the case of Siletz-Dee-ni. Although having serval major languages simplifies international communication, increasing the size of the speaking population at the cost of a minor language seems counterintuitive to globalization and diversification.

There seems to a difference between language preservation and language revival. The article mentions how some try to save a language through documentation and translation into a widely used language, and it also brings up the revivalist approach which entails increasing the number of people who can actually speak and manipulate the language. I think increasing the number of speakers to a sustainable level is more important than just documenting its existence. If the language were to die out completely, with just recordings and dictionaries but no native speaker, there would be no way to restore the language to what it once was. The nuance of the language and the understanding of its cultural context would most likely would be gone.

For my teaching task I attempted to teach my suite mates how to play soccer using Portuguese words. I referenced actions and terms in soccer in Portuguese. For example score a goal I told them to say "Faze um gol" or pass the ball as "Passe a bola". This worked to some extent, as they were able to pick up on the vocabulary quite quickly. However, since when playing soccer you are pretty much playing on instinct, my friends often resorted back to English as they weren't really thinking about how to say pass me the ball in Portugese while playing the game. They did however enjoy slang terms in Portuguese. For example I thought them "Ele e um cai cai". Which means hes a flopper, or he fakes it alot. My friends took quite well to that term and started calling everyone on the field "cai cai's". Some of my friends also took Capoiera with me last semester and recognized meia lua, which means to play the ball around and run around the person in a half moon shape. This is similar to "meia lua de frente" which is a kick in Capoiera in the shape of a half moon in front of your body. 

Attitudes about Time in the Target Culture

In regards to time, Korean attitudes towards time and punctuality are significantly different, if not opposite, from the American treatment of time. I think it’s fair to say that, in American culture, arriving as close to a predetermined time as possible is a sign of respect and politeness. Although it’s usually ok to be a few minutes earlier or late, it may reflect badly on you depending on the situation. On the other hand, I’ve read that the perception of time in Korean culture is much looser which gives way to a relaxed attitude towards being on time. Supposedly, tardiness is so common that it is better to expect lateness as the norm, especially in close relationships like among friends.

One theory traces the root of this socially accepted lateness to the Korean language itself. Apparently, when you talk about time in Korean you use words of approximation, such as ‘roughly’ or ‘around,’ even when discussing a specific time. Time is discussed in vague terms rather than precise ones. This habit of approximating time in Korean is thought to stem from how the ancestors of today’s Koreans dealt with units of time. These ancestors broke the day up into 12 2-hour units which reset every day at 11pm. Because of this division of time, an hour in this system would be equal to what we consider two hours, so an event starting during the 8^th hour could start anywhere between 4-6pm.

It is important to note that some say that tardiness in Korean culture is on the decline, but none the less, tracing the roots of this style of tardiness through the Korean language is an interesting explanation of the cultural phenomenon. 

Respond to the readings.

I may be biased towards the second article since I am not a true bilingual, but I think that the first article Why Bilinguals Are Smarter depends too heavily on the assumption that the strength of the brain’s executive function determines the degree of a person’s intelligence. This measure of intelligence seems much too narrow and skews the label of ‘superior intelligence’ naturally towards bilinguals. Both articles acknowledge the history of bilingual discouragement, and I think that this article’s clear intent to place bilinguals into the higher echelons of intelligence is a reactionary repudiation of the prior disapproval of bilingualism. Although I understand the sentiment, I think the article’s sole dependence on executive function as a measure of intelligence creates a weak foundation for such an extreme claim.

On the other hand, Are bilinguals really smarter acknowledges similar claims made in the first article, but refine the definition of the executive function and specifically cite its importance in decision making. This framing of the executive function gives a nod towards bilinguals’ heightened decision-making abilities, something which is certainly advantageous for things like multitasking, but does not undercut the intelligence of monolinguals at the same time. Additionally, the second piece ends on a more positive, less exclusionary note by noting that the benefits of bilingualism isn’t restricted to people who grew up speaking several languages, but can be gained by monolinguals as they study a foreign language and train their brains. 

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

This week I learned how to say I am ____ and I am not ___, so I continued to build up my vocabulary with words that I could use to fit that grammar structure. I learned words for several countries and then learned how to turn those country names into words for nationality and language. I also studied terms pertaining to my life as a student, like teacher, student, and college. I used my prior knowledge of numbers and used it to tell my age and year in college. Because I have learned this grammar structure and these words, I’ve been able to achieve my goal of being able to do a basic self-introduction. I now feel like I have a strong enough foundation that I can learn a bit fast as I continue to progress further.

I also used this number knowledge and learned how to tell the day’s date, the week day, and the month. I studied a wide array of information this week, so I did workbook pages to reinforce the information that I read in textbooks and practiced what I learned during class times. I also had to study for quizzes for class, so I reviewed my notes and wrote out whatever I had trouble remembering.

Letter_To_Sezqi

The second artifact of mine is a letter to Sezgi, who was my language partner from last semester. I wanted to talk to her, because I miss her so much, and I wanted to update how my Turkish language learning is improving. To write the letter, I studied how to write the opening and closing of the letter. I also learned writing "how are you doing?", "I hope you are having fun in Turkey", "I want to visit you someday in Turkey", "I want to stay in America for an year for work", "Your Istagram pictures look gorgeous", "I wish you good luck in terms of working", "please wish me good luck", and etc. I am planning to write her again someday so that I can practice my writing, while I am keeping in touch with her. Penpal was my strategy to improve English since my middle school, which helped me a lot. I was not be able to write details in the letter, so I am planning to work on more vocabularies and grammars related to what I want to write about for the next time.

Use as much of the target language as possible.  For example, you may upload an audio or video clip to introduce yourself, create a slideshow of places you have visited/want to visit in the target country, etc.

My imaginary trip to Korea PPT:

https://docs.google.com/a/richmond.edu/presentation/d/1JeVs4COiRSJ0dnAiyY462U4Fexu-54c64ZcTuOZbe-I/edit?usp=sharing

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

My learning goals for this week was to build up my vocabulary. I began with words for color and used colored flash cards to reinforce the meaning of a word. On top of that, I also learned words for transportation, everyday items, and some foods. I learned some of these terms through apps like Duolingo and through other online resources. I’ve found digital resources to be the most helpful because they are interactive and mix visual and auditory components. When using these types of resources, I can read the word, hear the proper pronunciation, and see a representative image.

I also learned about the two counting systems used in the Korean language, which are Sino-Korean and native Korean. To learn them, I read about them, wrote them repeatedly, and practiced using them during class time. I think that I use Sino-Korean numbers more commonly than the native Korean numbers, so my understanding of the native system is not as strong as my grasp on the other. I will have to work more on the native system going forward, especially since the native system isn’t as regular as the Sino-Korean one. 

Post (a) an evaluation of your First Artifact conversation, and (b) an assessment of how well you met your learning goals for weeks 4 and 5. (Artifacts are evaluated for accent, cultural appropriateness, and linguistic accuracy.)

My first artifact is fairly simple, which is reflective of the basic level of Korean I am at right now. Despite its simplicity, it is also representative of how much I have learned since the onset of this course. To do this introduction I had to learn how to read and pronounce the Korean alphabet, basic vocabulary, basic grammar, and information about formal and informal speaking styles.

Because I am new to speaking Korean and don’t have extensive experience with the language, I’m sure that my pronunciation has a noticeable American or foreign accent. I can lessen my accent through more practice, especially through conversation with native speakers. As for cultural appropriateness, I based my recording off of the introduction that was taught to us in class from the Korean TA and from the materials she provided. Because the TA is a native Korean, I trust that the introduction I learned from her is culturally appropriate. I know that she taught us how to introduce ourselves in a very formal style to ensure that we were speaking with a supposed stranger at a proper and expected level of politeness. If considering my grammar and vocabulary, I think my linguistic accuracy was good, but my pronunciation could be improved upon.

Learning Journal 4:  Document (a) your goals and tasks for weeks 4 and 5, (b) the resources and activities you will use to achieve your goals, and (c) how you will evaluate your success

For weeks 4 and 5, I’m aiming to finish learning how to read, write, and say the entire Korean alphabet. As mentioned in the learning journal for week 3, I have been using apps like Duolingo and Memrise to help me learn new letters and review ones that I have already studied. I have also been using resources provided in class alongside these apps. I think seeing the improvements in how quickly I can read and write the alphabet will help me assess my success in this goal. The quizzes taken in class will also help me see what I have learned and what I need to improve upon.

After completing this goal, I want to use what I’ve learned about the Korean alphabet to learn how to read and write some essential vocabulary. I consider the essentials to be words and phrases that would help me communicate basic things about myself, like my name, and things that would be expected in a polite exchange, like ‘how are you,’ ‘goodbye,’ etc. I will learn vocabulary from the textbook readings and workbook pages received through class, and I will use on line resources for daily practice. I will also look up words and phrases that I have particular interest in learning. I will need to find a good English to Korean dictionary. I’ll assess my success in this goal through in class assessments and through documenting the improvement of my listening, speaking, and writing abilities.  

Self-Introduction.m4a

Transcript:

Hello! It’s nice to meet you. My name is Jeong Ji Yu (*Note: my Korean name in class). I am 20 years old. I am an American and I am a sophomore of the University of Richmond. My major is English. Please look after me.