My task for this week was to be able to watch an episode of a Korean drama without the subtitles. My goal for this task was to watch an episode of a Korean drama and write a summary about what happens. I can assess this task by watching the episode again with English subtitles to see if my summary was accurate.
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I took some time to teach my cousin introductions in Korean. I wrote a mini dialogue of two people introducing themselves. I taught him each of the words and phrases. While we were going through the dialogue I started erasing some of the words and phrases. Since this was a memorization activity, it wouldn’t be very useful if he had a conversation with someone in the future and they changed some of the questions. Besides this, he did very well at memorizing the words, but he had a tendency of saying them in an American-Japanese accent since he has been learning Japanese for years.
My task for this week was to be able to talk about hobbies. My goal for this task was to learn grammar and expressions related to praising someone and to learn words related to hobbies. In class we were able to talk about our hobbies and if we have ever volunteered before.
By self-evaluation of my first artifact, I feel that I did very well, I only had to look up a couple words and I am sure that most of the sentence structure is correct. My only wish was that it could have been longer, but I tried to keep the overall tone of a fashion magazine blurb. I think I did fairly well on this artifact.
My assessment of the task for week four was that I did fairly well. In class I was slowly able to figure out how to agree and politely disagree with certain statements. For week five I was able to understand most of what was happening, which is good. However, I would like to understand the sentences in more detail rather than the big picture.
My task for this week was to be able to agree and disagree with certain statements. My goal for this task was to learn the grammar and words related to agreement and disagreement. In tutoring we used this structure to form multiple statements that we said we either agreed or disagreed with. My task for next week is to be able to write a summary of an episode of a television show. My goal for this task is to watch an episode of a television show and write a summary of events I was able to understand in Korean. My assessment for this will be to watch the show again with English subtitles to see if my summary was close.
My task for this week was to be able to ask for help to solve a problem. My goal for this task was to use the grammar used to request and refuse something and to learn the words related to problem solving. This was one of the tasks that I completed with Minkyung so she helped me to understand the material and correctly use the grammar.
Alternative learning methods such as BYKI and Mango Languages may be good for beginners but someone like me who has already been learning the language for a little while may not find this very helpful except for adding more vocabulary. The things I have bookmarked in Diigo are more suited to me because they are language learning materials for intermediate level learners. They are also more dialogue based and taught in Korean so I get more emersion this way. The tasks on the calendar seem to be for beginners so a task I am tackling instead is describing people and their personalities. I am using a website called Quick Korean which has a whole lesson plan set aside for this topic.
This artifact is a dialogue about hobbies based on one of my tasks. I have an audio recording, but I also included the script and the English translation of the script.
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0XYyYrGshuK
친구: 태영 씨는 수업밖에 보통 뭐해요?
태영: 저는 수업밖에 안무 연습실에서 안무를 만들어요.
친구: 숙제도 바쁜데 안무까지 만들어요? 너무 멋있어요.
태영: 멋있기는요. 제가 좋아서 하는 일인데요.
친구: 다음에는 저를 한번 가르쳐주세요.
태영: 그래요. 연락할게요.
Friend: Taeyoung, what do you usually do outside of class?
Taeyoung: Outside of class I usually choreograph in the dance studio.
Friend: You’re already busy because of homework, but you also choreograph? That’s so cool.
Taeyoung: It’s not that cool. I do it because I like it.
Friend: Next time teach me.
In this artifact, we discussed how marriages take place in Pakistan. I discussed how marriages differ between the poor and rich community. Zaka explained the concept of arranged marriages among both poor and rich communities. Poor communities tend to have outside pressure that prompt earlier arranged marriages. I then asked Zaka his experience in attending weddings and how he likes them. Zaka mentioned that although he is not a fan of weddings he hopes that he will make his flight on time in to attend his best friend’s brother’s wedding. We discussed the different attires the bride and groom wear during marriages. Zaka also explained the system of Mahr in Pakistan and the purpose of it and the tradition behind it. Zaka and I exchanged our thoughts on when the appropriate age would be for each of us to get married. In addition to this, we discussed if it was important for us to marry Muslims and why it was or was not for each of us individually.
My first artifact was supposed to be a mock magazine article. I found some ideas on Flipboard from Korean fashion and beauty articles and typed up my own blurb. I have the translation typed below.
겨울 스타일!
트렌디한 겨울 스타일은 레이어입니다! 귀엽고 편한 스타일 원하면, 오버사이즈 스웨터 아래에 칼라 셔츠를 입습니다! 검은 색 청바지, 검은 색 스웨터, 검은 색 트렌치 코트! 머리부터 발끝까지 검은 색은 매끄러운 겨울 스타일을 완벽합니다! 얼굴에는 어두운 색 립과 얇은 아이라이너가 겨울 쎈언니 스타일을 보입니다! 밝은 뺨과 누드립은 아늑한 겨울 스타일이 딱 좋습니다!
Winter Style!
The trendy style for winter is layers! If you want a cute and comfy style, wear a collared shirt under and oversized sweatshirt! Black jeans, black sweater, black trench coat! Black from head to toe is perfect for a sleek winter style! For the face, a dark lip and thin eyeliner shows a tough-girl style! Bright cheeks and a nude lip are just right for a cozy style in the winter!
I am not very sure about my progress to date. I find myself getting behind a lot with posting on the blog. Because of my senior seminar and my senior thesis, all of my other classes have been put on the back burner. I’m finding it more manageable to type my blog posts on a separate document to upload them all onto the blog at the same time on a later date. This way the posts are always in the back of my mind when I’m typing my thesis. It has also been difficult to keep up with my learning plan because I end up doing tasks at the very end of the week or a week behind. The only changes I really can make is in time management.
My task for this week was to be able to write a mock magazine article about a certain topic. My goal for this task was to do some research on a topic that would be suitable for a magazine and write a mock magazine article in Korean. I would be able to assess this task by determining if my sentences suitable and if the content of the article is understandable.
My goal for the semester is basically to be more confident while speaking. I have a habit of speaking the first few words loudly and then trailing off at the end because I am not sure if I said the sentence correctly. I want to be able to say my sentences with confidence even if they are wrong.
In this first artifact we exchanged greetings with each other. Zaka said “Asalam Walaikum” which translates into “Peace be unto you” and in response I said “Walaikum Aslam” which translates into “And unto you peace.” This is the greeting that is commonly exchanged in Urdu. In this artifact Zaka and I asked each other basic question in a formal tone using “aap” so I could learn how to converse in a formal manner. We discussed our educational backgrounds and the friends we had during childhood. We also briefly discussed our family members. Zaka asked if I would like to visit Pakistan where my family is from and why I would like to. The purpose of this artifact was for me to comfortable speaking in a formal manner and to understand how to use formal vocabulary when conversing with someone about their backgrounds. This artifact also served to improve or make me conscious of the agreement mistakes.
My task for this week was to be able to listen to and talk about song lyrics. My goal for this task was to listen to a song and talk about the lyrics and what they mean. The song I chose was Playing with Fire by Korean girl group Blackpink. The lyrics were about a girl discovering a love that would be dangerous because her feelings were too involved in the relationship. The emotion between the boy and girl would be so strong and dangerous that it would be like playing with fire.
This semester has been very interesting. I feel as if I have learned a lot without realizing it. I do not think my speaking has improved very much, but my listening and comprehension skills have increased. From this, I believe that I learn language better when I am either learning by myself, with one other person, or in a large group. I have come to realize that I do not learn as efficiently if I am intimidated, and for some reason I felt a little intimidated in my tutoring sessions. As I mentioned in my last reflection paper, since I felt like the rest of the class was too far ahead of me, I was losing confidence in myself and my language learning skills. One thing I did enjoy, however, was simply listening to the class. I really enjoy listening to the language and trying to interpret what was being said. When I was able to understand what was being said I felt a surge of pride and I would gain a little of my confidence back. However, when I was asked to speak and contribute to the conversation I would lose some confidence again because I could not form the sentences to express my thoughts efficiently. It would not be as bad if this was the only problem going on at once. It was the fact that I could not express my thoughts along with the fact that I was intimidated by the knowledge my classmates already had, the fact that some of the topics that we discussed were very difficult, and the fact that the small group setting made me nervous. There were too many factors working against me that I felt like I could not get the most I could have out of this experience. I will continue my learning by taking the next level next semester. Hopefully next semester there will be less variables that make me too nervous to learn efficiently.
The learning activities that I found the most useful were the five minute presentations and the class where we taught each other something. As an introduction to self-directed language learning, I felt that showing the general topics that could be learned in each language and culture was especially interesting and fun to learn about. My favorite classes were the ones with the presentations because of this reason. The readings that I found the most useful were the ones about bilingualism and culture shock. I feel that these topics are directly involved in the parts about language and culture that I found the most interesting. With bilingualism, we could learn how people who speak multiple languages can speak even more languages easier and find certain tasks easier to complete. With culture shock, it is important to prepare yourself for the striking differences in culture when traveling. I think it is very important for a person learning a language to be exposed to concepts concerning culture shock, especially if they plan on traveling.
If I were to take an introductory course about language again, I would like to learn more about the languages the other people in the class are learning. Maybe it would be nice to have a weekly mini discussion about what each of the tutoring groups are learning about or to discuss one interesting thing about their language that they have discovered during the week. It could influence more conversation to be made in the class and ultimately make people feel more comfortable with each other.
The very first thing I learned in my Korean language learning experience was how to read. I had discovered how to read without really trying. I was watching a Korean variety show that had the Korean subtitles at the bottom of the screen. By looking at the words and listening to what was being said, I was able to pick up on the alphabet. After that, I would find texts written in Korean and try to read it, even though I had no idea what I was reading about. I would also practice my writing by phonetically writing English words using the Korean alphabet. I would always write random words in the corners of my notebooks to practice whenever I could. Now when I read long passages in Korean, I tend to read a little monotone and I pause a lot to make sure I read it correctly, but I can read at a much quicker speed. My writing is also the best it has ever been, but I still have a little difficulty with diction.
After reading these articles, it has made me jealous of people who are bilingual. Being bilingual does not make someone particularly smarter knowledge-wise, but being bilingual makes it easier to adapt and make decisions quicker since people who grew up with two languages are used to switching languages very easily. It also makes it easier to learn other languages since the connections made while learning language are already regularly used unlike in monolingual people. Since I love languages, I wish it was easier for me to learn and maintain other languages like it is for people who grew up with two languages. It would also make it easier for me to quickly make decisions since I am very indecisive.
I have learned so many new words I cannot keep count. I have a whole notebook full of vocabulary. Many of the words came from my tasks where lists of new vocabulary are provided. Others are words I have learned through tutoring sessions and other are ones I have picked up from watching Korean television shows. My goals for acquiring vocabulary is to pick up the words that come up in everyday conversation. It is useless to learn vocabulary provided by a learning service that has words that you would less likely use in everyday conversation. I aim to add new words to my notebook from conversations with my tutor and some friends.
So far in the course I have been struggling a lot. My main issue has been time management in completing required supplementary work, but in the little free time I have I am always doing something related to Korean learning. While I am typing papers I either have Korean music or a Korean television show playing in the background. I am always listening to something in the language to keep it fresh in my mind. In the few minutes before I go to sleep for the night, I go through some articles in Flipboard so that I can practice reading. It is just the documentation of my efforts that have been suffering. Otherwise, I think my language learning is alright. In tutoring I feel I am behind in my group. The other students in my tutoring group are of Korean descent so they are already very familiar with the language. I assume that I am doing well despite not being of Korean descent, but I still get a little irritated with myself when they understand things and I do not. There are many times when I need things explained to me because I do not understand what we are talking about. I am also a little scared to speak during class because I do not want to be wrong or show how less advanced my sentences are. I think not speaking up in class is making me lose more confidence in my speaking than if I were to speak up and be wrong anyway. I know that I have to try, but for some reason I cannot bring myself to talk willingly. Even though these things upset me sometimes, I will not give up.
In regards to understanding the culture and language, we have not been learning very much in regards to culture. Classes now seem more structured, but sometimes we will go on a tangent and discuss about how the dialogue we learn relate to everyday life. We are learning a lot of vocabulary and grammar and are doing many exercises to employ them. We are making our own dialogue and having mini conversations based on the lessons. My only complaint is that I wish there were more culture lessons.
To improve my communicative competence, I believe I just need to have more confidence in myself. If I push myself to speak up more, then it will be easier to correct the things I do wrong or to verify that what I am thinking is correct. I am simply left with a lot of questions with no answers if I do not voice them. . I seem to function better in a one-on-one setting or if I am learning in a large group with many other people, but a small group tends to make me nervous. Maybe I can find a friend who speaks Korean and ask to practice speaking with them so that I am more comfortable with it. My speaking will not get any better if I do not practice, so I just need to force myself to practice.
When a language dies, the culture dies with it. There is no one left to keep the language and a pure form of its culture alive so it gets buried in the wave of modernization and “official language” learning. This reminds me of something I was thinking about the other day with parents not teaching their children their mother tongue and letting them grow up with the official language of their country. It is a shame when children are not taught their native language and grow up with a language like English because they are not being exposed to the purest form of their culture. The growth of the language and awareness of the culture will die with them since it is not being passed down in the next generations. When the language dies, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to bring it back. There is a whole culture that dies along with it.
