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MyLearningPlan.docx

MyLearningPlan.docx.docx

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=12369798&height=267&width=200

First darft of Turkish Learning Plan

SDLC%20Learning%20Plan.docx

My goals for this week include, meeting with my Turkish tutor, practicing greetings, farewells, and numbers. For my artifact I will record myself speaking with my tutor. I will also begin to prepare to learn basic sentence structure.

Learning%20Plan%20KOREAN.docx

          In my research about the South Korean culture, I learned a bit about Korean etiquette regarding body language, gestures and eye contact. South Korea have a strict hierarchy of respect which ties to the age of a person. As I noticed from most of my Korean friends, my younger Korean friends would have to address my older Korean friends in a respectable manner, by using proper and professional titles unless told otherwise by the host. For example, “Oppa, Unnie, Hyung, Noona” are terms used to address someone older than you. Other examples, partially bowing to your elders, serving the eldest first, and not making direct eye contact with your elders are all forms proper etiquette and body language in the Korean culture. Additionally, one cannot start eating unless the elder person first eats, as it’s a sign of respect in the Korean culture. Korean culture and society is definitely patriarchal as noted in certain gestures women must do or not do with a male. For instance, Korean women can’t shake hands with another man, just simply nod. It is interesting comparing the etiquette in the U.S to other parts of the world, such as South Korea because of the distinctions.

I need to know how to correctly format my sentences so that I can appropriately use the informal and formal endings. I also need to know which particles to use when structuring sentences. I will acquire the knowledge I need by using the HelloTalk app where I can consult native Korean speakers about formalities in sentences. I will also consult online resources and videos for grammar. I think a reference grammar would be helpful in the sense that it will provide a greater understanding of how language in general influences human communication.

My goals for weeks 4 and 5 are listed below:

-Learn the correct particles when making sentences

-Become more proficient in the number systems

I have decided to only focus on these two goals because my first goal on learning particles will definitely take time since there are so many and I have difficulty figuring out when to use which one when structuring sentences. I already know the number systems but I am less proficient in one of the two, so my goal is to become more proficient in both not only in terms of the numbers themselves but also when to use which number system based on the situation.

I will watch the YouTube videos I found online for grammar and numbers while also consulting online resources. I will also use the app called HelloTalk which will allow me to talk to fluent Korean speakers who can help me improve my sentence structures. I will evaluate my success by observing if I need less corrections when using HelloTalk for my grammar. I will evaluate my success with the number systems by continuing to test myself and see if I can remember the numbers more quickly and easily.

According to the article “How to investigate language structure” we have three main levels of inquiry: semantics, grammar, and medium of linguistics transmission. The questions is whether one should start learning a language having those three things in mind. The answer is probably yes, but then questions arise in terms of how and in what order. I believe that one first needs to identify the language itself. I am learning German, thus I need to know that German belongs to the Indo-European language family. That already reveals that the language has four or five noun cases, that verbs are marked for person, and that it uses articles. Furthermore, I need to investigate how the language is behaving in terms of regularity, whether it has a big vocabulary and if it uses idioms or not. It is important to know if the grammar matters a lot in order to be understood. Knowledge can be acquired from books, but an important aspect is also listening. This is especially important if we want to learn the informal phrases or slang, since informal phrases tend to be more used in conversations. Moreover, we need to know which alphabet the language is using and we need to make sure that we know how to pronounce every letter individually, but also when it appears in words and sentences. Using a reference grammar to study a language can be useful if we are interested in understanding how the language works. It gives us a universal understanding of languages in general. This can be useful for people who speak multiple languages, because they can compare and relate the language they are learning to those they already speak. Although, in my opinion pedagogical grammar is more useful for every learner, because one is more exposed to examples, which is more practical.

For the first artifact of Korean, I created a Voki character and recorded my introduction through her. 

Here is the link to it: http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=12303091&height=267&width=200

My goals and tasks for weeks 4 and 5 are as follows:

• Learn the Korean alphabet, Hangul, and be able to read all the characters

• Introduce myself (name, age, where I am from, where I go to school, what I am studying)

• Introduce my family and friends

• Learn how to write Hangul

• Learn how to order food at a restaurant

• To do my first artifact video

Although at first it may seem difficult to try and do all of these, I think that I’ll be able to and I can ask my language partner many questions that I may not understand or have concern about.

I will use my language partner as a resource, my Korean book, Korean from Zero!, practicing my handwriting and my speaking. I will evaluate my success by introducing myself in Korean to my Korean friends and see if they can understand what I said. I will evaluate my success of reading by looking at simple Korean words and reading them to test myself as to whether or not I have actually remembered how to read the characters.

For the structure of the language, I need to know that there is a formal and informal way of speaking in Korean. In addition, I need to know the proper pronunciation of words because some of them sound quite similar, but there may be a harsher sound to the way that they’re pronounced. Korean is a general-to-specific” or “big-to-small” language, so they say they talk about the bigger units of things before discussing the smaller unit. Also, that the structure of the grammar is different from the structure of grammar in English. I will acquire the knowledge that I need by consulting my book, Korean from Zero!, asking my Korean friends about proper pronunciation of words, and using a reference grammar book for Korean in order to make sure that my sentence structures are correct when speaking and writing. I think that a reference grammar can be useful because it can help with proper structure of languages and the arrangement of verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc. This will definitely come in handy when learning a new language different from English, such as Korean.

Becky Chen

Tentative Plan for Korean Language Learning*

Based on the “Can-Do” statements, I’m currently incompetent in Korean. I may be able to recognize phrases here and there by ear, but I still consider myself a complete novice. And so here’s my plan of action to become competent in Korean: 1) to master Hangul so that I'll be able to sound out unfamiliar characters and 2) to develop good vocabulary and grammar so that I may eventually engage in a minimum of 5-minutes conversation in Korean with a native speaker. I think I’ll start with these humble goals for now and gradually build on them through the course of the semester. My goal is to reach at least novice mid or high status, particularly in the interpersonal communication and interpretive listening aspects, by the end of this semester. 

By the end of the semester, I want to be able to (in Korean)…

• Write short, correct sentences using vocabulary/grammar that I’ve learned 
• Speak with good pronunciation/grammar/vocabulary
• Build a good, practical vocabulary including common terms used in everyday life
• Understand at least 70% of everyday conversations
• Introduce myself thoroughly
• Hold a minimum of 5-minutes conversation with a native speaker
• Master Hangul

*Note: Preliminary schedule subject to change.                                                                                                        

Activities: read a chapter of Billy Go’s book Korean Made Simple (KMS)/listen to KMS audio/watch Billy Go videos, watch YouTube videos on Korean culture and language (i.e. EatYourKimchi, BillyGo, etc.), do BYKI lists, talk to Korean friends in Korean, order food at Korean restaurant in Korean, make Korean vlogs on various topics (e.g. shopping at Korean supermarket, morning routine, eating at a restaurant, etc.) biweekly, read Korean comics/literature/newspaper, photojournal in Korean

For MS Word version: Chen,Becky_LearningPlan.docx

• The goal for weeks 4 and 5 is to understand and know more about Korean culture and prepare for the five minutes culture presentation. Be more familiar with formal/informal greetings, farewells and introductions. Watching teaching videos to know more conversational sentences or dialogues. 
• Resources I will use are links people shared in Diigo and some links of teaching videos from Youtube and other online resources. Watching videos, reading interesting paper, taking notes definitely will be useful and helpful for beginners like me to start a new language. Activity such as presentation helps to build cultural knowledge. Other activities such as group discussion and group work after class with classmates (practice speaking Korean and practice simple conversation).
• After these two weeks, I should be able to do simple greetings and introductions. Fluency is the key evaluative point for speaking. 

   There are top 4 basic Korean sentence structures to memorize. I did some research from online resources and summarize them in four ways. Although learning a new language is complicated somehow, these four structures can be used for daily conversation or specific description. The reference grammar can be very useful for beginners since it gives readers a reference tool for looking up details of the language. Sometimes the reference also contain explanation plus one or two examples of every point mentioned. 

   The top 4 Korean sentence structures can be described as following: 

1. S+N. Subject + Noun

           Sometimes in Korean, there is an ending -ida- which is translated as verb "to be". For example, if we want to say "I am a student", it will be "Naneun haksaeng-ida-." So this "to be" can be seen as an affirmative copula that links the subject of sentence to a noun or adjective. 

        2. S+V. Subject + Verb

        3. S+A. Subject + Adjective

            For example, if the sentence is "He is very stupid." In Korean, we can say it 그는 정말 멍청해. 그는 means he, 정말means very, 멍청해 means stupid.  Also notice, Korean sentences must end with a verb (verb copula) or adjective. 

         4. S+O+V. Subject + Object + Verb 

             No.4 is different from English language system. In English, people use subject+verb+object. But in Korean, we need to end sentences with a verb or verb copula.  I water drink, I food eat, I Korean learn, etc. For example I drink water, in Korean, it should be 나는 물을 마신다. 나는 means I, 물을 means water and 마신다 means drink. 

     There are other structures as well. This/That sentence structure in Korean is very similar to the system in English. Korean uses "this" to indicate something that is within touching distance, so 이 means this in Korean. There are two words to say that, 그 and 저. We can use 그 for something from a previous sentence or from previous context regardless if you could see it or not. And we use 저 for something that we can see but it is too far away so we can't touch. 

     Here are some examples: 

     이 사람 = This person

     저 남자 = That man

     이 탁자 = This table

SDLAP_learningplan213.docx

Yi%20Shen_SDLAP_learningplan213.docx

Formality and informality in the Greek language is not as complicated as other languages. This is because in most cases if one wishes to be formal in a conversation he or she simply addresses the other person as if they were multiple people. This is especially the case when addressing elders. So if I'm saying a formal instead of an informal hello "Γεια σου" becomes "Γεια σας." In this case the "σας" is  used to address a single person although normally it would indicate that you are speaking to multiple people. In Greek formal language depends heavily on context.

Another important concept when talking about formality in Greek is surnames. This is especially important when speaking formally about someone in third person. So if you are referring to a Greek politician in a conversation or a paper then you must add "κύριος" prior to the name, which means mister. Surnames are very important in Greek and a sign of respect and acknowledgement.

My current level in Greek in reading and speaking is at an Advanced High Level according to the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements, while my writing is at an Advanced Low Level. From this assessment of my Greek language level I have decided to set my goal to be to reach Superior level in reading, speaking, and Advanced Mid level in writing. I hope to reach this goal by the end of the semester through several activities which I outline in detail in my learning plan. If I'm able to reach my goal I'll be able to immerse myself easily in Greek culture while I'm studying abroad and possibly find employment in Greece.