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I LOVED watching this video. Many of the things experienced in this video I was able to experience first hand. I had a hard time transitioning when I first came and experienced a lot of culture shock. I was happy to see that many of these experiences were shared with many other students-- especially here at U of R. One of the biggest things I struggled with was the concept of time and the concept of self identity. Never in my life had I been asked "what I am" or have been told that I can only identify with one nationality. I confused many of my American friends because initially they assumed I was just like them-- yet I was completely out of the loop for some concepts. Take for example one of the things that was said by a student in the video. When anyone passed by me and said "sup" I assumed that meant we were having a conversation-- instead they simply walked away. I quickly got used to that, but at first it was a struggle. The same goes with saying "Hi how are you?" I was constantly finding myself stopping and explaining how my day went to a person that had already walked away. Since most people already considered me to be american, during my freshman year they never stopped to explain certain concepts, expressions, or even places! I always had to ask questions and then had to explain that I was an international student.

For example, before I came here I didn't know what a Krispy Kreme was, so when it was brought up in conversation and I asked what it was, people assumed I was being silly and never bothered to explain. I've had countless of these interactions-- solely because I was never thought to be an international student. Where is your accent!? They always asked me. All I can say now is that I'm sorry I don't have one!! They'd ask me "where are you from?" I'd respond "From Costa Rica and The Bahamas." "Oh okay, but WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" I'd be confused, then they'd respond "Like, where do you live in the US now?" That's when I'd realize that people thought I've lived in the US before and I'd have to explain to them for the 17349th time, that I was an international student. I've had some funny experiences. 

The presentations given today were very interesting. One of the coolest ones for me was the Korean bath houses. It is clear to me that in many other cultures that are not a part of the western culture people tend to base many of their activities on group interactions. There are many things associated with being together and spending time and energy in groups. In western culture, since it is mostly individualistic, not that much is focused on group activities. Take for example Spas. Instead of making the core part of the activity inclusive (like a bath house experience does) it is very individualistic. We pamper OURSELVES, it is not about being pampered TOGETHER. I found that aspect to be the most striking. 

Learning about the structure of my target language will be rather difficult, given that my main focus is not to learn the script. This means that I will have to search online and use my online sources as initial structures and then ask my language partner for confirmation. As long as I am checking it by my language partner, I think that reference grammar is a crucial and useful tool to start with. One of the hardest parts is identifying gender in Urdu words. Since I am used to Spanish, French etc. where words have clear patterned endings to identify gender, it is difficult for me to pick up on words and create the appropriate grammar. I will have to work on memorizing and learning these changes in order to properly use grammar. 

I found the Pakistani culture to be interesting because of its many formalities. In general, Pakistanis enjoy close interpersonal relationships. This includes talking about family but it is mostly limited to the male members. Some small details I found to be interesting occur when it comes to interacting with the opposite sex. Pakistanis maintain close body contact but not with the opposite sex. Both men and women generally hug each other when meeting for the first time as long as they are the same sex. Another thing is making eye contact. Maintaining a constant eye contact with a person of the opposite sex is considered rude and unethical. These are things I have not personally encountered while interacting with Pakistanis of the opposite sex-- probably because of western culture. 

The presentations this last week were very interesting. I really liked the presentation on the salwar kameez, because I thought it was well done and it also pertained to my Hindi culture, because Hindi speakers also wear the salwar kameez. I also liked the tagalog presentation. It was interesting to see the Spanish influences of the language and how so many of the words relate to each other. One of the coolest things about languages, in my opinion is understanding the origins of words and where they came from. 

I need to understand the basic structure of Korean sentences in order to be able to communicate. Korean sentence structure is different from that of English. Unlike English sentence structure that follows an order of subject, verb and object, Korean follows an order of subject, object, and verb that is in the end of a sentence. I will learn from a website called How to Study Korean which contains a lesson on sentence word order (http://www.howtostudykorean.com/unit1/unit-1-lessons-1-8/unit-1-lesson-1/), and from Hill’s Learning website (http://www.hillslearning.com/2011/09/01/learning-korean-nyc/).

I think a reference grammar book can be useful because I can quickly refer to and check with the grammar book if needed. However, at the first stage of my Korean learning, I think focusing on expanding my understanding of basic Korean would be more helpful.

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This artifact is me saying the Hindi alphabet and a word that starts with that letter, similar to "A for Apple, B for Ball.."

1. Focus on oral conversations, along with basic alphabet and reading
2. Learning Style: Listen to Korean radio, recording, practice long with recording
3. Materials: Textbook Talk to Me in Korea Level 1, traveling book from the OIE, Korean articles, recommendations to films/drama, YouTube lesson, Mango language, memrise.com 

4. Ultimate goal: At the end of this semester, I will be able to communicate with a Korean for at least five minutes. I would like to master the basic daily conversations, such as be able to ask a location of a cinema or shopping mall, ask and talk about identities, discuss food, tell and ask telephone numbers, discuss color and clothing, as well as being able to write simple sentences and emails. 

5. Tools to prove how I learn: Artifacts, recording, video
6. Topic:
   1. Learn classroom/life survival language
      1. Learn study supplies words and basic questions such as could you repeat once more, could you spell out the words, could you give an example, can you speak a little slower, etc.
   2. Greetings/Self-Introduction
      1. Learn how to greet people in different period of a day, how to introduce myself when I meet a new person, and what to say when I leave. Learn how to introduce where I am from and what I major in, and ask others where they come from and major in.
   3. Family
      1. Learn how to introduce family members, and ask others their family members. I will learn vocabularies of sister, brother, parents, grandparents, cousin, aunt, and uncle.
   4. Food, how to order things
      1. Learn vocabularies of basic vegetables, fruit, dishes, and snacks. I will learn how to order food in the restaurant, what I like to eat, ask what others like to eat, and ask about whether they like their meals.
   5. Hobbies, interests
      1. Learn how to tell others my hobbies, and ask what others hobbies are. I will learn at least ten words on different hobbies.
   6. Directions
      1. Lean at least 10 country names, several city names. Learn how to ask directions, understand how to say left and right and go straight.
   7. Numbers, colors, dates, birthday
      1. Learn how count from 1 to 100, tell others my phone numbers and ask their numbers. I will learn how to tell the date and day of the week, as well as months, seasons.  
      2. Learn how to say when is my birthday, and ask others when is their birthday.
   8. Cloth/Shopping
      1. I will learn the vocabularies of at least ten colors and different clothing. I will learn how to tell others what color I like, and ask others what color they like, ask what color is their clothing, tell what clothing I am wearing, and what clothing are they wearing.
      2. Learn how to ask how much a cloth costs.
   9. Time
      1. Learn how to tell others the time and ask what time is it now. Learn how to say I have class on the exact time, and ask what time others have class on.
   10. Jobs
       1. Learn how to ask what they do, where they work at, how do they like their jobs. I will learn at least ten job names. Learn what I would like to do, and where I would like to work at.
   11. Weather
       1. Learn how to tell others today’s weather, tomorrow’s forecast. Learn words of different weather types, such as windy, sunny, raining, cloudy, and windy. I will also learn how to express my personal feeling on different weather type.

The structure of Hindi is not like that of English. Where English is a subject -verb-object language, Hindi is different. For example, in English, I would say "I am going to D-Hall". In Hindi, I would say, " Main D-hall ja rahe hoon". Essentially, the object, D-hall, comes before the verb in Hindi. I will acquire the knowledge I need to learn the language, because it is already second nature to me, as I already speak another Indian language, Tamil. I do not think I need much effort to acquire the grammar rules of Hindi. 

Hindi Syllabus

• Week One: I will be able to pronounce vowels and consonants

  • Learn vowels, consonants, matras

  • Be able to:

    • Identify

    • Pronounce

  • Broaden my vocabulary

• Week Two: I will be able to identify and pronounce days of the week, numbers and some food items.

  • Days of the week

    • Identify

    • Pronounce

  • Numbers

    • Identify

    • Pronounce

  • Food

    • Identify

    • Pronounce

• Week Three: I will be able to identify and pronounce the numbers 11 and 12 and form basic grammar rules.

  • Revision

    • Alphabets, Days of the Week, Numbers

  • Learn the number 11 and 12

    • Identify, Pronounce, Write

  • Broaden my vocabulary

  • Be able to start forming sentences and grammar rules

• Week Four: I will be able to identify and pronounce fruits, vegetables and home vocabulary.

  • Broaden my Vocabulary

  • What are breakfast, lunch and dinner called? Is there an evening snack?

  • Learn about  

    • Fruits

    • Vegetables

  • Clothing vocabulary

  • Domestic vocabulary

• Week Five: I will be able to have a conversation about sports.

  • Broaden my Vocabulary

  • Start sports vocabulary

  • Compliments in Hindi

• Week Six: I will be able to have a conversation about holidays.

  • What are the main holidays

    • Broaden my Vocabulary

    • Ask questions about Indian culture and have a cultural conversation utilizing basic Hindi words

• Week Seven: Revise: I will be able to have a conversation about the things I have learned previously.

  • Incorporate everything I have learned about culture together

    • Days of the Week, Time, Food, Clothing, Sports

• Week Eight: I will be able to give directions.

  • • How do I give directions?

      • Street Names

      • East, West, North, South

  • Act out different situations as if you were lost

• Week Nine: I will be able to have a basic knowledge of business professionalism in India.

  • Particularly focus on Business Professions

    • Be able to describe them in Hindi

  • How to talk about business related activities (money, selling, etc..)

• Week Ten: I will be able to have a conversation about family.

  • Family Vocabulary

• Week Eleven: Grammar: I will be able to have a conversation about Indian culture.

  • Learn the basic grammatical structure to form sentences

  • “Culture Talk”

    • Ask questions about Indian culture and have a cultural conversation utilizing basic Hindi words using the grammatical structure learned.

• Week Twelve: Writing (11/26 – 12/2): I will review the skills and grammar I have been learning.

  • Narrate a story incorporating:

    • Days of the week

    • Time

    • Food

    • Clothing

    • Holidays

    • Professions

    • Address

  • “Culture Talk”

    • Ask questions about Indian culture and have a cultural conversation utilizing basic Hindi words

• Week Thirteen: Final Revision (12/3 – 12/9)

  • Alphabets, Days of the Week, Time, Food, Clothing, Holidays, Direction, Professions

  • Assess speaking skills

1. Focus on oral conversations
2. Learning Style: Watching  Korean radio, recording, practice long with recording
3. Materials: Textbook Talk to Me in Korea Level 1, traveling book from the OIE, Korean articles, recommendations to films/drama, YouTube lesson, Mango language, memrise.com 

4. Ultimate goal: At the end of this semester, I will be able to communicate with a Korean for at least five minutes. I would like to master the basic daily conversations, such as be able to ask a location of a cinema or shopping mall, ask and talk about identities, discuss food, tell and ask telephone numbers, discuss color and clothing, as well as being able to write simple sentences and emails. 

5. Tools to prove how I learn: Artifacts, recording, video
6. Topic:
   1. Learn classroom/life survival language
      1. Learn study supplies words and basic questions such as could you repeat once more, could you spell out the words, could you give an example, can you speak a little slower, etc.
   2. Greetings/Self-Introduction
      1. Learn how to greet people in different period of a day, how to introduce myself when I meet a new person, and what to say when I leave. Learn how to introduce where I am from and what I major in, and ask others where they come from and major in.
   3. Family
      1. Learn how to introduce family members, and ask others their family members. I will learn vocabularies of sister, brother, parents, grandparents, cousin, aunt, and uncle.
   4. Food, how to order things
      1. Learn vocabularies of basic vegetables, fruit, dishes, and snacks. I will learn how to order food in the restaurant, what I like to eat, ask what others like to eat, and ask about whether they like their meals.
   5. Hobbies, interests
      1. Learn how to tell others my hobbies, and ask what others hobbies are. I will learn at least ten words on different hobbies.
   6. Directions
      1. Lean at least 10 country names, several city names. Learn how to ask directions, understand how to say left and right and go straight.
   7. Numbers, colors, dates, birthday
      1. Learn how count from 1 to 100, tell others my phone numbers and ask their numbers. I will learn how to tell the date and day of the week, as well as months, seasons.  
      2. Learn how to say when is my birthday, and ask others when is their birthday.
   8. Cloth/Shopping
      1. I will learn the vocabularies of at least ten colors and different clothing. I will learn how to tell others what color I like, and ask others what color they like, ask what color is their clothing, tell what clothing I am wearing, and what clothing are they wearing.
      2. Learn how to ask how much a cloth costs.
   9. Time
      1. Learn how to tell others the time and ask what time is it now. Learn how to say I have class on the exact time, and ask what time others have class on.
   10. Jobs
       1. Learn how to ask what they do, where they work at, how do they like their jobs. I will learn at least ten job names. Learn what I would like to do, and where I would like to work at.
   11. Weather
       1. Learn how to tell others today’s weather, tomorrow’s forecast. Learn words of different weather types, such as windy, sunny, raining, cloudy, and windy. I will also learn how to express my personal feeling on different weather type.

Artifact%201%20-%202_8_15%2C%205.48%20PM.m4a

Cecillian Sun (XT): Annyonghasaeyo (hello) pangapsepnida (nice to meet you). Je yirumun Cecillian yipnida. (My name is Cecillian.) Gujjogun yiremi muoyeyo? (What’s your name?)

Melody Zhuang (MD): Annyonghasaeyo (hello) pangapsepnida (nice to meet you). Je yirumun Melody yipnida. (My name is Melody.) Odieso watsoyo? (Where are you from?)

XT: Jonun jungguk eseo watseoyo. (I am from China.) Odieso watsoyo? (Where are you from?)

MD: Jonun jungguk eseo watseoyo. (I am from China) Chimiga muoyeyo? (What’s your hobby?)

XT: Je chimi nun yonghua bogi yipnida. (My hobby is watching movie). Chimiga muoyeyo? (What’s your hobby?)

MD: Je chimi nun dokseo yipnida. (My hobby is reading ) Haksang yiyeyo? (Are you a student?)

XT: Jonun haksang ipnida. (I am a student.) Je jungongun buziniss ipnida. (My major is business.) Haksang yiyeyo? (Are you a student?)

MD: Jonun haksang ipnida. (I am a student.) Je jungongun buziniss ipnida. (My major is business.)

XT: Annyonghi gaseyo. (Good bye)

MD: Annyonghi gaseyo. (Good bye)

Artifact%201%20-%202_8_15%2C%205.48%20PM.m4a

Cecillian Sun (XT): Annyonghasaeyo (hello) pangapsepnida (nice to meet you). Je yirumun Cecillian yipnida. (My name is Cecillian.) Gujjogun yiremi muoyeyo? (What’s your name?)

Melody Zhuang (MD): Annyonghasaeyo (hello) pangapsepnida (nice to meet you). Je yirumun Melody yipnida. (My name is Melody.) Odieso watsoyo? (Where are you from?)

XT: Jonun jungguk eseo watseoyo. (I am from China.) Odieso watsoyo? (Where are you from?)

MD: Jonun jungguk eseo watseoyo. (I am from China) Chimiga muoyeyo? (What’s your hobby?)

XT: Je chimi nun yonghua bogi yipnida. (My hobby is watching movie). Chimiga muoyeyo? (What’s your hobby?)

MD: Je chimi nun dokseo yipnida. (My hobby is reading ) Haksang yiyeyo? (Are you a student?)

XT: Jonun haksang ipnida. (I am a student.) Je jungongun buziniss ipnida. (My major is business.) Haksang yiyeyo? (Are you a student?)

MD: Jonun haksang ipnida. (I am a student.) Je jungongun buziniss ipnida. (My major is business.)

XT: Annyonghi gaseyo. (Good bye)

MD: Annyonghi gaseyo. (Good bye)

Tagalog has a predicate-argument structure, and is a verb initial, free word order language. This type of grammatical structure is found in many austronesian languages. Tagalog uses the following case markers: ang, ng, and sa. These words prepose phrasal arguments of a given verb. Sa is used in sentences describing goals, recipients, locations, and definite objects. Ng is used to indicate possessors, actors, instruments, and indefinite objects. Ang is used with Tagalog's voice-marking system. This system comprises of voice types: Actor Voice, Patient/Object Voice, Dative/Locative Voice, Instrumental Voice and Benefactive Voice. As you can see, Tagalog's grammatical structure is quite complicated. The information above comes from an article entitled "Recognising the Predicate-Argument Structure of Tagalog" published by researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia. I think I can learn more about the structure by finding more information online, which is a fast, efficient and resourceful medium for language learning. A reference grammar would definitely help me learn the grammatical structure of the language, but ultimately, my goal is to be able to read complex Filipino works and literature. Since I can speak and understand Tagalog fairly well already, learning its grammatical structure would not be necessary but still interesting and informative. 

This semester my cultural learning goals will be as follows:

1. I would like to learn more about the educational system in South Korea. Some of the questions I would like to explore are whether they have the elementary, middle and high school similar to the one in the US? How fierce is the competition between students? What type of extracurricular activities do they indulge in? What is the cost of education? Is bullying present in South Korean schools? What percentage of students go to college? 

2. I am also interested in learning about the work place in South Korea. I have watched a couple of dramas about the hierarchy system in the office and also the discrimination between men and women at work. 

3. South Korean myths, legends and superstitions intrigue me as well. I would like to learn more about this topic and its presence in the everyday lives of people. 

4. I would also like to know about the chaebol community in South Korea. 

The principle methods of reaching my cultural goals will be:

1. Talking to Korean friends and my language partner.

2. Reading articles about the topics. 

3. Watching videos and korean television shows. 

These cultural goals will enable me to understand the Korean culture even better as well as let me relate more to the Korean people's way of thinking. I would also like to know how different Korean cultural is from the US culture and how that contributes to the political and economic issues faced by South Korea. 

1. Focus on oral conversations, along with basic alphabet and reading
2. Learning Style: Listen to Korean radio, recording, practice long with recording
3. Materials: Textbook Talk to Me in Korea Level 1, traveling book from the OIE, Korean articles, recommendations to films/drama, YouTube lesson, Mango language, memrise.com 

4. Ultimate goal: At the end of this semester, I will be able to communicate with a Korean for at least five minutes. I would like to master the basic daily conversations, such as be able to ask a location of a cinema or shopping mall, ask and talk about identities, discuss food, tell and ask telephone numbers, discuss color and clothing, as well as being able to write simple sentences and emails. 

5. Tools to prove how I learn: Artifacts, recording, video
6. Topic:
   1. Learn classroom/life survival language
      1. Learn study supplies words and basic questions such as could you repeat once more, could you spell out the words, could you give an example, can you speak a little slower, etc.
   2. Greetings/Self-Introduction
      1. Learn how to greet people in different period of a day, how to introduce myself when I meet a new person, and what to say when I leave. Learn how to introduce where I am from and what I major in, and ask others where they come from and major in.
   3. Family
      1. Learn how to introduce family members, and ask others their family members. I will learn vocabularies of sister, brother, parents, grandparents, cousin, aunt, and uncle.
   4. Food, how to order things
      1. Learn vocabularies of basic vegetables, fruit, dishes, and snacks. I will learn how to order food in the restaurant, what I like to eat, ask what others like to eat, and ask about whether they like their meals.
   5. Hobbies, interests
      1. Learn how to tell others my hobbies, and ask what others hobbies are. I will learn at least ten words on different hobbies.
   6. Directions
      1. Lean at least 10 country names, several city names. Learn how to ask directions, understand how to say left and right and go straight.
   7. Numbers, colors, dates, birthday
      1. Learn how count from 1 to 100, tell others my phone numbers and ask their numbers. I will learn how to tell the date and day of the week, as well as months, seasons.  
      2. Learn how to say when is my birthday, and ask others when is their birthday.
   8. Cloth/Shopping
      1. I will learn the vocabularies of at least ten colors and different clothing. I will learn how to tell others what color I like, and ask others what color they like, ask what color is their clothing, tell what clothing I am wearing, and what clothing are they wearing.
      2. Learn how to ask how much a cloth costs.
   9. Time
      1. Learn how to tell others the time and ask what time is it now. Learn how to say I have class on the exact time, and ask what time others have class on.
   10. Jobs
       1. Learn how to ask what they do, where they work at, how do they like their jobs. I will learn at least ten job names. Learn what I would like to do, and where I would like to work at.
   11. Weather
       1. Learn how to tell others today’s weather, tomorrow’s forecast. Learn words of different weather types, such as windy, sunny, raining, cloudy, and windy. I will also learn how to express my personal feeling on different weather type.

Reading about Filipino culture is interesting because it mentions so many aspects of my own culture that I don't pay attention to anymore. One of the articles I read mentioned eyebrow raising, which I find amusing because I realize that I do express myself through raised eyebrows a lot. I'm not sure if that's a universal and normal way to signify confusion, perplexity, annoyance or even just to say hello in most cultures but I know I do it often. "Laughter may convey pleasure or embarrassment; it is commonly used to relieve tension" is another thing Filipinos do, and I know I am guilty of this habit because as my dad always mentions, I end most of my sentences with laughter. Maybe it's a nervous tick I have, or maybe that's just a part of my personality and cultural upbringing but I do take things more lightheartedly than most. Perhaps I even laugh in the most inopportune moments but habits are hard to break. Time wise, I think it really depends on the individual, or a person's upbringing as the article was talking about. Generally however, Filipinos tend to be late, and most don't adhere strictly to schedules. However, my family has a lot of fiery Spanish blood running through our veins and I was raised to be punctual and polite. It's very interesting to me, reading so much about Filipino culture, and seeing the many similarities and differences that plays out in my life, especially after moving to the United States where I've blended my Filipino roots with a dash of an American upbringing. One habit that really sets us apart from other cultures though is the fact that we use our lips/mouths to point to things, rather than using our index fingers. It's a funny habit and seeing how other non-FIlipinos react to it is pretty funny because they're expecting a more direct way of pointing at something, not realizing that our lips are doing all the work. 

After reading the Figuring Foreigners Out, I consider Koreans are collectivists, uses non-verbal communication or body languages such as bows, and use indirect communication. Koreans only touch someone who is a relative or close friend, and would consider a personal violation to touch, hug, patting or back slapping a stranger or elder. Koreans are family-oriented. There is an obvious hierarchy within the family or corporation where the juniors should always respect the seniors, use formal and polite vocabularies, bow to elders or seniors when greeting and leaving, and always pass and receive objects with right hand supported by the left hand or with both hands.

After analyzing the readings and understanding what I know of Indian culture and the Hindi language, Hindi speakers are a collectivist group. The family is the identity of self and everyone is part of a group and has their own role in that family. There are not many different meanings in India that are different than America. For a third world country, India is one of the few countries where English is spoken fairly well and broadly among the subcontinent. India is definitely a polychronic country when it comes to time. There is always time, and Indians are notoriously late. Everything is rescheduled and time is limitless when it comes to Indians. Having to wait is a normal thing in India, and I have had to witness this on countless occasions. The locus of control in India is external. Until very recently, Indians operated under the caste system in which it was very hard for someone to mobilize between the classes. Instead, hard work was not rewarded with advantages in social class. This is the dichotomy between India( Hindi speakers) and America. 

In the article “How we analyse meaning,” Crystal writes “the term words is used in ways that obscure the study of meaning,” “the term word is useless for the study of idioms, which are also units of meaning,” and “the word has in any case been appropriate for use everywhere in linguistic study-in the field of grammar, where it is an important concept in both syntax and morphology.”

Crystal accurately points out the essence and confusion of the term words. Crystal describes that the same word can have different meaning due to different wordings, the context where the word is under, the situation when the word is expressed and the person who is using the word. This knowledge will warm me to be cautious when using words especially in Korea culture. Korea has multiple levels of formality, thus it is extremely important to recognize when and how to use words. This knowledge will also encourage me to learn a more comprehensive way of how a word can be used differently.