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My language partner brought to my attention that one of the most important components of traditional Maltese cuisine is something called pastizzi. The word directly translates to English as cheesecake, but pastizzi are sold in great variety throughout the islands of Malta. The most traditional form of this tasty food consists of a fluffy round pastry dough filled with a ricotta-based cream. In Maltese, this is called pastizzi tal-irkotta. Popular Maltese recipes note that a generous amount of salt and pepper should be used in the cream, rendering it a more savory treat. Modern pastizzi resemble Italian ravioli or Spanish empanadas and often incorporate parsley and a pea-based spread. Additionally, various types of cheese and spices can be blended into the center.
Although the treat resembles a pastry, it is typically viewed as a snack that can be eaten at any time of day and purchased from a pastizzeria, which are found all over Malta. These shops sell pastizzi and other traditional Maltese snacks at very low prices. The art of creating the perfect pastizzi dough is very important to Maltese natives and this step can take 24+ hours to complete. Based upon popular recipes I browsed, the mixing of the cream filling and baking time is very quick (approximately 20 minutes). Included below is a YouTube demonstration of the process.
Aside from being a delicious and popular treat that you can purchase anywhere in Malta, there is an important cultural significance of pastizzi. The traditional form of this snack represents a blend of Arabic pastry crust (flaky and crunchy) and Italian filling (ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella). It is documented that the snack was likely popularized during the Arab conquest of the Rabat and has remained a popular snack since. There is even a common saying in Malta that goes, jinbieghu bħal pastizzi, which translates to selling as fast as pastizzi.
When I traveled to Malta, I recall tasting a small pastizzi and really enjoying it! Additionally, I brought home a selection of tasty pastizzi so that my family and friends could get a taste of Malta too.
Below is a video demonstrating the process of making the perfect Maltese pastizzi:
I have decided to write a progress journal every week instead of bi-weekly, because that will better support my motivation and learning goals.
My goals from last week, with completed in italics:
- Basic Hindi: Lessons 10, 12, & 13
- Find children's book to practice reading. [Not yet. Considering if this will be worthwhile, since I am not focusing on reading.]
- Role-play shopping experience.
- Start translating a song either into or from Hindi. [Not yet. Still on my bucket list.]
- Study Hindi at least one hour per day. [I averaged 30 minutes per day.]
This week I learned more about post-positions, possessives, and numbers. My main two topics (and subjects of meetings with Abhi) were shopping and hobbies. To practice shopping, Abhi and I role-played very silly shopkeeper/customer situations. It was very fun and allowed me to practice language structures that I learned from Mango lessons, as well as learn new (like, We don't have it in stock!). To practice hobbies, Abhi and I simply took turns asking each other about our interests/hobbies, asking for details and reasons why we like them.
I also practiced with my fiance this week: we spoke in Hindi about how I want to attend a certain language institute in Delhi. He also made a pun, which was my first in Hindi. Sleep and gold are the same word sona in Hindi, so I asked him "Aapko sona chahiye?" [do you want to sleep?] and he responded "Nahi! Mujhe silver chahiye!" [no, I want silver!].
Today I used the Can-Do language statements to determine my level. I am between the different beginner levels in the different categories. It gives me insight into what to work on.
This week my goals are as follows:
- Mango lessons 29-37 [restaurant theme]
- Role-play restaurant scene
- Role-play another shop scene to practice
- Start learning how to verbally explain schedule
- Study Hindi at least 45 minutes per day.
- Try to watch a Hindi Discovery Channel video
I had been interested in Korean Pop music since I was in Junior high school. I really like those songs' style and beats when I listened to them. And then after a while, I found that I could sing those songs even I had never learned Korean before. So I started to pay attention on how to pronounce the Korean right and I learned a lot of vocabularies in this way. For now, I can already understand part of my korean friends conversation. I think listening to korean pop music help me a lot. From my opinion, K-pop is not only a culture thing, it is also a useful way for people to learn language. It help me learn more vocabularies and help me know how to pronounce the vocabulary right.
And because I really like K-pop music, I start to like dancing and I joined the dance club in the school. The korean pop dance is really unique and different with other dance style. It is not belong to any other dance style. The dance style of k-pop is really diverse. This is also my favorite part of Korean culture.
At the same time, I also watched a lot of korean reality show on television. Those shows are interesting. But what most attractive to me is the food in reality show. They are quite different with Chinese dishes and American food. I liked eating Korean food a lot. I always went to the korean restaurant in Richmond. And I actually learned how to use Korean to order food from the casher in the restaurant. Because if I am going to study in Korea, I must know how to order food. Now, I already know a lot of food names and I can order food by myself.
I had been interested in Korean Pop music since I was in Junior high school. I really like those songs' style and beats when I listened to them. And then after a while, I found that I could sing those songs even I had never learned Korean before. So I started to pay attention on how to pronounce the Korean right and I learned a lot of vocabularies in this way. For now, I can already understand part of my korean friends conversation. I think listening to korean pop music help me a lot. From my opinion, K-pop is not only a culture thing, it is also a useful way for people to learn language. It help me learn more vocabularies and help me know how to pronounce the vocabulary right.
And because I really like K-pop music, I start to like dancing and I joined the dance club in the school. The korean pop dance is really unique and different with other dance style. It is not belong to any other dance style. The dance style of k-pop is really diverse. This is also my favorite part of Korean culture.
At the same time, I also watched a lot of korean reality show on television. Those shows are interesting. But what most attractive to me is the food in reality show. They are quite different with Chinese dishes and American food. I liked eating Korean food a lot. I always went to the korean restaurant in Richmond. And I actually learned how to use Korean to order food from the casher in the restaurant. Because if I am going to study in Korea, I must know how to order food. Now, I already know a lot of food names and I can order food by myself.
As one of the largest and oldest bazaars in the world, the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is an icon of Turkey and is a major tourist destination for travels from around the world. Bargaining and etiquette when shopping at the Grand Bazaar are important cultural factors to consider when shopping there. In my presentation, I think it would be interesting to talk about the history of the Grand Bazaar and the cultural influences that have contributed to what it is today, as well as bargaining culture and the things that one can expect when going to the Grand Bazaar. New vocabulary on this topic might include bargaining phrases, names of the different types of vendors/objects to buy (jewelry, antiques, textiles/carpets, etc.), and basic introduction phrases ("Hi," "How are you," etc.). A lot of the special vocabulary I've covered (introductions and different types of stores), but I would like to modify my language learning plan to incorporate more specific vocabulary. A new objective for my learning plan is to learn how to bargain in Turkish and learn phrases for buying things.
Sources:
https://www.theguideistanbul.com/grand-bazaar-guide/
https://theistanbulinsider.com/how-to-bargain-like-a-pro-in-istanbuls-grand-bazaar-and-elsewhere/
https://turkishtravelblog.com/grand-bazaar-istanbul/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8Jp42z_Ai4 (Tour guide gives tour of bazaar, talks about some important words and the culture of the bazaar)
http://famouswonders.com/istanbuls-grand-bazaar/ (Covers the history of the Grand Bazaar)
During this week, we continued to discuss phonetics and the breakdown of sound. It was interesting to see how sounds could be broken down into components and sounds. For this weeks discussion post, we are asked to look into an aspect of culture in our target language.
I grew up in a Korean household, where I was taught to speak Korean ever since I was a child. Also, because I grew up with my Korean parents and grandparents, I was fully immersed in Korean culture. Though we did not live in Korea, we celebrated all the holidays and aspects of the Korean culture here in America. Therefore, a lot of the unique cultural aspects of Korea is common to me. However, there are some aspects of the Korean culture that I do not fully understand because I did not grow up in Korean. An example of this is acronyms in Korean.
From various variety shows in Korean entertainment, there are segments that usually talks about how "young kids" are now using acronyms in Korean. An example of this is like "ㄱㄱ", pronounced "guh guh", which means "go go". There are many examples of this sort of acronyms are beginning to trend, and become more frequently used in the Korean language. This is very similar to the English language, where we use phrases such as "LOL" and "TFTI". It is important that you must understand the basics of the Korean language and letters in order to learn this. There is also a substantial amount of vocabulary required since these words are shorter versions of the original. As a young person myself, I know how important keeping up with trends is for young people today. Therefore, I believe it is important for me to keep in touch with this side of Korean culture, in order to fully understand and look the part of a young Korean person.
When I signed up for this course, my main objective was to learn and expand my vocabulary of the Korean language, and also to just practice and become more comfortable speaking Korean. Therefore, I believe that learning acronyms is also important because it shows that not only am I fluent in the language, but I am able to speak and be relevant like a foreign speaker would. As a result, for my learning objectives, I plan to learn and master at least two acronyms a week and try to incorporate them into my speech.
I am interested in researching Korean food. There are many aspects of Korean food that I wish to learn more about, such as the history of Korean food, where certain foods are eaten (dishes prepared for royalty vs. street food), and the nutritional value of Korean foods. I also know that there are certain dishes associated with specific holidays. For example, all Korean families eat tteokguk (a soup with rice cakes, beef, seaweed, and egg) on New Year’s Day. I want to see if there are any other popular dishes to eat on holidays. Also, if you go to any Korean restaurant, there will be numerous small side dishes that are brought out before the meal. I want to learn how and why this tradition came to be.
The way I order food differs depending on the context. For example, I would order differently if I were in a restaurant than at someone’s house, especially if they were older than me. This relates Korean culture (respect for elders) with language (difference in ordering). Furthermore, since Korean food is very different than American food, there are few direct translations for the words for Korean foods. In English, the words are more of a description of the dish than a translation of the word.
I have included objectives in my learning plan to engage this topic. Task 5 of my learning plan is to learn how to order food at a restaurant and describe food. I love eating at Korean restaurants, but there are only a few dishes I feel comfortable ordering. Korean food is one of the best cuisines in the world and it is a great way to connect the Korean language and culture.
I am very interested in traveling to South Korean. Therefore, it is helpful to know Korean customs and etiquette. It also relates to my language learning because Korean language has many different forms, from informal to highly formal. Addressing someone older, someone of a higher social status, or a host in an informal way can lead to many issues. For example, it can hurt their Kibun. Kibun is comparable to a person’s honor and pride. Hurting this can be detrimental to a person. Relationships are based on harmony and telling a “white lie” is better than hurting someone’s Kibun. Furthermore, it is very important to address a person with their professional title until given permission to being more informal. Social status is determined through “family, upbringing, wealth, education and occupation.” When meeting someone, you are supposed to bow. Men oftentimes also shake the right hand while supporting their forearm with their left hand. While this is the traditional way of greeting and saying goodbye, personal space is a sign of respect. Touching someone, getting too close to them, long direct eye contact, or finger pointing is insulting and should be avoided. In addition to this, direct refusal to a request or an offer is very rude. The word ‘no’ is barely used and patience is crucial when negotiating or meeting. Also, feet should not touch furniture, the number four should be avoided due to the similarity with the word for death, and eating and drinking in public places while walking is frowned upon. Family has a high value. It is also the central aspect major celebrations, especially New Year’s Day and Chuseok, the eighth full moon. Being invited to someone’s home is an honor and should be treated with a lot of respect. A guest should be fairly punctual, a gift for the host should be brought, and shoes should be taken off before entering the house. The guest will be seated and served by the host, elders will eat first, and conversation usually happens after the meal. An invitation for drinks upon the completion of dinner should not be declined ("South Korea Guide").
There are a lot of rules and customs in Korean culture that Western cultures do not have. It is important to be aware of these rules in order to maintain good relationships and to respect the people around one. Knowing these etiquettes is crucial when visiting Korea. Furthermore, knowing the language and the appropriate vocabulary can help to conform with the norms and values. It is also important to learn the formal Korean language, rather than informal words and phrases that then make one appear disrespectful. I have not incorporated this into my learning plan yet, but I will add wanting to learn more formal phrases and important vocabulary for traveling. Specifically, I would like to be able to properly have a short, but formal conversation with a host, as well as being able to navigate a bus system, asking for directions, and knowing the terms for the most common dishes and drinks.
Works cited
“South Korea Guide .” Commisceo Global, www.commisceo-global.com/resources/country-guides/south-korea-guide.
I had a keen interest in Korean culture since I started to watch Korean variety show such as Running Man, Take Care of My Refrigerator and Bear Child in My Family. It just like Korean drama and movies, which helps to spread Korean language and culture in their applying gather own unique brand of entertainment. However, unlike dramas and films which are generally considered to be authentic content, variety shows add a whole new level because the situations on-screen tend to be less scripted and the language more realistic. It is a friendly way for language learners because Korean variety shows are fun and every minute have something funny, brewing an unexpected twist or dilemma, which makes the show and language memorable. Moreover, most of the show are contextually and culturally insightful which gives me a powerful visual of Korean culture. For example, as I watched Running Man, they went to a traditional Korean market which was lined with stalls peddling about traditional Korean food like bibimbap and mandoo. I saw a different experience to live there! The show makes the process of learning Korean easier and happier.
In the last two weeks that I’ve met with my language partner and peers, I learned additional vocabulary words that were taken from news articles. Depending on the topic of the article, the theme of the words would change every week. For example, an article about a Korean basketball team would have words that describe the sport, players, audience, the atmosphere, and so forth. These past four weeks, I studied vocabulary words consistently and applied them in sentences. I also tried to say these words in a conversation with my peers. My strategies for studying new words have been effective because I am more comfortable with gradually increasing my level of speaking in Korean with the new vocabulary words that I have acquired. I find it much easier to talk to my family and friends back home. For now, I will continue to implement these strategies so that my competency in Korean increases.
I also learned about South Korea’s geography. Most specifically, we learned about the various regions in Korea and their cultural significance and contributions to Korea’s traditions. The lesson about geography debunked my initial thoughts about Korea’s geography. For example, I had only thought that South Korea only had three large regions, but the lesson showed me that the actual number of regions in far greater than what I had originally imagined. Another reason this lesson was interesting was that I got to learn about different accents and ways people speak Korean. This lesson plan fulfilled a small portion of my plan to understand Korean culture at a deeper level. I will use this knowledge and understanding to research Korean history further, I will conduct research by watching Youtube videos and reading websites dedicated to a specific time period in the Korean dynasty.
One potential research topic that I may focus on is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque). The mosque is an ancient piece of Turkish (although at the time it was the Ottoman Empire) history, constructed from 1609-1616 following Ottoman defeat in the Persian War. The interior of the mosque is decorated with hand-painted, exquisite blue tiles and, although a tourist attraction, the site still functions as a mosque today. For the presentation upon this cultural topic, I am considering giving a virtual tour of the Blue Mosque while at the same time detailing commonly used words and phrases around the mosque (remove your shoes, please lower your voice, etc). While this topic is intriguing to me, I worry that it is a much too popular choice and that by using it, I will be in some way taking the easy way out.
Another potential research topic I have been considering is the Turkish National Symphony. Given that I am a musician myself, and I know a Turkish bassist who attended the Turkish Music Conservatory School and now lives in Richmond, I feel like this may be a better (or at least more authentic) choice. I could not only explain the founding of the Turkish National Symphony but I could also explain how Western music has become such an integral part of Turkish culture. I may also try to get into contact with the Turkish bassist I know and attempt to interview them for this project. However, doing so may result in a shift in focus from Turkish Orchestra to Turkish Conservatory (which is much more specific and less likely to be considered a purely cultural topic). One interesting thing to note is that while Turkey itself is a relatively new country (1923), it has a very well established musical presence (especially for Western/classical music). If I end up picking this topic, some of the potential words and phrases I might elaborate on are those related to orchestra (finding your seat, how to ask for the bathroom at intermission, the various instrument sections in the orchestra as well as phrases for indicating tempo or dynamics, round of applause, etc). So far, this seems to be my favored option going forward on the project. However, if I am not able to interview my contact, or find that the Turkish National Symphony is not nearly as interesting as I thought (a very unlikely option) then I may instead move forward with the Blue Mosque.
I had hoped to continue vocabulary expansion and to improve my reading skills during the last two weeks and have continued with some of the activities mentioned in my last bi-weekly language post. The vocabulary topics we've covered since my last post are school subjects, weather, and fruits. We've tried to include the new vocabulary in the free-talk sessions to further comprehension. This was pretty successful and also allowed for some interesting cultural information about these topics to come up. For example, some of the fruits I learned are unique to Southeast Asia like Durian (sầu riêng). We discussed it's unique smell and taste, why fruit is so cheap, the problems in food safety measures, and things to be careful about when eating in Vietnam. Additionally, in my last bi-weekly language post I said that I will continue using newspaper articles as reading practice. The last article we read was about a business man who started a fruit production and export business in Vietnam. This article was helpful as it pointed out to my language partner which letters and accent marks I am still confused about. Furthermore, the article employed a lot of proverbs which was fun to learn.
Other than that we also watched several different clips for listening practice. This activity was a bit of a trial and error kind of thing because we had to figure out what the right level was. The first news video we tried was in a northern dialect and the talking speed was so fast that I could only catch every other word. The topic was also on the UN and world politics, making it too difficult for me to comprehend what was being conveyed at the spoken speed. We tried again with a news video that spoke slower and had a central dialect which worked much better. There was still new vocabulary in this video, but I wasn't overwhelmed by the speed. Now that we've figured out my listening level, future listening practice activities should be much smoother. Another listening activity we did was watching a video that had two girls, one with a northern dialect and another with a southern dialect, pointing out differences in pronunciation and word use in the two regions. This was really interesting to watch because I realized that there are some words that I use that are actually from the north even though I have a southern dialect. I think I want to continue with this dialectal practice and will probably combine it with listening practice.
In the last class, my language partner and I talked a bit about having a midterm before Spring break. The midterm will test vocabulary, dictation, reading, and listening. As I was most concerned about the dictation part, we agreed to spend the next week doing dictation practice. Also, the agreed on new vocabulary for the next lesson is household utensils.
Overall, I feel like my comfort level has improved immensely. I used to find it really difficult to speak to strangers in Vietnamese, but now I feel more at ease doing so. I met some friends of my language partner's and was able to converse with them in Vietnamese. I also went out to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant and was able to have a smooth conversation with the waiter about the Lunar New Year. I look forward to improving other areas in my language skills and for the next two weeks will be focusing on writing.
I am personally interested in cải lương. This is "a form of modern folk opera…[that] blends southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, hát tuồng (a classical theater form based on Chinese opera), and modern spoken drama" (Wikipedia-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%E1%BA%A3i_l%C6%B0%C6%A1ng). It originated during early 20th century in Southern Vietnam and became popular as a theater form of the middle class in the 1930s (French colonial period). It is considered a national theatrical form and was popular with the general population until the 1980s. However, now it is usually only listened to by the older population.
Cải lương can both be performed live and filmed in the same way a movie is. Traditional story lines are usually from folklore or famous novels both from China and Vietnam. Genres also range from comedy to tragedy and the setting can range from historical to modern. Some examples of famous cải lương story lines are Chuyện Tình Lan Và Điệp (Lan and Diep's Love Story), Lương Sơn Bá Chúc Anh Đài (title is just the combination of the two main characters' names), and Lồng Đèn Đỏ (The Red Lantern).
Cải lương is a great medium for language learning as it encompasses various listening forms: singing, regular speech, and something in between the two. If the setting is modern, the spoken parts will imitate vernacular Vietnamese, allowing for the learning of more authentic speech.
If the setting is historical then a lot of Hán Việt (Sino-Vietnamese) vocabulary will be needed. Additionally, knowledge of proverbs will be necessary as cải lương usually carry some sort of moral message in them leading to the inclusion of at least one proverb usually. Currently, these two topics are not included in my learning plan, but they have occurred in the free-talk sessions as well as during dictation reading of news articles. I will discuss the inclusion of these as topics to study with my language partner after the midterm.
In my first artifact, I talked about how I learned about the prefixes of the different types of school levels last semester and I was able to add on to this topic by learning the parts of the month, which are also related through the prefixes. Just as a refresher, the first level for both (elementary/beginning) was“cho” and the second level for both was “joong.” It was interesting to see how both the first and second levels were the same, but I was even more fascinated that the last levels seemed to be different for both. For school levels, the last level (high school) was “go,” while its equivalent for parts of month (end) was “mal.”
This made me wonder if these similarities and differences would apply to other types of these ideas. Therefore, I researched about the levels of social status and found out that the only similarity between all three was the second level (middle) aka “joong!” This made a lot of sense because the middle level was the easiest to remember overall, which is probably due to its repetition in all three topics.
In contrast, both the first and second levels were different for social class. For example, the first level (lower class) was “ha” and the last level (upper class) was “sang.” It was cool to see the similarities between the second levels and the differences in both the first and last level. I’m looking forward to see if there are other topics that I can compare and contrast with as well!
In the Korean language, there is a term called “Hanja,” which is a Korean for "Chinese characters." Hanja describes the words that were borrowed from the Chinese language and developed into Korean language. Ever since last semester, my learning partner and I have learned about different examples of Hanja because it can help me make connections with actual Korean words.
For example, we learned about the Hanja words that relate the days of the week with the solar system and other topics. Starting with the prefix for Monday (“woel") is equal to “dal,” which is moon. Next, Tuesday ("hwa") is equal to “bool,” which is fire. Going down the days of the week, the following connections are observed:
- Wednesday (“sool”) equals “mool” aka water
- Thursday (“moek”) equals “na-moo” aka tree
- Friday (“geum”) equals “geum” aka gold
- This was the only example where the two words were exactly the same.
- Saturday (“tou”) equals “heuk” aka soil
- Sunday (“eul”) equals “hae” aka sun
This comparison was really interesting because I never knew that the days of the week could be linked to the solar system like this. It will be fascinating to continue learning about the culture of Hanja topics that are related to the Korean language!
