I've been getting much better at listening comprehension over the past few weeks. I still struggle a lot with it, but I am much more able to follow conversations and things I hear. I think this is going to continue to be an area of focus for a while. I've made more progress than I expected to so I am encouraged to keep working on it more since it is so important. In addition to my cultural project, I have plans to complete at least two more artifacts in the next few weeks. I am currently writing a thank you letter in Farsi to a couple who were born and raised in Iran who came to my house over spring break to talk to me about Iran. Once I finish it I'm going to have Mona look it over then I'll post a copy of it and send it. I also printed out a transcript of Pres. Obama's Noruz message to Iran that I'm going to translate. I've heard the speech in English so I know generally what he said, but I'm going to try to translate it without listening to or reading the English version again.
Read more…
Objectives:Learn 5 verbs in the past tenseLearn 5 country names and 5 nationalitiesLearn 5 modes of transportationLearn 5 directional related words (take a right, stop, slow down etc)Review sentence structureEvaluationBe able to describe how to get from one place to another on a mapBe able to ask people where they went and how they got thereBe able to answer what country and nationality am I as well as ask people where they are from and what is there nationality.Be able to answer where I went yesterday
Read more…
Last week things went pretty well in terms of my learning goals and objectives. Learning the past tense of the verbs wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be because you use the same endings as you do for the present tense. The past and present tense of the verbs are actually very similar, which was helpful in learning them. Each week I continue to increase my vocabulary which is nice and I feel like I am learning a lot. I am still having trouble recalling the vocabulary as quickly as I would like to, so I need to spend more time reviewing vocabulary this week. On that note, another student and I got together and combined all of our farsi notes and created a review packet of vocabulary. It was nice because sometimes in class its hard to catch all of the words that people are saying and write down their meanings.In our language sessions we are still focusing a lot on speaking. Sometimes Mona speaks really fast and it's hard to understand what she is saying, but I have been surprised by how much I understand when she speaks about things that I haven't studied vocabulary on. I am also getting better and not freezing when questions are asked of me. I still struggle putting the grammar all together to make coherent sentences, but at least I am understanding what is being asked of me and generally getting the point across when I answer. This upcoming week Mona is bringing another Farsi speaker to class, which will be good because then we can hear different accents and hear how other people speak. It will also be nice if the person is Iranian because then we can ask them more about Iranian culture. Mona is great about answering our cultural questions but it is always nice to get another perspective.
Read more…
Objectives10 Areas of Study-science, math etc5 weather phrases4 seasonsPast Tense3 more verbsEvaluationBe able to tell someone what classes I have and what classes I had yesterdayBe able to ask someone what classes they have/had and understandBe able to describe the current weather and the seasonBe able to ask someone what the weather was like yesterdayBe able to conjugate 3 verbs in the past tense
Read more…
The only problems with reflections from the previous week is I almost always forget to do them because I get so caught up in what I am learning for the next week. Last week it was definitely nice to review my vocabulary and not have as much on my plate in terms of new things to learn. Also by not having as much to learn I felt like I had more time to review the new things and make sure I understand them. I am still having trouble with grammar, specifically word order and endings, but I think the more I practice it the easier it will become. In drill we have spent a lot more time on speaking and listening which has been really helpful. This allows me to work on not freezing when questions are directed at me. It's not that I don't understand what is being said, but for some reason when I get asked a question I have a hard time listening to what is being asked of me so it's harder to respond. I also feel like when I'm asked a question that I need to respond immediately. However, Mona has been really good about speaking slowly, repeating things and emphasizing the fact that I don't have to respond to her questions immediately and can take some time to think about what she is asking and how to respond. Also, it is really helpful when she repeats my answer back to me with all of the corrections and when she writes it on the board. I am definitely more of a visual learner than an audio learner.Last week was also the Iranian New Year and Mona's mother invited us to her house in Charlottesville for dinner, but unfortunately I couldn't make it. It would have been interesting to see what dinner was like, but it was also nice that Mona explained to us what happens on New Year and how its celebrated. Also, we had to think about our cultural projects and decide what we wanted to do them on. I had a range of ideas, but I finally settled on doing my project about the poet Hafez and his influence on Iranian culture. Mona was telling us how a book of Hafez's poetry is considered a nice gift in Persian culture and how everybody has his works. She also said that a common thing to do after dinner is to read his poetry and there is also some game you do that is supposed to tell your fortune based on the poem you choose or get. I can't remember the exact details of the fortune telling and how you choose the poem, so I need to find out more from Mona. Regardless I'm excited about the project and look forward to starting it.
Read more…
Posted by Becky Walker on March 23, 2009 at 9:43am
I hit the point that I knew was coming--the same point that I hit in every language: I realize I have a large deficit in aural skills. Though I could attribute this lapse to my deafness, unfortunately I don't think that I can fall back on that as my sole excuse. The problem is not that I am unfamiliar with the material, for if questions are asked to me in English, I could respond to them, or even translate them, in Farsi. I have tried listening to the BBC and other aural exercises in order to accustom myself to the sounds and voice inflections in Farsi, but it is increasingly becoming more of a struggle to understand not only single words, but entire sentences. I thought that the Modern Persian CDs would benefit me as it would pair the aural exercises with sentences with which I was already familiar. I think what I will now do, is return to some of the aural exercises that I completed at the beginning of the semester, such as the basic phrases on Biki and the first levels of the Rosetta Stone and listen to those without looking at the screen in order to get a stronger grasp on my listening skills.Otherwise writing my practice sentences has been a great tool in knowing what questions I want to learn. Through writing them I begin to question placement of things such as the where prepositions belong in sentences and to which words can possessors be attached. I will continue making sentences on a weekly basis in order to both reinforce the grammar that I have already learned as well as use it as a means to develop new questions.
Read more…
Posted by Becky Walker on March 23, 2009 at 9:20am
As mentioned earlier, I wanted to refrain from doing two similar artifacts. Therefore I decided to transliterate 10 sentences in order to demonstrate my understanding of sentence structure and grammar. The following sentences have no theme-based connections, they were written simply from the vocabulary with which I am already familiar.Doost daram varesh bokonam.. I like to exercise.Dirooz hobedam. I slept yesterday.Seebe bist rial ast. The apple costs 20 cents.Peydaram haste hasteh. My father is tired.Noun forookhdim. We sold bread.Ajaleh daram. I am in a hurry.Kelase avalet oloom ast. Your first class is science.Ba madar bozergeshooh khordan.. They ate with their grandmother.Barow daresh man ra aziat mikoneh. His brother annoys me.Chai minewshan. They are drinking tea.
Read more…
For my cultural project I thought it would be interesting to look into traditional Iranian cuisine. I want to give a report on not just general food culture but also the regional differences in preparation, ingredients and etc.
Read more…
Learning ObjectivesLearn 10 pieces of clothingLearn possessivesLearn 3 more verbsLearn 5 more adjectivesReview vocabularyEvaluationBe able to hold a conversation describing what I am wearing and what the other person is wearingBe able to ask and answer what articles of clothes belong to members of the classUse verbs and adjectives in a conversation describing my day, what I am wearing and asking people about their day and what they are wearing.
Read more…
Last week was a difficult week because it was the week before spring break and it was hard to concentrate on my week objectives. I also had an artifact due at the end of the week which was another thing that I think distracted me from my studies. I feel like last week because of these two factors I didn't thoroughly learn the material I set out to learn, which means that for week 7 I will have more to cover and so I think I will cut back on my learning objectives for week 7. I also looked back on all of the things that I have learned over these past weeks and have realized I have learned a variety of things, especially vocabulary. However, I found that my ability to recall all of the vocabulary was not as strong as I would like it to be. I found myself several times having to look back through my notes to figure out how to say certain words or phrases because I couldn't remember them. Over the next couple of weeks I am planning on devoting more time to review the things I have learned, especially since my midterm evaluation is coming up soon.We only had one language partner sessions last week because of the snow day on Monday, which was nice because instead of going to class I worked on my artifact that was due at the end of the week. When Mona reviewed it I realized there were still some grammatical nuances that I haven't fully mastered when speaking the language. For example, when using adjectives you add an e sound onto the object being described. Sometimes I feel like the textbook I am using leaves these things out so it is nice to have Mona there to correct my mistakes. Also, during our language session we each read our artifacts to the class. This was extremely helpful because it was nice being able to hear and understand what was being said. I think that my listening comprehension is improving because of sessions like this. The listening sessions that I do on my own through BBC farsi and songs are more frustrating because I don't understand most of the vocabulary so I find myself getting frustrated. When I listen to what the others are preparing I'm less frustrated because I grasp most of the vocabulary being used and can generally understand what is being said.Last week was a little frustrating because I was having a hard time concentrating so I hope this upcoming week will prove to be more productive.
Read more…
Instead of having two similar artifacts, I am going to use this as a simple practice exercise in order to improve my oral skills. Below is the transliteration of my oral snippet. The recording explains my weekly class schedule.Kelase avalam do shanbe ast, ke kelase farsi zaban ast. Bad kelase musikey daram. Seshanbe dota kelas daram, ke kelase oloom va ingelesi astan. Chaharshanbe dobare kelase ingelesi daram. Panjshanbe seta kelas daram;aval oloom, farsi zaban dovom, musikey sevom. Jomeh kelas nadaram. Een hamaye kelasam astan.
Read more…
This past week I continued working with verbs & the perfect tense. Having already mastered the basics in the previous week (as well as independently studying some important verbs), I focused a large amount on the various exceptions outlined in the pages after the main perfect tense unit in my textbook. For example, there are many verbs that become irregular in the perfect tense because they don't follow the typical ge- prefix, -d/t ending that regular verbs do (for example: compare regular lopen/geloopd to irregular zijn/geweest). Zijn (to be) is always irregular, but there are other verbs that are typically regular like zoeken (to seek), which become irregular in the perfect tense (gezocht). In addition, there are also verbs that will take zijn to form the perfect tense rather then the traditional hebben (to have). An example is 'wij zijn gegaan' rather than 'wij hebben gehoord'. Again, all of these rules need to be memorized on an individual basis, so I have been devoting a lot of time to mastering these skills. I've also learned the 4 modal auxillary verbs, which are: willen (to want to), mogen (to be allowed to), moeten (to have to), & kunnen (to be able to). These 4 verbs occur pretty frequently, and take the same form as the perfect tense, only with the infinitive coming at the end of the sentence rather than the past participle. I've also focused on a further 20 verbs approximately to improve my vocabulary. I've now learned most of the frequently occuring ones, including irregulars & partial irregulars.Dutch Language History:Dutch is a member of the West German grouping of languages. This language grouping is the largest of the three Germanic subtypes, and includes English, German, & Frisian in addition to Dutch (and as a result Afrikaans). Dutch also has strong ties to Northern Germanic languages spoken throughout Scandinavia too. Dutch & Afrikaans care mutually intelligible, as they are extremely similar in many regards. Dutch is officially spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium (Flanders/Vlanderen), Surinam, Aruba, Dutch Caribbean islands, Indonesia, and small portions of France & Germany. Afrikaans is spoken in South Africa (mostly the west) & Namibia.Dutch is one of the oldest European languages. Around 500 AD, its evolution towards its current derivation began with the split of Old Frankish--a language spoken in & around the modern-day Netherlands. The language spoken in the region for the next 500+ years was known as Old Dutch. It was during this time that Dutch achieved its reputation of being a sort of cross between English & German. Dutch didn't take many of the sound changes that German developed during this time, and hence is similarity to English which was independently derived from the same parent language. From approximately 1150-1500, the language has been termed Middle Dutch. This is when it evolved from an archaic language very similar to all of the early Germanic languages, into a much closer relative of the language spoken today. 1500 saw a huge push to standardize the language. This was facilitated greatly by the unification of the Netherlands at the end of the 16th century. Coupled with the fall of Antwerp, this was the motivational factor for Dutch artistic, economic, & trade dominance for the coming centuries. This international significance required/facilitated the development of a standardized language, and also allowed for it to be exported along with Dutch colonial dominance.Dutch has a pronunciation that is very similar to the other Germanic languages of course. Its pronunciation is unique in that every letter needs to be pronounced in nearly every instance. It also retains the ability to string together long sequences of vowels and/or consonants to make seemingly very complex words. At the same time however, Dutch is based on steadfast rules more often than not, and there are 'shortcuts' to interpreting the language, given that you are aware of the fundamental rules. Interestingly, the south has a very similar regional dialect to the south of the United States. Vlanderen & regions of the southern Netherlands such as Noord Brabant speak in a slower dialect with a distinct twang. This effects the culture in a manner that Jan has told me is very similar to the north/south difference in the US. Knowing the age & derivations of the language among its 2 counterparts of English & German should be helpful in allowing me to better understand the language as I learn it.
Read more…
1a) An examples of Farsi's use of affixes is seen in verbs. The suffixes of verbs and adjectives agree with the pronoun.Man (I) Khoobam (good) asstam (it is) - "I am good"* - AM is used at the end of the verb asst (to be) and the adjective khoob (good).To contrast, to say "you are good" you would use the ending -ee to agree with the pronoun, Shoma.Shoma Khoobee assteeb) Aggluntative: helpful because I know to expect the words to be made of different morphemes (components of words - affixes, bases...etc). It also going to be good for me the see common patterns and make my learning easier.c). The symbols for the vowels aren't normally used in everyday Persian - they are much more of a teaching tool.2. The songs are great reinforcement tools. They help me listen for the words I know versus wordsI do not. Also, I'm able to enhance vocabulary. In addition to this, it makes my learning experience more fun.
Read more…
My main goal for the past week was to start getting used to using the subjunctive. I've started to get a handle on it to some extent, but I'm still having a hard time. There are certain situations when I know to use it and I think how to use it correctly, but I'm still not very confident on when and when not to use it. I found a list of common verbs that it is used with yesterday that I'm going to look over more closely to get it down better. I think I understand it well enough to guess when to use it, and at least people can understand what is meant when I don't use it or use it incorrectly. I haven't made much progress in listening comprehension, but that's not surprising. It still takes me too long to translate/understand something to be able to follow anything longer than a sentence or two. I'm going to keep focusing on this area because I realize that it is going to continue to be my weak point. I've learned a lot of prepositions for time, but I'm not always sure how to use them properly.This week:- memorize list of verbs and phrases that involve the subjunctive- learn vocab for emotions, adjectives describing people's personality- work on using prepositions correctly- learn cardinal and relative directions- keep working on listening comprehension
Read more…
English is an analytic language because it follows a verb-object pattern as do French and Spanish. Japanese is an agglutinative language because it follows a object-verb pattern as do 50% of other languages. Japanese, much like Turkish, arranges elements loosely together and is, therefore, agglutinative. Greek is synthetic because it relies heavily upon inflection.
Read more…
Objectives:Learn food (minus the fruit) but including 5 vegetables, 3 drinks, 3 meats and 3 grainsLearn 10 animalsLearn 3 more verbsLearn 5 adjectivesLearn comparative and superlative adjectivesEvaluation:Be able to describe what I am having for breakfast, lunch and dinnerBe able to ask what kind of pets people have and describe the animals I am learning by adjectives including colorsBe able to make sentences with verbs and animals- describe what the animals are doingBe able to describe what animals and foods I like better than others and ask my classmates the sameThis week I also have to do an artifact which will be me describing a picture of a fruit stand. I will describe the kinds of fruits there are, their colors and their relation to other fruits in the stand.
Read more…
Last week I felt like I reached my learning objectives, particularly with the vocabulary. I feel like the vocabulary is much easier to learn than the grammar and I am still working on making sure I know all of the grammatical things I have set out to learn. When learning the plurals I still have to take time to remember the rules and apply them properly whereas with the vocabulary I can usually remember it immediately. The same is true of the verbs. I am learning 3 new verbs every week but the frustrating thing is that its not as easy as just adding an ending onto the infinitive because the infinitive changes forms in the present tense. To try and remember them better I think I'm going to begin writing the verbs out in each of their 6 forms and then trying to form sentences with them. I'm hoping that with more practice and even more studying the grammar components will become more natural.Last week my first Farsi artifact was due and I feel pretty confident in my abilities to hold a brief conversation now. My artifact was a dialogue with Will where we said hello, asked each other how we were, names, age, where we were from, what day it was and the time before saying goodbye. When we wrote the conversation we didn't use any of our notes but only used them to check what we had written to make sure we had gotten it right. We also had Mona look over it for us to make sure we were saying everything properly. After listening to our recording, we definitely have american accents when we speak Farsi but I definitely think that we get the point across as to what we are saying. I have another farsi artifact due this upcoming week where I am going to describe a fruit stand. I am hoping that this artifact will work as smoothly as the last one did.
Read more…
