When languages die, I think a culture loses one of the most fundamental pieces that gives that culture its unique identity. It may not seem pragmatic to keep a language alive if most of its speakers are dead, but losing the language is a step towards the culture's disappearance as a whole. Ultimately, what drives a culture to survival are written/oral records that are passed down as time goes by, because language acts as this record-keeping device. If a language disappears, then at some point the whole culture itself I think loses its identity and importance, eradicating it from existence. Language keeps a culture active and alive, and a loss of its language is an extremely unfortunate circumstance. In the article, it talks about technology being used as a tool to revive and maintain a language's survival which is a wonderful feat. If a language is dying every two weeks, our current technological advancements can probably stop that from happening, or at least slow the process down.
All Posts (36)
Sort by
Imagine that I get lost in Seoul and want to get to the Hanyang University(where I attend summer school.)
Sam: Where is Hanyang university?
(Hanyang dae hak gyo eo ddeok ae ga na yo?)汉阳忒哈kyo 偶都开 卡纳哟
Azmain: Are you getting there by car? (차 타고 거기 가요? cha ta go geo gi ga yo?)
Sam: I will be walking there. (아니요, 걸어서 가요 a ni yo, gul eo［curl嗷］seo ga yo)
Azmain: Do you know how to get there? (어떻게 가는지 알아요? -eo ddek ae ga nen ji al a yo?)
Sam: No. I am lost.Can you tell me how to get there?
(아니요. 어떻게 가는지 알려주세요 a ni yo, eo ddek ae ga nen ji卡能及 al lie 儿撩 ju sae yo.
Azmain: From here take a right turn, go straight. Then at the intersection, take a left. (여기서 오른쪽으로 가시고, 직진 하세요. 그리고 사거리에서 왼쪽으로 가세요.(yeo gi seo Orunjjok eo lo ga si go, jik jin ha seo yo. ge li go, sa geo li ae seo, wenjjok eo lo ga sae yo.)
Sam: Can you draw a map for me? (ji do leul几多叻 ge lie 骨/哥料 ju sae yo)
Azmain: Yes. Here it is. (자 여기요, ja, yeo gi yo)
Sam: Is there anything around the University?
(대학교 주변에 뭐 있어요? -dae hak gyo(kiao)/ ju bien ae/ mo yit eo yo?) chupiangai mo yisaoyo
Azmain: Yes. There is a park.(예, 거기에 공원이 있어요.-yeah, ge gi ae/ gong won yi/ yit eo yo)
Sam: Thank you so much! (정말 감사 합니다- jung mal 冲脉 gam sa 康擦hap ni da)
Azmain: You are welcome (네 잘 가세요-> nae, jal ga seo yo)
1. Finished reading three books about Korean culture
1) A Handbook of Korea. Seoul: Internat. Publ. House, 1987. Print
2) Kim, Kyung Hyun, and Youngmin Choe. The Korean Popular Culture Reader. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
3) Cramer, Mark, and Marcus Cramer. Cultureshock!. a Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish, 2011. Print.
2. Finish watching the Korean drama피노키오
3. Start learning reading Korean with some famous brands or products
4. Learn more deeply about Direction
a. Ask for Directions
b. Get Help Finding Places Using a Map
c. Identify Important Places and Facilities around Town
d. Understand Directions as They are Given to You
e. Use of Public Transportation
5. Shopping and Payment
. Deal with Korean Currency
a. Negotiate Basic Transactions at Stores
4. Numbers and Currency
6. Ask/Tell Whether One Can Use Something
a. Deal with Large Numbers
b. Handle Korean Currency with Ease
c. Ride a Taxi and Pay the Fare
7. Getting Help
. Accept / Decline Help
a. Ask for/ Offer Help
b. Ask/ Tell What Trouble One Is In
c. Gain Knowledge of Emergency Services in Korea
8. Try to answer a phone call.
I think this task would be very challenging and I want to do it as one of my artifacts.
This semester is the second semester of my learning Korean. Even though I have a list of what I learned from last semester, I found it necessary to take a self-assessment and see what general level of Korean skill I have now. After checking the Linguafolio Checklist, I realized that the most Korean skills I got from the last semester were basic and specific vocabularies, but I might not be able to use them in a practical manner in real life. For instance, I have learned some vocabularies about directions, but I still do not know how to insert these words into complete sentences, neither can I understand long sentences about direction instruction. Following is a list of what I think I can do and cannot do.
1) Listening
I can: understand some commonly used words such as please and thank you; basic information such as days of the week, number, times and dates; differentiate question and statement; understand simple introduction about age, academic background and family.
I cannot: understand words for many places; follow complex instructions such as how to finish a homework assignment; answer a phone call
2) Reading and writing
I am extremely limited for reading and writing, because I used too much Romanization o Korean during studying. I could only identify certain vocabularies that I learned. But I do not know how to read a Korean character when I see the construction of it. I could write out some Korean words because of the similarity of writing Korean and Chinese. However, I do not know how to write down a Korean character after hearing the pronunciation of it.
3) Communication
I can: say hi, respond to yes/no question; ask about where am I; nationality
I cannot: Interpret clearly about my preference; tell a long story; identify the weather; invite someone out for dinner
http://www.learnlangs.com/RWP/Korean/index.htm (Korean Alphabet)
http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/ (Very neatly organised site with tons of video/audio lessons, learning tools/resources and shopping site for books) They are a general fun crew and they also have a youtube channel where they post fun learning vids and live Q&A sessions.
http://www.koreanclass101.com/index.php grammar/vocabulary information, WORD OF THE DAY emails!
https://www.antosch-and-lin.com/korean/ (sign up for word/sentence of the day)
http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/korean/kkl1... (An interactive Lessons of grammar with listening/reading/writing exercises)
http://www.learnkoreanlp.com/ (lessons focusing on specific grammar points)
http://livemocha.com/ (This is an independent language learning site, based on mutual help from users of the site)
Compared to many cultures, Urdu speaking people are quite expressive with hand motions and body language while speaking. Though there are no hand gestures/body language used while speaking that are known to be "trademark" for the language, there are many that one can recognize as distinctly from the sub-continent. Some examples of these would be a sort of head "wobble" or "sway" (not shaking), which means "alright" or "okay" (not as positive as a "yes" nod in English.) A hand gesture that is quite often seen during conversation is a dismissive sort of waving of the hand with a flick of the wrist.
Another interesting linguistic aspect of Urdu is that even though many words have been borrowed from Persian and Arabic, in informal settings the proper pronunciation of Persian and Arabic words is not heavily emphasized. Further, because there are some sounds that come from these languages that are not generally used in Urdu, Pakistanis will often only make a weak effort at pronouncing the sound (halfway between a familiar and similar Hindi/Urdu sound and the "foreign" sound.)
I have learned a few new words in Urdu so far. I have a grasp on how to introduce and talk about myself, how to ask questions, and how to talk about my family. I learned these mostly through speaking to my learning partner and also by using online sources in order to practice and review the words and sentences I learned. I believe that I do have realistic goals, mostly because I am focusing on the oral aspect of the language and not on the reading or writing. By the time this course is over, I believe I will have a general novice grasp of this language and will be able to hold and understand very light and brief conversations in Urdu. I will be able to test this by conversing with my friends. The most difficult part still continues to be hearing sounds and pronouncing them. Since this language is very different to others that I know, it has been extremely difficult to produce the sound differences as well as hear them when people speak to me.
March 23 2015
When languages die it can result in entire cultures being forgotten. If a language does not have a written form and is strictly passed down orally, once the native speakers are lost so will the language itself. After reading the article about the Tribes that were on the verge of extinction, I was finally able to realize the importance of all forms of language. I was surprised how well this man was able to begin to develop a dictionary in his language so that he could keep it alive. I can't imagine how difficult that would be-- especially knowing that you are one in an extremely few amount that can understand or comprehend the language. I believe that at complete minimum, two people are required in order to keep an entire language alive-- however I also believe that languages have the possibility of being revived if some sort of writing or literature is left behind. Although pronunciation may be effected, at least the actual language would not perish.
March 18 2015
After learning about the different endings for words in Korean language, I realized the importance of endings in Korean grammar. The endings decide the tense and the form of the word that is being used in the sentence. As a result I decided to learn the different types of endings in greater detail. While searching for online resources I came across the website http://www.learnkoreanlp.com which provides detailed explanation of all the parts of elementary level grammar. One of the types of endings is called particle. There are different types of particles. Instead of learning partially about several types of particles, I decided that it would be more beneficial to learn in greater detail about the usage of only two types of particles.
Moreover, since we do not have an official class for Korean, it will help my understanding if I tried to explain what I learned to my friends or maybe in my reflections. Therefore I will be providing a small explanation of the first two types of endings: topic particle and identifier particle.
Topic particles are used as endings for the subject of the sentence. There are two topic particles: leul and eul. For nouns ending with a vowel, neun is used and for nouns ending with a constant, eun is used.
Identifier particle is also used as the endings of subjects but it is only used when we put more emphasis on the subject of the sentence rather than the object, especially to the answer of the question "who". In such cases g/ka is used for nouns that end with vowels and ee is used for nouns that end with consonants. \
I have noticed that explaining the rules of grammar to others help me understand the rules better myself and also retain them better. Thus from now on I will explain to others whatever I learn.
I also found some exercises online to practice topic and identifier particles.
Dialogue in a restaurant:
Melody Zhuang (MD): oseo osaeyo (quickly come=welcome), yogi anjesaeyo (please sit)
Cecillian Sun (XT): nae (ok)
MD: mu et sul (what) jumun (order) hasigetseoyo (would you like to)?
XT: jamsimanyo (please wait)
MD: nae
XT: unni, jumun halgaeyo (hey sister= waitress/excuse me, I will order now). Bulgogi, bibimbab, samgyetang, yangnyum chicken gurigo makju jusaeyo (please give marinated beef, hot pot mixed vegetable with rice, chicken soup, marinated chicken, and beer).
MD: minjeng boyeo jusaeyo (please show me your ID).
XT: yeogiyo (here it is).
MD: nae, gamsahapnida (thank you).
XT: unni, banchan duh jusaeyo (waitress, please give me more Korean side dishes)
MD: algaetsupnida (okay).
XT: ulmayaeyo (how much is it?)
MD: sam man won yipnida (30,000 Korean dollar). Gamsahapnida, daum ae ddo osaeyo (thank you, please come next time again)
XT: nae (ok)
Hobby:
XT: annyonghasaeyo Melody (hello Melody) pangapsepnida (nice to meet you)
MD: Hello, Xiaoting. annyonghasaeyo Xiaoting (hello) pangapsepnida (nice to meet you)
XT: Chimiga moyeyo? (What hobby do you have?)
MD: Je chiminum dokseo yipnida (my hobby is reading). Chimiga moyeyo? (what hobby do you have?)
XT: Sa jin jjik nungirl jowa haeyo (my hobby is to take photos). Sa jin jjik nungirl jowa haeyo? (do you like to take photos)?
MD: Nae, sa jin jjik nungirl jowa haeyo (Yes, I like to take photos). Dekso jowa haeyo (do you like to read)?
XT: Aniyo, dekso xilo haeyo. (No, I do not like reading)
Artifact%202%20-%203_28_15%2C%201.38%20PM.m4a
Dialogue in a restaurant:
Melody Zhuang (MD): oseo osaeyo (quickly come=welcome), yogi anjesaeyo (please sit)
Cecillian Sun (XT): nae (ok)
MD: mu et sul (what) jumun (order) hasigetseoyo (would you like to)?
XT: jamsimanyo (please wait)
MD: nae
XT: unni, jumun halgaeyo (hey sister= waitress/excuse me, I will order now). Bulgogi, bibimbab, samgyetang, yangnyum chicken gurigo makju jusaeyo (please give marinated beef, hot pot mixed vegetable with rice, chicken soup, marinated chicken, and beer).
MD: minjeng boyeo jusaeyo (please show me your ID).
XT: yeogiyo (here it is).
MD: nae, gamsahapnida (thank you).
XT: unni, banchan duh jusaeyo (waitress, please give me more Korean side dishes)
MD: algaetsupnida (okay).
XT: ulmayaeyo (how much is it?)
MD: sam man won yipnida (30,000 Korean dollar). Gamsahapnida, daum ae ddo osaeyo (thank you, please come next time again)
XT: nae (ok)
Hobby:
XT: annyonghasaeyo Melody (hello Melody) pangapsepnida (nice to meet you)
MD: Hello, Xiaoting. annyonghasaeyo Xiaoting (hello) pangapsepnida (nice to meet you)
XT: Chimiga moyeyo? (What hobby do you have?)
MD: Je chiminum dokseo yipnida (my hobby is reading). Chimiga moyeyo? (what hobby do you have?)
XT: Sa jin jjik nungirl jowa haeyo (my hobby is to take photos). Sa jin jjik nungirl jowa haeyo? (do you like to take photos)?
MD: Nae, sa jin jjik nungirl jowa haeyo (Yes, I like to take photos). Dekso jowa haeyo (do you like to read)?
XT: Aniyo, dekso xilo haeyo. (No, I do not like reading)
Understanding a language’s origin and transformation facilitates one to learn the language. I learned that seventy percent of Korean vocabulary comes from Chinese and transformed into Korean. This fact helps me to find similarities between Chinese and Korean in pronunciation of vocabularies. The similarities also allow me to memorize vocabularies faster. Knowing Korean’s writing system was invented in a well-structured way allow me to better grasp the Korean characters. Once one memorizes 24 Korean alphabets, one could be able to pronounce words and sentences. Overall, knowing a language’s history can not only help one learn that language but also other similar languages.
Knowing Tagalog’s history can help me learn the language by giving me an understanding of what languages have influenced its formation, and in a way, the cultures and values that have been passed on from that time period. The fact that the Spaniards colonized the Philippines explains the extensive list of Tagalog words that are similar and derived from Spanish. Learning its history enhances the language-learning process because not only do you get to learn how to speak, read and write in another language, but you’re also learning so much about its culture. This way, you get to kill two birds with one stone, and have fun while you’re at it.
My language learning so far has been interesting because I’m tackling a language I already know and simply want to enhance my knowledge of. It’s a bit funny, I think, because as I’m getting more accustomed to reading and learning more Tagalog words, I try to sample them out when I converse with my family. My brothers, aged 26 and 15 respectively, think it’s hilarious that I’m attempting to speak less Tag-lish, and more straightforward Tagalog, telling me I sound way too professional, and “too Filipino” for their liking. (Re)learning the Tagalog culture is captivating; the way one speaks in the Philippines, particularly in Manila, deeply reflects their social and economic status. Back home, speaking English signifies an elevated status--reflecting privilege and wealth. There is a Filipino term called ‘sosyal’ that is slang for someone who is classy, or is wealthy. Those who are ‘sosyal’ tend to speak English amongst their friends, families, relatives, and even work colleagues, avoiding Tagalog because it is too ‘local’, simple, and a bit inferior in a way. Having grown up in Manila speaking English all throughout childhood, and speaking/learning Tagalog in school instead of at home, my ability to fully speak Tagalog, only using Tagalog words, is very limited. Furthermore, I moved to Northern Virginia when I was only 9-years-old, thereby removing any formal Tagalog-training off my priorities.
Although my parents, upon moving to the United States, switched from having us speak English at home to speaking Tagalog at home, I have never had to read or debate about Filipino topics with my family. Our Tagalog is limited to daily, normal conversations, and so my knowledge of formal, more complicated words and sentence structures is restricted and narrow. However, as I try to keep up to date with current affairs in the Philippines by reading random newspaper articles, watching Filipino soap operas, etc., I’m learning that a lot of Tagalog words are very deep. In a way, they feel out of place when you’re simply trying to have a normal conversation with someone. I guess what I’m really trying to do is learn Tagalog on a more academic level, because ultimately, my goal is to be able to read classic Filipino literature like El Filibusterismo and Noli Me Tangere. If I really think about it, how many people, on a daily basis, just randomly talk about literature in a social setting. I feel my nerdiness really shining through because I’m trying to develop my learning for a language I already know how to speak.
To improve my communicative competence, I should probably just start reading Filipino literature and become familiar with the words and grammatical structure of the language. I’m realizing now that I cannot improve my reading and writing comprehension by trying to talk it out with my family when our conversations are not centered on the formal, academic side of the language. Reading and watching the news is an excellent source of learning because I can get a sense of the more formal side of the language.
Talking about food. Urdu.m4a
Answering Questions about my Identity
Greetings, farewells, introductions in Urdu
Knowing a language's history can directly help you understand how to learn the language because it can help explain why certain things are the way they are. As we read in the article in class, history can explain things like how the languages are related to other languages, what kinds of peoples spoke it, at what time, and in what setting. All of these aspects can help a learner more fully understand the background of the language, which will inevitably create a better foundation for getting context behind developing that language. In other words, knowing all of these things will put an individual in a better place for getting the hang of creating sentence structure, understanding words and vocabulary, as well as knowing what phrases to use and for what reason. In my case, learning the history behind Urdu really filled in many gaps on how Pakistan as a whole came together as a country. It helped me understand why Urdu is so close to Hindi in speech, but how it is so different in writing and script. These are very powerful tools that I used to help me with my understanding of Urdu.
Thus far, learning Urdu has been extremely challenging-- mostly because of how different this language is than any of the languages I am used to hearing and know how to speak. I believe that understanding the target culture is crucial for being able to properly learn a language. When you understand the target culture, then it helps the individual with creating the building blocks for interpreting how the language was made, where it comes from, and the context in which words were used. I am able to learn most of these connections through speaking with my Pakistani friends. They are able to show me and teach me slang words, help me identify exceptions in the language, and also help me determine which words or phrases are best to be used and in what context.
As I have further developed my learning experience, I have found that the most difficult aspect of learning how to speak urdu has been pronouncing words. I very quickly noticed that I was unable to both say or hear/easily distinguish between certain sounds. I approached this problem with what I thought was a very easy solution at the time-- I asked my learning partner to teach me the alphabet. I hoped that learning the alphabet would help me both physically see as well as hear the differences between sounds found in the Urdu language. Urdu has more than three different "T" sounds (Tee sound in english), as well as over two different sounds for "D"-- most of which I could not tell apart. There was a session where we spent 15 minutes sounding out the differences between "The" "Te" and "Tuh." It was very difficult for me to hear the slight changes in intonation and sound.
Another challenge was learning the changes in sentence structure-- specifically knowing when a word is masculine or feminine. Since Urdu is a completely different language than lets say, romance languages, I could not easily decipher when a word was feminine or masculine. In Spanish, for example, most words that are feminine usually will end in an 'a', while a masculine word would end in an 'o'. The patterns are not as clear in Urdu, although sometimes they can be. The same goes for sentence structure. If I were to try and directly translate a sentence, the verb and subject are all over the place. There is a specific structure that I have to learn to follow which is completely different than that of other structures I am used to writing in. A lot of the times I feel like I am completely guessing when creating my sentences.
In order to improve my communicative competence my goal is to use many sources of different styles. This will expose me to several kinds of learning opportunities and will also teach me the key foundations for learning the language. Following this, I will go over what I have learned with my learning partner as well as my friends in order to solidify the things I have learned. I prefer to look over written sources, such as textbook or online guides and then use this base knowledge to discuss topics with my learning partner or friends in order to confirm and to practice.
My classmates' presentations were interesting in that I learned a lot about a variety of cultures I am not very familiar with. One part of culture that I find fascinating is the fashion that is unique to each culture. It makes me wonder at what point did people stop wearing the specific clothing identified with that culture in exchange for the custom pants/jeans and shirt combo. I also love the concept of each article symbolizing something because it reminds me of the history that piece of clothing has, and its relation to that culture's story as a whole. One thing that stood out to me were the bathhouses in Korea, and made me think about the values Koreans hold in regards to cleanliness. The fact that certain services like those exist in that certain region and space must be a reflection of the values they hold as a culture. Take for example the value of respect for the elderly with Filipinos, and how it is so deeply ingrained in the culture that there are words to denote terms of respect in everyday language. The intertwining of language and culture is very fascinating.
