Blogs

Discussion Post #9

David Kim

30262888

david.kim123@richmond.edu 

When the language has no native speakers and is no longer passed down to new generations, a language dies. This can happen because of all different reasons, such as migration, colonization, political suppression, or cultural assimilation. Several languages around the world are at risk or have already become extinct because of those reasons. Continuing the vocabulary, grammar, and syntax of a language becomes very difficult when there are no people speaking or using it. Eventually, the language might become isolated and vanish. This loss of linguistic diversity is a significant loss of cultural heritage. Each language represents their knowledge, history, and identity and provides a unique perspective on the world. Fortunately, a ‘dead’ language can come back to life, through a process known as language reclamation or language revitalization. With support from linguists, some communities are creating language classes, immersion programs, and language preservation projects to revive their languages. Also, technology help such as language apps and online resources are being used to help prevent language extinction. The Hebrew language in Israel and the Maori language in New Zealand are examples of language revitalization. In conclusion, language death is a serious issue that threatens linguistic diversity. However, with sustained efforts to preserve and revitalize endangered languages, we can help these languages continue to be a crucial part of cultural heritage.

Language Learning Journal #3

  Counting the Stars at Night by Yun Dong-ju

David Kim

30262888

david.kim123@richmond.edu 

I really enjoyed Prelude by Yun Dong-ju, so I decided to read another poem by Yun Dong-ju. I chose Counting the Stars at Night, which is one of Yun Dong-ju’s representative poems. Counting the Stars at Night is a poem that best shows the characteristics of Yun Dong-ju's poem, which clearly shows the emotion of longing, the emotion of shame, and the willingness to overcome it. ​In the poem, Yun Dong-ju is counting the stars on an autumn night. He is thinking about his past days when he had a pure heart. Through looking at the stars, he reminds himself of his memories of love, loneliness, yearning, poetry, and his mother. He tells his mother about the things he saw in the stars, which are far away from him. The things he misses are as far away as those stars. He is also in the far land of Japan from Bukgando where he was born and his mother lives. From line twenty-three through line twenty-eight, Yun Dong-ju writes his own name on the hill where the stars shine, but then covers it with soil and erases it. Just as bugs cry all night, the poet mourned about his shameful name all night. His name was reflected in his beautiful and pure life, but poet Yun Dong-ju covered it with soil in shame. Eventually, he is hoping that this hill, which he wrote his name and erased, will be full of grass when this winter ends and spring comes​. Yun Dong-ju is emphasizing the seasonal changes of Autumn, Winter, and Spring. These seasons refer to the past, present, and future. It could also be interpreted as longing, reflection, and hope. After projecting the inner world of Yun Dong-ju through the repetition of similar verses, it is elaborated and deeply explained as prose in the next paragraph to embody it. In Counting the Stars at Night, Yun Dong-ju expresses the emotion of longing in the form of a dialogue that seems to be talking to his mother. The characteristics of Yun Dong-ju's poetry are self-reflection, shame, and pursuing the ideal self. It is not clear what thoughts the poet had when he wrote this poem, but it seems possible to understand what emotional state he was in. Poet Yun Dong-ju wrote a lot of poems reflecting on himself because he felt that he was not acting as a proud Korean. Even though he was unable to participate in any independence movements due to his situation during the Japanese colonial era, he was painful that he could not help his nation. He has been thinking a lot about what kind of person he should be and what way to act. Because his present self has not reached his ideal self and still pursuing it, Yun Dong-ju is showing shame about himself. The era of poet Yun Dong-ju was such a vain and painful era. Writing Counting the Stars at Night during a painful time makes the work more beautiful, which makes people think about Korean culture and history.

Korean Resource

https://www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE01344296

https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0071330

English Resource

https://allpoetry.com/Counting-The-Stars-At-Night

Traditional Korean Games

Korean traditional games are a big part of Korean cultural heritage and even modern-day Korean culture. Some of these games include 제기차기(Jegichagi), 윷놀이(Yutnori ), and 투호(Tuho). 

제기차기(Jegichagi), also known as Korean footbag, is a game where players have to kick a shuttlecock-looking bag as many times as possible. It is very similar to keep-ups when you kick a soccer ball in the air as many times as possible. This game can be played either individually or in teams. The winner is decided based on who kicked the bag the most times. Jegichagi requires intense focus, skill, coordination, and balance. This game has been around for centuries and is often played at festivals, cultural events, or just on the playground at school.

윷놀이(Yutnori) is a game played with four sticks called Yut, a game board, and game board pieces. The yut are basically like dice and the game board acts just like any other game board like monopoly or life. The yut sticks are round but flat on one side. The flat side shows 4 x’s or dots depending on what sticks you have. The sticks can either roll on the flat side with the four x’s or they can roll on the opposite side rounded side with no marking. The combination of rolls you can get determines how many spaces you can move your pieces. For example, if you rolled four sides all showing the x markings that is called a yut and you get to move 4 steps. If you rolled four sides all showing no x markings then you get to move 5 spaces. The game board is in the shape of a square with an x in it. And the game board pieces can be whatever you want. They can be pebbles, buttons, or pieces of candy. The objective of the game is to move all of your game board pieces around the whole board back to the starting place before your opponent does. One of the unique aspects of Yutnori is that it is not just a game of chance - players can strategize and work together to block their opponents or gain an advantage. For example, landing on certain spaces can allow a player to knock their opponent's game piece back to the starting point, or move their own game piece ahead several spaces. Yutnori is another popular game played during festivals. 

투호(Tuho) is a game played with sticks and any narrow tubes like a vase or a basket. The object of the game is very simple. You have to throw more sticks into the narrow tube than your opponent. It’s kind of like darts where you want to aim for the middle. The scoring system can be manipulated to whatever the players want to do. For example, instead of staying in the same place and throwing a stick players can say each stick they throw must take one step back. Thus making the game more difficult. Another popular addition players make to the game is by adding additional holes next to the main hole. These other holes make it so the hole in the middle is worth more points and the holes on the side score the player fewer points. This game again requires skill, concentration, and hand-eye coordination. Again, this game is another popular game played at festivals. 

A lot of Korean traditional games such as these are very simple but require lots of physical and mental skill in order to be successful. These games show how underdeveloped Korean people were centuries ago. They did not have much other than what they had around them and made use of what they had and turned them into fun games that can still be enjoyed to this day. 

제기차기(Jegichagi)

윷놀이(Yutnori)

투호(Tuho)

Links

https://youtu.be/LZ6gbtLBkPU

https://peteachers.tistory.com/42

https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0059493

Cultural Post #3

Korean Fried Chicken

David Kim

30262888

david.kim123@richmond.edu

When I first went to BBQ Chicken in Carytown, I was surprised to see a Korean Fried Chicken restaurant around campus. In fact, the name chicken in Korea is a term that means fried chicken itself. In Korea, fried chicken is overwhelmingly more popular than other fast foods such as pizza and hamburgers. It is also widely loved as a late-night snack. Eating fried chicken while watching TV or movies at night has become a common scene on weekends or holidays at home. After landing in Korea, fried chicken has spread widely in line with the delivery culture, and has been a popular localized Korean fusion dish through various attempts and changes in taste. Until the Korean War, chickens were mainly boiled, steamed, or grilled. With the creation of the United States Forces Korea, the southern-style fried chicken culture centered around each unit. The southern-style fried chicken became popular in the markets during the 1960s and 1970s. Korea's first fried chicken brand was created in the late 1970s, and now Korean fried chicken dishes have developed since the 1980s. In 1971, Haepyo's cooking oil was released for the first time in Korea, and conditions for mass production of chicken and oil were set. In 1977, Korea's first fried chicken restaurant, Rims Chicken, opened at Shinsegae Department Store. In 1979, Lotteria began selling sculpted chicken. Small-scale fried chicken restaurants began to emerge in the 1980s. In 1984, KFC entered Jongno-gu, Seoul through Doosan. At that time, KFC's fried chicken price was expensive, but it was known as a famous meeting place for young people. Its unique spicy taste gradually began to become popular in Korea. The beginning of the golden chicken era opened in 1985 when yangnyeom chicken was created and spread. Yangnyeom chicken is a type of Korean fried chicken seasoned with sweet and spicy sauce. Gyeseong Tongdak in Daegu and Ferricana in Daejeon introduced yangnyeom chicken, It was the opening of the era called "half-yangnyeom and half-fried." Since then, a large number of chicken brands have begun to appear, including Mexican Chicken, Cheogajip Seasoned Chicken, Iseobang Yangnyeom Chicken, Mexican Chicken, Kyochon Chicken, Nene Chicken, and much more. In the mid-2000s, Kyochon chicken's soy sauce chicken was the trend that brought changes to the chicken industry. In the late 2000s, green onion chicken and oven chicken spread like a trend, and other competitors responded by offering similar menus. In 2015, powdered chicken using seasoning became popular, such as Bburinkle Chicken and Snow Cheese Chicken. Due to the influence of honey butter chips, fried chicken with honey started to be released. Now Korean fried chicken is sold all over the world, including in America, Canada, and even North Korea. South Korean fried chicken entered North Korea in 2007 when Rockwon Chicken Restaurant opened in North Korea. Even though Korean fried chicken started by the influence of the southern method of cooking, it is now one of the representative fusion food of South Korea. It was such a great experience of having and seeing other people enjoying Korean fried chicken in America. I strongly recommend everyone to try Korean fried chicken because they are absolutely one of the best.

Korean Resource

https://www.sisunnews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=127937

https://www.etoday.co.kr/news/view/1022166

English Resource

https://www.mashed.com/899880/the-untold-truth-of-korean-fried-chicken/

Image : https://kcookmilano.wixsite.com/kcook/product-page/%EB%82%B4%EB%A7%98%EB%8C%80%EB%A1%9C-%EB%B0%98%EB%B0%98%EC%B9%98%ED%82%A8-half-half-chicken

Writing sentences in the target language means that one is able to utilize grammar rules and vocabulary. However, as a beginner lacking intensive daily usage of Korean, I can only name common stuff and basic grammar rules. If I have to write, I would prefer to write by hand. Since in many conditions, we can not simply rely on mobile devices. And writing is always a fun part of learning a language. I have noticed a lot of structures between words, clauses, and sentences. They share the same structure as Mandarin; therefore, I can easily identify them and use them in my learning process. Complex sentences always appear as a combination of several simple sentences. For example, the sentence "I eat an apple, and my brother eats an orange" would be translated to "나는 사과를 먹어요, 그리고 내 동생은 오렌지를 먹어요.” They are similar to English as well in terms of combing clauses to form a sentence. From an online course, I learned several variants of a sentence. 나는 오늘 친구들과 함께 놀이공원에 가요. (I am going to the amusement park with my friends today.) and 나와 내 친구들은 오늘 놀이공원에 갑니다. (My friends and I are going to the amusement park today.) By relating to the context, I can acknowledge differences in parts of the speech and convey the right meaning.

While I am still learning vocabulary and grammar, Leticia and I have recently taken some time to focus on the cultural aspects of Brazil and the United States, including similarities, differences, and what makes them unique. It has also become a larger conversation of how much Brazil has changed within her lifetime (particularly in recent years) and, as she says, “has become more like America.” It also became a conversation about what some of her first cultural shock moments in the U.S. were. She said that she was shocked by the greasy and sweet food for breakfast here and that she used to think the Brazilian breakfast of bread and fruits was unhealthy. She no longer believes this to be true, at least by comparison! She was also surprised by the overwhelming amount of medication options (apparently there is usually just 1 for each type of medication on the shelves in Brazil and when she came here she had never seen so many types of Neosporin) and the way that everyone greeted her while she was just walking around campus. We also went over the metric system, red solo cups (apparently everyone brings reusable cups to parties in Brazil!), tipping, and tax not being included in prices. A passionate conversation about how much water the U.S. wastes followed the revelation that U.S. toilets are widely considered to use much more water than other countries. Leticia said that even our toilets with two options use way more water than the toilets in Brazil. Additionally, we had an interesting conversation about the U.S. being a particularly patriotic country. We specifically discussed the number of American flags that are everywhere in the U.S. and how in Brazil, flags are almost never displayed. She said that flags have recently been flown to show support for Bolsonaro, which has made the flags into more of a political message than they used to be.
We also debunked some of the common misconceptions about the U.S. and Brazil, such as the U.S. having sweet bread (we were both confused) and that only Americans threw baby showers, ate big portions, and walked around with big coffees.
I wanted to spend the majority of this learning journal discussing these conversations we’ve had because I think they are an important unplanned part of our lessons. They are what constitute all of the topics that come up when we get sidetracked and end up looking up things like the origin of the umlaut. While unplanned, I have really enjoyed this part of the SDLC program. I am learning so much in every conversation I have with Leticia in Portuguese and not in Portuguese. We don’t rush and we take the time to follow our curiosities and hunt down these small details. It is something that shows the progress of our lessons: we have been able to have these offshoots and then get back on track to continue with whatever Leticia had planned for the day.

Currently, Letícia and I are focused on giving directions and basic verbs. We have been using a mixture of online resources and our textbook. We start every session by reviewing what we discussed last session and deciding where to go from there. There have been multiple sessions where we have needed to be on Zoom which has been an obstacle to navigate in terms of not being able to share a notebook between us to spell out words as well as it being difficult to hear pronunciation over Zoom. However, a majority of our sessions have been in person. This semester one of my main goals is to be able to continue feeling comfortable with Portuguese pronunciation. I also want to gain more confidence in basic vocabulary. One way that we practiced this while over Zoom is going through a Quizlet together that someone had made online. We practiced words related to food and restaurants because we want to try to get together a group of Portuguese learners and speakers to have a meal at a Brazilian barbeque restaurant in Short Pump.
Another new development is that Leticia asks me what topics I want to focus on and then she will find various activities on websites and in the textbook for me to do. She’ll also write out her own activities for me to complete in our shared notes. It has been helpful for her to know what she wants us to get done in each session. She has also been assigning me homework, usually one activity in the textbook for me to do before our next time together. Then, we’ll go through my answers together. This can be a great way to clear up common mistakes, my endless spelling errors, and also catch some of the exceptions to the rules I have learned that she had not taught me yet. Having this structure has really alleviated some of the issues we had with not having a plan going into lessons and instead creating them as we went. Leticia has really grown into her role as a teacher and I am so glad to be working with her. She has taken on a lot more responsibility for the lessons that I really appreciate. It also makes me feel like I am learning Portuguese the way that she knows it, rather than it being catered to “the way I want to learn it.” However, the textbook has definitely been helpful in providing material so that Leticia is not coming up with examples all on her own, which involves a lot of translating in her head. Instead, the textbook holds a lot of content and she can show me the parts that are helpful to what she wants to teach me. (We can also make fun of the textbook’s overly formal examples and she can teach me the casual way to say things when you’re actually in Brazil). Nonetheless, it is definitely concerning for if I were speaking with a native Portuguese speaker because they can shorten a lot when they want to!

Jeju island’s original name was actually Tamna, and about eight thousand B.C. the first people inhabited it. At first, Jeju island was its own state, but later on, around the 5th century Jeju island combined with mainland Korea and ended up becoming a trading post between Japan and Korea. However, during the twelfth century, a group of rebels called the Sambyeolcho overthrew the government on the island and took control. However, once again in the fourteenth century, mainland Korea regained control over Jeju island. Korea used Jeju island as a prison that held criminals and political prisoners. Many of these political prisoners were intellectuals or of the higher class. Thus, they contributed heavily to Korea’s intellectual and cultural development. During this time Jeju island’s culture began to flourish. Many new folk traditions such as music, dance, and shamanism began to form. However, once again Jeju island yet again was taken control by another country. From 1910 to 1945 Japan annexed or took control of Korea. During this time Japan would use Jeju island as a military base. At the time Japan was trying to suppress Korean culture and even get rid of it and integrate the country into the Japanese empire. However, the people of Jeju island heavily resisted Japan. Many factors allowed the people of Jeju island to put up a tough fight. Some of these include a long history of dealing with outside forces trying to take control of them, knowing the physical environment better than the Japanese, and being geographically isolated from mainland Korea. Despite all their efforts the people of Jeju island could not regain control until 1945 when Japan lost World War 2 and was forced to free Korea. However, there was still more conflict to come. In 1945, Korea slowly separated into two different states. One in the north and the other in the south. The north was in control of the Soviets and the south was in control of the Americans. On Jeju island communist rebels coordinated attacks on government facilities all over the island. South Korea responded to this attack with mass arrests, extrajudicial killings, and forced deportation of suspected rebels and their families to concentration camps. There were estimated thirty-thousand deaths in the aftermath of the events.

Many of these deaths included civilians. Despite all Jeju island’s terrible history, today the Island is doing well and is a very popular location for Koreans to visit, attracting millions of tourists each year. The people of Jeju island have a culture and language that is very different from the culture of South Korea. In fact, the language spoken on Jeju island is so distinct that many consider it its own language rather than a dialect of Korean. Even my own dad who is a Korean-born citizen said he needed a translator when he visited Jeju island. Today Jeju island is most famous for its volcano landscape, distinct culture, heritage sites which pay homage to Jeju’s long history, and its beautiful beaches some of which actually have black sand because it's a volcanic island. Jeju island is basically Korea’s version of Hawaii.

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/the-tragic-history-of-south-korea-s-jeju-island/4509004.html

https://ijto.or.kr/english/?cid=27

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/south-koreas-jeju-island-paradise-with-a-dark-side/2012/04/19/gIQAVlFaVT_story.html

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jeju-do

I’ve written Korean since I was about 8 years old. This is when I was first taught it in a Korean Saturday school, and have written it occasionally ever since. Korean as a language is quite straightforward to read and write, as many linguists know. Currently, I prefer to write in free hand, as my handwriting (even in English), is quite atrocious, and can use a bit of work, especially when it comes to certain characters such as ㄹ. The quick succession of straight lines makes it a difficult character to write neatly, however, I have seen a bit of progress in terms of not having to make such a concerted effort to even begin writing it out, maintaining a sense of flow as I write. Continuing, I’ve noticed that in writing, Korean ends sentences with 다 quite frequently–– something you don’t really hear in the vernacular as it sounds a bit robotic. In written contexts, spelling is something that haunts me to this day. Even words I spell semi-frequently have occasional errors, as I’m more comfortable with how they are pronounced when spoken, rather than accurately spelled. An aid for this that I’ve discovered is learning Hanja, as these roots see themselves consistent, and it’s more a matter of combining Hanja roots that I’ve memorized how to spell where I’m most accurate in my writing. Finally, an example of a phrase I use frequently is 한국말 잘 못해요, which means, “I’m not very good at Korean.” Quite applicable to my current situation, and it also has several ㄹ to help me in that regard. 

The highlights for the month of March were the language meetings with Leyao, continued with practicing Chinese characters and reading passages, and reading upon literature about the population crisis and growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes in China. 

This is by far the most productive and enjoyable month of language learning in this program partly because of the fun activities that Leyao and I do and the rewarding conversations we have about Chinese culture while practicing Cantonese. For the first week of March, we went to Fat Dragon which is an Asian fusion restaurant on Cary Street. We ate deep fried squid and shrimp, and we both got lunch boxes with a variety of dishes including white rice, spring roll, assorted vegetables, and the main dish. Then, the following week was spring break, so we did not meet. After spring break, we regrouped and planned out what we should do for the remainder of the time and additionally discussed marriage in China. I found this topic intriguing and was something that came up during my discussion with my iTalki teacher,  Karen 老师, so I wanted to get a student perspective. This past week, we practiced Chinese calligraphy and painting on a special type of paper called 宣纸. The paper is more absorbent than traditional printer paper because it is made out of rice, so it holds the ink and water much better. I never did Chinese calligraphy or watercolor painting before, so it was an unique experience to use the brushes, ink tray, and ink stick. There was a process to get the ink on the ink tray, and the first step we had to do was pour a small amount of water onto the ink tray. Then, put the ink stick perpendicular to the tray and rub against the tray in a circular motion to mix the ink with the water. The longer it is mixed, the darker the ink becomes when writing on the paper. I did not realize how messy it was because the ink was all over my fingers. Overall, I had a wonderful experience practicing calligraphy and learning about the whole process. Next month, Leyao and I planned some exciting weekly activities along with much more meaningful discussions surrounding Chinese Culture.

Continuing from last month, I read passages on the migrant population in China, food and culture, and Chinese television and drama. These were passages used in my CHIN 401 class. I found that there is a heavy government influence particularly among the migrant population and television and drama dictating what can be broadcast and the whole ordeal with the Household Registration System. In addition to reading, I continued practicing writing basic Chinese characters for everyday conversations. Handwriting Chinese characters is much harder than English because it is all about memorization rather than in English. In English, I can sound out the words and spell them out while in Chinese, there is no system like that. I write and practice Chinese characters 30 to 45 minutes three times a week, and this is a consistent schedule I am able to keep up with. 

Lately, I have been reading articles about the growing population decline in China and the prevalence of type two diabetes. The articles were written in English, and because I am fluent in English and know it much better than Mandarin or Cantonese, I had a deeper understanding of the material. It was interesting to learn about the population decline and how the Chinese government abolished the One Child Policy and expanded it to two children and now three children per family because of this alarming trend. Not only China, South Korea and Japan are also facing a growing older population while the birth rates are declining.

The other topic I was alarmed by was the prevalence of type two diabetes in China. The prevalence of diabetes in China is 12.4% of their population, and that is quite a lot because China’s population is 1.4 billion (Wang, 2018). The articles that I read claimed that the prevalence in diabetes increased due to sedentary lifestyles, eating diets high in red meat rather than fruits and vegetables, insufficient exercise, and smoking (Wang, 2018). This information makes sense since many Chinese citizens are now experiencing a more financially secured lifestyle than before, so this may be fueling the increased cases of diabetes in China.

This month was quite productive, and I hope to continue that productivity into April. One major goal I want to accomplish in April is to take some type of proficiency test in either Mandarin or Cantonese. 

Sources:
Wang L, Peng W, Zhao Z, et al. Prevalence and Treatment of Diabetes in China, 2013-2018. JAMA. 2021;326(24):2498–2506. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.22208

Right now I am writing in Korean freehand. I don’t like typing it because I don’t have the Korean keyboard memorized also it takes me longer to type because I have to first process which letters to write then I have to look for them in that order. I prefer to write by hand because first, it allows me to write each character properly, meaning the right strokes in the right order. Also just like writing in English, writing on a physical paper allows the Korean language to create a stronger connection in my brain because I have to process what to write and actually take my time while writing it. Korean sentence structure is in the order of subject, object, and verb. At first, it was a little difficult to get that order in my brain because English is in the order of subject, verb, then object. But now it is easier than before to write and read Korean because my brain has gotten used to it. I realized transitional words are essential in order to make complex sentences. I only know a few but even those few words allow me to write much more complex sentences. Korean has these grammatical rules called particles. I started off with three particles. The topic, subject, and object particle. You have to use these to mark the topic, subject, and object of a sentence. These don’t exist in English so it was very difficult for me at first. Therefore, in order to understand how to use these, I first started off with examples from the text book. Then I moved on to writing my own sentences with the help of my language partner. Then I started to read more Korean texts. Writing and reading have definitely strengthened my Korean skills.

Discussion Post #8

David Kim

30262888

david.kim123@richmond.edu

I have started writing in my target language with phrases and sentences that are frequently used in real life situations. I have learned phrases and sentences about weather, food, jobs, and hobbies. For example, To ask "what is your hobby?" will be, “당신의 취미는 무엇입니까?” (Dang-sin-e chwi-mi-neun muos-sim-ni-kka) I would prefer to write free hand in my target language than to type because I am not very used to typing in my target language. Since I prefer to type than to write free hand in English, I think I will prefer to type than write free hand also in English when I get familiar with typing in Korean. I can see a definite difference between English and Korean in the structures of words, clauses, and sentences. Usually, in English, clauses or sentences will be formed with several words. In this case, words in those clauses or sentences usually do not change. Some articles, prepositions, or words are added. However, there are much more variations of words in forming clauses of sentences in Korean. When a word is used for a different role, it would have different suffixes. There could be an addition of articles, prepositions, or words, but usually, a suffix will be added to the word itself.

My plan for language learning has been changed ever since I started. Initially, I was planning to buy online authority courses on Korean in order to learn it in a standard way. However, after getting access to the course, memorizing of tremendous grammar rules as well as vocabulary overwhelmed me besides other classes’ homework. Therefore, I changed my strategy. I found my Korean friends and try to communicate with them. By learning through daily conversations, I found it much easier other than memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary. After learning basic linguistic knowledge on phenetics, I found it helpful to my learning of Korean words. By looking at the IPA templates, I can try to combine all those vowels to see what the result would be. The discussions really help me a lot in gathering ideas and insights into language learning. I look at others’ discussion posts often in order to find ideas different from mine which can also be beneficial to my objectives. For example, I once looked at Ethan’s post, and I found his personal experience learning Korean very interesting. I am trying to learn from his experience. In short, the learning plan influences my progress extensively as it always reminds me of my goal and necessity for refining my methods.

For this cultural post, I would like to cover Korea’s beauty culture. Under K-beauty, there are a lot of standards that Koreans have to follow to be appreciated and accepted by society. Some influential factors include the Korean media and plastic surgery. 

Some well-known physical features for women that Koreans have been emphasizing are having big eyes, pale skin, a small face, and an extremely thin body. This applies to guys, except that they need to be lean and tall. Overall, they value youthful appearances, which explains why K-pop idols are released at such a young age. These physical characteristics are used to judge someone and their lifestyle. For example, having a slim body meant that that person are not lazy and on track with life. 

I believe that the biggest influence on these traditional beauty standards comes from the media, particularly K-pop idols and actors. These idols have extreme features that "qualify" them for the beauty standards mentioned above. These celebrities would expose their harsh diet plans and exercise routines in the media, causing young fans to copy them. A famous strict diet challenge that used to trend in Korea was a celebrity IU’s diet. She used to only consume one apple, two sweet potatoes, and a protein powder per day. This negatively affected fans as it is very unhealthy and unsustainable. Fans viewing and following these idols start comparing themselves to them with their own physical features. It is quite saddening to see how this can lead to self-hatred and insecurities. But lately, Korea has been slowly changing these beliefs to embrace and highlight uniqueness over traditional beauty standards. I believe that this attitude has been influenced by other countries, like America, making society a more supportive and loving place. 

I came across this YouTube video on a Korean show called “Let Me In." Me-in means "beautiful woman" in Korean, so the title can also be interpreted as “let me become a me-in.” The show has multiple contestants who believe that their physical structures are in need of plastic surgery. The hosts and surgeons would determine, depending on their current status in life and their physical appearance, whether or not to give them a free makeover. It was shocking to see how plastic surgery is the main content of the show, criticizing one’s physical appearance. Also, it was saddening to see how the participants’ lives are considered “depressing” because of all the judgment from society. 

When I studied abroad in Korea, I could tell that there would be specific streets that were full of places for plastic surgery. Especially, in Gangnam, which is known to be a wealthy community, almost everyone had gotten plastic surgery. Unlike in America, plastic surgery is highly accepted, easily spotted, and associated with wealth. I am hoping to see changes in this harsh beauty standard culture that Korea holds and that people start embracing and supporting one another without judgment. 

Video

I have made great progress so far in my language learning. I have been able to do most of what I had planned so far. I am writing daily journals, reading short stories, memorizing new vocab, and watching lots of Korean content. However, I am lacking in the speaking portion of my language learning. I do speak with family over the phone in Korean from time to time but I don’t practice my speaking as much as I do with my reading, writing, and listening. Learning about a language's family and history has helped me a lot with Korean because it allows me to identify where the majority of Korean words come from which in turn allows me to connect words to their meanings. For example, in Korean, a lot of root words, prefixes and suffixes can be traced back to Chinese. After I recognized this I began to recognize the pattern in other words. Recognizing these root words, prefixes and suffixes has allowed me to quickly pick up new vocab or has helped me interpret words I don’t know in my readings. Also, knowing the history of a language has helped me understand Korea’s culture as a whole. Korea was largely impacted by the Chinese; therefore, there are a lot of similarities between Korean and Chinese culture. Daily exposure to Korean through writing, reading, and listening has helped me develop a “Korean brain”. This means that I am not translating everything in my head from English to Korean every time I write or speak. Instead, I am developing a brain that thinks in Korean. Thus, I only use words and grammar rules that I know so far. This makes life a bit more difficult when using Korean because it’s like I have the proficiency of a baby in Korean but when learning something new I do have to start off with baby steps. Something I can do to improve my communicative competence is by reading and listening to media that is produced in Korea for Koreans. This will help me pick up words, phrases, and slang used in the present day in Korean. Therefore, reading old children's stories isn’t always the best solution because they contain many words that are not used at all in the Korean language.

In this month’s cultural post, I wanted to explore marriage in China from the past and current policies in place and the pressure that young couples, especially females face regarding marriage. Marriage, in simple terms, is a union between two partners that formally recognizes their relationship with each other. Marriage in China has evolved over the course of many generations from being restrictive towards women to allowing women to freely choose their partners. However, there are many factors that play into marriage laws including the involvement of the Chinese government. In 1950, a marriage law was passed to abolish arranged marriages and guaranteed the right to free marriage. Thirty years later in 1980, another marriage law passed to forbid third parties from deciding the marriage decisions including family members or matchmakers. In other words, only the two partners in the relationship can decide if they want to get married or not. 

Between 1979 and 2015, the Chinese government created a family planning policy or popularly known as the “One Child” policy to suppress population growth. Under this policy, couples are restricted only to have one child per married couple, and more than one child would result in hefty fines. Because traditional Chinese culture favors males rather than females, as a result there are more males than females during this time. Favoring males over females is thought to arise from males being able to continue the family last name rather than females when they are married, they adopt their husband’s last name.

In 2015, the “One Child” policy ended as the government saw a decline in population growth, so by expanding the policy to two children per married couple, the hope is that this would boost the population growth. Giving birth and raising a child is extremely expensive, so many young newly wedded couples don’t have plans to have children, at least not for the near future. Additionally, more females are receiving higher education than in the past, so they are working their way up to positions as their male counterparts. Females are now more career oriented rather than wanting to get married at an early age and becoming a housewife. Therefore, they fear their position will be jeopardized if they go on maternity leave, which would cause the company they work for to find a replacement. Unfortunately, in recent years the state media and the government has pushed the concept of “剩女” （sheng nu) which translates to “leftover women” to pressure women to marrying earlier, which would subsequently make it more appropriate to have children. Those that are over the age of thirty and not married is considered a “剩女”. This concept greatly stigmatizes women that they are unfeminine if they are not married by the time they are thirty years old. 

Parents that are anxiously wanting their children to be married oftentimes seek relatives or matchmaking agencies to find the right partner for their children. Interestingly, matchmaking agencies or parents will post their children’s CV in parks or centers, often without their consent, in hopes to attract any interested partners. This CV would include information such as yearly income and number of cars or homes they own. This appears quite materialistic, but the main purpose is to let the other person gauge how wealthy the owner of the CV is. However, some could manipulate the system and post whatever that makes them look attractive leading to many lies and scams. It is uncertain what the future may have for young adults that are not looking to get married, but one thing is certain is that marriage in China became a decision between the two partners rather than become restrictive in the past. Even though there is free-choice marriage, many adults do seek permission and advice from their parents as filial piety is a big part of Chinese culture.

Sources:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_in_modern_China#:~:text=The%20age%20requirement%20for%20marriage,state%20support%20of%20marriage%20at

Right now I am writing daily journals. In these daily journals, I start off by stating the date and the time. Then I write a sentence or two about the weather. Then I write a few sentences about what I ate. And lastly, I write a sentence or two about something I did that day. I am also reading short stories from a book I bought. These stories are only a paragraph long, each about a topic such as cooking or going to the movies. I underline words and grammar I don’t know and take the time to reread the sentence until it becomes a little more coherent. I am still learning new vocabulary. I am learning at least one hundred vocab words in specific topics. For example, this week my vocab words are adjectives so I will learn a hundred or more adjectives before moving on to a different topic like verbs or cooking. Also, for listening practice, I am watching Korean dramas and also watching Korean videos on social media. My goal for writing is to be able to expand upon more about the topic I am already writing about. For example, instead of saying what I ate, I wasn't able to describe how it tasted. Also, I would like to be able to write about different topics than the weather and food. My goal for reading is to be able to re-read the old stories I read in my book and understand them without having to look up certain words and grammar. My language partner helps me find vocab that is necessary for my learning. Also, she also helps explain sentence structures that I come across in my reading so that it makes more sense to me. Also, she checks over my daily journals and corrects them if it’s wrong or she changes my sentences to sound more natural. One strategy I use for my writing practice is repetition. When I come across a word I don’t know or a grammar rule I don’t understand. I make sure to include it in my writing every day until it becomes clearer. Then I ease off of the word or grammar rule and only use it every now and then. One strategy I use for reading is to break a sentence down word by word. I do this with sentences I don’t understand. Taking a step back to understand each word helps me understand the writing as a whole. Taking small steps into my reading helps me efficiently understand what I am reading. By writing every day my language skills get stronger because not only am I remembering vocab better I also am getting used to the Korean language structure. By reading every day I am exposed to vocab I have learned and new vocab that is relevant to me. Also, reading allows me to see what native Korean actually looks like in written form, so this helps me with my writing and helps me with my speaking because being able to visualize what I want to say helps me speak more coherently. Taking small steps and repetition is definitely key to learning anything and I will continue to apply these methods to new vocab words, grammar rules, and other important parts of Korean I need to learn.

In learning Korean, I think I have done a pretty decent job of sticking with my original learning plan. However, I didn’t anticipate how much I enjoy learning the Korean roots, let alone seeing their contemporary applications in everyday language. Hanja sees its vestiges ubiquitous in the Korean language, and this alone has improved my vocabulary, a divergent from my learning plan that was so reliant on the circumlocutions–– a welcomed change in arrangement, in my opinion. This permits more efficient interactions with others, which is also the main function I hope to tackle in my competence. A phatic function makes sense for me since I am a Korean surrounded by other Koreans, and this relates back to discussions on language’s connection with culture. Honorifics are a major part of the Korean language, an effect of the highly structured social conventions in the culture, and as someone who speaks to adults very frequently by virtue of my social relationships, being able to carry a conversation with them is seen as a sign of reverence. Ultimately, I hope to continue a CLT-type approach to my language learning as outlined in the chapter. Actually using Korean, rather than studying it works wonders for me, and I think language learning is akin to the “getting the ball rolling” adage–– using it only becomes easier as one uses it more. 

Discussion Post #7

David Kim

30262888

david.kim123@richmond.edu

Overall, I learned much more about my target language and culture than I expected. My language learning process is slightly different from how I planned, but I could see some progress. As I mentioned in my learning plan, I wanted to study Korean literature, especially poems. For several reasons, I chose Yun Dong-ju’s poems. First of all, he is one of the famous Korean poets that represent Korea. Also, I thought it would be more meaningful if I could read poems that were written during the Japanese Colonial Era. I was hoping to not only learn more about the Korean language itself but also about one of the significant Korean historical periods. Discussion about the phonetic inventory was interesting to me. I always thought about how I translate words, phrases, or sentences into English or Korean. I realized that I do not really think about how their pronunciation or phonetic inventory was different. As I wrote in “Discussion Post #5” about communicative competence, sociolinguistic competence is the most emphasized one in my plan. Since I already know a lot of other factors of communicative competence in Korean, I thought it would be great to improve in the most complicated aspect. I hope to experience and show improvements in learning my target language and understanding my target culture.

Compared to my presentation of my learning plan, I believe that my learning has been on track with what I originally intended to focus on. I have also been using most of the sources I mentioned in the presentation. However, some changes include that I depend more on some of the learning platforms to make my learning journey more engaging with my personal interests, convenience, and lacking areas. For example, most of the broadcasting news, cultural education, and social interactions were on YouTube or Naver instead of the actual news platforms (SBS, KBS).

The biggest change from when I first started learning is the way I view learning about Korea and Korean. Before, I focused mainly on the organizational competence of the language. However, I started realizing that pragmatic competence is as important and that I can benefit from both to become fluent. I also started noticing the variety of structures that Korean has, such as the pitch, styles, and even nonverbal communication skills. The influences of other languages have also been catching my attention, making my understanding of the language deeper. 

Relating to the influences of other languages, the changes in Korean are highly correlated with the culture. As the language changes, the surrounding cultures of Korea have also changed a lot. For example, Koreans have been using a lot more slang and abbreviations as society values more of a convenient and fast-paced lifestyle.