Reflecting on my self-learning of Korean this semester,both good and not so good results come out. I have done a good job in keeping myself exposed to the cultural background by watching Korean TV shows and dramas, talking with my Korean friends, reading Korean news, and going to Korean restaurants very often. By doing so, I have gained a great amount of knowledge in Korean food culture, family culture, military service culture, even dating culture. I now have many topics to talk about with my Korean friends and could understand their behaviors and history better. However, one of the biggest disadvantage of self learning is the lack of practice in speaking and writing. Although I could now recognize many Korean vocabularies, I forget how to write certain words from time to time. It is also difficult for me to know if my pronunciation is correct as it is impossible for me to show my records to my Korean friends all the time. Another thing I need to improve for future learning is that I did not learn Korean in a systematic way. Although my learning focus is on Korean food, it greatly varied depending on what I watched and read that day. I think I need to have a specific plan, at least a topic for learning each week next semester so that I could keep track of my learning more effectively.
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The two articles talked about how and why bilinguals were considered smarter. As it was mentioned in "Why Bilinguals are Smarter", being bilingual can have a profound effect on the brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age. Similar points were also mentioned in "Are Bilinguals smarter?" that the executive function in the bilinguals' brains were strengthened, which can help people do a lot of things that may make them seem smarter, such as doing more things at once and canceling out distractions. From my perspective, saying another language would not necessarily make people more intelligent, but will structure their brains in a different way which will help them react faster from changes i, making them easier to fit in a new environment. However, as somebody who can speak two languages fluently, I don't think I am a bilingual because I was not raised under the second language environment and my brain had already used to think and express in Chinese. In my opinion, the 7-11 is the most important time for language and brain development. After that time, even if you are continuously exposed to the new language environment, your way of thinking and structure of your expression would not change too much. This is to say, although I could still improve my English in terms of pronunciations, grammars, and fluency, my brain would not be able to improve the so-called executive function because it had already shaped for a long time.
I have learned most of the Korean vocabularies by watching the youtube show Korean Englishmen and eating out in Korean restaurants. While the youtube show mainly discussed about the food culture in Korea and would introduce a typical Korean food each time, I have gained some knowledge of both the pronunciation and the writing of the food names. I have written down all the food names it mentioned in the show and tried to locate them in the menu when I went to Korean restaurants. I believe that the best way to memorize the vocabularies is to use them in real life, and I now know how to read and write Korean food names like 김치 (Kimchi), 라면 (instant noodles), 떡볶이 (Fried rice cake), 비빔밥(Bibimbap), 빙수(Smoothies); and am able to recognize vocabularies including, 삼계탕(boiled chicken soup), 간장게장 (soy sauce crab), 해장국(hangover stew), 추어탕(mudfish soup), 짜장면(Jjajangmyeon ), etc.
Because I have the same language partner as I did last semester, it has fortunately been an easy transition into this semester. Last semester, the focus was for me to be able to improve on my speaking ability and my confidence level while speaking Korean, my vocabulary so that I can comprehend more difficult conversations/readings, as well as my writing level. While I made progress last semester, my goals were not something that can be achieved on a period of 4 months. Therefore, for the most part my goals have stayed consistent from last semester. Because it took a few weeks to get assigned to our language partner, I have only met with my language partner once. An area we decided to discuss more this semester compared to the last is culture. Because I took SDLC 105 in the fall along with 110, I was able to get both without really having to discuss it with my language partner. However, now that I am only taking 111, I feel like discussing culture as well as learning the language will be beneficial.
During our first meeting, the main topic we discussed was Korean superstitions. Growing up, I remember my grandma telling me about a few of them such as that if you slept with a fan on you would die, or that if you dreamt about a pig, it means that you will get money. With my language partner, I was able to learn about a few more of them like if there is a bird in your home, it means somebody in your family will die, or that the number 4, shaking your legs, or writing your name in red is bad luck. I know from experience that many Koreans strongly believe in superstitions, as well as fortune telling. I thought this was an interesting insight into the Korean culture, and enjoyed learning more about them.
In addition to learning more about the culture, I also read a news article with my language partner. The article we read was about depression and its symptoms and what you can do to overcome it. The vocabulary in the article was difficult, therefore it took quite a while to read out loud and get through. However, it was a good chance for me to learn some vocabulary - especially some medical terminology, and read about a heavier topic. Getting immediate response from my language partner on vocabulary I didn't know was very helpful. In addition, just reading Korean out loud helps me in that Korean can sometimes be hard to read out loud because it is so different from English. This is something we plan to continue for the rest of the semester, and I think it will be extremely helpful in getting me towards my goal.
One of the topics I wanted to learn more about was Korean food. Recently, I've noticed that fusion seems to be a huge thing in Korea - and there is so much more to Korean food than Korean BBQ and Kimchi. I wanted to explore how the cuisine has evolved, and did a little research on the internet.
One of the articles I read discussed two Korean Americans who opened up a Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant in Seoul. The owner states that as a child, he had a lot of Korean BBQ items in his fridge, and would often throw these items in a tortilla and make himself a taco without thinking of it as "fusion." Then he simply took what he used to eat often as a child and turned it into a menu for his restaurant.
He also said that there was a time where "gyopos" who are Koreans who grew up abroad were not fully accepted into the Korean culture because they had different cultural backgrounds or sometimes because they could not speak Korean or spoke with an accent. This situation was made even worse because gypos were also often not accepted in the countries they lived in because of different looks, origins, etc. However, thanks to Korean dishes with foreign influences, gypos are becoming more accepted as Korean fusion continues to expand into the food and beverage market.
I know from outside this article that Korean fusion food - especially Korean-Mexican is becoming increasingly common. I see it at food trucks, the frozen food isle, many restaurants, etc. Compared to other types of Asian foods like Chinese or Japanese, I feel like Korean food has always been much less known throughout the world. Thanks to fusion items which are becoming common in the US, people are becoming much more aware of Korean cuisine and therefore Korean culture.
It was interesting to see that just the expansion of Korean fusion can make a new culture in both Korea and foreign countries such as the US. It definitely helped me see the importance of food in culture and what impact it can have even abroad in other countries.
So far, Ziad and I have covered a range of topics. We have covered directions, time, days and dates, business transactions. The effectiveness of the learning plan can be assessed by the following anecdote. I often listen to Ziad Skype with his family back home. I once caught him lying to his father on how he prays five times a day and how he only eats halal food. I could not stop giggling in the background while he lied so masterfully.
The lack of formality helps me learn the best. I often just ask him to start explaining the menu at a restaurant in Siraki or translate a few phrases that I wish to know. This kind of lack of rigidity allows me to learn what I want at a pace I want. I feel by merely continuing at this pace I can achieve my set goals for the semester.
Second Artifact:
Hadi is the vendor and Ziad comes to Hadi's shop to purchase a bulli
Hadi: G janab. Tuke ghinar aeein
Ziad: meku bulli khappe
Hadi: Tu sahi jagahch aeein. Mein ghareen qismaan de bulli aooo bamboo khape taan
Ziad: tu kkieen qimat de khappe daan
Hadi: Toon ki khappe
Ziad: meku tri inch di bulli khappe kyun ke meri zaal(biwi) di tri inch gehri hai
Hadi: Mekan sona da chandni da aoon tamba da de bullian hain. Meku lagde pya ke tekan eda paisa naan
te picha metu qangi phi de sagdein
Ziad: Tu meku paisa bata, mein zaroorat mand da aoon. apni maan khappa bhi ghin churian sa
Hadi: mein bhi zaroorat mand da aoon. Khair sona vi rupa kilo, chandni dah ropa kilo, tamba du rupa ilo aoon khira muft.
Ziad: hur jo bakra eid aadhi pai hai, meku lagde pya, keh meri maa hazar rupyach khappe vaise. picha meku dah kilo, sona di bulli de. Meku tri inch de purza khappan
Hadi: g yeh lo
Ziad: baihat shukria
Hadi: Salam alikum
Ziad: sath sriya kaar
This week, I came studied about the Hurs. The first Saint of Pagaro or Pir Pagaro declared his people to be "Hurs" or Free from the British in 1868. The Hurs, residing in the desert areas along the Indo-Pak border are a fiercely independent tribe. Their strategically important location, warrior-like culture and understanding of the desert proved pivotal during the war of 1965. Facing a major shortage of troops as most of them were being deployed up north in the Kashmir and Sialkot sector, the Pakistan Army turned to locals for help. They asked Pir Pagaro for help. The Pir called on his followers who answered the call. 65,000 Hurs joined the Pakistan Army and were absolutely pivotal in blunting enemy advances into Pakistan. Even though they were lightly armed and trained, their knowledge of the desert improved useful. They went on to capture famous Kishanghar Fort that is 500 km inside enemy Territory.
Learning Journal:
According to Ziad I need to improve on particular pronunciations. Urdu does not have a lot of the sounds that Siraiki does. This means that when words with those sounds come up I mess up. He said I was correctly placing the words together. What was lacked was a good Siriaki accent. He also said that if I were to be in his village and would attempt to converse with a local, that I would get my point across. However, the other person would know that I was an outsider, even a Gora (Term for old colonial masters of India).
Learning Plan:
The following items are what I wish to cover the course of this semester:
1. Give directions
2. Discuss the politics of a country
3. Give instructions on cooking
4. I can ask for and provide descriptions of places I would like to visit.
BI-Weekly Report:
Siraiki 2016
front Aguon
back poyuun
left khaba
right sidha
sidha chal sidha hal
Oopar mathe
neecha hate
forward akte
backward poyte
samne samoon
yahaan se mein kaisa jaoon
iddoon mein kiyaan wana
Room to Dhal
Pehla kamre se bahir jaon
Akch toon kamre choon nikal
yaahn se left ho jao
idoo tu khabe hath wan
lakeview se bahir jao
lakeviewichoon bahir nikal
uskebaad neecha jao
picha hate wan
lake ke sath sath chalo
jheel nal gadh gadh hal
commons se right ho jao
comons kan sidha hath halyaan wal
aur age dhal aa jae ga
aoon teda samoon dhal hosi
Directons:
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First Bi-weekly post:
This Ziad and I explored the concepts of Peers in Sindh. I had hoped to learn new and interesting facts about this phenomenon in Pakistan. Hailing from the province itself, Ziad had many interesting stories to offer. He told me how in the city of Karachi, the financial capital of the country, never prepares for any of the cyclones that hits its shores. No public emergency services are put on high alert, no hospitals are made ready to receive the effected and no state of emergency is ever declared. This is because a vast chunk of the population believes that the tomb of the saint Abdullah Shah Ghazi will protect them from their wrath. Interestingly enough, none of the cyclones have ever reached the shores of the city but have dispersed miles from the shores. So far belief Abdullah Ghazi has proved fruitful. Ziad and I surfed the internet for more information and we realized the he had a large online following for a deceased Sindhi saint. He even had his own website AbdullahShahGhazi.com.
Ziad and I also made some progress regarding Siraiki itself. I learnt directions in the language and learnt how to guide a traveler from my dorm room to the dining hall. What frustrates me sometimes was the fact that I was unable to fully imitate Ziad's accent for certain words. He kept on asking me repeat the word a certain way even though I was unable to hear the difference between what he was saying and what I was saying.
The Siraiki people form a subunit of a greater group of people called the Sindhis. Centuries of living side by side has allowed the two cultures to intermingle and seep into one another to such a degree that two might be indistinguishable to the naked eye. These people reside along the desert and have played an enormously important role through out the history of Pakistan. There ability to live and traverse in the desert and their strategic location at the easter border of Pakistan was pivotal during the war of 1965. The reason for their intense resolve to defend the border did not stem from patriotic inclinations, but from religious obligation to their Pir. A Pir is a living saint and is imbued with religious authority. They have large number of followers who are willing to do anything at the Pir's orders. I want to study the culture of Pirs amongst the Sindhi people. I will use my language partner as a primary source and will be looking for resources online. By studying more about this topic, I would be able to better understand the politics and policies of Sindh that define modern Pakistan.
The topic for my cultural project will be Greek communities outside of Greece and their influence on the local society and culture. Several Greek diasporas have caused large Greek populations to establish their own communities in countries all over the world. I, myself, am a product of the latest Greek diaspora caused by the current economic crisis, so a project on the cultural impact of Greeks abroad would be very interesting both to the class and to me. My main learning goal for the topic are to learn basic words used in the different Greek communities that are unique to those communities. For example, Greeks that have a heritage or live in Constantinople are called "Polites," which means 'citizens of the City.' Another goal is to enhance my cultural understanding of Greek communities abroad. This project will allow me to further understand Greeks in New York, Australia, and the Middle East and look at how Greeks have influenced locals and have been influenced by the locals in their way of life.
Because I lived in Korea until I was about 10 years old, I feel that I have a pretty good idea of the general Korean culture. However, because I moved here at a young age, I don't have as great of knowledge when it comes to the culture of people my age. I also don't have a lot of Korean friends, so I'm not really sure on the lifestyle of Korean students my age. Last semester, I presented about the student lifestyle in Korea for my culture project. While I learned a lot while researching, only so much could fit into my project, and I felt that there was a lot for me to learn. Therefore, this is a cultural topic I'd like to focus on this semester.
Second, another cultural topic I'd like to learn more about is on Korean food. I know about the basic Korean dishes, but I'd like to know more about traditional Korean food, or how their cuisine has developed over time. I know recently, Korean fusion has become a bigger concept, and I'd like to learn more about how that has developed. I think my main mode of learning about these two topics will be through internet research - such as through articles or YouTube videos. I can also interview Korean students who would probably have a good idea on these topics.
Through these topics, I feel that I will gain a better grasp on the Korean culture - specifically on the younger generation. For example with food, I know the Korean cuisine, and the etiquette that comes with it is a huge part of Korean culture and is what makes them unique. I feel that this would give me a good insight into the culture, and and their main beliefs.
With what I learned last semester, I would say that my Korean level is about intermediate. Continuing on from last semester, my goals for the next few months is basically to continue what I learned last semester. Because Korean is my first language, I am somewhat able to understand basic conversations and read basic passages. What I do have problems with is speaking in general, writing, or reading in context that goes beyond what is discussed in daily life. This is something that I started to work on last semester. While I did improve, I feel that these are skills which needs more than 4 months. I am hoping that by working with my language partner this semester, my skills will continue to improve. As we started to last semester, we will continue to read more challenging articles and speak about topics which discuss more difficult topics.
Interpersonal communication remains one of my focus points for this class, as it was last semester, as it is still an area which needs more work. My reasoning for taking this class is to be more knowledgeable in my first language, and be able to use it comfortably. Therefore, interpersonal communication is obviously an area which needs focus. I can generally understand most of what someone is saying as long as the vocabulary remains somewhat basic. However, it still takes a little more time for me when I try to say the same things. I sometimes have problems with coming up with the vocabulary or saying my sentences in the correct grammatical structure. This becomes a much bigger area to work on when it comes to discussing things like current events. The main issue seems to be my lack of knowledge in higher-level vocabulary. By studying on my own as well as conversing weekly with my language partner, I feel that I will be able to continue to improve in these areas.
Listening: As it was last semester, this is probably the area I am most comfortable with. While the issue with my lack of knowledge in vocabulary sometimes causes issues while listening, I can generally use context clues to get the general idea of most conversations. However, this becomes more difficult when watching the news because they generally speak in monotone and use difficult vocabulary. Because of this, I have been watching news clips as a part of my learning plan since last semester. By doing this alone and with my language partner, I hope to continue in this area as well.
Writing: This is probably the most difficult area for me, as it requires me to come up with vocabulary on my own, as well as knowledge on spelling. For me, the most difficult part of Korean is spelling, as there are numerous ways to write something that sounds exactly the same. I think this just requires more hands-on practice, and thus is something I have been working on since SDLC 110. Last semester, my language partner had me write a paragraph on various topics and he would correct me on my mistakes. I feel that this helped me a lot as I was able to practice writing and get immediate response. Since this was very useful, I plan to do this during this semester as well.
Reading: Generally, I can read anything in Korean although I may stutter or read slowly compared to as I would in English. However, sometimes because I'm focusing on reading out loud and my pronunciation, it becomes more difficult for me to comprehend what I have just read. I think this also takes more practice and will improve over time. Therefore, I will continue to read out loud news articles in order to practice this skill.
Sequioa%20Roscoe%20SDLC%20110%20Cultural%20Presentation-%20Drinking%20Culture%20in%20Korea.pptx
For my cultural project, I discussed the drinking culture in South Korea. I was quite curious about this because I watch many Korean dramas and usually in offices and in the workplace in order for co-workers to get to know each other better, they may go out for drinks. I had the chance to find out the history of drinking in South Korea and how it initially started out as only drinking for special occasions, such as the time for harvest or to celebrate the new year. For me, since I do not drink, I wondered what if there are people similar to me who do not drink, what do they do in these types of situations. I found out that there are many alternatives to drinking with coworkers. One alternative is to accept a drink if you are offered one and just take sips from it throughout the entire night or just let it sit to the side. The good thing about drinking with coworkers is that you all can discuss problems that you may be having at work and just find a sense of relief when talking to others who can relate to what you’re going through.
I love reading and writing in Hangeul! Actually, in my earlier posts, I mentioned that I thought I’d focus on speaking the most for the sake of time, but then I realized that learning Hangeul was essential for my pronunciation too. And so, I learned to read and write in Hangeul and enjoyed it because it made my lessons a lot more holistic. After learning Hangeul, I was able to pronounce unfamiliar Korean words, and I got excited because that was one of my learning goals! The sound change rules are still a bit tricky though when I try to write the characters just based on pronunciation, so I think I’ll just have to memorize the characters that involve sound changes. If you haven’t noticed already from my older posts, I really advocate holistic learning so I appreciate that my KMS book includes audio with its lessons. Overall, I really like writing and reading in Hangeul because I think it helps me learn the word pronunciation more accurately. I guess I could just romanize the words if I were only learning to speak, but I feel like that would open too much room for pronunciation error that would accumulate overtime, which wouldn’t be productive. So, I decided to start from square one.
It took a surprisingly short amount of time, maybe a couple hours, to learn the Hangeul alphabet. The KMS book was designed so that I had to learn Hangeul before doing the lessons (because they were all written in Hangeul with no romanization), so I had no choice if I were going to follow the book. But now I’m thankful for knowing Hangeul, because it has definitely helped with my language study throughout.
In response to the “Why bilinguals are smarter” and “Are bilinguals really smarter?” readings:
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about this “bilinguals are smarter” idea. Of course, the media always tends to twist the wording in their titles a bit to draw people’s attention, but essentially the idea is that learning an additional language helps the brain improve and acquire certain executive functions, and the ability to exercise these functions is considered a “smart skill.” But, intelligence has always been subjective. Most people might see learning multiple languages as a good thing, but I can see some possible drawbacks, such as lack of depth in any one particular language. For example, bilinguals generally know more vocabulary overall, but for each individual language they may know fewer words than average. It’s the same idea as doing many things mediocrely or doing a few things excellently. Of course, it’s possible to be fluent at many languages, but it’ll take time and the learner has to decide whether or not they are willing to input the time to learning the new language and what they are willing to sacrifice. Time spent learning a new language is time not spent reviewing your old language. It may also be best if he does not take up additional languages besides that one language, so that he doesn’t increase the ‘distraction’ while trying to master that one foreign language. But, this then begs the question ‘is it practical to learn any single language in depth?’ Personally, I’m a very practical person so sometimes I feel that as long as I can communicate and get my message across, it’s good enough. But then there’s something called the human ego that drives our desire to be proficient in everything we do. Learning the language in depth also shows your appreciation for the language’s culture. But, there are definitely some advantages to being monolingual too, so it’s not really a matter of who’s smarter than whom. In the end, it really depends on the individual, what their goals are in life, and whether language acquisition is a priority for them.
My learning goals for this week are to keep learning my survival language because I will be going to Korea next month from May 9th until May 25th, so I would like to use as much of the language that I know. I do not want to go there and speak English all the time, but I want to be not ashamed if I pronounce something incorrectly, but as long as I know that I’m trying, that’s all that matters to me. By survival, I mean asking for directions, asking about prices, operating the subway system, and ordering food.
I like to sing a lot, especially sad songs. Since I am a big fan of Korean ballads, which are usually sad songs about love, but they can be happy sometimes, I decided to do a cover of the song "It's Okay, That's Love", by Davichi, from the Korean drama "It's Okay, That's Love". Davichi is a Korean ballad duo comprised of Lee Haeri and Kang Minkyung.
For the third artifact, I decided to write about my family! They are just simple sentences, but I did my best
저는 엄마와 오빠가 있습니다. 제 오빠는 29살입니다. 우리는 7살 차이가 납니다. 제 할아버지와 할머니는 두 분다 돌아가셨습니다. 저희 가족 구성원은 많지 않지만 서로 정말 사랑합니다.
This basically translates into the following
I have a mom and an older brother. My older brother is 29 years old. We have a 7 year age difference. My grandfather and grandmother have both died. My family may be small, but we really love each other.
