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My second cultural post will be on Korean idioms and proverbs. This will also be my topic for the cultural presentation.

I personally find idioms and expressions very interesting, fun, and profound. When I was learning about Korean idioms and expressions, it was sometimes difficult for me to translate them into English due to cultural and historical differences between Western countries and Asian countries, like Korea. However, to my surprise, there were many Korean idioms and expressions with a Western/English equivalent.

For example, there's a Korean idiom, "제 눈에 안경이다," which literally translates to glasses in the eyes. This idiom is used to suggest that the way people see beauty is different (glasses we see with are all different). This is somewhat equivalent to the English idiom/saying “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

The Korean idiom of “꿩 먹고 알 먹는다” literally translates to “If you eat a pheasant, you also eat the egg.” This expression is used to describe a situation when you get two benefits at the same time from one action. This is equivalent to the English expression “Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.”

The Korean proverb of “뜻이 있는 곳에 길이 있다” literally translates to “In the place there is a will, there is a way,” which is equivalent to the English expression of “where there’s a will,there’s a way.” Both expressions is used to describe situations where if one is determined, even through hardships and difficulties, they will find a way to achieve their goal.

The Korean proverb of “누워서 떡 먹기” directly translates into “Eating rice cake while laying down.” This expression is extremely similar to the English idiom of “A piece of cake,” which is used to express how easy something is.

Lastly, the Korean proverb,“남의 떡이 커보인다” which directly translates to “another person’s rice cake looks bigger,” is used to describe envy and when people are never satisfied with their own situation and think others have it better. This is very similar to “The grass is always greener on the other side.”

During the first week, we learned about the different holidays in Korea. I learned about Korea's Independence Day (Samiljil), Memorial Day (Hyunchoongil), Constitution day (JaeHunJul), and the day Korea was founded (GaeChunJul), which translates to the day heavens opened. While learning about the different holidays, I learned vocabulary words specific to these holidays and and also learned some basic Korean history as well and we talked about how Koreans celebrate these certain holidays.

I also learned how to say biblical terms in Korean. Joora and I went over the Lord's Prayer in Korean and I learned new vocabulary words. Because I knew the Lord's Prayer in English, it was easier for me to define the words in Korean, but it was interesting because many of the words were specific to the bible. For example, the word forgive in Korean is yong-seo, but in a biblical context, it could also be sa-ha-da. 

First Artifact:  Greetings, farewells, introductions

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This is a short introduction of myself. The content is as below:

HI

This is Yuchi.Wu.

Although I am Taiwanese, I came to America as an exchange student.

I am 23 years old and also a senior now.

This semester is my last semester in the college.

I will graduate in Taiwan this June.

I think I have made a lot of good memories in the U of R.

It will be great if I can come to U.S again next year.

• Post your fifth bi-weekly report on your language-learning activities.

This week we learned how to say different occupations. We learned both how to read and some of these occupations below. 

Nurse (Kan ho sa)

Office worker ( huei sa wan)

Hairdresser (mi yong sa)

Singer (ga su)

Novelist (so sa ka)

Police Officer (geong jal kuan)

fireman (so bang guan)

cook (yo li sa)

street cleaner (huan guang mi hua won)

painter (hua ga)

doctor (eui sa)

housewife (chu bu)

sportsman (eung dong sang chu)

Also, learned the proper way to say different family members in Korean. This was a lot easier because I have already heard a lot of these words from friends talking to their family or upperclassmen. 

The video “Culture Shock” relates to my own experience as an international student at UR.  In terms of greeting, in my culture we ask people if they have eaten yet as a way of greeting, and we do not actually respect a long and real answer to that. It is similar to English greeting of “how are you” and people don’t really mean to ask your feeling.  They are both just ways of say hello.  Also, culture does not only reflect on words but actions and activities.  In US, people like to keep distance in public and feel uncomfortable when others get too close to them.  However, I grew up in a urban city in China where is always crowded and busy.  People are backed in subway going to school/work.  I am used to have no personal space in the public.  I learned to respect others’ private spaces when I came to US.  I can relate lots of things with culture shock because I used to experience it all the time.  Once I got used to the culture, I felt more comfortable and less worry about offending people unintentionally. 

My second artifact is about asking a person whether he/she has time. I used an formal tone.

The conversation goes like this:

Q:Do you have time today? 

A:I do not have time

Q: Do you have time tomorrow?

A: No. I don't have time tomorrow. 

Q: When do you have time then?

A: Sorry, I'm very busy

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For my second artifact, it was a dialogue regarding response to a question on preference of coffee. We learn how to answer do you like coffee and how to respond to you don't like coffee? So depending on the way the question is asked we learned how to respond in both situations. 

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SDLC 110 Learning Journal #5

For this week, my first artifact involves gretting, an introduction of myself, including my name, age, job, where I was born, nationality, hobby, where I live, finally farewell.  My language partner Minkyung helped me to structure the sentences. I think at this stage I am just remembering the sentences without actually knowing about the sentence structure. However, I am able to speak at a moderate pace to greet, introduce my self, and say goodbye.  

As for my goals for week 4 and 5, I pretty much met my goals because I constantly practiced Hangul as well as learning new words. I also practiced simple dialogue with my classmates. I gradually realizing some patterns in the pronunciation and am getting better at it.  

History is so important to language. History is why languages persist, why they die, and why we study what we study. I think that the entirety of academia is based on history; whether it be an historical accomplishment such as a mathematical theorem, a piece of literature, or a work of art. In this way, there is a sort of language to every subject. Language in its purest form of communication, spoken and written word is instrumental in life and is one of the qualities that makes us human, separating us from other living creatures and other mammals.

Our history as a species has evolved and with that evolution has come a progression of the ways in which we communicate with each other. Language has caused war, peace, and everything in between. It is arguable the reason for the divisions of territories and how countries have established a set a values and beliefs that shape their culture. A person's first language is responsible for lending a basis for meaning for everything that someone learns. You listen and interpret everything around you based on what you already know, so it makes sense that different people have different interpretations of texts, art, and situations just because of the nature of their first language.

Unfortunately, we did not learn telling time, although we do know the word of clock/watch: "saat".

I have learned a game to learn the numbers, in which we go around the room and count upwards, but every time there is a number that is a multiple of 3 or contains a 3, we clap. It makes us pay attention to the number that came before and it makes you think about the number you are about to say instead of automatically saying what comes next. We have found it extremely effective in learning the numbers.

Progress: I am very pleased with how I am learning. I am impressed that I have actually been able to speak to my friend in Turkish. Of course it is basic, but he understands what I am saying without difficulty. I will keep my learning plan as is because I think we are covering all the bases, but maybe a little out of order or a little slower than I anticipated.

• Third Artifact:  Document a learning task that you have completed.

Dialogues: 

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We continued to learn the rest of the Korean Hangul. We learned the consonants, vowels, and monophthongs. We learned how to combine it to form an actual Korean word. It was very hard to see and understand how combining the different parts of a vowel and consonant would make what sound. Also, it was hard to understand how sometimes parts of the consonants were not pronounced but when alone it had it before. In addition, there were also a lot of parts to remember and it was hard to remember both how to write and the sounding of the word. 

It is important to know the history of a language in order to fully understand why certain rules governing the language exist. A large proportion of language learning requires memorization, but having a background in a language's history allows this process to be a bit smoother. A language like Spanish has many cognates similar to English words, but for those words that are different it definitely helps to know where they originate from. It is especially important to know why grammar rules are the way they are, since grammar is responsible for the structure of the language itself. Language learning can be daunting, but understanding a language's history can make it more manageable. 

In order to know about the structure of Korean, I should learn at least three things: phoneme, semantic, and syntax. From my previous experience of English learning, I figure out the way to learn the structure of a language is to start from the smallest element. I should first learn the phoneme, which would be the alphabets in English, so that I can read. Then, I try to form the letters into words and understand what each word means. Lastly, I will learn about the order and arrangement of those words. When I finish this process, I’ll get the whole structure of Korean. In accomplishing this process, a reference grammar is definitely a useful tool for me although it might not be useful for kids. Kids, with undeveloped language system, can acquire a language through listening and speaking. However, for adults who have already formed a language system in their brains, mother tough can significantly influence the process of learning a new language. Therefore, a reference grammar is especially important. For instance, when I learn English, I have to use a reference grammar to understand tense because tense does not exist in Chinese. For Korean, a reference grammar will be equally important because Korean is a subject-object-verb language, which is different from Chinese. If I do not learn grammar, I will know only the pronunciation and the meaning of each word but the meaning of the sentence. 

• Post your fourth bi-weekly report on your language-learning activities.

We continued working on dialogues. We learned a conversation that would happen on the metro. Especially in Asian countries specifically Korea, there is a hierarchy and respect for elders, pregnant women, and handicapped individuals. So, we learned a conversation similar to that. In addition, we also learned a dialogue in running or recognizing the wrong person. We also reviewed our old dialogues of greetings. 

For now, I have learned the basic syllables, and I am working on the memorization of them since they are the key for reading Korean. Also, I have learned several daily expressions such as “what’s your name”. I remember the music video showed in class: the repetition of one phrase helps me master it quickly. At this point, I have not felt the impact of Korean culture on my language learning process because I am still at the beginning level.

However, I believe the culture will play a major role in my future Korean study since the language is the vehicle for the culture. In my Korean study, I experience the relationship between the language and the culture in two particular respects. At first, Korea values collectivism. In the past, Korea was invaded by several countries; therefore, Koreans deeply understand the power of unity. In traditional Korean houses, rooms are separated by wall dividers instead of actual walls because Koreans believe that the house is shared by the whole family. Also, all the people in the country speak Korean. Although there are dialects, they are so similar that people can easily understand each other. As a result, this advocacy of collectivism has influenced the language. Koreans tend to say “our” and “us” even what they are trying to say is only about the individual. For instance, they would say “our mother” and “our family” instead of “my mother” and “my family. The group is superior to the individual. Moreover, the use of honorifics also reflects the relationship between understanding Korean and the Korean culture. Besides collectivism, Koreans value Confucianism, which emphasizes seniority rules and filial piety. Hence, when Koreans meet each other at the first time, they might ask some private questions such as age and job. It seems to be a rude action; in fact, it turns out to be the opposite. Koreans hope to decide from this information whether they need to use honorifics.  

In order to improve my communicative competence, I need to delve into the culture. I figure out two ways to accomplish this goal: through Korean drama and social network services. Although I am currently learning alphabets, it is not too early for me to watch Korean dramas. In my opinion, the point of watching Korean drama is not to understand what the characters are saying but to feel the tone of native speakers. From my English learning experiences, I realized that many Chinese do not sound native while speaking English even they are fluent and can talk without accent. Because tone is also a part of language, I believe listening to native speakers will enhance my understanding of Korean in my future study. Secondly, social network is also a great tool to effectively learn Korean. As network and information sharing rapidly develop, people enjoy discussing popular topics online. In the discussion, the language is evolving. For instance, people might start using the opposite meaning of a word for irony. At the same time, new words that cannot be found in dictionary might be created from popular topics.

In conclusion, understanding the culture is essential for learning a language; therefore, delving into the culture and history is equally important as memorizing vocabularies and grammars. Accomplishing this process through entertainments can be more effective and efficient.

SDLC 110 Learning Journal 4

For this week, I continued to practice pronouncing words by combining Hangul.  This became my weekly routine because it is so fundamental to my learning.  I also learned a set of animals words in class including horangi -호랑이(tiger), goyangi-고양이 (cat),gae - 개 (dog), yeou - 여우(fox), hama- 하마(hippo), saseum-사슴(deer),wonsungi - 원숭이(monkey), and some others. We used these words to practice pronunciations but also to build up my vocabulary.  I also practiced dialogue with my classmates about coffee.  It is about asking whether someone wants coffee or not, and we practice both informal and formal way of speaking.  

Korean is known for their clothing and fashion industry. Even in the past they had garments that are very unique and bright. The Koreans in the past wore hanbok that was a traditional apparel everyday. However, due to the change in time and trends people no longer wear hanbok on a regular basis. Instead it has revolutionized and changed a lot to fit the more casual everyday trend. In addition, the traditional hanboks are only worn for special occasions like weddings, ceremonies, and funerals. They also have different designs and color depending on what type of event it is.

Document (a) your goals and tasks for weeks 4 and 5, (b) the resources and activities you will use to achieve your goals, and (c) how you will evaluate your success.

For weeks 4 and 5, my goals are to introduce a place for traveling and to be able to buy cloth at a clothing store respectively. The resources I will use for introducing a place for traveling is that I will find some traveling blog or magazines in Korean, and learn the way it introduces and also the vocabularies. For the other task, I will find some vocabularies about the types of clothing, and also find some clips on the Youtube to learn the way to ask for a specific size or the specific color of the cloth in Korean. I will evaluate my first task by introducing my recommended place to a Korean friend, and if she can understand it then I think I probably do a great job. For the second one, I will also evaluate this by talking to my friend, and I will act like I am a customer and want a bigger size of the cloth I want to buy.

Based on my research, I realized that Korean culture has a significant influence on the way of talking, so the language always reflects their culture. Compared to people from western countries, Koreans tend to have an implicit mind because they care what other people think. For instance, when Koreans hope to decline an invitation, they try to provide a reasonable explanation so that they do not hurt the inviter’s feeling. Instead of simply saying “sorry”, they show why they fail to accept the invitation. In addition, Koreans value etiquette and manners, so they often use honorific while talking to people who are older than them. Honorific applies not only in family but also at school. It is used when underclassmen talk to upperclassmen. Teachers also use honorific while talking to students, showing their respect to their students. In terms of body language, Korea is a touch avoidance country, so Koreans might prefer a bow or a handshake rather than a hug.