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For the past two weeks, I began reading a book in Korean. My mom recommended me to read the book, 엄마 를 부탁 해 (Please Look After my Mom). She sent me the book through mail and so I began reading it. Basically, it is an emotional book about how a family overlooks the mom’s existence and when they lose her at a subway station, they began to understand how they horribly treated her. I really recommend this book to people because it is a book that touches on the importance of life itself.

The book was not too hard to understand and this was the first time I read a book that was not a children’s book.

Because my mom read the book, I was able to discuss what the chapters were about and continue a conversation of how I felt about it and the important messages hidden within the chapters. In addition, I even texted my mom, while reading about the book, to give her my thought process of the readings.    

This week, I decided to look into the history of how Korean language came to be. Because I am learning the language, I thought that it would be interesting to look into the history of Sejong the Great, the king who changed the language system of Korea.

Sejong the Great was one of the great kings in the Choseon dynasty in the 1400s. He not only was a king who instituted the Korean language system throughout the land, but wanted the public to generally learn the language. The aristocrats were against the public learning the language because they wanted to be the only ones educated so that they could have a upper hand of knowledge. Without the basic knowledge, the public were oblivious of their oppression from the rich. Sejong wanted to change this, so he created the Korean alphabet and passed books to the poor so that education was being spread throughout the land.

In addition to his great creation, he generally wanted the his people to prosper. He established shelter and food sources for the people without homes, created fair loan systems for the farmers, and cultivated the cultural/political heritage of Korea. It can be said that he was ruling for the people and wanted Koreans as a whole to succeed.

Source: https://asiasociety.org/education/king-sejong-great

For the past two weeks, I was able to practice my conversation skills with my mom. I facetimed her a lot of times because it was her birthday. I wanted to get her a present but did not know what she wanted so during the time period, I talked with her around 5-6 times to figure out what she wanted.

Through multiple of questions and answers, I was able to finally able to get the information of what she wanted. After I got her the gift by shipping it to her, the handbag I bought her had a tear so I had to explain to her how to ship out the bag to return it.

I was able to have a conversation utilizes different phrases to prolong the dialogue. My mom was able to help me when I was stuck with my words. This was a great practice for me because it was not a conversation that was about what I did, ate, or how I was doing.

I believe that to really further the process of language learning, one has to speak with a native to practice speaking skills. Because I do not have friends or family near me that speak Korean, this allowed me to really think about what to say in this certain situation. Because I am going to Korea soon, I hope that speaking with my mom constantly about a wide variety of topics will enable me to have a smooth conversation with my relatives.

Also, I went through two more units of the workbook.

Looking upon goals in the beginning and what I want to accomplish, I think that I have been following my plans up-to-date. I do not plan on making any changes.

I believe that my learning plan and activities are helping me increase my reading, writing, and speaking skills. I am practicing a lot on my own and with my language partner. My partner has told me that my mistakes on writing have been improving.

Last semester, I changed my plans multiple on times because it was my first time studying a language on my own. I did not know what level I was. However, I was able to get a basis of where I stood in SDLC 110, I was able to figure out what I should do for this semester to further my learning progress.

I continued on with filling out the workbook. But alongside with working on it, I began to read news articles that I found in Naver.

The past two weeks, my goal was to understand the articles. As the content is more harder for me to understand, I wanted to challenge myself as it is a better practice more me. To make it more interesting for me, I looked into the lifestyle/culture section of the news.

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LS2D&mid=shm&sid1=103&sid2=238&oid=020&aid=0003130538

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LS2D&mid=shm&sid1=103&sid2=238&oid=421&aid=0003228379

I found couple articles on food, read them, and wrote down the general summaries of what it was about. I then asked my dad to read the article and see if what I wrote was correct.

To make it a little harder, I decided to read an article on the education aspect in Korea.  

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LS2D&mid=shm&sid1=102&sid2=250&oid=001&aid=0009925049

It was more difficult to understand the article and I had to read it multiple of times to comprehend to material. Like what I did above, my dad read the summary of what I wrote and fixed my mistakes. I made more mistakes than the articles about food, considering the topic and content being harder. However, this was good practice for me because I learned new words that I had not known about before because it was an unfamiliar topic.

For my artifact, I have pictures of the workbook that I am working on. As stated in my bi-weekly report #2, I went through the textbook and answered the questions on the workbook. My language partner then graded my answers. Artifact2.pdf

For the past two weeks, I have been working on a workbook given to me by my language partner. The workbook consists of speaking, writing, and reading practices for people who know the basic language but want to have more practice. After I go through one unit of the book, I answer 12 pages of the workbook that consists of fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice, and full sentence writing. For the past two weeks, I went through 3 units. Each unit has different topics, like problem-solving, working life, etc. I will continue on with the workbook with other activities to further my knowledge of Korean.

As I work on this packet, I hope to see less errors on my spelling. As I am more comfortable with speaking, this is good practice for writing and I like how there is a textbook to go back to, and understand what I did wrong.

I recommend for others to get a workbook because it teaches all of the different elements of the language.

Gochujang (고추장) and gochu (고추)

Gochujang is one of the major condiment that is used in Korean food. It is a fermented chili paste that is made out of barley malt powder, fermented soybean, chili powder, etc. Everyone who resides in Korea know of and utilizes the condiment. It is a basis for other sauces like ssamjang and chogochujang, or main flavorings for dishes like stews, side dishes, and meats. Thus, it can be seen as a staple of Korean food.

Without gochu, gochujang cannot be made.

There are many different historical inferences of where the chili has originated from, but the article “History of Korean gochu, gochujang, and kimchi”, it states that the chili has always been native to the land due to scientific evidence. The belief that the chili came from Mexico is said to be false because gochujang cannot be made from any of the chilis in Mexico because of the difference in spiciness and sweetness. Even past records show that the gochu has been planted and harvested approximately 1500 years ago.

In this artifact, I recorded the conversation that I had with my cousin back in Korea. We made a pretend dialogue so that I could practice my speaking while having to think about what I wanted to say. Basically, I lose my wallet and my cousin asks me questions to see if I could remember where I left it.

I think that I was able to keep the conversation going pretty well. I thought that I would not really have anything to say. I think that I need to improve on my vocabulary because I could not think of the words I wanted to say in Korean. I plan on completing a workbook that will allow me to learn new words and exercise all of the learning skills. Artifact1.mp3

For the first two weeks, I wanted to begin reading and decided that fables would be a good way to start off my learning plan. I was interested in reading the fables because the stories were interesting and I wanted to know what was going in the stories. I was able to immerse myself into the learning process because it was something that I enjoyed. The links below are couple of stories that I have found to read. There was an audio of the texts and questions to answer in the end.

http://www.indiana.edu/~korean/K402/IK3L18text.html

http://kid.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/10/27/2010102701169.html

I thought that it was good practice for me because when I tend to read things that are too hard to understand, I tend to just read the texts without understanding the content. In addition, I was able to find new vocabulary words that I did not know of before. I would recommend to other students who are learning Korean to find folktales to read because it is pretty easy to understand as opposed to news articles.

For this semester, I want to learn more about the history of South Korea. Last semester, I looked more into the general culture of present day Korea, focusing on etiquettes and customs.

However, I realized that I did not know the basic history of Korean and so I plan on exploring in the history of important figures, food, and events.

I plan on utilizing Naver to find the information that I need. As of now, I want to focus on the history of Kimchi and Yu-GwanSun.

I believe that the history of a country helps people to visualize how the country came to be. Thus, by exploring more into the past, I hope to be able to understand Korea better.

For this semester, I want to be able to read faster and comprehend the material better. I also want to know more words than just conversational language. Thus, my goal is to be able to write, speak, and read better so that I am more comfortable with the language. When speaking, I do not like to stop and think about what I want to express and have no words come out because I cannot find the right words. I feel that having a wide range of vocabulary knowledge would help deter that thought process.

I am going to Korea in the fall, and would love to be able to speak with my relatives with ease and be able to travel around Korea alone.

Throughout the semester, I had the invaluable experience of learning about Catalan culture and language through my self-directed studies and LP.

In our SDLC105 class, I also learned about the process of learning languages, was introduced to cultures/languages completely foreign to me and developed a new interest/perspective on the “more subjective” fields of studies out there and how they relate to the things I already study/have an interest on – i.e.: linguistics as it relates to learning, conceptualization, and abstraction and how these processes occur in brain.

One of the highlights of my experience in SDLC was seating down with both exchange students from Barcelona – after I did most of the research for my cultural presentation – and listening to their perspectives on the Catalan Independence movement. I was amazed by their insight, way of thinking and how they expressed their thoughts that day.

I like to think that my research experience, tutoring background and now SDLC studies complemented each other in the best way possible to help my learning this semester… And I mean the things you cannot possibly learn from a book on Catalunya or Catalan (the language).

And finally, I would argue that (sort of unfortunately) you can only get a glance through conversation with someone who was immersed in a culture. And that immersion is the key word here. I cannot wait to be immersed in Spanish/Catalan culture and learn more if/when I do research abroad!!

My language culture presentation was about the modern history of Korea. This was a hard topic for even myself as well because Korea has a very complex history. It is not covered in American history classes either. This made the topic very foreign to the other students. To make the history less complex, I have decided to only cover only the major events and people from the year 1500 and on. If I had a whole semester, I would actually have the time to go in depth for the whole entire history of Korea. To teach this course, I would use various Korean historical dramas and movies which are very a very popular movie genre in Korea and is well translated into English.

I am a native speaker that moved to the States at a young age. Because of this I am able to both read and write to a certain degree in my target language. Reading comes fairly easy but I do trip on words that I am not familiar with. However, when it comes to processing the words in my mind, I do not have to think in English and translate it back into Korean because of my time spent in Korea for the first 7 years of my life.

I do agree with the article that being bilingual has benefits. Because bilinguals have to think back and forth between two or more different languages, they use their cognitive processes a lot more than those who don't have to think about languages. Using their cognition so much may have benefits because using the brain is similar to exercise. 

I have found Brazilian culture quite interesting. More specifically Brazilian history. I have found that it has had a heavy influence on the language and how it has come to be. For example if the Portuguese had never colonized Brazil, then Brazil would probably not be speaking Portuguese. I have also found that the Brazilian culture's emphasis on family and openness is expressed quite well in the language. Finally, I have explored the landscape of Brazil, and found that the Amazon is both a curse and a blessing for Brazil. It is a blessing for the obvious reason that it is an incredible example of nature's beauty with its animals and plant life. On the other hand it is a curse in that it raises many issues for Brazil such as over logging and illegal animal trade. Overall I feel that this semester I have learned a lot from more about the Brazilian culture and its affects on the language. 

The 4th learning goal I have completed this semester is interpreting a conversation between two Portuguese speakers. I had my language partner send me a recording of a conversation between her and her friend. I did my best to analyze to conversation and ask questions about the conversation to my language partner in the next meeting. I found that I surprised myself in this activity. It was quite simple for me to decipher what they were talking about after slowing down what they were saying. I was also easily able to formulate some questions about the conversation.

In preparation for the final this week my language partner and I review the things we have learned this semester. We began by reviewing question word such as who what where how, and moved on to the conjugation of verbs and what situations certain tenses are used in. Finally, we practiced preposition and had a small conversation. I have found this semester has been the most progressive as far as my sentencing forming skills. A big part of this has been the learning of verb conjugation, as well as having been learning Portuguese for 1.5 years now. 

In my cultural presentation I looked at different archaeological and touristic sites in Turkey and spoke about their history. You can look at it with the link below! I believe this cultural exploration gave me a better understanding of Turkish history and culture as well as new ideas about where to visit first when in Turkey.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1X0i1gq8_INQumDPzdQCGp0vTAMEwfGt5jkSDSHnrVu0/edit?usp=sharing

I used several sources for the pictures and texts, including Wikipedia, Britannica, Turkeytravelcentre, theculturetrip etc.

Here is the text, which includes a number of Turkish words and sentences as well as the English descriptions: 

Merhaba. Benim adım Manya. Ben 19 yaşındayım. Ben Ermenistan'lıyım ama Richmond’da yaşıyorum. Ben Richmond Üniversitesi'nden bir öğrenciyim. Ben Türkçe öğreniyorum. Bugün Türkiye'de farklı yerler hakkında konuşacağım.

The Forgotten City of Ani

On the border with Armenian, Ani ghost city rarely receives visitors apart from an odd trickle who travel purposely to see it. Nicknamed the city of 1001 churches, beautiful historical landmarks like the Fethiye Cathedral and Tigran Honets Church sit in a vast green landscape, with hardly anything else in sight. Previously, many historians campaigned for funds for further excavations. The UNESCO committee added it to their World Heritage list in 2016.

Temmuz ayında eski şehri ziyaret ettim. Muhteşemdi.

Gobeklitepe Temple

Only discovered in 1963, Gobeklitepe, in in the Sanliurfa district of south-east Turkey. Predating Stonehenge by roughly 6000 years, it is the oldest worshipping temple in the world. Once again, hardly anyone visits it because of its “off the beaten track” location, but hopefully, in years to come, its importance will lure in more visitors. Only a small percentage of Gobeklitepe has been uncovered and the next 50 years, could reveal some interesting historical surprises.

Gobeklitepe on bin yaşında.

The Blue Mosque

One of the most photogenic structures and most famous historical places in Turkey, the Blue Mosque is like a social complex. It features a mosque, a madrasa, Sultan Resting Mansion, Turkish bath, a fountain, a hospital, Mekteb-I Sıbyan, rental rooms, and homes. On a visit to this most famous tourist attraction, one must not forget to pay a visit to ‘Arasta’, which is at the back of the museum and is surrounded by Mosaic Museum with shops selling souvenirs.

Gelecekte camiyi görmeyi umuyorum

Troy

Dating back to more than four millennia ago and serving as a key influence on Homer's Illiad. Troy was rediscovered by Heinrich Schliemann in the late 19th century.

Whether you were enthralled by the ancient Homeric epic, the 2004 film adaptation, or any retelling in between, Troy has been a source of artistic inspiration for millennia. With over 4,000 years of history as a connection point between Eastern and Western civilizations, Troy was named a World Heritage Site in 1998.

Ephesos:

The ancient Greek city of Ephesus was famed for one of the Seven Wonders of the world, the Temple of Artemis, which now lies in ruins. After coming under Roman control in the 2nd century BCE, the city flourished, leaving behind monumental structures such as the Library of Celsus. The House of the Virgin Mary and the Basilica of St. John became major Christian pilgrimage sites from the 5th century on.

Mount Nemrut

Another fascinating site located on the heights of a mountain, Mount Nemrut is part of the Taurus Mountains at 2,552 meters (8,372 feet). A personal funerary monument built by Antiochos I, the structures include large statues of the king, two lions, two eagles, and various gods.

Cappadocia

Lying in south central Turkey, the moonscaped region of Cappadocia, southeast of Ankara, is most famous for unique geological features called fairy chimneys. The large, cone-like formations were created over time by erosion of the relatively soft volcanic ash around them. Past cultures have dug into them to create dwellings, castles (like Uchisar) and even entire underground cities like Kaymakli and Derinkuyu, used as hiding places by early Christians. Nearby Kayseri is the gateway to the area.

Bence Cappadocia  gerçekten çok etkileyici.

Aya Sofya

The Aya Sofya (also known by its Greek name, Hagia Sophia) was built by the Roman emperor Constantine from 325 to 330 c.e. during his rebuilding of the city of Byzantium as his capital. It was built as a Christian church.. The present structure dates from the sixth century, when the cathedral was rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian. In 1453, the Ottomans conquered the city and transformed the church into a mosque. In 1935,it transformed into a museum. The Aya Sofya served as the inspiration for several mosques built during the Ottoman Empire, including Süleymaniye Mosque, designed by Sinan, and the Sultan Ahmet Mosque (popularly known as the Blue mosque).

Aspendos:

Aspendos boasts one of the best preserved ancient theatres of antiquity. The theatre of Aspendos was built in 155 AD during the rule of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and could seat between 15,000 and 20,000 spectators. Because the stage area was later used as a caravanserai (a roadside inn) in Seljuk times, it was continuously repaired and maintained. Thus, the Aspendos Theatre has been able to survive to this days without losing almost any of its original qualities.

Ankara

Ankara türkiye'nin başkenti.

Turkey’s capital city, Ankara, is a sprawling, modern city home to government buildings, commercial businesses, universities and foreign embassies. Located right in the center of the country and the Anatolia region, Ankara is an important transportation hub, linking travelers to other major destinations in Turkey. The city itself city offers a lively arts and culture scene with a large concentration of museums, including the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

LAKE VAN

Lake Van, Turkish Van Gölü, lake, largest body of water in Turkey and the second largest in the Middle East The lake is located in the region of eastern Anatolia near the border of Iran. The salt water allows for no animal life save the darekh (related to the European bleak, a small soft-finned river fish of the carp family), a freshwater fish that has adapted to a saline environment.

Geçen yaz bu yeri ziyaret ettim. Çok güzeldi

Sumela Monastery

The Sümela Monastery is in the province of Trabzon in the district of Maçka, and its name came from its location where was previously known as Mela Mountain. In Greek “Stou mela” means “on Mela”. The present name of the monastery originally came from the Greek dialect as “Sou-mela” (Sümela). It is believed that the monastery was built between AD 365-395. As the reason for constructing the monastery was the icon of the Virgin Mary, so the monastery is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is also known locally as the “Monastery of the Virgin Mary”.

Grand Bazar Istanbul

The Grand Bazaar (Turkish: Kapalıçarşı, meaning ‘Covered Market’; also Büyük Çarşı, meaning ‘Grand Market’) in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. In 2014, it was listed No.1 among world's most-visited tourist attractions with 91,250,000 annual visitors. The Grand Bazar at Istanbul is often regarded as one of the first shopping malls of the world.

Buradan alışverişe gitmek istiyorum.

Umarım sunumumun tadını çıkarırsın. Teşekkürler ve iyi günler!

Hoşçakal.

Throughout the past semester, I managed to accomplish most of the goals in my learning plan. I did revise all the material from the Fall semester and set a good foundation to continue my learning. I learnt more of the vocabulary regarding different topics and am now able to make more complicated sentences, use different cases, ask questions, talk about myself and my plans etc. I have also improved my reading and pronunciation skills as well as am much better at understanding expressions in videos, song lyrics and dialogues. I can use vocabulary of time and space, food, drinks, emotions and feelings as well as say happy birthday, bon appetite, bless you, good luck etc. I also looked at new cultural topics and feel satisfied with what I learnt about Turkish tourism, shopping, archeology etc. Additionally, I am able to somewhat express myself in restaurant and malls and order something, ask for prices and other questions. I can use the polite phrases such as thank you, please, excuse me etc. pretty well as those were much easier for me to remember. Last but not least, I watched a Turkish movie and continue watching TV series to get further listening and cultural practice. I accumulated a vast number of online resources for learning Turkish and am hoping that I can make good use of them in the future.

The only challenge that I am concerned about is how to maintain my language skills as the time goes by. I am hoping to get additional practice in summer or even visit Turkey for a few days to see what I learnt about and practice the language. I am planning to maintain contact with my language partner and possibly further continue to develop my Turkish skills.

I enjoyed the overall process of my language learning!