Blogs

Immersed in yet another Bollywood movie, this one called "God Made the Couple," and there was one scene that left a particularly strong impression on me. The couple was eating golgappas in a street-side restaurant, and decided to challenge each other and see who could eat the most. The man one, and both were incredibly full afterward. I was particularly intrigued because I had never encountered any Indian food quite like the golgappas. They look almost like a combination between a samosa and a pekora, but with a little opening at the top where I assume the filling is placed. 

I decided to look into the food, embarking on an online culinary adventure. After perusing Google, I found a charming website called Padhu's Kitchen, a blog written by an Indian housewife which has everything from recipes to beauty tips to yoga positions. According to Padhu, this food is only called a golgappa in northern India, and is called a poochka in West Bengal. It is a common street food or chaat (savory item/snack), and Padhu's recipe involved puris (unleavened, deep-fried Indian bread) stuffed with potatoes, sprouts, chickpeas, and spicy masala water. These snacks are also called panipuris--the word being a combination of pani (water) and puri (fried bread). The pani mix involved chutneys, chili powder, masala, cumin, and boondi (flour, butter, and chili), and the puris have chili, potatoes, chaat, cumin, and salt.

These are just one of the many types of Indian snacks out there, but definitely an important addition to my foodie and cultural vocabularies! The attached link leads to recipes and pictures of the treat. 

Padhu's Kitchen

PC Bangs (Internet café): Unique Korean Institutions

Korea has a history of unique Bang culture. Koreans love to social in small places like da-bang(tearoom), manhwa-bang(comics room),norae-bang(karaoke room) and video-bang(video room). Korea’s bang culture has not only facilitated the absorption of the Internet but also influenced how the technology is used.

Actually, for many Koreans, online gaming is not an anti-social experience but an important means for socializing. PC bangs are the places for them to “gather together, play games, video-chat, hang out and hook up”.

Another reason for the popularity of PC bangs is the lack of privacy space that Korean youth people have in their own house. Due to the Korean traditional Confucian philosophy, most children live with their parents before marriage. Also, the housing expenses are very high, so teenagers are not afford to move out before getting a job.

PC is the dominant game platform in Korea. Console games, on the other hand, failed. Even though parents have accept the current trend that computers and technologies are very crucial, console games are explicitly for playing and will be a distraction for students’ academic performance.

Interestingly, English also plays a role in the online gaming. Since most games’ official language is English, people have to learn some basic words used in the games. To some extent, English accelerates the adoption of the computer and Internet. The computers are perceived as the high-tech tool from the west, easily associated by Koreans with English. At the same time, many Koreans believe that using Internet and computers can help them to improve their English skill.

As for the academic part, many Korean college students had a hard time getting used to the college type of school work, which I can totally imagine and understand. The traditional Korean high school education, similar to Chinese education, is focused on repetitive practice and memorization. However, in college, presentations and projects require much more critical thinking and creativity. Group work and writing paper are also big challenges: many students do not know how to collaborate with others effectively, neither can they write academic essays appropriately with correct format and bibliography.

Interestingly, many Korean student actually do not pay as much attention on GPA as on foreign language exams and certificates. This facts sounds surprising to me at first because in the US, most students study for the school work such as papers and midterms. However, I realized that the situation in China is kind of similar- a large amount of students want to study abroad desperately so they spend a lot of time on TOEFL, GRE and CPA, etc.

Another very interesting fact I found about Korean college students is that they always try their best to avoid eating alone. In the US, it is very common to see student walk alone, eat alone and study alone. We do pursue and encourage independence and individualism. But the situation in Korea is totally different, eating alone somewhat means that the student is excluded an isolated from majorities. A freshman student is supposed to actively socialize with others and ask upper class students for dinner. If they always eat alone, they might become the object of bullying.

There is a specific and very important honor title “SUNBAE & HOOBAE.” During socializing, lower level students, especially freshman students (Hoobae) should try their best to impressive upper-class students (their Sunbae.) Drinking is the most common way for them to establish connection and bound. The manner of drinking is very strict: if Sunbae ask Hoobae to drink, Hoobae should never reject. Hoobae should take the cup with both hands and drink all of them. Similar to drinking parties in the US, all drinking dinners in Korea includes various kinds of drinking games, which facilitate their interaction and communication.

(Interesting video about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfOtpYAoYNA)

When I was doing research for the upcoming summer school in Korea, I thought it is very necessary to know more about education in Korea. Therefore, I searched online for the typical college life in Korea and found some interesting facts.

First, the high school life and university life in Korea is extremely different. People put a lot of effort in studying during high school. However, if they are lucky enough to get an offer from a prestigious university, their parents would be willing to provide them ANYTHING they want, from travelling abroad to plastic surgeries. The reason behind this is the importance of Education in social consensus. For most Korean family, children’s outstanding baccalaureates are the greatest honor, and are essential for future career lives and social status.  

Even though high school do not care about dressing very much, they dress to kill once they get into colleges. It was interesting when I saw a description, “many female Korean university students make university streets seem like catwalks.” In Korea, college students joke on students who dress carelessly by calling them “American University students” because they assume that typical college students in the US wear casual t-shirt and jeans, which is not always true. On the other hand, most Korean high school students dress carelessly because they have to wear comfortably for long hours of study.

The film around which this post is framed is called "Jab We Met" (When we met). In it, two people meet on a train: a wealthy young man whose life has fallen apart (his mother cheated on his father, and his girlfriend left him for someone else), and a young Punjabi woman planning to elope with a Sikh man. At one of the stops, the two end up missing the train, and take the journey to the woman's home together, as the journey would be dangerous for a woman alone--especially one who left all of her belongings on the train. She faced a great deal of harassment from a group of men when she missed the train, as it was late at night at an empty station. The group of men and others that the woman encountered told her that "a woman alone is like an open treasure box," making her uncomfortable and leading to the companionship of the two main characters. 

While the plot was typical of other Bollywood movies in its far-fetched nature, there was some useful travel vocabulary used in it. One song was about walking and taking different paths, which provided useful words like चलना (to walk), चलने (paths), and चलने का तरीका (walkways). Other useful phrases included कार रोक (stop the car), सामान (luggage), and चोर (thief). Interestingly, when the pair wanted to book a hotel room, they spoke in Hindi but used the word रुम instead of कमरा. This shows that English is gradually finding its way into travel words in addition to technology words. 

Other useful information was that train tickets must be bought ahead of time, and cannot be purchased on the train without a really good excuse. Also, travelling alone as a woman seems to be, sadly, a dangerous and frowned-upon practice. 

Phone Call

MZ: Annyonghasaeyo Cecillia (Hello Cecillia)

XT: Annyonghasaeyo Melody (Hello Melody)

MZ: Onul musun nal yiyeyo? (What day is it today?)

XT: Onul eun Kem yoil-ae-yo (Today is Friday.)

MZ: Mohae yo? (What are you doing?) Sigan it seoyo? ( Do you have time?)

XT: Jeonun bappayo (I am busy). Naeil sigan it seoyo (tomorrow I have time).

MZ:”Nae il narang nolle? (Wanna play tomorrow?)

XT: Nah, ya nolja ( Yes, let’s hang out.)

MZ: Nah, Bye (Ok, bye)

XT: Bye

Birthday

MZ: Myut nyun sang yiyeyo? (When were you born?)  

XT: Siwol sip il, chun gubak gusip o nyun (October 10th 1995). Myut nyun sang yiyeyo? (When were you born?)  

MZ: sip ewol, sip sam il, chun gubak gusip sam nyun (December 13th 1993)

Artifact3%20-%204_17_15%2C%201.09%20AM.m4a

Artifact3%20-%204_17_15%2C%201.09%20AM.m4a

Phone Call:

MZ: Annyonghasaeyo Cecillia (Hello Cecillia)

XT: Annyonghasaeyo Melody (Hello Melody)

MZ: Onul musun nal yiyeyo? (What day is it today?)

XT: Onul eun Kem yoil-ae-yo (Today is Friday.)

MZ: Mohae yo? (What are you doing?) Sigan it seoyo? ( Do you have time?)

XT: Jeonun bappayo (I am busy). Naeil sigan it seoyo (tomorrow I have time).

MZ:”Nae il narang nolle? (Wanna play tomorrow?)

XT: Nah, ya nolja ( Yes, let’s hang out.)

MZ: Nah, Bye (Ok, bye)

XT: Bye

Birthday:

MZ: Myut nyun sang yiyeyo? (When were you born?)  

XT: Siwol sip il, chun gubak gusip o nyun (October 10th 1995). Myut nyun sang yiyeyo? (When were you born?)  

MZ: sip ewol, sip sam il, chun gubak gusip sam nyun (December 13th 1993).

After becoming familiar with the different forms of past, present and future tenses, I decided to increase my vocabulary of verbs. Therefore, I made a list of commonly used verbs in Korean. After making the list, we practiced their pronunciations. However, this time, instead of my language partner saying the words and me repeating them, I attempted to read them from the Korean transcript and my language partner corrected me later. Thus I noticed that I had gained a certain degree of independence in the language. I did not have to depend on my language partner all the time. 

After learning the new verbs, Sam and I decided to make a dialogue using the new verbs and the past tense. We first wrote the dialogue in English, but instead of asking our language partner to translate the dialogue to Korean for us, we attempted to translate it by ourselves. We were actually surprised by our ability to translate almost the entire dialogue by ourselves, with occasional help from Alvin with some vocabulary. This activity greatly increased my confidence in Korean and I could finally see the effects of all these months of learning Korean. 

Also I noticed that watching Korean shows has ingrained some of the rules of pronunciation, sentence structure and grammar in me so that whenever I am learning something new in Korean it instantly clicks inside me. I find myself referencing back to something from the shows that I have heard a hundred times. 

Therefore, from now on I have decided to take initiative to try new things and also to take the first steps by myself instead of relying on the assistance of Alvin all the time. 

This is a small exercise that I completed to practice conjugating verbs to present, past and future tenses. 

tenses.jpg

This is another conversation that Sam and I recorded about what we did last weekend. The goal of the activity is using past tense form of different verbs that we recently learned. 

past%20tense%20and%20verbs.m4a

Directions.m4a

This is a recording of a conversation Sam and I had in Korean about asking for and giving directions based on the vocabulary learned. 

My experience of trying to read and write in Korea has been very fun. Korean characters are easy to write, comparing to Chinese. Korean characters are like simple drawings, consisting of horizontal and vertical lines, circles, and squares. Korean characters can be pronounced once we memorized twenty four Korean alphabets. However, even though I am able to pronounce some characters by applying the alphabet rules, it is difficult to understand the meaning of each Korean word. Thus, to be able to actually understand what each word means in Korean, I need to memorize the meaning of the word, not only the pronunciation.  

Bilinguals are not necessarily smarter in the sense of intelligence, but are more adaptive to new environment, more open-minded to approach a problem, and in better shape in controlling an environment or solving problems. Different languages have different grammars and different usage of words can utilize more part of our brains, thus improving the “executive function” of the brain which is “a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks” (“Why Bilinguals Are Smarter”, New York Times). Learning a new language just as learning a new instrument or any other creative subjects can train different parts of the brain to allow us to be a better monitor.

I have learned around 300 words in Korean. I learn them by using them in dialogues, listening to new words, repeating them often, and eventually memorizing and recite them. I have also used Byki software and Mango app to help me acquire new words. Byki software have testing mode which I use the digital flashcard to quiz myself and be able to check the answer later by flipping back the flashcard. Mango app forces users to repeat the new word multiple times in a lesson. My goal for vocabulary acquisition is to learn at least twenty new words each week. By complimenting with study apps, I think my goal is realistic.

When languages die, the cultures of those languages would die with it. Languages contain cultures and civilization the cultures have brought about. Languages carry their cultures, represent the logical thinking of the people of their nations, and express the comprehension a nation has about the world and nature. Thus, when languages die, the customs and traditions languages carried would also die with it. The more the languages die, the less possibility there are to reserve the diverse cultures and customs.

Experience of Software Used:

I have used Byki software in mac, Mango app and Tuneln Radio app in iphone to learn Korean and both of them are very useful. Byki is easy to use. Each flashcard contains a vocabulary or a simple sentence, and each flashcard contains a picture, Korean character, English translation, and the Romanic pronunciation. In the screen, there are regular speed mode, and are slow speed mode, and by listening to slow speed mode it really helps me to listen to the pronunciation. Mango app is topic-oriented learning app and it has ten chapters, and each chapter contains a specific learning topic, such as shopping and dining. Mango is more conversational based, so it makes you to speak a sentence or word multiple times within a lesson. However, Mango does not have Romanic pronunciation, and does not have a slow speed mode. Thus, a combination of Mango and Byki are a good way to learn Korean. I listen to SBS Korean news and views in Tuneln Radio app in a daily base. SBS news contains talk shows and covers world news and sport news in Korean. SBS news is very fun to listen to, even though I don’t understand most of the content, but the tones are lively, not monotone like most other Korean news programs. I recommend anyone who is learning Korean to listen to SBS News in a regular basis.  

Topic Learned:

1. Greetings/Self-Introduction: Learn how to greet people in different period of a day, how to introduce myself when I meet a new person, and what to say when I leave. Learn how to introduce where I am from and what I major in, and ask others where they come from and major in.

Vocabulary: 

yo in the end - polite form

annyonghasaeyo - hello

pangapsepnida - nice to meet you

je/jo - I

Gujjok - You

muoya - what is it

yirum - name

Ottoke - how to do when you are confused

jineshutoyo - asking for well being

jungguk - China

Miguk - America

Hanguk - Korea

aeseo - from

watseoyo - came

haksang - student

jungong - major

yonghua - movie

gua - and

dokseo - reading

yori - cooking

gaseyo - please go

Greeting: annyonghasaeyo (hello) pangapsepnida (nice to meet you). je (my) yirumun (name is) _____ yipnida. Gujjogun (your) yiremi (name) muoyeyo (what is)? Ottoke (how have) jineshutoyo (are you doing?)

Self-Introduction: je (my) yirumun (name is) _____ yipnida. Jonun (I am) semusal (20 years old) yipnida (is/are). Jonun (I am) jungguk (China) eseo (from) watseoyo (came). Jonun haksang (student) ipnida (is). Je jungongun (major is) buziniss (business) ipnida (is).

Je chimi (hobby) nun (is) dokseo (reading) yipnida.

Je chimi nun yonghua (movie) bogi (watching) yipnida.

Je chimi nun shopping gua (and) yori (cooking) yipnida.

Questions:

Yirumyi muoyeyo? (what is your name?)

Chimiga muoyeyo? (what is your hobby?)

Odieso *where* watsoyo? (Where are you from?)

Haksang yiyeyo? (Are you a student?)

Annyonghi gaseyo (good bye)

2. Family: how to introduce family members, and ask others their family members. I will learn vocabularies of sister, brother, parents, grandparents, cousin, aunt, and uncle.

Vocabulary:

gajok - family

umma - mother

omoni - mother (formal)

appa - father

abeoji - father (formal)

halmoni - grandma

halabeoji - grandpa

chin halmoni/halabeoji - dad side grandma/grandpa

wae halmoni/halabeoji - mom side grandma/grandpa

samchon - uncle

imo - aunt

dongsang - younger ones

unni - older sister

yeo dongsang - younger sister

nam dongsang - younger brother

yeoja - female

namja - male

oppa - older brother

sonbae - someone who is older and goes to the same school

hubae - someone who is younger and goes to the same school

sogae - introduce

gurigo - and

yitseo - have

maknae - the youngest one

dae hak yo - university

Introducing

anyonghasaeyo, je (my) gajokul (family) sogae (introduce) hagetsupnida (will do). Jonun oppa, unni, umma, appa, halmoni, halabeoji gurigo (and) samchon yitseoyo (have). Jega (I) maknae yipnida (am). Jonun Richmond dae hak yo (university) ae (from) Cecilia hubaega yitseoyo.

Question:

Q: _______ yitseoyo? - yo should have a high pitch

A: nae (yes)/aniyo (no), _____ yitseoyo.

3. Food, how to order thing:  learn vocabularies of basic vegetables, fruit, dishes, and snacks. I will learn how to order food in the restaurant, what I like to eat, ask what others like to eat, and ask about whether they like their meals.

Vocabulary:

Food name:

bab - meal

gogi - meat

bulgogi - fire meat (popular Korean marinated beef meat)

samgyupsal - pork & soju - Korean vodka 20%

dak gogi - chicken meat & makju - beer

yang nyum chicken - marinated chicken

  nalgae - chicken wings

steake - steak

sam gye tang - chicken soup

sogogi tang - beef soup

guail - fruit

       sagua - apple

       subak - watermelon

       bae - pear

banana - banana

       olangee - orange

       kiwi - kiwi

       boksungah - peach

       podo - grape

jusee - juice

waple - waffle

bbang - bread

ice klim - ice cream

ssal - rice

kimchi - kimchi

gye lan - egg

copee - coffee

hae mul - seafood

       sae wu - shrimp

       su shi - sushi

lobsta - lobster

kim - seaweed

huae - sashimi

ddok - rice cake

guk - soup

dubu tang - toufu soup

guaja - snacks

yachae - vegetables

       to ma to - tomato

gamja - potato

japchae - glass noodles with fried vegitables

guaja - chips

lamyun - instant noodle

bibimbab - hot pot mixed vegi with rice

achim - breakfast

jumsim - lunch

jeo nyuk - dinner

Dialogue at a restaurant

A: oseo osaeyo (welcome=quickly come), yogi anjesaeyo (please sit)

B: nae

A: mu et sul (what) jumun (order) hasigetseoyo (would you like to)?

B: jamsimanyo (please wait)

A: nae

B: jeogiyo/unni/imo (hey, excuse me), jumun (order) halgaeyo (I will do). Bulgogi, bibimbab, samgyetang, yangnyum chicken gurigo makju jusaeyo (please give).

A: minjeng (ID) boyeo (show) jusaeyo (please give).

B: yeogiyo (here it is)

A: nae, gamsahapnida.

B: unni, banchan (side dish) duh (more) jusaeyo (please give)

A: algaetsupnida (okay)

A: ulmayaeyo (how much is it?)

B: sam man won (30,000 Korean currency) yipnida. Gamsahapnida, daum (next) ae ddo (again) osaeyo (come)

A: nae~

4. Hobbies, interests: How to tell others my hobbies, and ask what others hobbies are. I will learn at least ten words on different hobbies.

Vocabulary:

chimi - hobby

jowayo - like

an jowayo - don’t like it that much

xiloyo - don’t like

an xiloyo - I not not like it

nae/aniyo - yes/no

ge nyang ge le yo - it’s whatever

jal hatseoyo - good job

tul lutseoyo - wrong

mult gae - how many

yit da - there are

hada - do

hago sipda - I want to do

an hago sipda - I don’t want to do

jjikda - take (photo)

dokseo - reading

su yong - swimming

yeo hang - travel

yong hua - movie

emak - music

sho ping - shopping

dduida - running

yo li - cooking

com pu ta game - computer game

sa jin - photo

What hobbies do you have? Chimiga moyeyo? Chimi mult gae yitseoyo? (how many hobbies do you have)

Do you like to ____? Yeohang jowa haeyo?

I like doing _____. Nae, yeohang jowa haeyo. sa jin jjik nungirl jowa haeyo.

I don’t like doing _____. Aniyo, xilo haeyo.

5. Numbers, dates, birthday: Learn how count from 1 to 100, tell others my phone numbers and ask their numbers. I will learn how to tell the date and day of the week, as well as months, seasons.  I will learn how to say when is my birthday, and ask others when is their birthday.

Vocabulary:

(Left)Korean Traditional Numbers (age, counting objects)

(Right)Sino-numbers (dates, money, minutes, addresses, phone numbers)

1 - hana               il

2 - dul                  e

3 - sat                  sam

4 - net                  sa

5 - da-sut                     o

6 - yeo-sut           yuk

7 - yil-gop            qil

8 - yeo dul            pal

9 - a-hop                     gu

10 - yul                sip

100 -                   bak

1000 -                  chun

Dates:

Monday -            Wol yoil

Tuesday -            Hwa yoil

Wednesday -       Su yoil

Thursday -           Mok yoil

Friday -                Kem yoil

Saturday -           To yoil

Sunday -              il yoil

day - il

January -             ilol

February -            ewol

March -                samol

April -                  saol

May -                  owol

June -                  uwol

July -                   chilol

August -               palol

September -         guwol

October -             siwol

November -         sip yilol

December -          sip ewol

Year -                  nyun

Born -                 Sang

If I want to say I was born in 92, then I would say gusip yi nyun sang

Sun - June 27th 1992 - uwol, yisip qil il, chun gubak gusip yi nyun

Melody - December 13th 1993 - sip ewol, sip sam il, chun gubak gusip sam nyun

Yuki - February 3rd 1994 - ewol sam il, chun gubak gusip sa nyun

Cecilia - October 10th 1995 - siwol sip il, chun gubak gusip o nyun

When were you born - Myut nyun sang yiyeyo?

What day is it today - onul musun nal yiyeyo?

The resources I used for my Hindi learning techniques are two different applications. One is diigo, which allows me to get different Hindi songs and phrases through this website. There is a site posted on diigo, which is a weekly ranking of all the top Bollywood songs from 1 to 20. I have been keeping a habit of going to bed with these songs in my year, to reinforce my vocabulary learning. Another resource I have been using is a Learn Hindi website/blog. The creator of the website has been posting lesson plans for everything from nouns to verbs to conservational phrases. This, along with my language partner, helps me learn vocabulary, grammar and the ability to put together sentences in Hindi. I have also recently bought a Hindi textbook which is also a resource that helps put together words and increase my Hindi vocabulary. 

The things I have accomplished in my language learning thus far is my increased vocabulary. I have been able to learn vocabulary through different groups of words. For example, I will learn sports vocabulary one week and then domestic household items the next. This allows me to learn few vocabulary words at a time. My goals are to put together more sentences in Hindi. This my focus from now on. I do not believe I can have a legitimate conversation with a Hindi speaker yet and so I need to understand conjugations and tense changes so that I can make sense when I talk. This is my focus as I learn Hindi in the future. 

The extinction of languages is something that is interesting because as the article says, a language is becoming extinct every day. When a language dies, a form of communication that people used in the past dies. It is upsetting because this is similar to learning history. We should know the history of our culture and if languages are becoming extinct, there is no way to uncover the history of the land in those places. Learning the language of a place can give you historical context but also gives you an understanding of how other languages affected this particular language and vice versa. 

Learning Plan

Step One: I am almost entirely new to the language, save for certain words I’ve picked up from South Korean films.

Step Two / What I hope to accomplish:

v  Able to present information about myself and some other very familiar topics using a variety of words, phrases, and memorized expressions.

v  to communicate and exchange information about familiar topics using phrases and simple sentences, sometimes supported by memorized language.

v  to write short messages and notes on familiar topics related to everyday life.

v  understand words, phrases, and simple sentences related to everyday life. 

v  recognize some letters or characters, understand some learned or memorized words and phrases when I read.

Step Three / Tasks, Goals, etc.:

---Greetings / Farewells (formal/informal, for different times of day, etc.)
---Introducing yourself (your name, where you are from, what you are studying, something interesting about yourself)
    --Eliciting this information from others
---Identifying and talking about family members (names, relationships, professions, something interesting)
    --Eliciting this information from others
---Telling time / asking the time
---Asking / saying the date

Ways to achieve goals:

---I have profiles for both the Mango Languages program and Rosetta Stone. As an elementary learner of the language, these online resources should prove to be quite useful, especially in addition to the online textbooks available.

---I will also watch more South Korean films in order to better understand the contexts in which the language is spoken and how, so I can develop a natural accent when speaking.