So far, I have learned vocabulary on introductions (like my name, my age, I am a student), family members, numbers, and time. I learned it using Riel Korean app, Learn Korean app, Talk to me in Korean website, Learn Korean website, Korean Class 101 website and How to Study Korean website. I do not know if I will be able to learn enough vocabulary to reach my goal of being able to have a conversation with my Korean friend partly because I have poor memorization skills. However, what I have learned so far is good enough for a beginner’s level of conversation in Korean. Perhaps with more practice, I will be able to remember more vocabulary.
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When a language is lost, culture is lost with it. In the case of the Siletz people, their dance and songs were also rooted in their language. When their students were sent to schools where English was mandatory and any other language was discouraged, it was a direct shot at tribal culture as well. Culture and language are so intertwined that you cannot have one with the other. People communicate through language and one’s culture is reflected in how one communicates. For example, in Korean, the notion of hierarchy in the culture is so ingrained that there are specific ways to speak to elders and strangers as compared to friends. Therefore, the preservation of languages is necessary, however, this is a whole different obstacle. Creating online dictionaries and having one or two people alive maintaining a language is not enough. This is because the two people cannot count for all the language laws (grammar, etc), also, a page of words and their meanings is not enough because it does not discuss sentence formations or grammar laws. It would be tough to document and preserve all languages of the world especially if people of that language are dying out but nonetheless, that does not discount the importance of preserving languages.
Knowing the history of a language is helpful when it comes to learning the language because it helps us understand how the alphabets and number system came to be. It is always helpful to know the background information of a topic. For example, in the case of the Korean language, it was easier to understand why the Korean language had two number systems and why the alphabet is written in symbols when I learned about how the Chinese dominated Korea for a while. Learning about how the literate preferred Chinese, made it easier to understand how different number systems were used for hours and minutes. Learning about the origins of the Korean alphabet may have made it easier to learn the alphabet, but it was useful in understanding the culture of Korea which indirectly influences the language overall. This is why it is important to learn the history of a language.
After having learned Korean this far, I have come to understand that the language is a reflection of the culture. Therefore, it is so important to study both. Even the history of the language is important to understand the language usage. When I learned about the era when China dominated Korea, It was easier to understand why the Korean language had two number systems and why the alphabet is written in symbols. Also, because of this knowledge, I understood why Korean words are written in blocks.
Learning about the formality and politeness of the language made me understand the hierarchy present in the culture. How one addresses a person is based on age and status. It helps categorize or identify people and inform the speaker how to behave towards the other person they are communicating with. The Korean language is a hierarchal language because it lets everyone who is listening know where they fall in terms of age and status. Respect is a huge part of Korean culture and the language reflects this. The language also reflects the mannerisms of a person, that is, if one does not use formalities then he/she is someone who is ill-mannered, which is a reflection of the individual’s culture. The method by which family members address one another is another reflection of culture. The fact that one’s uncle on the mother side or one’s aunt on the father’s side have their own specific name is a reflection of the emphasis of the family. It is a reminder of the collectivist nature of Korean culture.
I need to improve my levels of communication competence in all factors, that is. I have to improve my interpersonal communication and listening, my interpretive reading and listening, and finally my presentational speaking and writing. I can improve my interpersonal communication by working further with my friend who also studies the Korean language. I can improve my interpretive listening and reading by learning new vocabulary and using extensive resources to work on my listening skills. For my presentational speaking and writing, I can practice my writing by dictation or similar activities and take the time to speak with my friend.
Unlike the United States, which emphasizes on the individual, Korea is a collectivist society. The family unit is an integral part of customs and life. Marriage is considered as a rite of passage, this could be why arranged marriages are common. Divorce used to be rare in Korean culture but has become more common. In 1995, 73.7% of 11.1 million households were two-generation households while one-generation 14.7 %. Traditionally, the eldest son holds the extra responsibility to his family and it is expected that he will be the one to take care of his parents in their old age. Parents put greater effort to provide education for their children because of this. Children of the family are expected to obey, cooperate and respect their elders. Strict gender roles are the norm in Korean family culture. Sons receive different treatment from their parents than daughters which contribute greatly to the strict gender roles in South Korea.
http://www.commisceo-global.com/country-guides/south-korea-guide
Korea was considered to be a polychronic society, that is, daily life did not revolve around time or schedules. However, lately it has developed to be a moderately monochronic society, that is, it is gravitating towards becoming a clock obsessed culture whose daily lives revolves around schedules and time. Time in Korea is an essential part of the culture but not as serious as it is in the United States. People in Korea place emphasis on being punctual. For example, in business meetings, punctuality is important because it is a sign of respect. If one is late it appears as if you do not respect the other person’s time enough to show up on time. One should call ahead if one is late. However, it would be normal for Korean executives to cancel appointments on short notice or show up late because of their busy schedule unless it occurs often then it is a sign that they are not interested. Punctuality is important when it is business related or when it is the first meeting. However, according to some blogs written by some Americans who have visited Korea, this is not the case. Koreans take about 15 minutes to an hour long to get to their appointed meeting. These American bloggers suggested that Koreans expect foreigners to be punctual but do not put the same expectation or pressure on themselves or their own people. Perhaps Korea is a monochornic society when it comes to business affairs but polychronic when it comes to other things.
http://blowfishtastesgoodifitdoesntkillyou.blogspot.com/2010/03/topics-punctuality-in-korea.html
http://blogs.koreanclass101.com/blog/2008/06/12/okay-so-ill-meet-you-theremaybe/
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2013/08/181_61763.html
This semester, I was able to learn a lot of the Korean language as well as picked up a few things on Korean culture. I am glad I learned that a big part of the Korean culture and language is based on formality and politeness. I had no background knowledge on the Korean language apart from a few words here and there I heard while watching Korean dramas. I very much enjoyed learning the Korean alphabet because of the article Are found. It made learning the alphabet so much easier and fun. I learned the basic vocabulary on how to get by when I come across a Korean, which was my goal at the start of the semester. That is, I learned how to introduce myself, talk about time and the weather. I learned how to talk about myself as a student and my routine in the University of Richmond. The hardest part of this learning process was memorizing the two number systems, partly because I have trouble remembering things, as I mentioned earlier.
I used this week to learn something to meet my personal goal, which is, to be able to have a small conversation with my friend who is Korean. So, I went through all my vocabulary that I have learned this semester. I also looked up vocabulary on food and how to order. The Learn Korean app provided vocabulary on this. I also learned how to say, “Bill please!” and how to say, “This is delicious.” The app also provided vocabulary on how to say “Cheers!” I met with my friend and went through the vocabulary. She taught me how to order food in Korean from JKogi. I still need to work on it but I got most of it down.
This week I continued to work on past tense conjugations because I needed more work on this. I also looked up vocabulary on weather using the Learn Korean app. This app also provided tools to know how to ask what the weather would be like tomorrow or today. It also taught me how to comment on the weather. For example, it taught me how to say, “It’s so hot!” - 너무 더워요. I met with my friend she listened as I described the weather.
This week I worked on past tense verb conjugations as well as continued to work on present tense verb conjugations. I used an article from Talk to me in Korean, Level 8 lesson 9, that discusses the basic past tense verb conjugations. I then used Learn Korean Languages and their section on Verb Tenses and this really helped me understand the present tense verb conjugation. I also used the Rieul Korean app that provides tests for verb conjugations for past tense. The app helped me test my past and present tense verb conjugations. Past tense verb conjugations are harder than present tense verb conjugations because I don’t know how the final verb turns out after I place the 샀어요. For example, 사 + -았어요 would have thought 았어요 comes after 사 to make 사았어요 but it was 샀어요. The 사 and 았 are combined. This is the hard part for me when it comes to putting the two together. It is easier to remember that adding 았어요 means conjugating it into a past tense form but the actual conversion is hard.
I learned a lot from the Cultural presentations the class gave. I especially learned about the difficulties a student faces in Korea. For example, the presentation on the job application process was shocking. It was hard to believe that adults in Korea must go through so many processes just to become an unpaid intern. The suicide rates reflected the difficulty of the application process. It made me wonder why students have not rioted against this application process. The exams middle school students must take was another shocking discovery. These presentations made me wonder how young people in Korea have not had riots or rallies to change the situation. I want to know study the psychological effects produced by the schooling and the job application process.
I learned a lot about my cultural topic. I focused on stringed traditional instruments used in both North and South Korea. I was amazed to see how much effort and time goes into making some of the instruments. The work put into it reflects the importance of traditional music for some of the South Koreans. I cannot say all because traditional music is not something everybody in South Korea is interested in. The variability in stringed instruments alone amazed me because these instruments were developed so long ago. For example, each piece of the gayageum has to be made separately using different materials. If the main body of the gayageum is not dried properly, the sound would differ drastically. I was happy to see that these traditional instruments are being brought back to life by people who use them to do covers of modern day songs. This way, traditional music, which is a language in a way, will not die out. Hence, traditional music culture will be able to live a little longer.
This week I worked on present tense word formations and continued to work on vocabulary with introductions, hobbies, family, and routine. I used Learn Korean Languages and their section on Verb Tenses as well as an article from Talk to me in Korean (level 1, lesson 16) which really helped me understand the present tense verb conjugation. I also found a new app called Rieul Korean app that provides tests for verb conjugations for present tense. The app also provided information on formal and polite verb forms, however, this confused me a lot so I stuck to the very basics of what the article from Talk to me in Korean wrote about. It is pretty straightforward but I still need to work more on present tense verb conjugations.
During this week, I learned numbers and dates. I used Rieul Korean app and Learn Korean app to learn native numbers up to ten and learned how to count further by just using the numbers that I have learned already. The Rieul Koean app provides both the native Korean number system as well as the Chinese based number system side by side. This mad it easier to learn the numbers. Learning the Chinese based number system was harder because unlike the native numbers, I had never heard them being said on Korean dramas. If I had heard them I would have not recognized them as numbers. The Rieul Korean app also provides a way to test yourself with numbers so I used it. It helped a lot but because I struggle with memorization so it was tough. I need to work further on numbers.
- Continue to work with vocabulary on family, introductions, and routines.
- Continue to work on question and answers about identity
- Work on time and asking about time, however, I did not learn the numbers yet because I was confused about the two number systems. I learned that native numbers are used for hours while Chinese numbers are used for minutes.
- Read this articles about telling time in Korean - http://koreanyousay.tumblr.com/post/37184378160/telling-time
- Read an article from Talk to me in Korean about Time
- Used Learn Korean to learn vocabulary on time
So far, my progress has been good. I have been able to practice the alphabet especially the consonants. I am still struggling with the harder vowels but it is getting easier to distinguish one from the other. It is getting easier to read words than it was before.
Last week I worked on vocabulary on introductions, family, routines and hobbies and it was difficult, mostly because vocabulary learning is hard. I have always had trouble with memorizing words and so this has been tough.
I think I will need to switch methods on how I learn vocabulary. I will have to do more revisions than usual. Perhaps that will help me remember things better. I have been unable to learn sentence formations, instead, I have just tried to memorize sentences as a whole as it has proven to be easier.
Artifact%20%234%20%28Personal%20Learning%20Task%29.mp3
Angella Lee's Artifact #4
Document a learning task that you have completed that meets a personal goal.
(My learning task is translating 1-2 slides of a presentation in English to Korean)
Translation :)
I will be showing a presentation about hanboks. Hanboks are a type of clothing that was worn in the Joseon Dynasty time period. As a Korean traditional dress, it has bright and bold colors, and no pockets. Thank you for listening to my presentation about hanboks!
*hanboks = Korean traditional clothing
Artifact%20%233%20%28Family%29.mp3
Angella Lee's Artifact #3
Introduce yourself and your family.
Translation :)
Hello. I am Angella. I am an only child. I live with my father. My father is a construction worker and owns his own construction company. My dad is very kind and hardworking. My aunt is a banker and acts like a motherly figure. My uncle is a realtor.
안녕하새요!!!
Looking back on my learning plan I had written at the beginning of this semester, I would say that my learning plan was quite successful. I was able to not only do all of them but also add in a few other really cool last-minute topics that I wanted to cover or that Joora shared with me.
I think after learning languages for quite some time now, I've come to know the kind of pace which works well with my self-directed learning so my learning plan was not too ambitious. I'm glad that I gave myself enough room to really take the time to learn everything I planned to learn. Rushing doesn't help so I'm glad I spaced my time throughout the semester well with each of the topics I was able to learn through.
I'm very happy with the results I have obtained this semester and the progress that continues to grow!
Artifact%20%232%20%28Identity%29.mp3
Angella Lee's Artifact #2
Show that you can ask and answer questions about identity.
Translation :)
Q1: Where are you from?
A1: I am from Northern Virginia.
Q2: What do you do? Are you a student?
A2: Yes, I am a second-year student at the University of Richmond.
Q3: How old are you?
A3: I am 20 years old.
Q4: What is your major?
A4: My major is Chemistry.
Q5: What would you like to be when you grow up?
A5: I would like to be a pharmacist.
The goal this week was to work on my bigger numbers. In class we were introduced to counting into the thousands which is a major task considering I previously had worked on just counting to ten. Fortunately in Turkish its easy to count as long as you know how to count by ten, so 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. This is because if the number is 32 you simply state "otuz" for thirty and "iki" at the end for two, which makes 32. I worked on the memorization of the new numbers in the same way I worked on counting from 1 to 10. I counted things in everyday life and while watching Ezel. This helps me memorize and really absord the new words that I have been taught, which I believe will allow me to quickly count if I'm ever required to when visiting Turkey as a tourist someday.
