Blogs

This semester of autonomous language learning has been a unique challenge.  I liked the flexibility of self- directed learning, though did find it difficult to make substantial progress for some time.  I had taken one semester of intensive Hindi while in India, but after just one month away from the language I was nowhere near the level I was at when I left there.  So, I had to spend a significant amount of time relearning some of the material I had familiarized myself with there.  I certainly relearned it much more quickly the second time around, but it was disconcerting to find that I could forget so much in a relatively short amount of time!

My time in India was my first experience learning a new language while living in the place where that language is spoken.  I did not appreciate until this semester how helpful such immersion is.  Last semester, I might learn something in the classroom and then hear the same vocabulary or grammar in my interactions with my homestay family or other people after I left school.  This semester, my exposure to spoken Hindi was limited primarily to my meetings with my language partner.  The contrast made me realize how such constant exposure can help accelerate the language learning process.  In an effort to simulate this, I tried to listen to Hindi news or radio shows.

Another realization I had this semester is that self-directed learning requires a substantial amount of dedication and self-discipline.  I am a serious student, but I found it difficult to maintain the same level of motivation that I came in with throughout the semester.  I think that being consistent is very important in language learning; my learning experience could have been improved if I really carved out a certain amount of time everyday where I worked only on Hindi.  On many occasions, I let other responsibilities take priority over my Hindi learning.  I am beginning the process of applying to medical school which is very time consuming, so this semester may have been a particularly hard time to begin self-directed learning.  When I was able to sit down and work on my Hindi for extended periods of time I would literally tell my friends, “I wish I could just study Hindi!”  It is by far my favorite language I’ve had the opportunity to learn.  I like writing in the script and overall find that Hindi requires a very different kind of thinking than I am accustomed to doing, especially in my science classes.

I also have a newfound appreciation for the structuring that goes into traditional language courses.  In language learning, repetition and exposure to new elements learned is extremely important.  Thus, in a traditional language course, for example, one might learn new vocabulary, read a passage which uses that vocabulary, and listen to a recording which uses that new vocabulary to reinforce it.  I think this is a good system because it ensures that words are actually learned through use and repetition.  This was something I found hard to replicate in my self-directed learning with only limited and unrelated books and recordings available.  It was time consuming and often unproductive to try to seek out such resources on the internet.  If I continue with my self directed learning, I will try to get myself a very comprehensive Hindi text and make a very organized learning plan based on that book and other resources I can gather from the beginning. 

I accomplished some of my learning goals this semester including:  being able to speak in past, present, and future tenses, being able to translate a song, being able to write well in the devanagari script, describe people, and learn health and body part vocabulary.  I definitely did not accomplish my goal of being able to listen to and understand Hindi newscasts.  The newscasts are incredibly too fast for me to comprehend.  I can pick up some words and recognize the tense spoken in but I could not provide an accurate description of the topics covered.  I also did not make much progress in my reading skills as I could not find much reading material at my ability level.

My language partner, Prayas, was absolutely my best learning resource throughout the semester. I would not want to attempt to learn a language without a language partner.  Languages are meant to be spoken; to learn Hindi without being able to speak to someone would have felt pretty futile.  I am able to learn vocabulary by myself, but Prayas was really helpful with sentence construction and taught me new vocabulary words I would not have thought to learn myself.  It was fun and extremely interesting to talk to Prayas about culture and lifestyle in India and Nepal.  In many ways, the cultures seem quite similar and both, of course, are very dissimilar to the US.  I found it interesting that Prayas has observed cultural changes during his lifetime as far as conservatism in Nepal for example.  Hearing about Nepal made me disappointed that I had not gone there while I was in India.  If I do make it back to India, I would plan a trip to Nepal as well.  Prayas really helped me to progress this semester.  He was knowledgeable and also very patient! 

I absolutely want to keep up with my Hindi this summer.  I will aim at least to not lose any of the proficiency I have gained and, if possible, to progress further.

by Andrew Lyell

I have never taught myself a language before.  A licensed teacher has taught every single language I have learned.  Because of this, the first few meetings with my language partner were rough.  We talked about whatever we felt like and learned whatever vocabulary I didn’t know.  While this casual conversation was useful, I was not able to learn more in this environment; I only got better at speaking what I already knew.  I realized that I needed some sort of structure to help me attain my language learning goals.  Therefore I developed a syllabus using the structure of my current Spanish class.  Mondays were grammar days; Wednesdays were listening days; and Fridays were reading/catch up days.  This structure forced me to talk about topics I normally would not talk about and really broadened my vocabulary. 

For the grammar days this semester, we used a textbook that had plenty of examples of the grammar structure we were studying.  I would try to learn the structure and then translate the examples.  For the listening days, I watched Bengali Sesame Street known as Sisimpur.  Through this exercise, I became familiar with such topics as kite flying, traditional dance, and brushing your teeth—all from a kid’s perspective.  I probably acquired the most vocabulary through the listening days because I was able to remember the context of particular words, and therefore able to know many words’ meaning without translating from English.   Through the reading days as well, I learned a lot of children’s vocabulary by reading a lot of dialogues and children’s stories.  My reading speed did improve some, but not as much as I would like.  At this point, all I really need to improve my speed is practice—reading aloud and to myself.

I almost accomplished my goals.  One of my main goals this semester was to learn 500 new vocabulary words.  Especially because I had only studied the language for two months in Bangladesh and therefore had limited exposure to the language, I really wanted to increase my functional vocabulary this semester.  With my language partner’s help, I have 431 words written down from the semester that I can at least recognize.  While this is significant, I cannot use all these fluently yet.  In the month before I leave for Bangladesh this summer, I hope to internalize all these words and be able to use them fluently.  In line with another goal, I now can count to fifty, but I still struggle counting higher than that.  As stated earlier, my reading speed did not increase as I would like, but now that I know so many more words, reading is just a matter of practice. 

Through this class, I discovered that I love Bengali more than my other subjects.  It often felt like a fun hobby instead of a real class.   I actually enjoyed waking up at 8AM three days a week to meet with my language partner.  Studying on my own though was difficult as I expected.  Especially when I had tests for other classes, I found it challenging to be motivated to study the language.  If realized that if I didn’t tell myself assignments in front of my language partner for the next meeting, I would not be very productive in my studying.  When I did promise my language partner that I would study a particular topic, I usually did.  I also realized that I learn out-loud.  I do not learn subject by simply reading a textbook, I have to process things audibly.  I have definitely become aware through this class that I need to grow in self-discipline.  Although I still enjoy having a teacher assign me specific assignments, I know that much of life and particularly language learning is dependent on how much effort you put into studying it.

Many times this semester I felt as if I hadn’t learned a thing particularly when speaking.  But other times I noticed myself able to understand conversations that I had previously not known any of the vocabulary.  I learned that language acquisition takes time, and there are many stages.  During the first stage, I am able to understand the words the other person is speaking, but not necessarily the full meaning.  In the next stage, I am able to understand those expressions and phrases and use them hesitantly.  Finally, there comes a point when I can use these phrases unconsciously and in the correct context.  The problem is that I am in all three stages at the same time.  Depending on the subject and the complexity of the feeling I am trying to express, I can find myself speaking easily or with difficulty.  I have heard that this experience is common among language learners, and therefore I endeavored to keep striving to be better even when I didn’t feel like I was making much progress. 

Through talking to my language partner, I learned many things of cultural importance to the Bengali people.  One thing I came to understand was that god is an important concept to them.  My language partner was very interested in my god, even telling me that the knowledge of god was of first importance to her.  This sentiment is consistent with the people I met in Bangladesh.  I do not find people here in America often that are interested in the concept of god or think it is of “first importance.”   My faith in Jesus has completely transformed my life because I have been forgiven undeservedly because of what Jesus did on the cross.  At her prompting, we talked about this, and while this stretched the limits of my Bengali ability, I think we both learned immensely from this time.  This is just one of many cultural differences I noticed throughout the semester.

            In conclusion, although I taught myself with my language partner’s help, I still became more competent in the Bengali language and culture this semester.  I look forward to this summer and next semester, as I seek a mastery of this language.  The main reason I learn Bengali is not for the intellectually stimulation or its potential usefulness in the future, I learn it almost exclusively so that I will be able to interact with and really understand these wonderful people. 

Family%20Excercises.ppt

I’ve realized that I need to be a much better planner than I am right now. That is my biggest flaw, I believe, that I don’t schedule my time well and this causes me to not do my best on everything the way I am capable of doing. I also think that I need to gain a better sense of taking my work seriously and that if I do this it will become more interesting and rewarding.

Now, for tangible topics, I do believe in the end I accomplished a little less than I had set out to, but not so little that it is disappointing. After studying the language and learning parts of it, I think setting vocabulary goals and not Grammar goals was a big mistake in terms of trying to put sentences together. I realized that learning vocabulary is not effective unless you know how to put an entire idea together, and Grammar is the way this happens. With only a knowledge of Vocabulary the speaker can sound no more intelligent than a baby who just speaks in single words; i.e. “me want”, “hot”, “yes”, etc. However learning the vocabulary is not a complete waste as it familiarizes you with the language.

I learned that learning a language is difficult, however it is not impossible. It takes a different type of studying to learn a language as opposed to being in an English or history class. Where the latter are associated with acquiring large sums of information in short periods of time through reading, learning a language is about learning small sums of information over a longer period of time, and it is through constant repetition of the information that allows it to sink in. I really started to learn this towards the end when preparing for my final evaluation. I realized that just reading over the information in our study sessions then a couple more times at home is not enough to retain information for an entire semester. I realized that the only way to learn and more importantly retain the information is to constantly go over the old information along with the new stuff you learned in order not to just replace the information you previously learned but retain that and learn new things.

It think the best learning techniques that can be used to learn the language is a combination of different things I tried throughout the semester. First, Rosetta stone is very effective. But also, there are videos on YouTube done by a group of people who just want to educate others. These videos show you how the word is written and then has people saying the word so you can hear it used in a human voice. I think watching these videos then making note cards out of the vocabulary you learned is advisable. Then, with these note cards, repetition is key. Ideally half an hour to an hour a day should be spent going through the note cards a few times. This repetition is crucial to learning.

Having the language partner and also someone else studying the language is important too. I think that just reading and knowing the words is not nearly as important as putting them in practice. So going to our weekly meetings with Maya, DC and I were able to practice Hebrew orally. Also Maya brought a unique view of Israeli culture to the meetings, because she was born and remains an Israeli citizen. She was able to greatly help us with our ideas for culture topics and also many times was able to call her parents who were fluent in Hebrew to assist us in learning the language. Talking to a native speaker of the language is important, I believe, because they bring something about the language that a book can’t. For example such things as inflections put on words that can only be guessed at by a foreign speaker learning from books.

In the other part of the class, learning about other cultures, I believe I come out of this course knowing a lot more than I used to about Israel and the way things work in that country. I think also just going over the history of language and the ways language works in the textbook is also useful information for going forward into the world. Knowing that difference in languages can influence culture and how cultures differ so much more than just through their language. I never had the opportunity to study abroad so I didn’t get to experience other cultures in the ways I would have liked, but I think this class taught me a lot about culture’s that I didn’t before know because of my lack of exposure to them.

I think overall I benefitted a lot from my taking this class. I think that the material is not what benefitted me the most, but rather the exposure to self-taught topics and the steps I need to take in order for self-motivation. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about other cultures and about language itself. I would encourage people to take this class in the future.

Michael Freeze_Final reflection.docx

Here is my final reflection!

"Culture Shock"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjqDWemycYk

This video represents one of the responses, hatred and grief, in the negotiation stage of culture shock.

Culture shock usually progresses from a honeymoon stage, where all the differences are shed in a fun sort of romantic light, a negotiation stage, an adjustment stage, and a mastery stage. I recall from my experience abroad that it was difficult for many of my peers to be happy during the negotiation stage a couple of months in. I think many of them were trying to reaffirm their believes and norms from the US and were on the verge of adjusting to Thai culture but resisting. I decided to just reject the concept of culture shock altogether and just roll with the punches as they came. Although, I definitely had some tough times with formulating my identity in a new environment and adopting to a new set of norms, I didn't let these small instances get the better of me. I just let them pass, recognized them for what they were, differences, and continued on.

Pg. 364-408

I do not feel the section describing the methods behind comparing languages and grouping them into language families was very useful to me as a language learner, but it did help me understand the origin Thai as an isolating language, one in which all the words are invariable as opposed to inflecting languages, agglutinative languages, and polysynthetic languages. The book mentions Chinese and Vietnamese as two other isolating languages. If I had to guess this may be a result of East Asia's separation into kingdoms, specifically in Thailand and China, that prevented a transfer of languages across different regions. All of these languages are what the book describes as the "Austro-Asiatic" language family. It is interesting that there is significantly less information in the book and on the internet about the history of the Thai language. The book states, "The relationship between the Tai family and other languages is unclear" (391).

I did find parts of this passage interesting but I don't understand why we were told to stop reading on page 408. The next section titled "How multilingualism works" ties the rest of the reading together by describing how languages connect and merge. Crystal even brings it to a modern day context in the USA.

Rather than delve deeply into how linguistics classify and group languages I would have preferred to learn about Thai's language family specifically and which languages influence it the most so that I might be able to apply it to my language learning activities. It is always useful to have background information on a language whether it is contextual, cultural, political, or historical. Possessing a history of Thai linguistics may help me better understand the modern day words themselves.

MLC%20110%20SDLAP_learningplan-1.docx

Self-Evaluation

Overall, I am very pleased with my ability to meet my goals set out in my learning plan.

Interpretive Listening: I gave considerable effort to listening to Game speak. Even when I couldn't understand everything that he was saying, I continued to listen and attempted to piece together his sentences. It was very helpful to guess what he said at times and have him fill me in on the exact meaning behind each word. We also applied this same method to numerous Thai movies that I watched and review with Game.

Interpersonal Speaking: I kept up on learning 5 new vocabulary words every day. It was difficult to utilize these words in conversations with Game in a way that I would actually remember them. We developed strategies to pick topics ahead of time, so I could go out on my own and learn words relevant to the specific topic.

Presentational Speaking: I never presented an entire Thai presentation to a large audience but I prepared adequately for each of my spoken artifacts so I feel confident enough to have presented those to an audience.

Presentational Writing: It was difficult at first to find a systematic approach to my random habits of transliteration. I worked with Game utilizing his knowledge of linguistics to help hone this down.

Personal Goals: I was happy to meet with numerous Thai-speaking students throughout the semester, mostly Carter, Game, and Sobpisa. Meeting new people also helped boost my confidence because they were impressed with my ability to carry on basic introductory conversations with ease. Unfortunately, I never took the opportunity to conduct a mock interview in Thai mostly because I did not receive job offers from the Thai-based organizations I had originally hoped to work for.

It was very interesting to be able to continue with learning a language that I thought was hardly used in the United States without having to travel anywhere. I hope to pursue other avenues and get to know other Thai speakers so I don't lose what I have learned and hopefully can learn more. Although I will be working as a teacher in rural Mississippi where there is not bound to be a plethora of Thai-speakers, I hope to continue to practice via skype or just reviewing my notes so that when I return to Thailand in the future I will be able to communicate effectively.

Self- Directed Language Learning

Learning a language is always challenging regardless of a person’s skill. The idea of submerging into a language that is completely alien can be daunting, especially when there has been very little exposure to the language. However, that does not necessarily mean it is impossible for a person to learn a language on his own, as proven by the students in the Self-Directed Language Learning class. The class has not only exposed us to various skills needed to learn a language, but it also enabled us to pay special attention to details while keeping in mind the factors associated to language learning,  such as culture, heritage, history etc. The class in itself was a very unique opportunity for me, not only as a student but also as a language partner who was helping another student learn a different language.

As a Language Learner

As a language learner I was able to reflect on my own experiences of learning English and improving on the skills I have attained over the past five years.  The book that was used for the class, How Language Works, was an essential part of the class because it contained information such as how to treat body language, cultural dimensions of language learning, the origin of languages, the social class, and taking conversation turns. I was intrigued to see how surprised I was with some of the information presented because I had never thought of it while I was trying to learn English. As a language learner, I mostly focused on the technical aspect- the reading, writing, and speaking aspects of language learning but paid very little attention to other factors such as the use of metaphors and slangs or the role of culture in the framework of a language; however, these factors are as essential to language learning as the technical aspects. 

Understanding the culture of the place helps to understand why people approach the language in certain way, and understanding the slang often helps to assimilate to the place smoothly. The fact that I was able to reflect on my own experience and understand the implications of language learning was one of the reasons the class was an exciting yet rewarding experience for me.

Likewise, as the semester progressed and we started learning more about language histories, culture, and framework, I started questioning my own knowledge of my native language - Nepali. I was fluent in reading, writing, and speaking, but I knew very little about the history of the language. As a result, I decided to do an extensive study of the history and origins of the Nepali language. The class also encouraged me to draw a parallel between Nepali and English, and explore the role of social class in Nepali. I believe the knowledge I have received through the class and the book will not only help me in learning a new language in the future, but it will also provide me with much needed inspiration and motivation to look at learning differently.

As a Language Partner

As a language partner I worked with a student who was trying to learn Hindi. Although I am fluent in Hindi, I cannot recall how I learned the language; it is neither my native language nor a language commonly spoken in Nepal. However, growing up I was exposed to Hindi often because most of the television shows and movies were aired in Hindi. Working as a language partner for Hindi was an exciting opportunity for me because it challenged me to go back to the basics of the language I could not recall learning. While working with Kaitlyn, I realized that although I was able to speak the language fluently, I could not explain certain concepts properly. I found it challenging to explain certain things in a way in which it was easy for her to understand, and that made me realize how knowing a language and being able to explain the basics of the language are two different things. Despite some challenging meetings, we met frequently throughout the semester, and it was interesting to see her develop from a mediocre speaker to a decent one. Since she had spent some time in India while studying abroad, she already possessed the basics of the language. Thus, we mainly worked on speaking while paying careful attention to verbs, adjectives, and vocabulary. One of the most interesting things about working with her was exploring the differences between two different languages. When we tried to translate a paragraph of English to Hindi, it almost took us three hours. The differences in the two languages are so big that there are many instances where there are no literal translations. Also contributing to the difficulty was the sentence structure of Hindi, which is completely different from English.

Working with her for the entire semester has also made us both aware about the importance of vocabulary. Although she knew the tense very well, along with nouns and pronouns, the lack of verbs and adjective often made it difficult for us to have long conversations; however, as time went on, I was amazed to see how proficient she had become in Hindi. At times, I would often tell her I could hardly notice any difference between her saying a word and a native person saying the same exact word. I always felt that language learning is only efficient if there is enough exposure to the language, and through my experience with Kaitlyn, I cannot agree more with it.

Overall, the class has been a different yet rewarding experience for me in the sense that I have contributed to someone learning a new language and have gained valuable insights on learning in the process.

1. How did you evolve as an autonomous/self-directed language learner?

As a self-directed learner I was able to figure out what worked and what did not in terms of understanding material that I am teaching myself.  Learning Turkish was a catalyst for discovering how I learn best when autonomous.  Using this as a springboard has helped me with my CFA studying along with other topics that I want to learn.

            I understood the importance of setting a schedule and the ease in which that schedule can fall apart if not maintained or followed closely.  Overall, I became disappointed in my path to learning Turkish because I was not able to follow my plan as well as I could have.  Ultimately, I realized that it is vital to set realistic goals that I could accomplish in a timely fashion.

            In addition to creating a schedule, I also found it very helpful to be interested in what you are learning.  As a self-directed learner you take on the responsibility of learning independently which must mean that one is interested in the topic they are learning.  Who would have thought that being interested in a topic would make it much easier to learn.  Again Turkish has been the realization for this, which in turn has helped me with my CFA preparation.  Knowing that I took on the task to study this material has been very influential in understanding it.  Mainly because I want to understand!   

2. Have you accomplished your learning goals?

For Turkish I unfortunately have not accomplished all my learning goals.  I understand some vocabulary and am able to roughly conjugate the verbs that I know but I do not genuinely have the basics down.  However, this class has taught me more than just Turkish, it has taught me how to be a better autonomous learner.  This has been the main function of this class for me.  I’ve been able to learn come cultural aspects and some words but have taken more out of being independent.  So I accomplished a goal that I did not even know I had which was to become better self-directed learner.  And I did!!

3. What did you learn about yourself as a self-directed language learner?

As I mentioned above, I learned how important it is to make yourself interested in what you are learning prior to the start of your learning plan.  It is vital to either be truly interested or make yourself believe that you are interested in the topic.  This has helped me with my CFA studying because there are some topics I am genuinely interested but others that I really do not find all that thrilling.  Secondly, or quite possibly what you should do first, is create a learning plan that you can stick with and be reasonably sure that you can follow.  A learning plan that is too difficult will only add stress that inhibits learning.  I unfortunately made the mistake of creating too difficult of a plan for both Turkish and my CFA review and it just ended up creating a stressful environment that I could not keep up with.         

4. What did you learn about languages and language acquisition in general?

Overall I learned that repetition and knowing the vocabulary makes it much easier to understand and be able to somewhat converse in the language.  Whenever I spoke with Semih I would be able to use vocabulary and he could fill in the gaps.  Even if the vocabulary wasn’t there, I would be able to use the vocabulary and he could fill in the rest.    

5. Did you develop your skills as an observer of other cultures?

I think I was able to understand more how language and cultures were intermingled.  For example, there were many times were I noticed that words were used to describe certain situations or foods.  When discussing family members there re separate words for my mother’s sister and my father’s sister.  I simply do not use the word aunt for both of them.  However, that being said in America it is only one word so it shows a cultural difference through the use of words. 

6. Which language learning activities helped you most?

My self-studying definitely helped me the most.  When I was interested in what I was learning I was able to better apply myself and focus on the material at hand. Additionally, I retained the information more since I was so keen on learning it.  For example I was able to understand most of the colors and numbers pretty quickly.  Finally being able to repeat what I learned back to a native speaker and having them correct with either pronunciation or spelling was very helpful.  I feel that being a practitioner is the best way to actually understand something.  It is important to effectively mix learning with practicing to garnish the optimal results.     

Overall this semester was important to me since it helped me understand how to better learn on my own.  It seems to be a fitting conclusion to my time at Richmond since I am left with a better way in how to teach myself in the future.  

Hello

My name is Jenny Riande

Im from Panama

I've been learning Farsi for 4 months

Im a student

I study history and anthropology

I speak spanish and english

Bye

I went into this semester genuinely wanting to learn Farsi, but also nervous that I would not be an effective self-directed learner.  I realized very quickly that “self-directed” didn’t mean “unstructured” or “un-important”.  I thought in the beginning that just because we wouldn’t attend official classes in the language, or complete regulated exams and assignments that this class would be easier than others and take up less time.  What I had really failed to take into consideration was the fact that being a self-directed learner actually takes more time than just being an in-classroom learner, because the student must also play the role of the teacher.  

To begin as a teacher, I designed a curriculum for seven learning goals.  Overall, I have successfully reached each of these goals, however there are some, such as learning the alphabet, which I was able to better accomplish than others, such as learning personal appearance adjectives.  I found many times that my goals were extremely broad, making it difficult for me to judge when I had completed a task.  In the future,  I need to be more specific in my goals and instead of just saying that I will “learn personal appearance adjectives” I need to say that I will  “learn the vocabulary for different colors of hair and for different heights”.  This way, it will be easier to determine when I have fully accomplished a task.

Throughout this entire process  I’ve learned a lot about the type of a learner I am.  As a procrastinator, I tend to put off tasks until right before they are due, finding that the stress actually helps me to complete them.  Because I did not do in-depth descriptions of my learning tasks, I was not forced to challenge myself, often finding that I learned less than I would have in a normal class setting.  I realized from this, that I am a learner who also thrives on the energy of classroom settings.  My want for success in the classroom encourages me to work my hardest.  Usually the professor or fellow students set the bar for work; but without these two entities, I found that it was difficult to set and achieve personal goals.  If I want to continue as a self-directed learner of Farsi, I will have to make specific tasks and activities and keep to a strict schedule.  I must keep myself accountable for setting and achieving personal language goals. I will also have to be honest about my ability in the language so that I am able to create and complete goals that are appropriate for my language-level.    

Throughout this process I have become more appreciative of my previous experiences in language learning.  I began learning French at the age of 12 and still don’t consider myself fluent.  However, I often grew frustrated throughout this semester whenever I’d compare my knowledge of French to Farsi.  Thinking back, I realize how much effort I’ve put into ten years of French and four years of Spanish, and know that if I want to gain a real understanding of Farsi, I will need to commit even more.  Language learning isn’t just an overnight or one-step process.  In the beginning of this course, everyone doubted that listening to the language for 15-minutes each day was necessary to learning.  However, after practicing this a few times a week, I realized that I was able to better pronounce the sounds and to even recognize words.  I tested myself by seeing if I could read the words on the screen and then hear for the word to be spoken.  Every part of language learning is crucial for complete knowledge.  I needed to hear the sounds of the language in order to make it less foreign.  Once I realized that I could form connections to the language, I realized that I could make it more relatable to my own life and then easier to learn.   

For me, language learning and cultural knowledge are interconnected.  It was easier to acquire new vocabulary when I could attach it to cultural knowledge.  This way, I had visuals of cultural practices linked to words that had before seemed distant.  I have definitely developed my skills as an observer of other cultures because I have now learned a little about middle-eastern culture.  I have a new lens with which I can view other cultures, and I have new tools to understand unfamiliar practices. 

When I think back on this semester, I really am amazed about how far I’ve come with Farsi.  I still have a lot left to accomplish, but I believe that I’ve set a very sturdy foundation for my learning.  The alphabet-task was one that loomed over my head from the first day of the semester.  The letters all looked so strange to me, and I wasn’t even able to define the beginnings and endings of words.  But now when I look at Farsi words, I am proud to know the names of each of the letters and to be able to read entire paragraphs.  Of course, I don’t always know the meaning of what I’m reading since my vocabulary isn’t very expansive.  Rosetta Stone was a great help in the beginning, but when my learning seemed to plateau, I lost a lot my incentive to go to the Global Studio.  I really wish that this resource had been more accessible because I think I would have used it more often and seen greater progress.  It really was an amazing experience to be able to talk to two native-speakers, Wadia and Maroof, but I sometimes found that having two language  partners made things more confusing.  Sometimes my partners would pronounce letters differently or would have entirely different vocabulary words.  This made learning more difficult for me because I was sometimes unclear about what I was learning and wouldn’t commit to either word.  From this, I again missed the structure of an organized classroom where a definitive vocabulary list is supplied.  In the future, I would suggest that students only have one language partner, but that they still meet once privately and once in a group setting.  I’m a learner that often has to do something in order to learn it and so it was easiest to learn while producing something.  For example, I made a family tree when learning the names for different family members and practicing spelling.  Because I was using the words, I had something concrete with which to remember them.

Overall, this has been a very positive experience for me.  I now have a whole new appreciation for Farsi that I lacked before this course.  In exploring the culture and meeting the people of Farsi-speaking nations, I gained a new connection to the language and an eagerness to learn. I plan to continue with my learning, hoping that I will be more successful now that I have realized how to better set personal tasks and deadlines.  I know that self-directed learning takes a high level of commitment and that the results are often slower than in a traditional classroom, but I also  know that I have the foundations to continue with Farsi and my development as a self-directed language learner. 

Hello, good morning

How are you?

My name is Jenny.

I am from Panama

Goodbye

I think diversity is important and helps us learn more about ourselves, but communication is important as well.  The problem is that often those two ideals conflict with one another. I hope however for the sake of the people of the country that justice is served. 

Making the project showed me once again that happiness is not necessarily correlated with money.  These men, without really anything of value, worked to live instead of lived to work as we tend to do in the US.  Rarely did I find a cha-wala in a bad mood.  I wish to learn more about them and their life, and I hope to do just that when I return this summer. 

Here are the interview videos. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRnViK9Nw8U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMr1iOJil9o&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCjv5kSEmqE&feature=related