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Learning Journal 6: State your learning goals for this week and how you went about accomplishing these goals.

Goals: Present tense, sounds, body parts

I would have liked to start working on present tense last week but sounds have been taking longer than I had originally anticipated. Therefore, this week I am starting to learn how to conjugate verbs in the present tense. Furthermore, I want to keep practicing sounds, which still need a lot of work. Lastly, I want I will be learning vocabulary for body parts.

As I have been doing, I will use Babble lessons to practice conjugations and body parts vocabulary. I will then add the new words to my journal for review and practice. I will also start writing down any questions I have during the week, to ask my language partner when we meet. This week I want to discuss any questions I might have regarding this week's study and continue practicing sounds with my language partner. 

Learning Journal 5: an assessment of how well you met your learning goals for weeks 4 and 5.

Week 4-5 goals: Sounds, family vocabulary, food vocabulary

Learning new vocabulary goals was simple enough as many of the words were very similar to words used in Spanish (especially for the family vocabulary). The real challenge this week has been learning sounds. There were some sounds that I was not able to master and I need more practice predicting sounds in Portuguese words. Nasal sounds and 'r' sounds are the most challenging for me. Furthermore, some letters have different sounds depending on their placement in the words and the letters surrounding them. For example in the word 'interesante', the first t is pronounced pretty much like in English, but the second t is pronounced more like "ch" due to its placement towards the end of the word.  

This is an image of a Korean dish we made following a Korean cookbook online. 

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

Goals: Sounds, family, food

These two weeks I will be working on my Portuguese sounds. I have noticed Portuguese has many sounds that do not exist in English and so I anticipate mastering a lot of these sounds will be difficult. I found a Youtube video that describes the sounds each letter makes in Portuguese, which I will be using to practice. I also plan to practice with my language partner. 

Regarding vocabulary I will be studying words for describing family (week 4) and words for describing food (week 5). I will be using Babble lessons to practice and will document new words in my journal. Babble gives you a score at the end of each lesson, which I will use to evaluate my success. 

Learning Journal 3: State your learning goals for this week and how you went about accomplishing these goals.

Goal: Numbers and Colors

This week I am learning numbers and colors. Babble has lessons on both topics, which I have been completing. These lessons normally have matching exercises and spelling practice. I included a list of the words I learned throughout the week and I have been reviewing them. I found that counting in Portuguese while at the gym is a good distraction (I do not like working out, so distractions are good)  and so now instead of keeping track of number and time in English, I use my Portuguese numbers at the gym.

I was also able to communicate with my language partner in Indonesian. After an entire semester, we were finally able to have a brief conversation. In this thread, we are talking about going to eat dinner and at what time. My language partner even offered to pay. 

Reflection

As a language learner and cultural explorer, I find myself, now, more eager to delve into the target language’s culture. I also find myself thinking about a target language’s “big C” and “little c”. As a language learner, I definitely enjoyed learning about the language itself, but also the history of the language and the language culture. I still do find it difficult to completely understand the true nature of a language, but it is still enjoyable when I don’t dwell too deep. Compared to being a language learner, I think being a cultural explorer was more fun and rewarding. Though language is a huge part of culture, I find learning more about the culture of a target language was more interesting and covered unique topics.

For SDLC 111, I focused a lot more on the culture aspect of the language. I think that was very beneficial, in that I was able to understand the history behind certain things like the flag or dialects. It was a different approach then I did last semester, working more on the learning of vocabulary and utilizing them in context. 

For next semester, I hope to be able to combine these two techniques (learning through the standard method-textbooks, and learning a through understanding culture) and become a better language learner. 

Self-Assessment

My learning plan: Korean%20Language%20Learning%20Plan.docx

Reading in my target language has definitely improved as well. I find myself reading every Korean word/phrase/sentence I encounter on a daily basis. Before this journey started, I was able to read very limited words and read them very slowly. Now, I am able to read familiar words/phrases/sentences with ease, though some words may take a little longer, I am still able to read them.

I am now able to write simple sentences, conjugate some verbs, and even some complex sentences. So, not only has my writing improved, but also my grammar.

My understand of culture has most definitely improved, especially as I had to do more research as I delved into the different cultural topics.

Though my speaking skills are still lacking, they have improved from last semester. For next semester, as well, I plan to focus more on the speaking aspect of the language learning process. 

Learning Journal 2: In addition to discussing the resources (see above), outline how you have begun to work on your first language tasks

I decided to begin by learning simple common phrases like greetings and introducing myself. I am creating a list of 'useful phrases' which are phrases that I think I would use the most. I have Benn using Babble and youtube videos to help me with pronunciation as well as the context in which certain words or greetings (formal/ informal) are normally used. I am keeping a journal where I write what the things I learn every week so I can keep track of my progress and use it as reference. 

R2.docx

This attachment is my second (end of semester) reflection paper. 

Here are the notes of how I learned to to self-introduction. We did it in a form of dialogues. And this strategy is really effective.

Gohkan took us to a Turkish restaurant in downtown. Food was amazing! And I tried to order food in Turkish! The Turkish tea is especially good!  

SDLC%20Reflection%20Paper%202.docx

R1.docx

This attachment is my first reflection paper. 

This link is video of Joyce and I doing a conversation in Turkish. In the video we asked each other's names, how are you, where are you from and what is your major. I feel very proud I can conduct some simple daily conversations in Turkish! 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HDPPMu8G9RpGNZHwv3cO-aBJ-MgrpQ9P

This link is my video doing a self-introduction in Turkish. It is one of my goals I set for myself in the beginning of the semester. By the end of semester I am glad I can achieve that! 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1e3T4aFsvVnkQQietwery_TmfZq7-errC

Simple Conversations 2

This class we continued to learn about daily and simple conversations. We touched on self-introduction. And my goal is to be able to introduce myself and write a self-introduction paragraph. The strategy we used is similar to what we’ve been using for the previous classes. First Gokhan read us through the sentences. “Benim adim Adam, Senin adin ne?”, it means “My name is Adam, what is your name”. “Nerelisin? ” “Cinliyim” This means “Where are you from?” And “I am from China”. After a few times of reading the text, we were familiar with the pronunciations of each sentences. Then Gokhan asked us to practice with him, in the form of dialogues. To be honest it was kind of hard to do without the text. It was hard to memorize each sentences. But Gokhan kept giving us hints and encourages us to continue. After few rounds of dialogues practices. Gohkan asked me to do with Joyce. And it turned out well.  Then as the last step, he asked us to write down the self-introduction is short paragraph. It was easy because all we do is to translate the dialogues which we are already familiar with, into written text. I really like how the class was taught, because it was not barely memorizing, rather, it consists of reading, spelling, listening and writing. It is a really good combination of work. Besides, this really increased my confidence, because in the beginning of the semester, I thought it would be extremely hard to do a self-introduction, but now I can.

Turkish Movie

This week Gokhan promoted we’ve learned a lot abstract stuff, it is time switch to something new. So he made us a watch Turkish movie, Bablum vs Oglum, in English it is My Father and My son. Gokhan let us to watch the movies with double subtitles, Turkish and English, he said by watching a movie, we can have a better knowledge how the words we covered in class are used in a real life setting.The story is about how a family is torn apart by a Turkish coup in 1980. A really moving movie. To make sure we are learning Turkish rather than merely watching the movie. Gokhan will pause the movie and ask us questions about the plots. And he would write down the words we covered in class which appeared in the movie. It is a great way to review the stuff we learned in class. We did not have enough time to finish the movie in class so I finished watching in my spare time. I was really touched by this movie. And I had a a much better and vivid understanding of modern Turkish history. Peace is precious. And I really hope Turkey can have a peaceful ear ever since.

Turkish History 2

This week our main object is to learn Turkish history. So we picked up from where we left from the last semester. This class Gokhan taught us the modern history of Turkish. And how the Turkish languages changed as a result of the development of history. In modern history, Turkey has always been a place full of warfare. Gokhan introduced Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. His a one of the most influential revolutionaries in the world. His status in Turkish people’s mind is like Chairman Mao in Chinese people’s heart. He was born in Selianik in 1881. He overthrew the Ottoman Empire successfully and founded the Republic of Turkey. He played an important role in the Independence War and the Battle of Gallipoli. And more importantly, after he ruled Turkey, he did not turn into a dictator. Rather, he made a lot of policies to make the people better off. His reforms were followed by a series of political, legal, religious, cultural, social and economic policy changes. He separated the state and religion, which is a bold and wise move. And he moved the new capital to Ankara, created the multi-party system to ensure democracy. Besides, in order to increase the literacy rate, he adopted a new alphabet system in 1928, which is what we learn right now. Back then, over a night, everybody became illiterate. But these policies made Turkey more connected to the rest of the world, and as a positive result, the current literacy rate is 94.1%. That is a huge improvement.

Plural Cases:

This week we touched on the plural cases of nouns. My goal is to know how to generate the many variations of different words. In the beginning of the class Gokhan taught us some new words: “Kalem(pen)”, “Masa(desk)”, “Saat(clock)” and “canta(bag)”. They he taught us how each words is transformed into plural cases. The variations of each word depends on the ending vowels. There are five back vowels and five front vowels. The five back vowels are “A, I, O, U’ and the front vowels are “E İ Ö Ü”. When it comes to the plural cases. If word has an ending vowel that is a back vowel, then we add the post-fix “lar” to make the word plural. For example, the word “masa” ’s plural case is “masalar”, which means desks. As for a word with an ending vowel that is a front vowel, such as the word “kalem”, we add the post-fix “ler” to make it plural. In this case, “kalemler” is the plural case of “kalem”, which means pens. Once we know the pattern, it became easy. Then Gohkan gave us some more words that we haven’t learned so far and asked us to transform them into plural cases. After several practices, we are very familiar with plural cases.

Turkish History 1

This week we touched on the history of Turkey. My goal is to have a simple overview of Turkish history. I think the knowledge of Turkish history will absolutely enhances my understanding of my target language. In history, Turkish people are a nomadic race, their history can trace back to Asia. In ancient times, Turkey has some interactions with Ancient China. Gokhan told me that the name “Turkey” is actually given by an ancient Chinese emperor. Turkish people went westwards to expand their territory. As a result, Turkey now a nation on two continents. And it is surrounded by three seas, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea respectively. The economic center of Turkey is in the west part because in the modern era, it is not realistic for Turkish to practice a nomadic life, so they stayed in the most fertile land. Gokhan told us Turkey has a lot of historical spots. Such as the Church of Saint Peter, which is located in Antakya(Antioch), and the first people to call Jesus’s followers “Christians” were Antioch inhabitants. Moreover, Turkey has one of the seven wonders of the world, the Ephesus. It is a theater capable of holding 25000 spectators. It is stunning but now visitors are not allowed due the the preservations reasons. And most interesting spot is Maiden’s Tower, which is built over the sea. As Gokhan told us, an ancient Turkish emperor built this tower to protect his beloved daughter, because a mysterious prophesy said his daughter would be killed by the age of 18. So the emperor build this tower to isolate his daughter from any potential dangers from the lands. But he was not able to change the ending of the prophesy, his daughter died as destiny.