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SDLC Journal 9

     I have finally been able to write a few types of written correspondence with my roommate and one of my language partners, Bo. To be frank, it is still very basic Indonesian. I am still only writing basic sentences that mostly consist of me asking questions and introducing myself and giving basic facts about myself. Needless to say, I have learned so much considering how difficult it was for me in the beginning. I think trying to learn different foods and how to order has been my favorite part about learning Indonesian. The toughest part, and the part where I still lots of practice in, should be grammar.

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Cultural Post #5 (SDLC 111)

Reflect upon what you have learned about the culture(s) you have been studying.

As I admitted in my first cultural post for this semester, I did not really have as an in depth understanding about Turkish culture as I could have. Most of the aspects of culture that I learned was pretty broad and non-specific to different regions of Turkey (but, at the same time, I think that that was fair considering that I was simultaneously learning a lot of words and grammatical structures that were completely foreign to me). This semester, I believe that I did a fairly good job focusing on different regions of the country. I had several lessons with Gökhan, in which he would tell me some history about different regions of the country in Turkish. He had to speak really slow and repeat a lot of new words for me but I think it worked out for the most part haha.

Of all the cultural topics that we learned, I think my favorite was finding out that there is apparently this honey called deli bal made in northeastern Turkey that can make you high if you take a really small amount!!! It can kill you if you take too much. Isn’t that crazy?! The Turks actually gave some of this honey to some Greeks to stop an invasion at one point. It’s kind of scary but really cool at the same time.

I did not want to bore you with the science behind it, but here is a link for more information about this if you are interested! https://modernfarmer.com/2014/09/strange-history-hallucinogenic-mad-honey/

All in all, it has been a fun semester! Hopefully, I can go to Turkey soon!

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Cultural Post #4 (SDLC 111)

Let’s talk about sports!! Okay, I am going to preface this post stating that I have very little interest in sports but Gökhan says that soccer is a big part of the culture so I can’t not learn about it. There are three big teams in Turkey that are based in Istanbul: Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, and Beşiktaş. According to Gökhan, they are not that good compared to other teams like FC Barcelona or Real Madrid, but people go CRAZY in Turkey when these teams play. They even shut down a lot of stores early sometimes for the games.


While learning about the different sports teams, Gökhan and I actually read this random article in Turkish. http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/spor/963233/Fenerbahce_taraftarindan_Senol_Gunes_e_kufurlu_tepki.html. (It was the first thing that popped up. Thankfully it was really short haha). It is about a rivalry match between Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş and in which Fenerbahçe fans were cheering “Şenol Güneş Ölmedi Kalbimizde Yaşıyor” (“Şenol Güneş did not die, he lives in our hearts”). Şenol Güneş is the coach for the opposing team, Beşiktaş, so they were basically making fun of him because he apparently faked that he was hit by something from the tribunes. (Very dramatic, right? haha!) I found this lesson and article especially helpful because it gave me some insight to another part of the culture in a fun way and I learned a lot of new words like tezahürat yapmak (cheer), ruh (spirit, soul), aleyhine (against), tribün (tribune, bleachers), stat (stadium), and more. Oh! And I also got an idea about Turkish humor because “XXX ölmedi kalbimizde yaşıyor” is a common phrase that people use a lot jokingly.

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Learning Journal #10

This week was really fun because I focused on food, one of my favorite things, ever! I learned the words for different tastes like spicy, sour, salty, sweet, etc. I also learned phrases that express being content with the food, and phrases that describe the quality of the food. Next I focused on describing the textures of different foods. Then I learned phrases for complimenting the cook, criticizing the food, and for explaining that I am full, but would like to keep eating. Lastly, I learned some expressions about asking a cook or waiter to make my food a certain way. I find that these phrases will be extremely useful when I study abroad in Korea and go out to eat, or even if I just want to practice. I documented all of this in my notebook, and I learned over 20 phrases. I used a Youtube video by SweetandTastyTV (which has become one of my favorites). I am really happy with my progress this week! (: 

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Learning Journal #9

This week I focused on language task #6 and my language goal for week 9, which were numbers and dates. I first started by learning numbers 1-25, 30, 40, 50, etc. in both the Sino-korean system and the native Korean system. Then I began learning the months, then the days or the week, and then the numbers of days in a month. Afterwards I moved onto the structure of the dates, like where the number, day, and month are positioned. Lastly, I learned phrases such as "what day is it today?" and "what day is it [today]?" This concept was slightly harder than telling time, but it wasn't too bad. I took very detailed notes, so whenever I kept getting confused, I looked back and was able to correct myself. I found that I really liked learning through YouTube videos. They are more entertaining than just reading a text on how to do something. For this concept I used a SweetandTastyTV video. 

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Learning Journal #8

This week I focused on telling time and asking questions about time. This was by far one of the most detailed lessons I went through in order to understand how to express time in Korean. I started by learning the words for minutes, hours, etc. Then I learned which number systems to use for the different units of time (minutes and hours). After that I learned the expression for things like "in the morning," "in the afternoon," "midnight," etc. I also learned what hours of the day are considered morning, afternoon, evening, and dawn. It was interesting to see the contexts in which certain phrases about time could be used. Furthermore, after understanding how to tell time, I learned phrases such as "what time shall we meet?" and "What time do you wake up?" I documented all of this in my notebook and throughout the week I practiced telling the time in Korean whenever I spotted a clock or looked at my phone. I was feeling little discouraged when I first started with this concept because it was pretty difficult for me to get the hang of, but I want to keep working to get better. Luckily I found a youtube video by SweetandTastyTV, which broke down all the steps, and made my learning a lot more dynamic, fun, and easier. 

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Learning Journal #7

I have been having so much fun learning Korean so far! I really feel like I have found a strategy that works well for me and every time I learn something new, I become excited to keep learning more. I don't think that I would change anything in my learning plan, but perhaps I could try to spend more time weekly to keep practicing what I have learned so far. I plan to keep writing in my journal and practicing both my writing and verbal skills. I really like supplementing my language learning with my cultural learning—one cannot go without the other. Overall, I feel as though I am making good progress and I am being as elaborate as possible. 

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Learning Journal #6

This week I focused on language task #3 and my language goal for week 6, which was conversation starter questions and introduction questions. I learned how to ask questions about identity and overall wellness, as well as learned how to answer these types of questions. I learned 15 phrases and responses and I documented them in my notebook in Hangul, as well as in romanizations, to make sure that my pronunciation is correct. I got most of my information from Koreanclass101.com. Some of my favorite phrases were: 어떻게지내세요? (How are you?) and 이름이뭐예요? (What is your name?) Overall I am very happy with the progress that I am making and I think my strategies for language learning have been working so far. I am excited to keep moving forward! 

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Learning Journal #5

I think my first artifact went fairly well! Even though I was pretty direct with my phrases, and there wasn't much creativity put into my execution, I think it was a good first attempt at displaying some of what I have been doing in my studies. I am  confident in these phrases, and I am pretty sure that my spelling and pronunciation was correct. I am happy with the progress I am making when it comes to writing in Hangul. Originally my handwriting was really big and sloppy looking, but I have been working really hard to make it look as nice as possible without taking too long. My tasks for week 4 and 5, I think, were fine. I learned a lot and I will continue to practice what I have learned. 

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Learning Journal #4

This week I was working on learning common phrases. My goal was to learn at least 15 common phrases that I could use on a daily basis. This week's task slightly overlaps with my second language task, but I tried to be a little bit more elaborate this time around. I wrote my phrases on index cards and I ran through them a couple times per day and I practiced writing them down in my notebook as well. I used NAVER for many of my phrases, and I also found a few phrases on Omniglot.com that I thought would be useful. It felt really nice to be able to pronounce the phrases correctly and to be able to write them without constantly having to check myself for accuracy. I feel as though my strategy for learning these phrases was efficient, but I hope to find better ways as I go along this process. I think this week's task will help me to eventually become more comfortable with longer and more complex phrases/sentences. I also focused on week 5's task of learning pronouns. Instead of writing what I learned on flashcards, I decided to write in a notebook because some of the pronouns needed extra explanation of when to use them, and formal in informality information. I think I will begin writing more in notebooks instead of on flashcards. This way I will be able to highlight important information, and everything will be condensed in one place. This task was slightly more difficult for me because of differences in first person, second person, and possessives. I will get it eventually though! Overall, it was a good week. 

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Learning Artifact #3

This is a picture of some us going out and ordering food at a Korean restaurant. We all had to say what we wanted to the cashier and ask how much it was. 12746850261?profile=original

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Reflection Paper #2

This semester I am learning Korean as my target language. I am native to the United States and only visited Korea once in my entire life. Therefore, I do not have a lot of knowledge in Korean. What I do know about Korean was acquired from listening to my parents talk and watching Korean dramas and music videos. The relationship between Korean culture and Korean language is very important. Unlike America, which is very individualistic, Korea is very collective. They value tradition and working together as a group. A lot of their language is shaped by this culture. An example of this would be when talking to people of higher authority or to an elder. If you do not use a formal language with them it is seen to be extremely disrespectful. As a Korean employee, you are also expected to join company dinners. If you have plans on the same day, you would be expected to cancel the plans in order to join the company dinner. Because of this culture, it is looked down upon if you talk back to an elder or a boss. It is also disrespectful if you make direct eye contact with them during conversations. As a native born American, this became a culture shock for me because you would not do any of those things in the states. In fact, gestures such as looking at an elder or a boss directly in the eye would actually be a sign of respect in America. After my first trip to Korea, it made me realize how much I have yet to learn about the culture and the language. Although I grew up in a Korean household, there are things you absolutely cannot learn unless you go a visit the country yourself.

To become better at my target language I need to be more cautious and aware of my situation. I had a lot of times where elders would think of me as being rude because I did not respond or gesture to them a certain way. One major culture difference I experienced in Korea was in the metro. There is a spot in the subway that is only designated for elders and those that are pregnant. However, I was originally born in New York and anyone is able to sit anywhere regardless of their age, even when it was only supposed to be designated for elders. Therefore, without much thought, I picked the only available seat left since my ride was around one hour long. Once I sat down, two elders came up to me and started yelling at me in Korean. At that time I was not proficient in Korean and had a hard time apologizing to them and explaining that I was not from Korea and that I had made a mistake. Because of this, I think I need to improve my strategic competence in order to get my meaning across. To do this, my language partner assigned me some readings and variety shows to watch.

               

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Learning Artifact 4

12746849869?profile=originalThis was one of the lessons for Korean history with my language partner. It shows how the people are governed in Korea and the three branches. The middle word is 국민 which translates to "the people of the nation" which symbolizes that the people are at the center of government.

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Cultural Post #3 (SDLC 111)

While talking to Gökhan the other day, I realized that there are some interesting honorific differences in Turkish in comparison to English. In English (or at least in my English speaking community), I believe that the main honorifics are “Sir, Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Ma’am” and most people use these honorifics to show respect and distance from their interlocutor. While Turkish has similar honorifics, such as Beyefandi (Mr.) and Hanimefendi (Mrs.), it also has other honorifics that we lack in English. For example, abi is used to address a male that is slightly older. It literally means “older brother” and is used as a sign of respect. Abla, which means “older sister” also serves a similar purpose. In addition to these two, amca and teyze are commonly used to address older men and women. Although we have words like “dude” and “bro” in English, Gökhan mentioned that the use of these words are at times mandatory to show respect. Also, I was really intrigued by these words because I don’t really pay attention to my use of honorifics and it made me question myself.

Below is a list of these words mentioned and more!

http://learnturkish.pgeorgalas.gr/HitaplarSetEn.asp

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Cultural Post #2 (SDLC 111)

A couple weeks ago, Gökhan sent me a video on Facebook about a community in northern Turkey that have developed a bird language, which is based off of WHISTLING (link shared below). I was completely amazed because I have never heard of anything like this in my life. I already struggle with whistling, so I can’t imagine being able to communicate this way. I think I’m going to stick with Turkish now and maybe learn some greetings in the bird language haha. Around 10,000 people use the language to communicate from far distances in the mountainous region. Interestingly however, the United Nations claim that the language is endangered because of the growing presence of cell phones in the region. I hope that they find a way to preserve the language!

Also, I found another video on YouTube about the Black Sea (karadeniz, northern) region of Turkey and it looks absolutely stunning! The link is shared below.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQmF7kbOrmE

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-42256155

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvpAI_Y2smU

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Cultural Post #1 (SDLC 111)

What are your cultural learning goals for this semester?

At the beginning of last semester, I had very little to no understanding about Turkish culture. I learned very broad information about Turkey as a whole instead of the different parts of the country. This semester, I plan to focus on the certain regions (cities) of the country that deviate from and contribute to the overall perception of Turkish culture. For example, I hope to explore some differences in the cuisine in varying parts of the country, some dialectal differences, tradition differences, etc. I am also interested in learning about what art and/or literature is famous in Turkey. I am going to refer mostly to Gökhan and the internet for this information.

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