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(I'm sorry for the late entry, Nuray Hocam, but I did not realize that you wanted this by Monday MORNING! My deepest apologies!)

I am a very independent learner by nature; when I find a potentially interesting subject, I often peruse the library or the Internet, devouring every piece of information I can find. In middle school I voraciously read all of the works of Piaget, convinced I would become a developmental psychologist. When I first became interested in Turkish culture, I would ask my friends of Turkish descent any question I could think of, and immediately scoured the Internet for language learning programs. When I discovered that I could teach myself a language at the University of Richmond,
I was as excited as anybody could be.

I was taught Spanish for five years in middle and high school, and although I had plenty of resources at my disposal, I was never so inclined to learn the language. I was rather detached from my heritage, living 600 miles away from my non-immediate family. Furthermore I was embarrassed: I am full-blooded Latina, both of my parents speak the language, but I could not put together a single sentence for most of my life. Spanish was the language that students took as the “easy A”, unconcerned with actual acquisition. Therefore, the honors and even the AP curriculum at my school was aimed for the student who did not care but merely took the class to fulfill the institution’s language requirement. Activities and lesson plans were noticeably contrived from the dying imagination of a teacher who had had the joy of teaching culture sucked dry from unsympathetic administration and even more uncaring students. They were, in summation, a joke. I did not learn much, and had to study strenuously and independently in order to pass out of the COM2
requirement this year.

While studying Turkish these past few months, I had been experimenting with different teaching strategies, and nothing worked better than drawing pictures and labeling them
with Turkish vocabulary words. Even if I stop learning Turkish, I think I will always remember the word for watermelon, “karpuz”, after having drawn a little watermelon and labeling
it. Also, seeing things in front of me and having them said to me works very well; I worked with Turkish students in carnival games, and they would point to prizes and teach me their Turkish names (I know the Turkish word for tiger, “kaplan”, like the back of my hand.

It was no surprise to me then that I am classified as a visual learner. I will certainly use this information to my advantage, and try to watch videos and look at diagrams more when attempting to learn new vocabulary or grammar. I also am a strong learner by writing, according to the text, and I think that the best way to incorporate both mediums is by drawing pictures and labeling them, as I demonstrated above.

Again, my Multiple Intelligence Inventory shows that I am strong in visual/spatial reasoning first-most, with secondary skills in linguistics. My third greatest strength is intrapersonal ability, so I will best utilize that information by creating my own inventory of my skill level and creating projects for myself to complete. I am happy to know I am an intrapersonal learner, as it will make SDLAP a lot more manageable personally!

I've studied a few different languages over the years, and I've learned in time what works best for me in order for words' meanings and sentence constructions to stick. I started french in eighth grade and continued with it until the end of high school, and I studied german for three years in college and then arabic for a semester. The two online questionnaires told me that I was Music Learner, on the one hand, and a Physical and Visual learner by the other. And I would agree with these results. I listen to music constantly and I seek out music from other languages, especially the ones I study. I believe it helps my pronunciation, as well as repeats common phrases and word usages, which pop into my mind later when I'm trying to think of the correct way to express something.
I've also known for a very long time that I'm a visual learner when it comes to learning words. If I see something written out once, I will always remember how to spell it, and I need to see foreign words written out in order to remember them. That's because I recall words by seeing them in my mind, and if I only hear a word and am not familiar with how a word would be spelled, my brain invents its own way to write it, which creates problems later when I try to write.
Alternately, studying grammar first in a textbook is helpful to me to learn how sentences should be constructed, but grammar becomes second nature to me only when I've heard it spoken a lot. Once I know how the language would look written out, listening to it spoken or in music helps me put words in context and learn how they should be used.
The first things I need to understand are the alphabet and the pronunciation of words. I generally learn vocabulary best in lists. I don't necessarily need or want pictures with them since I make my own pictures in my head. Also I've learned it's helpful to learn vocabulary as words that all relate to each other, like foods or household objects. Once I have the basics, I could research the basic grammatical constructions of sentences, since I remember that Turkish placement of words in sentences is very different from English. Then I could understand simple texts, write basic sentences, and learn context by watching tv and kids' cartoons, or by listening to podcasts or music while I run.

I did not grow up in a foreign country and my parents are not fluent in any other language besides English. I have only been out of the United States once in my life and that was when I studied abroad in Australia, a country whose customs and culture are similar to those we practice in America; needless to say my linguistics were not challenged. I have studied different languages throughout my high school and college years, but it is safe to say that I am far from fluent in any language other than English. In high school, I studied Spanish for four straight years. To this day, I can remember some grammar and I can count to 100, but I would embarrass myself if I had to hold a conversation with someone who spoke only Spanish. The same goes for Italian. When I started as a freshman at the University of Richmond, I knew that I wanted to take a language that was new and different and that no one in my family had ever taken. I chose Italian. For one whole year, five days a week, one hour and fifteen minutes a day, I learned all I possibly could about the Italian language. From grammar and numbers to verb tenses and sentence formation, my professor did her very best to make sure the Italian language was embedded in our brains. Unfortunately, although I am more comfortable with my Italian-speaking abilities than I am with my Spanish-speaking abilities, I would need a lot more practice before I could converse with someone in Italian without making any mistakes.

For me, learning a new language is a lot fun. I enjoy being able to see the differences between languages and hear the different accents individuals have developed based on where they live. Over the weekend I completed two multiple intelligence tests and upon reviewing the results, I realized that they were extremely accurate and I began to think about and analyze my learning styles; something that I would have probably never done if it was not for taking these tests. Both tests revealed that I am both a social and solitary learner. At first, I did not see how this was possible seeing as how the terms are polar opposites. However, as I thought about the learning styles that I have used over the years, especially since I started attending the University of Richmond, I realized that I am in fact both a social and solitary learner. I prefer to communicate with fellow students when it comes to completing assignments or discussing a lecture. In addition, I have found that it is easier for me to learn material when I am listening to someone teach it to me, as opposed to reading it in a textbook. In the classroom, I enjoy when professors use examples and demonstrations in order to ensure that students understand what they are learning. I have found that I comprehend things much better when there is a video or model to illustrate what I have just read or been taught. Similarly, I enjoy taking classes in which professors communicate with and include their students in what they are teaching, rather than simply lecturing for 50 minutes to an hour.

Although I prefer to learn in groups, I have also found that I when it comes to studying and doing work, I prefer to be alone. When I study for a test, I need to be in a room that is completely quiet and where there are no distractions. Because I am easily distracted, I prefer to sit myself in the far corner of the library, with no computer or cell phone so that I am not sidetracked. I can safely say that when I work independently, I “get the job done”. I consider myself to be very self-disciplined which is why I believe that I will not have many problems teaching myself a completely new language. I have no experience when it comes to speaking Hebrew. In fact, I know very little about Jewish culture and traditions. But I am anxious to learn all that I can. It would be impossible for me to expect to be fluent in Hebrew by the end of the semester. Although that would be extraordinary, it is also very impracticable. That being the case, by the end of the semester, I would like to be able to hold short, simple conversations in Hebrew and possibly be able to write short phrases. I want to be able to pronounce and write most of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet, as well as learn up to 5 new vocabulary words a week. I would love to be able to read simple texts and phrases that are common among the Hebrew language. All in all, I know that learning a completely new language is going to be tough and at times I am going to feel frustrated. Right now, I do not know if my goals are too ambitious, but I always think it is better to set the bar high and simply see what happens.

After traveling to Mexico when I was fourteen, I began to realize the value of being multilingual, and I have become increasingly interested in learning languages after subsequent trips to Brazil, Spain, and France. I was homeschooled, so I did not take languages in a classroom during high school. I instead used the Rosetta Stone program for learning Spanish; I felt it was a natural way to learn a language but did not give me a strong basis for conversation. It did, however, help in some areas, such as verb tenses, once I got to Spanish at the college level.

The results of my Learning Styles Inventory were not surprising to me. The area I scored the highest in was Solitary, with 17, and the lowest was Aural, with 5. Undoubtedly because of my experiences as a homeschooled student, I have always learned best when I am working by myself. Since I began attending college I have had to work to develop my ability to learn from classroom lectures. Especially with my Spanish classes, I have found it difficult to remember material unless I see it in writing. Learning straight from a textbook continues to be my most productive way of mastering material. My Multiple Intelligence Inventory confirmed this; my two highest scores were 35 in Intrapersonal, meaning I learn best by working alone and with self-paced instruction, and 34 in Linguistic, meaning I learn best by saying, hearing, and seeing words. For these reasons, I am hopeful the SDLAP will work well for me. However, the downside to being a Solitary learner is that I struggle with being confident in expressing myself orally. I am hoping practice with my language learning partner will be helpful in overcoming my weakness in this area. Overall, I hope that SDLAP will be a good way of using my strengths to learn a language while taking the opportunity to improve in areas in which I am not as comfortable.

There is no correct way to go about teaching yourself a language, as the point of this class demonstrates. There are though, correct ways to best teach an individual. As I found out the hard way in high school, learning French from a book in a classroom full of kids I wanted to talk to the whole time, was not the best choice for me. The problem I now face myself with is trying to find the best way that I can learn a new language without wasting my time like I did in high school. I have no experience in Turkish language except for two words, both of which I should not say, and a slight knowledge of how the Turkish use inflection when speaking. I have many Turkish friends who have helped me understand their culture (at least bits and pieces), and I know a bit from my own research. The language though, sounds very intimidating to me, and sometimes I wonder how the hell I am going to do this (but alas my GPA can't get much lower than it already is). But because I love the Turkish and wish to visit there I will stick with it.

Now to discuss the tricky stuff. How do I go about teaching myself Turkish?! Well I took the two quizzes and they came out more or less the same. My highest score was in the visual/spatial department, which doesn't surprise me. The suggestions they gave me to best help me learn are exactly what I was going to do anyways, which is to use lots of pictures and colors (rosetta stone anyone?). My next highest scores were Music and Interpersonal, the former being less helpfull than the latter seeing as I don't think I have much music at my disposal. I will see if I can get ahold of some Turkish music. Knowing that I am Interpersonal, I will try to work with others that speak Turkish, which is great because I am always looking for an excuse to skip class and go hang out with my Turkish friends ;)

The other suggestions for learning seem like they will not help as much, but I will try to develop more ideas to help my quest. Perhaps getting some movies might help. Oh, and one thing I know I will struggle with is grammer. I was terrible at it in french, and honestly not so good at it in English. Hopefully I will figure something out to help me with that. My goals for myself I am not quite sure of yet, but I want to at least be able to hold a simple conversation. If I progress to doing more than that, then I want to specialize in travel, and especially places in Turkey (Historical buildings, etc.). I really just want to learn as much as I can, but let me stop before I overshoot my goals.