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Due to my background with Spanish, I have general knowledge about basic sentence structure of Italian. Both languages are romantic languages and therefore, they share similar vocabulary. With that being said, they are not the same language. I will need to learn basic Italian sentence structure. I do not think I will have enough time in the semester to get into much depth with the language.

I plan on acquiring knowledge on Italian structure by watching Italian television with Italian subtitles. I will be able to both learn some Italian vocabulary and also learn basic Italian sentence structure. Also, I plan on using a language learning program such as Mango to help me learn Italian structure. My hope is that with repetition I will be able to pick-up Italian structure more quickly.

I do believe a reference grammar for the Italian language would be helpful. A comprehensive guide covering the major grammatical constructions would be incredibly beneficial to my learning. However, I know I learn best when the information is presented in an entertaining or interesting manner. For this reason, I am planning on sticking with the two above techniques to pick-up Italian sentence structure. 

There are two cultural learning goals I have for this semester, building on from surface level surveys of these topics in presentations last semester. I hope to learn about the early development of Urdu, and the role that poetry and poets played in the conceptualization and founding of Pakistan. I will begin learning about these two topics through discussions with a Pakistani friend who has learned a lot about these topics in order to give myself a general sense of areas of particular interest that I can explore in greater detail. To begin a deeper exploration of the areas in particular I want to learn more about I will use online resources, books from the library and any documentaries I might be able to find on those topics.

Nations and cultures often place much importance on their language and its development, so I believe understanding the history of Urdu will be especially beneficial because of its mixed roots originating from a language spoken primarily by Hindus but its development into its own language through Muslim conquest. Pakistan was founded on ideals held by many poets who wrote about topics relevant to the establishment of the nation and poets held an especially important status in the culture of the people who would become to be known as Pakistani. Learning about the role of poetry and the general establishment of the country will help me understand important aspects of Pakistan’s cultural heritage.

Last semester I only focused on learning interpersonal communication skills in Urdu (speaking and listening - no writing), and these are the areas I am focusing on for this semester again. I believe I am currently in the "novice high" or "beginner 3" area in both speaking and listening. I can understand and say more than just memorized phrases, and piece together sentences/the meaning of things being said as long as it involves select themes, such as family, hobbies, introductions etc. 

I will be focusing on these two areas of language learning again this semester. I want to learn Urdu for conversational purposes mostly - having many Pakistani friends on campus as well as a tendency for me to meet and be friends with South Asians generally (if I can speak Urdu, I will be able to communicate with Hindi speakers as well as become more familiar with other related languages). Aside from generally improving my vocabulary, listening ability and confidence/fluency in speaking I also specifically want to focus on learning common idioms and figures of speech/expressions in Urdu.

SDLAP_learningplan.docx

Hadi Learning Plan

Because I have a background in Korean, I have a general idea about the sentence structure of Korean. However, because I only have knowledge from daily conversations and not from technical knowledge, I would know what sentence structure sounds right, but I would not know why and what rule is behind it.

To acquire the information I need, I do think some self-study from online resources or books are necessary to learn some of the rules to realize why the sentence structure in Korean is the way it is. I also think listening to news broadcasts, or more difficult videos will be helpful, as I can pay more attention to some more difficult sentence structures.

I do think a reference grammar will be useful in that it will be another resource for me to use to learn more about grammar, which I do not have a lot of background in. Explanation of structures in phrases, clauses, etc. will be extremely useful in that it is not something I could necessarily learn from watching videos, or talking in Korean.

Because this is the first time I have learned a new language since high school, I am a little nervous but excited to expand my knowledge of Korean. While learning a new language in high school, the part I struggled with the most was grammar, and because that is something I want to expand on during this semester, I am a little worried to see how that works out.

However, I have also never been involved in a self-study program where I had the opportunity to choose my own learning process, so I am hoping the process will be easier once I start with my language partner. In the past, I've mainly learned grammar rules from a book, which became too boring and repetitive for me to be fully invested in, and therefore I'm hoping using a more interactive method will be more helpful in the learning process.

Overall, I am very excited to get started in the process!

My overall goal of the semester is to improve my understanding of the rules of grammar, work on my reading and writing skills and practice speaking about certain topics of interest. The following is the more detailed learning plan:

Grammar: 

1. Possessive Pronouns

2. At least 15 verbs and their conjugations

3. Past, Present, Continuous and Future tenses

4. Sentence Structure

5. Asking Questions

6. Adjectives (at least 20)

7. Singular / Plural

8. Numbers 

9. Counting

Practice Reading:

1. Children's Books

2. Information on Korean Websites

3. Online articles

(Topics of reading materials: lifestyle, culture, music, entertainment)

Writing:

1. Numbers

2. Introductions

3. Emails (formal and informal)

4. Cellphone messages

Conversation:

Review: 

1. Introduction and greetings

2. Ordering food at restaurants

3. Shopping

4. Asking and giving directions

5. Talk about hobbies

Want to learn:

1. Expressing opinions

2. Contradicting people

3. Having discussions on topics such as food, entertainment, cultural differences, education system. 

Body language in Korea also has a cultural aspect that encompasses formality. While there are other differences in body language, I think the formal ones are most important as they will dictate how you are obligated to respectfully treat those older than you (and will get you in the most trouble as a foreigner if you forget to do them).

-Bowing is very common in greeting and saying goodbye to someone older than you. To make a bow more respectful, bow more deeply and for a longer period of time. 

-When someone older enters the room, it is customary to rise to greet them.

-When shaking hands with someone, Koreans (assuming they are shaking hands with their right hand) cross their left hand over their body and touch their inner right elbow while shaking hands. 

-Making direct motions at someone is considered ruder in Korea than it is in America. For example, instead of beckoning someone over to you with the tips of your fingers pointed at them, you should face your palm to the ground and keep your fingers hanging down. Instead of pointing using your finger at someone, you should extend your entire hand with your palm pointed out. Even while eating, it is rude to point your chopsticks at someone.

Learning Journal 2: 105

The Korean language is a language based on hierarchy. There exists various forms of linguistic formality when speaking to another person. There are seven speech levels associated with formality, and their use depends on the title or standing of the recipient. For example when greeting someone who is older than oneself, one would typically end a sentence or phrase with “yo” to indicate respect. This also applies to situations where you are meeting someone for the first time. This ending can usually be left out when talking to someone of the same age or younger or between close friends and family members. When addressing someone, it is also very important to show respect by bowing to least at a 90 degree angle. Speech when addressing people of different genders also exist, especially in regards to age. For example, older women who are not elderly are referred to as ‘unni’ by females and ‘noona’ by males. On the other hand men are referred to as ‘oppa’ by females and ‘hyung’ by males.  All of these terms symbolizes respect.

It also very respectful in Korea, to accept a gift with two hands instead of one. Another acceptable way is to accept the gift with one’s right hand while holding one’s forearm with his or her left hand. This manner is also used when shaking hands with each other. Formality is even seen in Korean drinking culture. When one is having a drink poured for him or her, it is expected that he or she hold the bottom of the cup with two hands with both arms extended. When drinking in front of a superior, one must then make sure to turn his or her head sideways away from the person.

Learning Plan - 105

Learning%20jornal%20post.docx

Learning Journal - 110

I really enjoy the teaching aspects of Mango Languages. I really like the clear and expressive voices that are used in dialogue and when explaining certain forms of speech. I also like how it is easy to navigate and how it is very engaging. Byki, on the other hand, seems a little outdated. I liked that there was a voice to accompany the flashcard learning feature, but I kind of prefer handheld flashcards to those on a computer screen. If the program was more interactive like Mango, maybe I would enjoy it more. In regards, to the sites I bookmarked on Diigo, I think they would be helpful in reinforcing my studies as I continue forward with my learning by incorporating the books and learning resources in the Global Studio and online.

The culture of American Sign Language is very similar to the culture of the United States, because it is a language spoken only in North America, but the deaf certainly have a culture of their own. For example, the deaf are often extremely blunt. They do not mean to offend or make fun of you, but they have no problem saying exactly what they think. My language partner warned me that this is something that I will have to get used to. This does not sound exactly like a linguistic aspect of the language, but it is how the deaf speak, so I think it is important to mention in this post.  

Body language is HUGE in ASL. Besides the fact that you speak almost solely with your hands, facial cues are also extremely important. Because ASL is not spoken in complete sentences, you need to use your face to express feelings and questions. Everyone also signs a little bit differently, so you can eventually learn how each person signs. For example, some people are very expressive and use their whole bodies, but some people focus just on their hands and faces. 

Most "linguistic aspects" of ASL are similar to English, like how they talk about time. I'm sure I will discover more differences in the future, but most of the culture is American culture. 

• What do you need to know about the structure of your target language?  How will you acquire the knowledge you need?  Do you think a reference grammar can be useful?  Why or why not?

The structure of the Korean language at first seems really complicated, but in actuality is not.  In regards to the written language, Hangul is very easy to understand and the patterns are easy to pick up once I was able to go through the alphabet.  My language partner will be a great resource as to acquiring all the knowledge for understanding the basics of written Korean.  Spoken wise, I feel the structure is pretty clear as well.  There is formal and informal I have to learn as well as learning WHEN to use formality.  I think a reference grammar will be really useful since I'm a visual learner. As well, I find it helpful to have a tangible resource I can always refer back to.   Again, my language partner is a great resource for understanding when to use formal and informal language and what is appropriate and inappropriate to ask Koreans. I also know that there are two sets of numbers and I'm curious when Koreans use one set of numbers over the other.  

Through my research I've found that, outside of Italy, over 15 million people in countries such as Switzerland, North America, and Australia speak Italian. Over 93 percent of Italy speak Italian as a native language. Italy is an incredibly important country in Europe for art, cuisine, and history. There are several important architectural structures in Italy such as the Colosseum and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Along with many famous structures, Italy also plays home to a number of famous art museums all across the country.

One linguistic aspect of Italians that I found while researching is the fact that Italians tend to stare at others. In Italy, it is not considered rude, but people genuinely are interested in watching other people. A second aspect I came across is the fact that Italians tend to be louder people. Italians just tend to speak louder. They are not irritated or annoyed, most times, this is just how they speak to one another. In fact, real aggression among Italians is much less frequent than in the United States. Lastly, I read how frequently Italians use hand gestures when they are speaking. Italians use hand gestures as a way to punctuate an expression or word and give it extra emphasis that the phrase may lack. After researching the linguistic aspects of Italian, I am even more intrigued with the language.

The languages of Pakistan and Northern India share common roots. Around 5,200 BCE, Indo-Aryans began their migration into the Indus Valley and the areas that surround it. They pushed the old inhabitants of the land, the Dravidian’s, out and moved in. The Indo-Aryans brought with them their language. Through the course of five thousand years, influenced by external forces, the language developed in different ways into altogether different languages. Even though these languages do not resemble either each other, the structure is relatively similar. This is one reason for why languages of the Punjab, Kashmir and Northern Sindh share some structure.

According to my current understanding, Punjabi shares some structure with Siriaki as both developed in the planes of Punjab. And similarly Punjabi and Urdu share similar structure as both developed in Northern India. Therefore, Siriaki and Urdu will share some structure as well. Therefore, understanding the structure of Siriaki will not be too great a task. I intend to make use of all the experience my language partner has at his disposal in order to learn the intricacies and formalities of his culture and language. I expect the words, the phrases, and the rules of formal Siriaki to deviate much from its actual use. This is also the case with Urdu. However, I do believe that reference grammar will aid me in my endeavor but my primary source of knowledge will be my Language Partner.

There was something I forgot to talk about in the first video. 

https://youtu.be/sIPaviHgq9U

https://youtu.be/HW2tvvz84gE

SDLAP_learningplan-ShuyiChen.pdf

BYKI: There is no BYKI application for ASL.

Mango Languages: Mango only has one video for learning ASL, which is a video for the alphabet. I learned the alphabet a few years ago, but it was a good refresher, because there were a couple of letters that I had forgotten. I also didn’t know that “zz” is its’ own letter and has its’ on sign, instead of signing “z” twice. There is also a certain way to sign two letters in a row (like in the name Anna), so that was something I never knew.

Diigo Bookmarks: I had to start my own group in Diigo, because there are a few other ASL groups, but they have not been active in a couple of years. I bookmarked two websites, www.aslpro.com and www.handspeak.com. ASL Pro is really great because it has a main dictionary, conversation phrases, and even an ASL for babies section, which is a really great way to learn common words.

The resources I have found don’t have every word, but they are certainly a good start for someone who knows very little about the language. There are apps, YouTube videos, and more websites that I am going to look into. I know that TED has a series of talks given in ASL, but I have yet to find one that has captions, so I want to be able to watch those and understand at least some of it without needing to use captions. The above resources also do not tell me anything about ASL and deaf culture, so I will have to look elsewhere for things related to that. 

Observing my overall level of Korean, I would say my level is probably somewhere at the lower end of intermediate. Because I lived there as a young child, I do remember the basics, and can somewhat converse in Korean. However, in addition to my knowledge being limited in the first place, the lack of exposure to the language has also caused me to forget a good portion of it. Therefore, my goals for this semester are the following:

Interpersonal communication: As of now, I would say I probably know enough vocabulary to have normal, everyday conversations in Korean. However, it often takes me a while to remember the word I want to use which can cause stuttering, and has overall caused me to avoid using Korean. Therefore, this semester my goal is to continue to practice using Korean, and familiarize myself with everyday words again so that I can feel more comfortable speaking the language. I feel that even just practicing with my language partner will highly benefit me in interpersonal communication. After becoming more comfortable with speaking about day-to-day events, my goal is to be able to discuss things like current events with my language partner.

Listening: For obvious reasons, the area of Korean where I feel most comfortable is listening. Regarding normal, everyday conversations, I can generally understand most of what is going on. However, where I start to have issues is when someone starts using slang, speaks to fast, or starts using vocabulary outside probably the pre-k level. Therefore this semester, I want to familiarize myself with more vocabulary to increase my listening skills. My goal for by the end of the semester is to be able to listen to a news segment or a documentary, understand the majority of what it is talking about, and discuss it with my language partner, which also ties into my goals for interpersonal communication.

Presentation: From what I can remember, I don't believe I've ever given a formal presentation. I don't even enjoy giving presentations in English, so I definitely would not be comfortable giving a speech in Korean. However, as I learn more vocabulary and become more comfortable in the language, it is definitely something I'd like to do this semester.

Writing: Overall, writing is the are where I have the most trouble with. I've stated before I rarely use Korean, but I generally never write in Korean. Therefore, aside from what I can make up from being able to read it, my writing skills are probably closer to the beginner level. Therefore, my goal is to learn more grammar and vocabulary and practice it in order to improve my writing. In addition, I hope to be able to write something simple like a journal entry or a letter to a friend in Korean by the end of the semester.

Reading: For the most part, I can read out loud anything in Korean. The Korean alphabet is pretty simple, therefore the act of reading is not difficult. However, if it is language outside of the basic everyday language, I generally do not understand it. Therefore, I would like to work on being able to read more news articles, and novels this semester.