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Summarization of assessment and goals:

I know that I don't have much prior knowledge or exposure to Korean language. By using the the Level of Competence document and the LinguaFolio Checklist, I was able to confirm this. I am at the beginning level for every category such as listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Although I can distinguish the difference between the Korean alphabet versus Chinese/Japanese, I do not know how to read in Korean. The only exposure I had was by watching Korean drama's. I've picked up a couple of words here and there such as hello, sorry, and yes/no. Other than that, I'm pretty much starting from ground up. My general goals for the semester would be to be able to introduce myself and hold a simple conversation. I also want to be able to read at the intermediate level, if possible. I am usually pretty well with listening comprehension so I would like to be able watch movies and understand most of the context of the scene. If I'm going to learn how to read, I will definitely be able to write. Overall, my goals are to be at the developing intermediate level.

Reflection for this week's learning:

This is for the second week of classes where we were supposed to meet up with our language partner but I was not paired up with my partner yet. To get started on learning the Korean language and other aspects of Korea, my personal goal for the week was to get myself more informed about the language. Instead of diving straight into the alphabet and greetings, I thought it'd be a better idea to familiarize myself with a bit of background information about how the language came about in order to get introduced to it all. The strategies I used to fulfill this goal was by using my resources in the Global Studio such as the book "Integrated Korean: Beginning 1" and "Basic Korean: A Grammar and Workbook". I read over the introduction sections of each book which provided me a great amount of information about the history of Korean language/speakers and the different dialects spoken by the native speakers. It also explained what kind of a language it was how it related to other languages. In addition, it included information about the how vocabulary is composed, word order, honorific expressions and much more. On top of all these, the make up of the alphabet was introduced. These books were very effective in helping me complete my goal for this week. I look forward to learning the alphabet and greetings/farewell's for next week's learning experience. 

I truly enjoyed reading through the three papers for reading this week.   I found it the last paper "How to investigate language structure" truly interesting, especially when they started talking about the various levels that can be found in language.   I had never thought of language having a structured series of levels.  However, now that I think of language having structure, I can better organize the many parts of language.   

Additionally, I enjoyed reading about "How the brain handles language", because it was a great refresher on neurology and psychology.  I had a brief chapter in my high school psychology and Anatomy and Physiology classes about the brain and how speech works.   What I found most interesting was the information on "slips of the tongue".   I get frustrated with myself when I am talking to someone or writing them and I am excited, because I start to mix up my words or omit two or three words in my sentences.   I catch myself doing this especially when I am trying to have a quick conversation with someone over text messaging.   

Lastly, in the papers, "How we mean" and "How we analyze meaning", I recognized the various distinctions that languages have for things that are important to their culture.  For example, in Biblical Hebrew there are five different words that describe a desert storm.   My favorite example is with the Inuits, they are over four different ways to describe snow. Also, I have never actually recognized the use of collocations.  For the examples in the paper given, I found it very interesting that I could fill everyone one of those words in with a one or two choice words that almost always are found with that word.  This showed me, that with every language I learn, I am not fluent until I can actually recognize various collocations.  

September 2, 2012

SDLAP 110

Entry #2

Goal for the week:

Soccer vocabulary.

Result:

I did not learn soccer vocabulary, but moved on to other things I cared more about at this time.

I realized the necessity for having a more organized structure for language acquisition. I have started the implementation of a new learning plan: see SDLAP 105 Entry 1.

Language partner will still provide dialogues. The foundation in more rigorous vocabulary and grammar study should make them more fruitful.

Learned/In Progress:

Colors

Days of the Week

#1-10

Animals

Random Vocab and Phrases: see you later, excuse me, welcome, good night, good morning, may I, but, don’t worry, good luck, thirsty, hungry, help, sure, already, etc…

Verbs- to be, to have, to talk, to run, to eat, to drink

Present Tense Verb Conjugation

Noun Gender

Method:

The most important part of this week was how unsatisfied I was with the structural organization of my learning and how irritated I was with my own lingual competence. This week was mostly drilling myself, memorization, and then realizing in my sessions that I needed to switch things up a little bit if I wanted to be as efficient, productive, and competent as possible. Thus, the most important learning experience from this week was the change that it inspired for the next week (see SDLAP 105 Entry 1 for details).

September 9, 2012

SDLAP 105

Journal Entry #1

I found the categories in Crystal’s chapter, “How to Investigate Language Structure”, particularly useful. Breaking down language learning into divisions of vocabulary, grammar sounds, intonation, and idioms/expressions is right in line with my intentions: to have a structured, organized means of learning a language as quickly as possible in order to make the most of the semester.

The first two weeks have been productive. It’s been fun and scattered, learning important phrases and vocabulary at random in order to provide a very basic foundation. To maximize the speed, simplicity, and efficiency of this process however, I’ve decided to experiment with conceptualizing this semester’s language learning—and pouring my energies—into the categories suggested. I think this is going to work out well, especially because of how I like material thrown at me: directed, organized, and all at once. That said, here is a basic outline of how I plan to move into week three:

1.      Vocabulary: I experimented with Byki for two days and learned basic vocabulary words—colors, numbers, days of the weeks, and animals-- at a satisfying pace. The program is fantastic for basic vocabulary and phrases. It’s like flashcards on steroids. It’s quick, repetitive, and has pictures. Moreover, it seems to follow a logical process to make sure you’ve learned the word. It starts with basic flashcards that show the Bosnian word, vocalize the Bosnian word, and then shows the English word right below. The point is for recognition. When you’re ready, you move on to traditional flashcard mode. This is followed by a process that shows the Bosnian word and then asks you to type the English meaning. The final step is called “produce it”, where you are shown the English word and are asked to first say, and then write the Bosnian equivalent. The best feature of the entire thing is that it refuses to let you move on to the next step until it thinks you’ve successfully learned the material. Brilliant. It’s not a pretty process. I sometimes found it monotonous and tedious, but I can’t argue with the results. It’s quick and effective if you’re willing to grind it out. This is what I tell myself at least. The only pitfall is that my free trial version has a very limited vocabulary list that doesn’t allow you to add your own vocabulary list or pictures. The deluxe version does. Dear Global Studio, please purchase the deluxe version.

I italicized “quick” in the last paragraph because I had a motivating discovery during my sessions with the language partner this last week. Comprehensions and answering questions in the language you are trying to learn requires a level of mastery I had not underestimated. The reading I mentioned above alluded to the idea that we take for granted the number of cerebral processes which go into the language learning process. During my sessions, I thought that I knew certain words, which I did, but not to a degree I thought was very respectable. I had to pause and think for at least 2 to 3 seconds to figure out how to say simple things such as “I am great”, or “green”, “six”, or “Ms.” It was irritating. This was actually the experience that led me to Byki. In sum, I want Byki as means to drill and kill, to master the vocabulary so that I can comprehend and respond quickly and accurately as possible.

2. Grammar: This week was filled with irritation. Maybe I let the first successful week get into my head a little bit. Nevertheless, again, my irritation with my linguistic incompetence drove me to action. More specifically, my inability to put a sentence together has bothered me enough to seek a means to learn how to put a sentence together. I discovered the Bosnian grammar text books that should help me solve this issue. I’m working with basic present tense verbs and conjugations this week.

3.      Grammar Sounds/Intonations/Idioms Expressions: Having this category spelled out helps me to refine the role of the language learner and language partner. Several times this last week, I’d have the correct vocabulary word but wrong intonation, pronunciation, etc. In my experiences, it seems that the more I know and put into preparing for the practice sessions, the more I get out of them, the more my language partner has to work with.

This week Shir and I met on Monday and started to get a feel of where I was with the language and learn the grammatical structure of the language and pronunciation.   Something that I found very interesting was the fact that Israelis will constantly shorten and abbreviate words in Hebrew.  So, not only does Modern Hebrew not use vowels (which is how I learned in Sunday School at my synagogue), but they also abbreviate words such as School and United States of America.  We started to go over some of these commonly used abbreviations and work on my writing skills.   We decided that on Mondays we will emphasize reading and writing and on Thursday we will emphasize only speaking. For mondays, she will say a sentence, I will repeat it and then try to write it down and translate it.  Then take an English sentence written down and translate it in my mind, say it, correct my sentence then write it down.    This way I am working on my reading, writing, and speaking skills.   On Thursdays, Shir and I are going meeting somewhere for lunch and talking over food.  This creates a more creative and interactive atmosphere for conversation.  This past Thursday we met at Dhall.  We spoke about what types of food we were eating and then how to talk about things we liked, disliked, and wanted.  Additionally, we walked around Dhall and worked on recognizing lots of different foods.  I found it very interesting that many "American" foods such as pudding and asparagus are spoken the same way in Hebrew except with an Israeli accent.  Also, I thought it was very interesting to learn something about hand gestures.   As an Italian I am used to putting my fingers together and raising my hand and saying something in Italian when I am frustrated at someone.   Shir taught me that the same exact hand gesture in Israel means "Wait".   I was startled when I learned this because I immediately took the hand gesture as someone being frustrated with me.  This just reinforce my learning of the culture and the fact that I have a lot to learn :)   I want to investigate and learn more about other gestures that could mean something different in Israeli culture.

The Hebrew Alphabet is very different from the English alphabet for many reasons.  First of all, the language is read and written from Right to Left not Left to Right (as in English or Spanish).  Next, Modern Hebrew is not written in the Latin script, it is written in a script similar to the Assyrian script.  Additionally, because the language is used for both secular and religious reasons the language has been transliterated for non-religious American Jews when they decide to go to synagogue for services or Holidays.  For mystical believers the language has numerical values which can be used to predict events or give a deeper meaning to Jewish traditions.  However, the most striking feature about the Hebrew language from English is that Hebrew does not use any vowels.   This has been a hard feature to learn about the language, because when I learned Hebrew as a child, I used the pronunciation guides (vowels).  The "vowels" are used in Modern Hebrew, as my language partner stated "when I was in school, we stopped using the vowels in first grade.  The key is to become more and more familiar with the vocabulary and to start to put the words into context and you will figure out what word you are talking about."  

The following link shows the various ways of writing the Hebrew language.  Present day, we only use the Printed and Cursive styles of Hebrew.  However, the other forms are necessary for reading older books such as the Talmud (commentaries on the Torah (Five books written by Moses)) or Mezuzot (Prophets).

http://www.mezuzah.net/scripts.html

The following link is very thorough and goes into finer detail about the language and writing system.  

http://www.jewfaq.org/alephbet.htm

I am interested in learning Hebrew because I have plans to study abroad in Israel.   I grew up learning the Hebrew alphabet and Jewish prayers in Hebrew.   I learned to pronounce the language fairly well in Middle School, but I was never interested in actually understanding the words I was reading, because there was always an English translation nearby.  Now, I want to be able to learn Hebrew vocabulary as I learn to speak in Hebrew.   This semester I hope to get a broad picture of Hebrew in General and create a wide foundation and slowly strengthen that knowledge.   However, in addition to  learning the language, I am very interested in learning more about the culture where I will be spending eight months of my life.   I do not want to accidentally offend someone by doing something or not doing something.   Last month I spent ten days in Israel and I feel as though I only got to know the very edge of the iceberg of Israeli culture.   My end goal of this semester is to be able to carry on a short conversation about a variety of topics and be able to write simple sentences about a plethora of subjects from food to medicine and health.

After watching the video "Culture Shock" I could actually relate to the experiences I went through when I first came to America as a 15 year old high school Sophomore who could speak English, but had a completely different culture compared to that of Americans. It was indeed a very hard time to adapt similarly to what the international students of Richmond experienced, however I believe the the experience was a little more difficult for myself, especially since I was younger than the students included in the "Culture Shock" video. It was incredibly difficult to adapt since knowing the domestic language is nowhere close to what is required for Americans to accept foreigners into their circle of friends and acquaintances. I believe the reason to this is the clash of the domestic and foreign cultures that America experienced in the past because of their deep foreign scandal history. This is simply the way the majority of Americans are raised, they do not care for other cultures, they make fun of differences and believe that anything other than the American culture is inferior and inappropriate in the US. Therefore my conclusion is that in order to feel convenient in the US and to be treated at a respectful level, people must seriously adapt to the American people and their culture, because if they fail to do so they will have a very difficult time being happy in America. However, i believe that the University of Richmond needs to discontinue their separate international orientation since it causes international students to stay in their comfort zone and prevents them from attempting to meet and befriend American students. I believe that if all orientations were merged together, there would not be any separation on campus.

Cultural and linguistic competence is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations. Culture refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups. Competence implies having the capacity to function effectively as an individual and an organization within the context of the cultural beliefs, behaviors, and needs presented by consumers and their communities.To understand cultural competence, it is important to grasp the full meaning of the word culture first. Culture represents the values, norms, and traditions that affect how individuals of a particular group perceive, think, interact, behave, and make judgments about their world. Cultural competence may also be associated with diversity and from an organizational communication perspective, a diverse culture. Diversity must be prevalent and valued before one may be considered culturally competent or diversity competent organization. The term diversity has evolved to include concepts focusing on organizational culture and the intersections of power, structure, and communication all of which may contribute to diversity initiatives or potentially impede them.

While a few individuals seem to be born with cultural competence, the rest of us have had to put considerable effort into developing it. This means examining our biases and prejudices, developing cross-cultural skills, searching for role models, and spending as much time as possible with other people who share a passion for cultural competence.

I decided that I will use a voice recorder to document my artifacts since I want to hear how well I am capable of pronouncing my Turkish as if I am a listening to myself through somebody's perception, not my own. The reason for that is because I want to work on the foundation of my pronunciation while I am still beginning to learn the language and not further on when it would be too late to easily fix or adjust it. Therefore through recording my artifacts on a voice recorder I will be able to go back and change anything I am not satisfied without wasting too much time, such as I would if I were to be recording on a video recorder. Regarding the history of Turkey I learned a vast amount but I regarded the most prominent part of Turkish history to be the occupation of some parts of the country by the Allies in the aftermath of World War I that prompted the establishment of the Turkish National Movement under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, a military commander who had distinguished himself during the Turkish War of Independence. By September 18, 1922, with his help the occupying armies were expelled. On November 1, the newly founded parliament formally abolished the Sultanate, thus ending 623 years of Ottoman rule. The Treaty of Lausanne of July 24, 1923, led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the newly formed "Republic of Turkey" as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, and the republic was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923, with a new capital of Ankara. Mustafa Kemal became the republic's first President and subsequently introduced many radical reforms. The Turkish parliament presented Mustafa Kemal with the surname "Atatürk" which means Father of the Turks in 1934.

My reading in Turkish is not too minimal, however reading and understanding is quite difficult for me. However, the reading I have been doing is often of simple sentences. Moreover, I repeat my readings of the sentences so I can understand them better. Reading in Turkish has shown me how much I still would have to learn in terms of reading and understanding, but also has opened me to recognizing certain words that repeat themselves in readings. It is hard for me to quantify exactly how many words I have learned throughout the course of reading; however, I have learned many words, in comparison to my previous knowledge of Turkish coming into the course. I have not placed any set amount of words I want to learn. Some days I learn a few new words, and sometimes I learn the same amount in a week.I tried to do some reading in my language with my language assistant, and to my surprise he praised my pronunciation. I have reviewed the alphabet several times and I am very familiar with every letter with the Turkish alphabet, therefore it was not a difficult task to read the words but difficult to guess the pronunciation on some words that I did not know.  I think it is realistic for me to be able to read simple texts without complex words by the end of the year with an ability to understand the context of the text. I have learned that reading in Turkish is not difficult, but understanding the meaning is rather difficult in more longer readings, compared to the shorter readings. From reading I highlighted words that I did not know and looked them up after, if I keep up my reading I believe that I will accumulate a significant amount of vocabulary by the end of the semester.

As any country, Turkey has it's own body language. It can be kind of funny or even strange for some other culture to watch those gestures and try to understand what a person is trying to tell you. Understanding the body language is also understanding the culture of a country. So here are some main body languages that can be seen in Turkey. The handshake is not the most common greeting among friends. A man will greet another man by kissing each other on both cheeks. A man will greet a woman also in the same way. Note that if there are two religious people, they would not touch themselves with a handshake or kiss. It is very common in Turkey to see two men holding hands or arm in arm at walking on the street (Turks tend to touch much more than Westerners). This usually means that they are good friends. Turks tend to stare at one another and foreigners more than Westerners are accustomed to. Someone holding their hand with palm up and bringing fingers in toward thumb, this is a compliment and generally means something is "good." It is usually done when Turkish people are satisfied with their food and other objects. It can also mean that they find a woman or man nice and handsome. The "thumbs up" gesture is commonly used for hitchhiking. Shaking your head sideways means, "I don't understand." Raising your chin, moving your eyebrows up and simultaneously clicking your tongue means "No." (This one is one of the most different gestures of the Turkish body language and can be also found in Greece.) A sharp downward nod means yes. If a Turk waves their hand up and down at you, palm towards the ground, they are signaling for you to come. The gesture created by protruding your thumb between the first and second finger has an extremely offensive meaning. This gesture is called "the fig" and is considered obscene throughout much of the Mediterranean area.The idle habit of snapping your fingers with one hand and then slapping the top of a closed fist is considered obscene. This may be one of the rudest possible gestures.The gesture created when a circle is formed by touching the forefinger to the thumb does not mean "ok." In Turkey this symbol is a rude homosexual reference, it is quite offensive. It is also rude to point your finger or the sole of your shoe toward a person.

Goal for the week: Learn basic greetings

This first week of language learning I met with my language partners Pooja Patel and Prachi Mehta twice.  Both individuals are Gujarati 2nd year students here at the University. Since I have two language partners, we took advantage of that fact for the purposes of my best learning style, which is oratory.  I asked that they just speak with each other, introducing themselves and using basic greetings.

I quickly caught on and was able to then sa...

how are you (informal): tu kem che

how are you (formal): tame kem cho

I'm well: majhama

my name is jamaica: "maru namm jamaica"

I'm sick: hu mando chu

I found it extremely effective that they introduce themselves to one another. It was as though I was in a brand new country, without any concept of the language, simply trying to pick up on body language (hand gestures, hand shakes, smiles) along with what my language partners were actually saying. 

               Before I embarked on my adventure to learn Farsi, I took six years of French in middle and high school, culminating in a 4 on the AP French Language and Culture exam my senior year. French class was always one of my favorite and strongest classes in school. I loved learning about the culture of francophone countries and learning to speak a whole new language, and seeing the connections between French, English, and the rudimentary Farsi I knew.

                One of my favorite methods of learning in French class was telling stories. My AP French class had only six students and we were all good friends, and every day we would practice speaking and listening by telling stories about what had happened to us that day. It was a very good way to practice our vocabulary and sentence structure skills, and really helped me on the speaking and listening portions of the AP exam. I also liked practicing reading comprehension by reading French newspaper articles and then discussing them with my class.

                I did not like the previous years of French class as much as my senior year, however. The previous classes were composed of students who were not serious about learning the language, and the class reflected that, in having to spend much time reinforcing the basics over and over. As a self-directed learner of Farsi, I am excited to be able to work at my own pace and on my own curriculum.

                As a self-directed language student, I will be able to adapt my curriculum to my own personal styles of learning. For example, in the FIRE model of integrative thinking, I identified very strongly with the Factual method. I learn best in a goal-oriented way, with set expectations and tasks that I need to accomplish. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and the Factual method describes me very well.

                According to the learning styles test, I am a mix between an Aural and a Reading/Writing learner. As an Aural learner, it definitely helps me to be able to say things out loud and explain them to another person. Since I am also a Reading/Writing learner, it is imperative that I not only learn how to speak and listen to the language that I am learning, but also learn how to read and write the language and integrate the two styles of learning.

                According to the Multiple Intelligences test, I rated equally in Verbal/Linguistic and Logical/Mathematical Intelligence. Being strong in verbal intelligence means that I enjoy using words and taking notes, two characteristics that I will need to utilize to become an autonomous language learner. As a logical learner, I like to organize things by categories, which will help me in planning my syllabus for learning Farsi this semester.

                By using my previous language learning experiences and the new insight I have gained into my learning methods, I hope to be able to learn Farsi efficiently throughout this semester and academic year, with a self-directed learning method tailored to my own abilities and needs.

September 2, 2012

SDLAP 110

Entry #1

Learning Plan:

As mentioned in my cultural post, my goal for the year is to achieve “intermediate” fluency. See “Cultural Post 1” for details.

Goal for the week:

My goal for the week was to learn basic greetings, introductions, farewells, and the alphabet.

Result:

This goal was met and surpassed. I learned to order food from a menu, use random phrases, basic Bosnian history, and started to build a vocabulary base.

Method:

We met Monday through Friday for 30 minutes and took a field trip to a Balkan restaurant on Saturday where I successfully ordered food and drink. She would read her prepared material aloud, and then I would read her prepared material aloud while she corrected whatever mistakes were made. When appropriate, she would explain the cultural context of usage and other idiosyncrasies. I recorded her reading of some phrases in order to capture intonation, pronunciation, and manner. We drilled and role played with dialogue she provided as well.

My own practice sessions ranged from half an hour to two hours during this first week. They were primarily a combination of drama and rote repetition. I’d imagine myself in a certain situation and repeat the phrase with as perfect pronunciation as I could over and over again often times with verbal and physical exaggeration. When I felt comfortable with the meaning and verbalization, I’d read the thing over and over again before speaking with Bosnians I’d run into. I’d also look up random concepts, phrases, or words that interested me (ie shut-up).

Evaluation of Effectiveness:

Week 1 expectations surpassed expectations, so I am pleased. It was fun too. I was able to get a feel for the process of learning a language on with a partner. Next week, my goal is more topic-specific: to be able have a somewhat meaningful and informative conversation with a Bosnian about soccer. This should allow me to pick on grammar structures and an understanding of the cultural role of soccer in Bosnia as well. Since I am now familiar with a basic set of introductions, phrases, and vocabulary, my language partner will be able to speak with me even more in the target language.

At this point, I’m not prepared to limit myself to a method of language learning because it is so early in the process. I feel as if my mentor and I are actively creating new strategies. Nevertheless, I’m taking mental notes of our processes as we go along in hopes of eventually creating a personal “language-learning criteria.” As of now, I’d say I like the challenge of having an overwhelming amount of material thrown at me and of reciting and practicing dialogue.