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SDLC%20Language%20Learning%20Journal%20%232.docx

Figuring Foreigners Out explains how culture plays a big role in shaping how a person thinks and behaves: "Culture is the shared assumptions, values, and beliefs of a group of people which result in characteristic behaviors." It is stated in the book that the building blocks of culture are-
• Concept of self--individualist and collectivist
• Moral responsibility--universalist and particularist
• Concept of time--monochronic and polychronic
• Locus of control--internal and external.
Similar to this analysis of people and culture, Geert Hofstede also analysed how culture shapes people’s values and they came up with the six dimensions of culture-
• Concept of self - individualist and collectivist
• Power distance - inequalities caused in society caused by differences citizen’s power and wealth or not
• Masculinity - equal treatment of all genders and patriarchal and rooted in traditional masculinity
• Uncertainty Avoidance - Tolerant and avoiding
• Long Term Orientation - following traditions and changing with time
• Way of life – restrained and indulgent

I agree with both these analyses in that I believe that these factors do affect how a culture shapes a person and their values. Something I found very surprising was the analysis of these factors in India in the 6D model of national culture. On average in India the analysis was surprisingly accurate. However, from my experience of Indian culture, if you take a closer look at it, North Indian culture and South Indian culture are extremely different. Actually, the culture difference between the people of two different states in India can also be large. This brought on new questions about how the culture in other countries might be. Overall, the South Korean culture is very different from Indian culture according to the estimated values in the Hofstede 6D model. So, I would really need to go out of my way to fully understand and learn South Korean culture because it's not in line with what I've naturally adapted. This makes me more excited to learn about it. I do wonder if different regions in South Korean differ as greatly in culture as different regions in India do? How did these differences (if any) come about? Would this shape how I learn to absorb the Korean language and culture? These are some questions that I would like to find answers to.

I found these readings really interesting and they brought up a lot of new ideas that I hadn’t even considered. For example, the analysis of the slip of the tongue and how it actually tells us a lot about how the brain works. In some ways they aren’t random at all and actually are logical in that it is more likely for someone to say bar in the place of car rather than har. It was also interesting to see which parts of the brain controls different actions, but that there are many factors that affect things like speech production that many areas of the brain are involved. The Broca’s area accounts for production of speech while Wernicke's area is where it is interpreted. These are all subconscious activities so it is interesting but not applicable to my language learning plan. 

In the other reading I saw that something I noticed in my language learning was confirmed. That is the dichotomy between vocabulary and other factors such as intonation and especially grammar. Intonation also has a cultural aspect to it, seen in different subcultures and age groups. For example, this weekend my friend told my other friend “You’re so stupid!” and then she continued to say, “By stupid I mean incredulous.” The difference between reading and listening is that. Intonation brings a whole other aspect into meaning. 

This semester I’m going to study Turkish and I believe it will be an exciting journey. It is the fourth language I’m going to study, so I think I will continue to study Turkish based on the experiences of learning other languages. Firstly, remembering new words is always essential for language studying no matter for beginners or people who know the language well, I think it is a really helpful process but without an ending, though I don’t like remembering new words at all. Why I think this is important is that when I was studying French, I always found my progress was behind others, and I realized the reason is that I didn’t care about remembering vocabulary. It was a disaster. So for this semester, I hope I can always read vocabularies and spend more time on this, because I always found grammar is relatively simpler for me to study a new language, but vocabulary is my weakness. Secondly, I will watch lots of TED talks in Turkish/about Turkey, Turkish TV shows and Turkish movies, which were also listed in the course’s syllabus. I found watching these kinds of shows was really helpful to my listening and reading when I was studying French. I remember there was a period when I almost watched French movies and TV shows every day. After that period of time, my listening improved greatly and I became more familiar with French grammars. Also, this process of learning is not tedious at all, because I also got to know lots of fresh cultural stuff which is always my favorite part of studying a new language, In terms of learning Turkish culture for this semester (yay so exciting), I think the syllabus listed a lot of interesting activities, such as watching movie together, having Turkish foods and etc. I believe the culture and language teaching for our Turkish class this semester are more like half and half, so it will be really exciting to compare a brand new culture with cultures I’ve already known. Last week we watched several videos of Turkey, they were really amazing because I’ve never been to a country like that before. Originally I thought Turkey was similar to France, because they were all European countries. But it turned out they had little in common and languages were not similar either. Also, they valued a lot about of their religion and most of them are muslin. I’ve never got any touch with religions, so I had little knowledge of it. This semester I hope I can explore more about the relationship among religion, language and cultures, because I always believe they are closely related to each other. Right now, my first goal is to be familiar with basic Turkish, such as greetings or ordering foods, so I hope I can practice these as much as I can with my language partner or with my classmates. Hope I can have conversations with Turkish friends at the end of this semester! =）

My first week of learning Malay with my language partner, Melissa, was exciting and provided a smooth transition into the lessons. Melissa got me a language-learning book that is directed towards Malaysian children. While it is rudimentary, so, too, is my Malay level. One thing I immediately learned that I am in no way constrained to the topics or vocabulary of the book alone and can take my linguistic curiosities in any direction I want; it is simply there as a guide.

I spoke with Melissa about Malaysian culture and geography, and we walked through some postcards and teaching materials she had assembled after our self-introductions. We talked about distinctions (culturally and otherwise) between East Malaysia (Borneo) and West (‘peninsular’). Worth noting is that it just so happens that I am most interested in the former (having been there before) and Melissa is from there as well, meaning I can delve deeper into this less-known side of Malaysia and understand it on a more intimate level in my language-learning pursuit. We talked about the ethnic and cultural diversity of Malaysia (and I learned about how “Malay” is tied to ‘race’/ethnicity, whereas “Malaysian” transcends this and indicates nationality or citizenship). In terms of rough statistics, the country is divided into the “Bumiputera” (or ‘people of the land’) of Malays and autochthonous tribal groups comprising two-thirds of the population, ethnically Chinese comprising one-fourth, and roughly 7% from the Indian subcontinent (Tamil and Telugu predominantly). I also learned about the unique government structure of the country, which is technically a parliamentary monarchy, but also has nine sultan kings who rotate as Agong (head king) every few years. Naturally, we discussed British colonialism and the legacy of the British Empire in the country. We also touched upon the role of Islam.

Beyond this topical discussion of Malaysian culture to get me up to speed with the country, we also began discussing Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) and what topics I would like to learn. I reiterated the need for consistency and to build a strong foundation, but were also settled upon catering lessons week-by-week and focusing on East-West Malaysia distinctions, its relationships with its neighbors, etc. I learned basic pronouns and sentence structures (i.e. very basic self introductions in name and age). In addition, I recited some basic counting in Malay that I had been studying and we discussed the nature of numbers in the language, which is surprisingly similar to Mandarin (e.g. “54” is said like “five-ten-four”). Throughout each of these topics, I focused on pronunciation and stressed this the most.

The strategies used (textbook, videos, flashcards, and catered conversations) were overall effective for this stage in the game. I am already starting to see how languages can interfere with one another: learning a new way to pronounce numbers was more difficult than anticipated, since I was thinking and occasionally speaking in Mandarin instinctively. Avoiding this naturally comes with practice, so I will continue to take the time everyday to go over the number system out loud and stress pronunciation and accuracy. It is important that I am not unrealistic in setting up my strategies or making them too rigid, but this was overall a good first week of exposure and learning. 

Last week I began writing down my learning plan and developing it from an idea to a concrete plan of action. This included putting together resources such as dictionaries, grammar books, and any other material that would aid me in reaching my reading and writing goals. I was also narrowing down my community partner, and while there are many that could aid me in my learning goals, I am looking for someone that can give me exposure to both Amharic and Ge’ez. As of now, one of my options was a teacher of Ge’ez poetry, Amharic, and literature. While this is not a surprise, I understand he is very busy and would not be able to commit to this role this semester. I hope to work with him in the future and join one of the Ge’ez classes that he teaches regularly. It was a good option for me because he also was accustomed to leading a remote class however I do have other options. My cousin who lives in Northern Virginia is also willing to take on this role. I would like to update Professor Marsh-Soloway about this before moving forward with this option, but I believe her native proficiency and collegiate level education in Ethiopia would be very helpful to reaching my goals. I also want to make sure that we are indeed able to work with family members. 

My learning plan includes daily exposure to written scripts as well as opportunities to synthesize my own writing. Leisurely speaking and listening tasks will also be included but without a strong emphasis, because my goals will be centered mostly around writing and reading. I am still waiting for input from a community partner in order to solidify this. 

Reflect on your previous experiences as a language learner. What did you enjoy? What did you dislike? Think about the FIRE model and the surveys you have just completed. What kind of learner are you? What kinds of language learning activities suit your learning style? How do you think you should expand your learning activities?

I began learning a second language when I came to the United States at the age of 3. I remember hearing anecdotes of being the child that never stayed quiet. When coming to the U.S., I started learning English as soon as we arrived. I remember learning speaking, listening, and reading skills very quickly. It was through t.v. shows that I initially learned to listen and speak. My parents at that time only knew the english they learned in the Eritrean education system and soon my older brother and I became every day translators. I enjoyed the role I played in the family and I think this is why I employ these aspect of learning in my education now. Usually, when I study, I try to explain it in order to fully understand myself...but I will get into that later. Because I came to the U.S. at such a young age, I was essentially learning Tigrigna, my native tongue, and English at the same time. Within a year though I entered the school system and never got a chance to learn the Tigrigna script, Ge’ez. My parents always encouraged us to learn and eventually we were able to learn the alphabet. In middle school I was finally starting to write, while at the same time my speaking and listening skills continued at a normal rate. Reflecting back on this experience I understand that it wasn’t until I developed a personal drive to learn Tigrigna script that I was able to do it efficiently. It principally came out of a necessity to participate more in Church services that employed Ge’ez script. I also used this knowledge to write letters in Tigrigna that persuaded my parents to let me do things as I distracted them with the cuteness of my new found knowledge. 

Throughout middle and high school, I also began learning Spanish. This learning model was different than the one I established with Tigrigna. It focused more on reading and writing skills over listening and speaking which was reflected in class instruction, activities, and assessments. In college, learning spanish heavily included speaking and listening aspects. I noticed students complaining about teachers only speaking in Spanish and expecting them to respond in Spanish which shifted the classroom expectations more than students assumed. I found that understanding Spanish culture and the instructors personal way of communicating was really important in finding meaning and that it wasn’t just about vocabulary and grammar concepts as I had originally thought. Going to Spain enhanced my language experience heavily. I was able to speak in a more fluid way and learn how to find holistic meaning rather than just identifying vocabulary words. 

Now going into formally learning Amharic, a language that I have cultural experience with but am lacking the grammatical structures and lexicon in order to develop, I will likely focus on that aspect primarily. However, I will take into consideration that I still learn in similar ways. I will employ teaching others and visual and auditory aids, which were reiterated in the learning style quizzes. I am excited how the aid of the community partner will assist my learning but I don’t know exactly how that will work out as of now. 

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When it comes to language-learning, my experience with Mandarin Chinese has been my most substantive one and is most fresh in my mind. Beyond this, however, I also took four years of Spanish in high school, including an Independent Study module in my two semesters. In both of these languages, I enjoyed the cross-cultural understandings and the process of studying daily the most. This was especially the case with Mandarin, where I not only had to remember how to write a character and the stroke order, but also how to pronounce each one tonally and form a sentence. Any proficiency in these regards requires a daily routine and fair bit of commitment. Memorization is a natural part of learning any language, but I realized in these pursuits that it need not be boring. There are plenty of interactive games and flash cards available that can help make the process more bearable.

One of the things I disliked the most in my language-learning processes was the sheer inability to accurately express myself or convey an intended meaning. To draw this back to the Sapir-Wharf Hypothesis, this in a sense shapes your identity in another language and can be limiting (even with circumlocution or the like). In fact, in retrospect I believe this frustration with being unable to express myself was at least in part what pushed me to study harder in Mandarin, though I recognize the unusualness of this motivation and that it is not a viable solution for everyone. In my pursuits learning Malay, I will inevitably have to face this same reality and figure out a more productive way of viewing and dealing with it.

While this is not my first time attempting to individually study a language, it is my first exposure to true independence in this endeavor in everything from topics of study to my core and guiding curriculum/learning plan. I learned from the surveys that I took that I am more of a Visual learner (45%), but also have a strong Auditory learner capacity (40%). This visual capacity has certainly helped me in my past language learning, however I believe it can at times be more conducive to rote memorization rather than actual understanding, so I would like to place less emphasis on it from that standpoint and more on other categories. One of my primary motivations in learning Malay is to hold a conversation with a Malaysian person (to put it very broadly). While I would like to be able to read a newspaper in the target language, I am reserving that for when I become more advanced and proficient in the language after building a strong foundation in it. This is made easier by the fact that Malay is Romanized and to a large extent phoneticized, so reading will undoubtedly be easier than in Chinese, e.g.

In terms of specific language learning activities, I tend to benefit from more hands-on, drill style exercises that force me to come out of my comfort zone and improvise. The fascinating thing about languages is that you are seldom learning one individual word, piece of grammar, etc. in a vacuum; instead, you can cross-apply new insights and continue to build upon your understandings until you can comfortably handle complex or unexpected situations or scenarios. The individuality of SDLAP means on one hand I can handpick which activities will work best for me (with the help of my language partner), but it also means that I will not have classmates to go over certain concepts or practice. This is indeed where the language partner comes in, but I will need to find ways to comfortably tackle these situations outside of the two-hours a week timeframe alone.

One type of language learning activity I would like to try is cutting as much English out as I possibly can. I realized the benefits of this method when I was taking Mandarin in Dalian, China with the Critical Language Scholarship and my teacher was unable to speak English. Instead of readily translating everything that we did not understand, my teacher had to explain the definition or meaning of words, concepts, etc. in the target language, which ultimately made me think in it more clearly and function in it more capably. I recognize the constraints of doing this when first learning a language from scratch, but methods like using pictures can still be very useful.

I should foremost expand my learning activities by not being afraid to try new resources wherever available. One of the most rewarding aspects of SDLAP through the global studio is the sheer number of resources available to us or, in the absence of resources, alternative options and support. In moving forward this semester, I want to explore how others at UR have gone about studying a new language independently and which methods worked best for them. I need to be more comfortable with the reality that, however great or appealing one resource may be, it is ultimately up to the individual in how effective it is and that each person will naturally vary. Seeing others progress in the past (through blog posts on the Ning and other avenues) as well as actively working with my SDLC 105 class this semester will help me realize what works best for me and situate me in a stronger position for self-directed language study not just this (or next) semester, but after I graduate as well.

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While I am still working on a concrete learning plan, the above document is what I presented in class last Friday. Being completely new to Malay, I want to build a strong foundation first rather than delve deeply into my topics of interest - ideally I can do both, but the former will be my primary focus. To this end, I want to be fully comfortable pronouncing Malay words, using Malay sentence structure and suffixes/prefixes, and listening to and comprehending a native speaker speaking at normal speed. To all of these ends, my language partner, Melissa, is a tremendous help and I am very excited to work with her and learn more about her hometown of Sarawak and Malaysian culture in general. Another goal I have is to be able to know enough Malay by the end of the semester where I could be dropped off in the middle of the country (except the remote Borneo rainforest or the like) and at least have a semblance of an idea of how to navigate, ask and answer basic questions about myself, etc. This may seem like a lofty goal (or at least one that should be specified some more), but I have been to Borneo before to travel and the inspiration of going back will be a major motivation for me. Also, I would like to be able to order food in Malay. Eating in restaurants was easily one of my favorite experiences when traveling there because of the abundance of good food and diversity of options, so reading from a menu and ordering would be beneficial to learn. In essence, the prospect of learning all about a new culture and diving into it head-first is exciting and inspiring for me, though I will also be cognizant of learning the basics and acquiring a strong foundation in the language before specializing too much further. 

I was surprised to see that one of our assigned readings for homework was from Tim Ferriss on polyglots and learning additional foreign languages. I was already familiar with the author because about two years ago my sister gave me a book by him called Tools of Titans. (During my sophomore year, I read a different section of the book almost everyday.)  A real emphasis of the article was on daily usage - reading daily, speaking daily, and generally practicing daily as well. One of my excuses with Mandarin that I would tell myself was that, because I wasn't in China or Taiwan, I couldn't possibly practice it everyday or get my language skills to improve. This, after all, was nothing more than a convenient excuse - with the advent of the internet and globalization more broadly, language learning has never been more convenient or easy. There are so many different mediums and applications to use, and many are free. Language learning is ultimately an individual responsibility that goes beyond a class and a lifelong pursuit that requires discipline and, above all else, motivation. 

I particularly appreciated the point in the article on not being afraid to make mistakes. This was a crutch that stuck with me in speaking Mandarin almost every time I spoke (not helped, of course, by it being a tonal language). I was only able to break out of this self-consciousness by living with a host family, but most people will not get this opportunity when learning a language and will instead have to realize that it is okay to make mistakes. L1 or 'native' speakers make mistakes all the time. Everyone does. People will cut you some slack for mistakes as long as you are earnestly trying, being open-minded, and willing to improve. 

In the end, speaking multiple languages is not just a gift bestowed upon the lucky few with the capacity or propensity towards learning languages. Anyone can, and there are, indeed, smarter ways to do it that make the whole process easier. Of course, I hope this proves true in my own pursuit of Malay, but I think learning the hard way in Mandarin has proved beneficial and will help me craft a stronger language-learning plan in the weeks to come.

Having studied Mandarin for quite some time now and having spent two summers and a semester abroad in China and Taiwan, I constantly get asked one simple but at times frustrating question: "Are you fluent yet?" To be fair, it isn't a bad question and almost everyone asking it has good intent. That said, what is a universal metric of fluency? I no doubt can have conversations in Mandarin, but even that depends on the topic - a conversation on what I ate for lunch or what I enjoy doing or studying might go more fluidly than discussing nuclear nonproliferation or the like. It all depends.

To me, it is crucial to first build a strong foundation in a language prior to overly specializing in terminology or topic of focus. This is especially important to remember when I learn Malay this semester. The ball is in my court, so to speak, yet (to keep with the basketball imagery) I need to make sure I have enough practice doing basic drills and composing myself before going for a shot across the court or a slam-dunk. This does not mean I have to wait, e.g., for my speaking skills to improve if my listening is better, but it does mean that I cannot have unrealistic expectations about what to learn or accomplish. Why we learn words for food or self-expression or the like when first starting a language may be somewhat arbitrary (or grounded in highlighting key cultural differences and insights early-on) and could just as well be terminology on international diplomacy, however language is ultimately a form of human expression.

Unsurprisingly, I prefer proficiency as a metric. Clearly delineating what you can accomplish in speaking, writing, listening, and reading is more concrete and helpful than being functionally "fluent" in a language because, in essence, it can be measured and worked towards accordingly. In shaping my learning plan, I will be sure to have specific goals for myself. In this regard, SDLC 105 and thinking about and studying linguistics more broadly will be an indispensable tool in my language-learning journey with Malay. 

Although I’m not currently enrolled in SDLC 110 Korean, I believe I can start to develop a basic understanding of the Korean culture and start to learn conversational phrases during this semester. Specifically, my learning plan starts from learning Hangul and know how to count in Korean. Some of the learning resources I identified includes textbooks, apps and online classes. “Korean Friends” is an app that connects native Korean speakers with foreigners who wanted to learn Korean. I believe when my speaking skill progresses, I should try to actually talk with natives to improve my accent. It would also be helpful to go to Korean-themed activities and festivals to learn more about the culture. I first became interested in Korean from watching Korean variety shows and listening to k-pop. Therefore, as I said in my presentation, I got to know some of the pop-culture in Korea. But I still lack the knowledge about the history and culture. When sharing our learning plan, Lanqin recommended to me the language learning platform Memerise. I believe it would also be helpful to use that as a complement of my language learning. Through discussing within our group, we talked about learning through watching cartoons and reading children's books, which could be also a good starting point for beginners.

In the article “Figuring Foreigners Out,” the author discussed the differences between cultures. I have been hearing the idea of individualist-collectivist many times. It's also a common belief that Asians tend to have a collectivist culture, while Americans are more individualistic. For the discussion about monochronic and polychronic times. I think it could vary from person to person or one household to another. But at the same time there is an overarching perception of time in one culture, as the author states -- cultures do tend to be more one way than the other.
In Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimension, six dimensions were presented and the countries each fit somewhere on each scale. Although it could be a bit of generalization, I agree that his study offered interesting insight about the difference in each country’s culture. I found the dimension “uncertainty avoidance” to be interesting. It was defined as “the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these.” I was kind of surprised to find China was rated at a low score while France got a score of 86. The explanations kind of helped, Hofstede actually took more elements into consideration than what each dimension appeared to be.

It was very interesting to read Figuring Foreigners Out, because I was thinking about how people act differently in different cultures while reading this. Firstly, the nonverbal gestures can be varied greatly. For example, the "Peace" hand gesture in America does not mean anything in Asian countries. But the most interesting thing is girls in Asia used this gesture A LOT -- because it is the most often used gesture when taken a photo, it makes you look cute (but still, the gesture itself has no meaning at all)! Secondly, the author also talked about the definitions of individualist-collectivist, monochronic-polychronic, direct-indirect and internal-external types. Generally speaking, Chinese are more like collectivists, monochronic, indirect and internal types while American is probably on the contrary. But I think with the development of globalization, the cultural difference today becomes less obvious than it used to be. Also, in China, I believe the individual differences become greater and people became not that collectivistic anymore because of the social changes. We can clearly tell this change by comparing the difference between our parents’ values and ours. However, in terms of other aspects, I can’t exactly tell how American culture can be defined, because I worked with so many group members and professors after I came to the States and they were all totally different. One can be very monochronic and external while another one can be extremely polychronic and internal.

Both articles discuss the various characteristics and dimensions of different cultures. In the article "figuring foreigners out", the author tries to divide cultures according to three characteristics: individualism and collectivism, monochronic and polychronic, internal and external. In Skim Geert Hofstede analysis, he set up 5 dimensions, including power distance index, masculinity, individualism, avoidance Index and long-Term Orientation. For me, the first two dimensions asserted by Skim Geert Hofstede analysis is more related by the nation's political system and historical context. For instance, China is communism and, thus, it inclines more towards the low power distance index by nature. However, there is a consensus between those articles, which I feel connected to as well. They both agree that no culture is extreme, neither is the people. People tend to behave differently in different situations. Otherwise, bothe culture as a whole and people as the basic unit tend to be more one way than the other in general. In other words, culture influence people in an intangible and undetectable way. People will make decisions sometimes based on social and cultural conventions and dimensions.

Specifically, I feel connected to the nonverbal communication mentioned in the "figuring foreigner out". In American and Chinese culture, people like to do the OK gestures (when your forefinger touches your thumb) to show agreement or admire. However, it represents a completely different meaning in Turkish culture. It means you are accusing someone of being a homosexual and is considered very bad. I think it is really interesting how the same gesture has the opposite meaning in different cultures. It also shows how important to learn some nonverbal communication at the same time.

My general aim for the self-directed Turkish class this semester is to be able to introduce my self and make basic conversation in Turkish fluently. To achieve this, I have set three specific smaller goals, whereby I could better stick to my plan.
The first goal is to fully absorb the basic pronunciation rule, including the phonetic symbols. I know that Turkish has 28 letters, which is different from English. Although the writing of some letter is the same as that in English, the pronunciations of those letters are different and could be easily confused with those in English. I hope that I could be able to read the Turkish words correctly even though I may not know the meanings, and to spell the words correctly when others say them. I think to achieve that constant practice is the best way.
My second goal is to be able to introduce myself fluently in Turkish and to do the basic greeting. For example, "my name is Nicole, and I am 21 years old. I am a senior at University in Richmond. I am majoring in Finance and minoring in art history. I plan to go to graduate school after graduation. I love Turkish culture, and I am learning Turkish recently. I am so attracted by the spectacular view in Turkey and I hope that I could visit Turkey one day." To achieve this goal, I need to understand basic grammar and learn some Turkish words. My Turkish teacher will help me with it, and I will begin to watch some Turkish movies or videos with English subscription, which could help me to learn it faster. Also, learning to some Turkish popular songs is a good way as well. Since I love watching makeup or beauty video on youtube, I will research this kind of Turkish video on youtube at the same time.
My third goal is to be able to make basic conversation in Turkish. Since I want to visit Turkey someday, I believe it would be convenient and interesting to talk to local people when I traveled there. I would like to be able to talk about the food, the weather, the Turkish culture, the art, and the fashion at the end of this semester. I need to expand my vocabulary in this period. I would also like to watch some documentary about Turkish history or nature in Turkish with English subtitle. I would like to make full use of the class time to practice the basic conversation with my Turkish teacher. I also hope that I could meet some new Turkish friends so that I could practice with them when I am not in class.
Overall, my interest in Turkish is more about communication tool rather than just reading and writing. Therefore, I will contribute more time to practicing listening and speaking in general. I hope that learning Turkish could help me to understand more about the Turkish culture and lifestyle.

I will say that I was suprised with the Figuring Foreigners Out article. I expected a perspective that was much more them versus us based off the title and I got a well rounded essay in cultural relativism. The first memory that came to much was the idea of personal space. In Chile it is customary to kiss people on both cheeks when you are meeting them but in America if someone were to do that I would feel like my personal space was being invaded. It also reminded me of a poll I did when I returned to the states. I was asking if people would rather be greeted with a handshake or with a kiss, all of my abroad friends chose kiss while my friends stateside were disgusted at the suggestion. I think exposure to other cultures opens our eyes to new possibilities/ ways of living and you sometimes even find new habits that you are more comfortable with. I think this is especially important in language learning because more often then not things like idioms and little language quirks can only be understood in the context of the language. For me I think that understanding an of both Judaism, and Jewish  culture, along with understanding Israeli culture will help my understanding ad even acquisition of the Hebrew language. I was doing some outside reading of Israeli culture and I found that because of how direct the Hebrew language is people are sometimes seen as rude but that isn’t the case and additionally small talk can actually be seen as rude and a sign that one isn’t close to the person you are talking to.  I think the assessment of how the different cultures value various areas of their lives is along important as a kind of gateway into another culture.

After reading the article, I think I quite agree with these views. It mainly tells the types of several groups of societies, individualism and collectivism, monochronic and polychronic, internal and external. These are all theoretical extremes, and no society in reality is so extreme, but cultures do tend to be more one than the other. For Chinese society, it is more collectivist, internal and monochronic. Chinese culture is very traditional, which stresses family inheritance. Family influence is less important than it used to be, but in many places, it is still strong.

Geert Hofstede Analysis is a model that identifies 5 primary dimensions to differentiate cultures. Every time I read a dimension, I compare it to Chinese culture and Korean culture. I found many similarities between Chinese and Korean cultures, and the comparative cultural tools confirmed my idea. The power distance is high in both cultures, they both have a high power distance, which means that there is a clear class divide and that everyone is not equal. This is similar to what I observed. The gap between rich and poor in many parts of China and South Korea is wide. Trying to get into the upper class through their own efforts will often get a bad result. Many people in the upper class reject foreigners very much, and each class is like a small group.Long-term observation of the two cultures is also high, which reflects the traditional culture and the ability to accept new things. There are many established commercial enterprises in both China and South Korea. Although both are encouraging the birth of new industries, established enterprises have firmly occupied most of the market, so the development of new businesses is generally slow.

In Figuring Foreigners Out, the author discusses the differences between cultures in terms of nonverbal community, such as gestures and behaviors. The author also analyzes culture in three different dimensions: individualist-collectivist, monochronic-polychronic, and internal-external. Similarly, Hofstede Dimensions of Culture measures cultures based on power distance index, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance index, indulgence, and long-term orientation. I do agree on the difference between individualism and collectivism between culture, but the rest of the dimensions are not convincing enough to me. From my perspective, most of the dimensions from Hofstede Dimensions are politics orientated. Despite the fact that most of these values are hard to measure in a proper, reasonable way, these values are also affecting each other in various ways. As history goes on, these dimensions for different cultures are changing as well. For example, the power distance, as well as the muscularity, has changed a lot in both Chinese and Korean society over the past few decades. I find the values over-generalizing for different cultures.

One interesting thing I thought about when looking through the readings and playing with the culture comparison tool was how this affects (or is affected by) the development of language. It seems that in cultures with a high power distance such as Russia or China language is built to have forms of address delegated to one's established place in that culture, like the difference between zdrastvui and zdrastvuite in Russian (not sure how to spell in English) or ni hao vs nin hao. Both second forms are used to address someone who societies see as above the speaker. Countries with a comparatively low power distance such as the US or Israel don't have words that fulfill the same role - both (American) English and Hebrew use the casual "you" to address elders or superiors. Also interesting is the emphasis placed on given and last names. In Russian the patronymic name derived from the first name of the father is an important part of introductions showing that family connections and history is important in societal interactions. Similarly in Chinese the family name is placed before the given name possibly indicating the presumed importance of the family over the individual, whereas in English first names are used with extreme frequency. On the west coast some adults prefer to be called by their first name only, even if the speaker is younger than them and would normally call them Mr. or Ms. In modern Hebrew a formal address doesn't exist, and even when older than you many adults introduce themselves by their first name and expect a casual address moving forwards. These four cultures scored similarly on the collectivism and individuality scale as well, which may be another factor.