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For week4 first, I review some expressions I learned before. To practice some expressions such as greeting and introducing myself, I and my language partner did some short role play. The goal of the week is greeting and introduce myself and basic conversation in situation where I meet somebody for the first time. I learned how to say in Turkish, nice to meet you, my name, how are you..etc. To practice more, using snapchat and facetime, I actually make some practice to greet my language partner's friends. It was kind of awkward but fun. I made it without mistakes.

For week5 also reviewd some expressions I learned before. This week my goal is to know kind of some basic Turkish words. I learned some question in Turkish such as "What is this", "Is this a table?". To practice the questions and aswer, I memorize some basic stuffs and practice using some words. Sometimes I leaned some expression from my language partner, this time she just taught me really famous Turkish song. Although I did not learn every part of the song, but just main lyrics and melody, it was jun experience.

To evaluate my goal, I first ask for my language partner to make some evaluation for my conversation with her and her friends. I did it without any big mistakes though it was not a complicated conversation. When she asked about some sentence in English, I can translate it into Turkish right away. Now I can express in Turkish how to greet each other, introduce myself, and make some question like "What is this" and answer about it. 

In our first presentation, I really enjoyed the interesting and informative presentation. They presented really well, and I can get lot of things of cultures especially about South Korea. It is much more interesting for me, because I am Korean who lived there whole my life. Listening some Korean American or international student who is even not a Korean at all, is kind of new experience for me. It was fun. Actually I think I am quite familiar the topics they presented, but I also can get something new about it.  

Mukbang is kind of very trendy one not an old traditional things in Korea now, so I was surprised to see the subjects. Actually personal broadcasting industry is getting bigger and bigger in Korea and one of the most famous one is about foods. I saw some video and it looks a little bit fool but fun. I do not enjoy that kind of broadcasting when I was in there, but some of my friends really liked to watch when they were really hungry. They said it is quite a good help to watch somebody eating when they are hungry..I still cannot agree with that but many many people now are watching it, so I think it is one of the evidence of that.

The cemetery presentation also impressive. Surely there are kind of strict hierarchy among Koreans, and we respect elderly people. For me I never been to the cemetery before, and I really want to visit there some day after I go back to Korea. The presenter said every Korean really respect the sacrifice who died for Korean War, and I agree with that. However, I think it is not as much as American respect the soldiers and sacrifice. Like most of Korean, I also did my military service for 2 years, and I actually worked in U.S Army in Seoul. What that I feel working there is that these American people really respect soldiers and the people died during their service. They treated US soldier very well and I heard about the well fare system for soldier which is really good. When I ate in the dining facilities, I always saw some short TV program to cherish the memory of deceased person. I think Korean also should learn this kind of behavior and thinking. The presentation reminded me of my old days in the Army.

They also presented about drinking culture in Korea. It was really furn and everything they showed us are 100 % true. Sometimes I do not like the strict drinking atmosphere, but I think it is also one of the ways that make people more closer each other. I like their role playing explanation. And now I really missed my old friends and some drinking food and traditional drinks!

About Basque presentation, it was really informative. I do not have much information about the region so it was a little hard to understand for me but still good to know the information I never knew before. There are complicated dialects there which is similar to Korea. I also lived southern part of Korea we also used kind of same but different languages. It is impressive that Basque is kind of small area but they also have several different languages. 

For weeks 4, I will learn how to explain situations such as "the train is leaving right now." I will learn this task through a Korean lecture website that is run by The Cyber University of Korea. This website was introduced to me and is used as a main lecture by my language partner. I will learn how to formulate sentences that are used to describe various situations and expand my vocabulary on words that relate to accidents and disasters.

For week 5, I will learn how to give someone complements. I will also learn how to accept complements in a humble way in Korean. This will give me a chance to expand my vocabulary for hobbies and work. This lecture is also provided by The Cyber University of Korea. 

After I listen to the lectures, I will go over the lecture and expand on the lecture with my language partner. We practice the concepts and drill on the concepts with other classmates. I will evaluate my success based on my performance in the classroom. Since the language partner gives us many opportunities to participate, I will know which questions I know the answers to and which questions I don't. Since other classmates in my class are on similar levels in regards to skill in Korean, I will also use their performance to evaluate myself.

Watching the presentations taught me about cultures that are specific and unique to that culture. Even coming from a Korean background, I was not familiar with the importance of blood type in the culture. Tia and Timaj did a good job explaining the importance and comparing it to the zodiac symbol made it clear for people. The history of the use of blood types to explain one's personality was also very interesting and not common knowledge for even Koreans. 

The mukbang phenomena that is going across Korea right now was also another interesting topic that was explored by Jeffrey and Corinna. They explained that the reason for its popularity is due to the high percentage of single households in Korea. Many lonely individuals want to share a meal with someone and mukbang gives them a companion to eat with. I was particularly interested about the different personalities and broadcasting styles of the different broadcast jockeys and the potential earnings they can get. 

The cemetery presentation by Jinhoo was interesting due to the importance of death in the Korean culture. In my culture, we honor our passed ancestors with a ceremony to celebrate their life. Knowing this, Jinhoo's presentation gave me a more insightful outlook on death in general and its importance in the Korean culture. Every different presentation explains the different behaviors and traditions that each culture has.

The Basque presentation was interesting to me because of the way the presenter related her presentation to cake. The different dialects that are included in Basque was easy to relate to due to Korean's many dialects. Although it is not as complex as the Basque dialects, Koreans have different dialects that change based on the location. Her drawings also made her presentation clear and easy to follow. 

Turkish coffee was always something I was familiar about but it was not a topic that I knew much about. Watching the presentation, I was able to learn the history of Turkish coffee and what it represented about Turkish people. Knowing the history and the customs gave me a slight peek inside the Turkish people lives and their values.

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One of the most interesting presentations was Korean Muk-bang. I've always heard about this phenomenon, but found it entertaining yet interesting that it's such a prominent aspect of Korean culture. It was pointed out that one of the reasons it's so popular is because a lot of young Korean people are single and feel as though they are having a meal with the person they are watching, which I began to reflect upon. There are a wide variety of people who participate in Muk-bang ranging from really thin to chubbier men and women. Since Korea is a country so focused on appearance, it makes me wonder if the appearance of the person doing Muk-bang makes a difference in its popularity, or if it's solely based on the entertainment aspect (or maybe both?). 

The structure of the Korean language is SOV (subject object verb). For example, if I were to say "My name is Timaj" in romanization, it would be "che (my) irim-i (name) timaj (object) imnida (is)." The verb it-da means to exist, but in this instance, we are using it to introduce ourselves. We can also use it to say "there is" after being asked "What's in the room?" 

I think a reference grammar would be useful for the Korean language because often times, it doesn't directly translate in a way that makes sense in English. Because of this, it may be difficult for English speaking learners to understand why a certain verb is being used. For instance, in the example I used above, it wouldn't make sense in English to say "My name exists Timaj." However, that is the literal translation. Ultimately, I don't think a reference book is necessary, but it may be helper for some learners who want to know the explanations and translations of certain sentence structures. 

My goals and tasks for week 4 and 5 include talking about places where people do things during the day, and talking about dates and days of the week. By the end of week 4, I hope to be able to ask people where they are going, and what they will be doing there. I will practice this by constructing practice sentences asking questions such as "What time do you go to the gym?" or "What time do you go to sleep?" Repeating this same sentence structure using different words and asking different things will help me both expand my vocabulary while also getting a feel for the sentence structure. I will evaluate my success by judging my ability to spontaneously ask questions while being confident in my speaking skills (ie not stuttering or hesitating). 

The main resource I am using is Quick Korean, a website that provides free 30 minute lecture style classes on each topic in levels ranging from 1 to 4. I will also be using some apps that will help me practice during my "dead time" such as mango languages, and talk to me in Korean podcasts. 

For week 5, I hope to be able to ask questions regarding the day of the week. These questions include "What did you do on Thursday?" or "What day is the concert?" I will use the same practice and evaluating patterns as above, and test myself in that way until I am confident in my speaking abilities. 

My learning goal for this week includes learning how to tell time and stating what I did for that day and at what time I did. I practiced this with my language partner by taking verbs and constructing sentences after asking each other "What did you do at noon?" or "What did you do at 2:00pm?" or "What time do you go to the gym?" 

In order to accomplish this goal, I first had to learn how to count. After learning the two different number systems, I decide which system to use for the hour and which to use for the minute. After this, it was simply a matter of substituting the numbers into the sentence structure or pattern and practicing constructing various sentences. 

My learning goal for this week was to practice on requesting and responding to favors. I learned the grammatical structure on how to ask for something through an educational website called Quick Korean. They have an online video section that provides lessons on specific topics that might occur in a conversation. I watched the 30 minute video that provided an example of how a typical conversation surrounding the goal of requesting for favors would be like. It provided questions that allowed me to apply what they taught so that I can confidently make sure I understood it properly. My language partner and I applied what we learned by practicing a conversation involving requests and responses. We asked each other for a specific request using the grammatical form that we learned in the lesson. We responded with rejection because it allowed a challenge. It required us to create a specific reason along with the proper form of responding. Just agreeing would have been too simple.  

I think Diigo is an excellent website and I love that it provides easily accessible sources discovered by my classmates. So far, I only bookmarked a youtube channel titles "Learn Korean with KoreanClass101.com."I intend on supplementing more sources using the Diigo bookmark whenever I come across a helpful link that can hopefully benefit my classmates. I have started to work with my language partner on practical phrases that might be used in a informal conversation. The first phrases we are working on are on comparing things to prove a point. For example, we learned phrases like "her face is red like an apple." We found some practice questions online and have been working on them together. So far the progress has been good. It is a slow, but fulfilling process and I think it is a great start.

In the Korean culture, there is an important difference between being formal and informal. As I have presented, respect plays a big role in the culture. Through the importance of respect, formality and informality play a big part of the culture. The respect required of the younger people of Korea towards the elders is a crucial aspect. Showing any form of informality towards an elder person or anyone who holds a great amount of respect in the country would be extremely rude, and would account for unpleasant consequences. With formality comes a certain type of speaking and behaving. Informality is usually only allowed among friends or with those younger than yourself, but when interacting with anyone older or anyone who holds a place of power in the country, it is imperative that one uses formal language and behavior. Especially because Korea is a culture where it is not individualistic but rather group focused, each individual represents their family. And if one acts wrongly, the whole family will be judged so Korea takes it very seriously when differentiating between the use of formality and informality.  Because one represents the whole, each individual holds a great burden in reflecting the nature of their family line and therefore being able to identify when to be formal and informal is very important. One mistake in one's behavior may bring shame and disrespect for the family. 

The presentations given my classmates provided an interesting insight into the cultures that we are studying. It was new information to me when I found out that asking about one's blood types was a common conversation topic in Korean culture. I found it odd, but when Tia compared this question to asking someone what their zodiac sign is, it made sense. Koreans might find this strange too. It was also interesting to see how big the drinking culture was in Korea. I did not know that so much formality existed when pouring drinks to elders. It really revealed how different American culture was in terms of formality and the treatment of older people. I also found it fascinating how Basque culture can vary depending on what area of the country one were to examine. In America, for example, language is homogeneous wherever one were to go. Overall, the presentations were an interesting look into the cultures of these individual countries.

Food in Korea is very different from the food from other countries, including other Asian nations. One thing that Korean food is known for is it excessive amount of side dishes for every meal. Koreans usually have side dishes that range in quantity from two to over twenty. Many foreigners mistake side dishes as appetizers. However, Koreans eat the side dishes along with their entrée.

Also, a lot of non-Koreans think Korean food smells bad. This is due to the country’s use of garlic in a lot of dishes. It goes in everything from Kimchi, Korea’s most famous dish, to various soups and noodles. Similar to a lot of Asian countries, Koreans eat a lot of rice. People eat rice with almost every meal of the day. 

Formality and informality in Korea is extremely important. There is a significant level of respect when it comes to speaking, greeting, addressing, etc. If you are younger than someone else, you have to bow to them, hand things to them with two hands, and not make too much eye contact with him/her. The way of talking informally or formally in Korean is very interesting.

Formal Korean usually ends with a word that is used when you are talking to someone politely or to someone that should be respected. The way of saying “hello”, “goodbye”, “thank you”, and so many other phrases is different for informal Korean and formal Korean. It is very important to keep these rules of formality because one can come off as rude or disrespectful if you speak informally to someone even if you are a foreigner.

Korean was the first language I ever knew but English became my main language after living in America for over 10 years. However, I do not want to lose the skills I had in the Korean language because I want to be able to maintain my Korean heritage as I grow older. Being bilingual is extremely advantageous especially in today’s society.

Additionally, I have a genuine interest in the Korean culture and language. I believe it is one of the easiest languages to learn and it is a language that has a very rich culture. I want to be able to speak in the level that Koreans my age speak in Korea. Also, I want to be able to understand any business articles in Korean. Lastly, I want to learn as much vocabulary words in Korean as I can.

During these next two weeks, I am going to do something different to improve my Korean. I am going to watch a feature-length film in Korean every weekend. I will make sure that I watch them without subtitles to help me understand and open my ears to new words that I do not understand. I have decided to watch New World, a recent gangster movie that has a lot of dialogue, and Ode to My Father, a classic movie about the struggle that men in the early 90’s went through in South Korea.

I will watch these movies, write down words I didn’t understand, and figure out the meaning to subjects that I am not familiar with. I will use the internet to research and define these terms, subjects, and topics. Most importantly, I will try to utilize these things I learn in a casual conversation with my language partner or even other Korean students/professors.

My target language's writing system is the same as most of the Western World, using the roman alphabet, so it is very easy to learn to write. Not only that, but because it was not a language that was written until the year 950, it is completely phonetic. Because of this, even a person who is unable to speak Basque, such as myself, is able to write a word by hearing it. Unlike the many European languages though, certain letter combinations have different sounds than they would to other language speakers. For example, 'tx' makes the 'ch' sound, while 's' and 'x' make the 'sh' sound, and 'z' makes the 's' sound. Once these sounds are remembered, it is fairly easy to learn how to properly write down words and sentences in Basque.

I think that my first artifact conversation went really well. It was created after Amaia and I had been working on creating and answering basic questions about ourselves, and I also found it extremely useful to have Amaia's help with my accent as well. By creating a conversation between the two of us, we were able to teach me the proper cadence of a conversation in Basque, as well as understand the types of questions that a person may ask in real life, and how I can answer them. The one drawback was that it was scripted, so next time my goal is to have an organic conversation between the two of us. As far as how well I met my learning goals for weeks four and five, I think that I did a fairly good job. When Amaia quizzed me on my knowledge at our next meeting, I was able to remember the responses to each question she asked, as well as learn how to generate new questions according to the meanings of certain words, like "non" leading to a question asking about location, or "zenbat" meaning "how many." As for learning the verb "egon," I still have some things to learn, but for the most part I can use it in the correct context, which is also important.

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