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SDLC F22 Discussion Posts

Post #10

1) Read: ScienceLine, “Are Bilinguals Really Smarter?” 2) Read: NYT: “Why Bilinguals are Smarter”

Imagine that you have received a research grant to conduct a linguistic study of your target language and culture. How would you get started, and what would you investigate? How would different structural components presented in class appear in your work?

I would want to investigate modern slang in Iran, especially around the government and censorship, and also how the modern-day population views Islam. I would first try to talk to the family and/or contacts I have in the U.S., as it might be much harder to discuss such topics in Iran. I would also try to reach out to any known researchers in the field. I know from limited experience that a large number of (particularly younger) Iranians do not practice Islam, and a more-or-less common form of protest is improperly wearing the state-officiated hijab. I recall one of my cousins saying you could tell what people in Iran were actual Muslims based on how they wore the hijab, as many women still show their hair (but not enough to get detected by the morality police). Eventually, after my Farsi was proficient enough and I knew enough nuances about the culture -- especially as it concerns politics, I would go to Iran and try to discretely gather opinions on the topic. This endeavor is rather fantastical, as many people might be too afraid to talk so openly about the government. Communicating with technology would be out of the question, as the Iranian government monitors internet interactions. 

Post #9

How have you started writing in the target language? Do you prefer to type or write freehand? Have you started to see patterns emerge in the structures between words, clauses, and sentences? What is the relationship between simple and complex sentences? How does your knowledge of parts of speech, government, and agreement affect your ability to communicate in written contexts? Provide a sample of several short meaningful writing exercises from your target language. 

I have dabbled in writing in Farsi (my target language), mostly out of curiosity. The script is written and read from right to left, and the main strokes are completed first within one 'word' (a little complicated how that is divided up), then additional strokes are added (dots and slashes. Many verbs are compound, meaning they can be formed by taking a noun or a verb and another verb and making a new verb. Here are some examples of this:

• دیدن کردن (didan kardan) to visit
  • دیدن (didan), to see
  • کردن (kardan), to do
• حرف زدن (harf zadan), to talk/speak
  • حرف (harf), letter/speech
  • زدن (zadan) to hit, to touch

There are no gendered articles in Farsi, in fact, there is no word for the pronouns he or she, only it (though there are varying degrees of politeness). The pronoun "it" is actually hardly used, it is much more common to refer to someone by their name or relation, or just leave it out of the sentence and only conjugate the verbs in the third person. 

Post #8

1) NYT “Tribe Revives Language on Verge of Extinction”  2) Watch the 2007 Interview with David Harrison, “When Languages Die.”

How do languages go extinct?

Increasing globalization and rising global communication have, almost ironically, caused a severe degradation in the diversity of language. Globalization, more often than not, leads to homogenization, as cultural intermingling leads to cross-cultural change. Hegemonic cultures (such as Western/European cultures) often lead this homogenization, as various forms of media signal the hegemonic culture as a model one. This cultural phenomenon parallels what happens to the languages within the respective cultures. 

Respond to the readings, and reflect on what happens when a language dies. How can linguists help preserve a language? Can a ‘dead’ language ever be brought back to life? What efforts are currently underway to document linguistic diversity?

One crucial aspect of reviving a language is creating an immersive environment so that language can be quickly absorbed by new learners. Though learners can study a language for a long period of time, they might never reach the same level that they would in an immersive environment (often in a shorter period of time). This inherently answers the next question, as linguists can help foster these immersive environments, as the more easily accessible they are, the more motivated learners will be to pursue them. 

The question of whether or not 'dead' languages can be revived depends heavily on how one defines a 'dead' language. If there are no surviving records of the language, be it speakers or scripts, this would make reviving it extremely difficult, as there might be no way to tell if its revival is accurate to the original (i.e. it is possible a new language could be made with the same name as the old, but we would have no way to tell). 

Post #7

No Readings

Go back and watch the recording of your presentation of your learning plan on the class PanOpto collection on Blackboard. Comment briefly on how things are going. What has changed? How have you incorporated materials and insights from class into your efforts? Have discussions regarding language structures and learning strategies helped you to understand the target language and culture? If so, how? Reflect on your language learning so far. How would you describe the relationship between language and culture? What do you need to do to improve your communicative competence? Based on the readings by H.D. Brown, what kinds of competence are emphasized in your plan?

A lot has changed politically in Iran. It has been much harder to talk about current events because my language partner fears the Iranian government is monitoring our calls. In terms of materials, it has been much slower than I had anticipated. The intermediate lessons on the website that I use, PLO (Persian Language Online), use much more intricate grammatical structures that are not as intuitive to me. The vocabulary is more abstract, so it makes it more difficult to remember/recall fluidly. I have incorporated more lessons from class. Our current unit on phonology has made it easier for me to understand the articulation points I should be striving for. 

I do not think I am quite at the level yet where I can connect the language structure to culture; that being said, however, the influence of Arabic on Farsi (Arabic loanwords, script, etc.) portrays the intermixing of the two cultures and the integration of Islam in modern-day Iran.

Through my learning of Farsi, my understanding of the linkage between language and culture deepens. Especially considering the political circumstances in the country, the movements in the language (such as attempting to reduce Arabic loanwords, despite Arabic being the dedicated language of the Quran) are tied with current political movements (reduction of Arabic can, in a way, show how some members of society -- especially women -- are moving towards a more secular state). 

Post #6

Readings: 1) “What is a Language Family” by Kevin Morehouse 2) “Family Tree of Language Has Roots in Anatolia, Biologists Say” by Nicholas Wade 

Reflect on the history of your target language. To what language family does it belong? What sounds, words, and structures exemplify periods of contact with other cultures?

Farsi specifically belongs to the Western Iranian group of the Iranian languages, which is in the Indo-European language branch. One influence can be seen in the very name of the language. Arabic has had a large cultural (and thus linguistic) influence on Iranian culture. An aspect of Arabic is that there is no [p]. This is not the case in Farsi, the original name being "Parsi," but was changed because [f] does exist in Arabic. Another Arabic influence can be seen in the Farsi writing system. Though the alphabets are not identical, there are some letters in the alphabet (س ص ث =  [s], or ز ذ ظ = [z] to name a few) that all represent the same phone/sound; however, in Arabic, these letters represent different sounds/phones, which do not exist in Farsi.

Read Post #5 for more information on the Arabic invasions and Farsi.

How do these considerations enhance your understanding of the target language and culture in terms of their associated historical origin, development, and contemporary realization? and pragmatic questions of usage? 

As I've encountered in my learning, occasionally we (my Language Partner & I) will run into Arabic words, and consequently, small grammar points associated with those words (mainly plurals or pronunciation). I will make more of a point to keep track of these Arabic loanwords, and possibly research some of the relevant grammar associated with them. 

How do languages change over time? How do linguists track, predict, and extrapolate these changes?

Language mainly changes the following ways: change in phoneme pronunciation, borrowing words or features from other languages, and analogical change (e.g. "inflammable" changing to "flammable"). In historical linguistics, linguists can examine an older/dead language by tracing the phonetic changes in modern, related languages backwards, allowing them to recreate how the original language may have sounded.

Post #5

Readings: 1) “Communicative Competence,” pp. 218-243 from Principles of Language Learning and Teaching by H.D. Brown

Do some preliminary research on what interests you about the target culture and describe how this topic relates to language. Do you need any special vocabulary or linguistic knowledge to engage this topic? If so, have you included objectives in your learning plan to engage this topic?

I am mainly interested in learning more about the Shahnameh, or Book of Kings, by Iranian poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi --specifically its cultural and linguistic significance. The Shahnameh arguably saved and preserved the modern (written) form of my target language, Farsi. 

In the 7th century, the Sassanian Empire in Iran fell to an Arab invasion. For the next two centuries, Iranians were persecuted for their faith (Zoroastrianism, one of the first monotheistic organized religions, was the main religion in Iran before Islam), libraries burned, and the use of Farsi (written and spoken) was all but silenced. In Iran, this period is known as the 'two centuries of silence.' Farsi, Zoroastrianism, and any other Iranian culture were at risk of extinction from the Arabic language, government, and Islam. 

Ferdowsi finished and rewrote the Shahnameh, which comprised almost all pre-Islamic traditions, legends, and history, in a relatively pure form of Farsi without the use of Arabic or other loanwords. Ferdowsi and his accomplishments are revered in Iranian culture, and the Shahnameh is seen to many Iranians as the savior of modern-day Farsi and Iranian culture.

Post #4

Readings: 1) G. Hudson, “Phonetics” in Essential Introductory Linguistics, pp. 20-42.

What is the difference between sound and spelling?

Spelling refers to a specific language's method of representing written communication; this can include representations of sound, but these rules often have exceptions and can be a static representation of sound.

Sound refers to the specific phones and pitch in a language, "speech" being defined as "a sequence of phones" (20). 

Why is this distinction significant for your language-learning efforts?

It is important to understand that we must be cautious when reading so as to not use our target language's writing system as a guide to pronunciation. Writing can be deceiving and omits important factors, such as meter or what syllables are stressed. 

Describe the phonetic inventory of your target language. Are there sounds in your language that don’t exist in American English? If so, provide several words and their phonetic transcriptions of words as examples to support your argument.

• the fricative [ʁ]
  
  • example: " داغ " \ˈd̪̊ɑʁ̥\ = "hot" (like a desert)
• plosive uvular stop [q]
  • example: " قلب " \ˈɢ̊alb̊\ = "heart"
• post-alveolar stop [d͡ʒ]
  • example: " به ویژه " \b̊eh̬ v̊iˈʒe\ = "especially"

Farsi also has "r" trills and taps, which almost every "r" adhers to. 

What do you need to know about the sound system of your target language?

I have already practiced the phonetics of my language extensively, though I can always get better. Funnily enough, I seem to struggle the most with American-English /r/'s; I've always found it easier to tap or even trill. 

How will you acquire the ability to discriminate differentiated segments in your listening, and to produce these sounds in your speech? 

Because I have been listening to Farsi for many years, I am already decent in my ability to discriminate between the different sounds in Farsi.

Post #3

Readings: R1) D. Crystal, How to Investigate Language Structure, R2) J. Aitchison, Aitchison's Linguistics 

Refer to the diagram on page 9 in Aitchison’s linguistics (see figure to the right). How do you combine different disciplinary perspectives to formulate a more holistic understanding of your target language? Do you give preference to one disciplinary approach over the others?

As of right now, I am mainly concerned with "Languages"/"Applied Linguistics," mainly due to the fact that I am still a beginner in my target language; thus, I am most focused on building a strong foundation in the core of Aitchison's circle, phonetics, phonology, syntax, and beginning to develop semantics and pragmatics. 

I could argue I study my target language through a stylistics/literature lens (albeit simple literature). This helps provide a more holistic approach to my target language, Farsi, because the language is divided in formal/written language -- the "Literature" portion (which I am exposed to through reading my lessons -- "Literature"), and the "Languages" portion -- when I read dialogues using more casual/colloquial Farsi, or I practice conversational speaking with my Language Partner. 

How will your knowledge of language structures and disciplinary methodologies inform the trajectory of your learning plan?

Again, as of right now, I am mainly focusing on the first 3-4 rings in Aitchison's figure. Because of my heritage, the pure phonetics of my target language perhaps comes easier than if I were studying a completely foreign language/culture. Nonetheless, I am struggling much more with syntax, as Farsi operates in a mainly Subject + Object + Verb (SOV) sentence structure, while English almost exclusively uses SVO (or OVS in the past tense). This and the extensive verb conjugations mean I am dedicating much more time to syntax. 

Post #2

Summarize some of the main ideas behind Figuring Foreigners Out and the Hofstede Dimensions of Culture (source 1) (source 2) (source 3).

Gert Hofstede developed a model (a series of choropleth maps) delineating how various cultures (and their values) affect their respective workplace values. 

In his research, he initially developed four choropleth maps: Power Distance Index (PDI), Individualism (IDV), Masculinity (MAS), and Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI). 

PDI (image above) "focuses on the degree of equality, or inequality, between people" (source 1). A large distance (dark green) represents little upward mobility and clear class division, and a small distance (light green) represents high upward mobility and fluid class division.

IVD (image above) "focuses on the degree the society reinforces individual or collective, achievement and interpersonal relationships" (source 1). High individualism (dark purple) represents an emphasis on individual rights and less-family-oriented (looser) relationships. Low individualism (light purple/white) represents an emphasis on collectivism and strong, family-oriented relationships. 

MAS (image above) "focuses on the degree the society reinforces, or does not reinforce, the traditional masculine work role model of male achievement, control, and power" (source 1). High masculinity represents a high degree of gender differentiation, with males being the dominant force of power. Low masculinity/femininity represents a low degree of gender differentiation, with females sharing equal status with males. 
UAI (image above) "focuses on the level of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity within the society - i.e. unstructured situations" (source 1). A high UAI indicates a low tolerance for ambiguity, and a low UAI indicates leniency for a variety of opinions. 

The last two were developed later in his research. 

LTO (Long-Term-Orientation) (image above) "focuses on the degree the society embraces, or does not embrace, long-term devotion to traditional, forward thinking values" (source 1). High LTO shows a reluctance to cultural change, and low LTO shows fluidity in cultural traditions. 

The last map (image above) compares indulgence and restraint. "In an indulgent culture it is good to be free. Doing what your impulses want you to do, is good. Friends are important and life makes sense. In a restrained culture, the feeling is that life is hard, and duty, not freedom, is the normal state of being" (source 2). 

Do you predominantly agree with these assessments? Are there any statements, generalizations, and opinions expressed in the reading that you find problematic?

I think some of these values will differ generationally. Many are also simplified; a culture could have different values for different aspects (political power vs. economic status). These dimensions also do not take into account that various different cultures may reside in one national region. Take the U.S. for example, I would assume Hofstede aligned the U.S. according to its Western citizens; it discounts many different experiences and people groups. 

Post #1

Readings:

• Crystal, D.: How the brain handles language
• Crystal, D.: How we mean and How we analyse meaning

Reflect on the readings:

Do you have any questions about the texts? Are there any claims that you find problematic? Do you think language is a purely biological phenomenon?

Crystal suggests that language was biologically induced through the physical ability of speech, and later innovated culturally through writing. Moreover, no, language in its modern form is not solely a biological phenomenon. 

What parts of the brain are most important for the production and comprehension of speech?

In general, people who are right-handed depend more heavily on the left hemisphere for language processing, but the right hemisphere still plays a part. This question depends on the validity of the theory of cerebral localization, which states specific areas in the brain have specific roles in the production & comprehension of speech. 

How do you conceptualize or process meaning?

Crystal states that a more effective way to analyze meaning in language is to simply analyze how meaning is expressed in language. This includes, but is not limited to: word choice, grammatical structure, sound/intonation (auditory difference between a questioning statement and a clarifying statement), spelling, and the expected answer to a statement (taking a statement literally or answering the statement's meaning). 

Crystal also states "isolated words do not lack meaning, Rather, they have the potential for conveying too much meaning." He believes a crucial aspect of meaning is not simply a single word, but how all aspects of conveying meaning intermingle with one another.  

Do these readings inspire any special insights or motivations that could help advance your foreign-language abilities, retention, and recollection?

These readings help learn ways of parsing out specific connotations (meanings) of various words in the target language, as opposed to assuming the English counterpart (if it exists) holds an equivalent meaning. The cultural aspects of language lead to meanings that cannot be translated in a single word, making the relationship between words in a translation all the more crucial.

The difference between sound and spelling is that sound is auditory while spelling is more visual and can be used to assist in figuring out the phones of a word for speech and pronunciation. Spelling is a visual representation of translating sound in which it can then be replicated. This concept is significant to my language learning efforts because it will allow me to better understand how Korean sounds and be able to connect the spoken language being written. The Phonetic inventory of Korean includes consonants and vowels, and like American English, it also has diphthongs. Some sounds that exist in Korean but not in American English include an l/r sounding consonant that has a specific sound like the requires a slight rolling of the tongue, which is called a trill. And other sound in the Korean language that's not really prevalent in American English is ue (oo-ee). There are diphthongs in Korean language too, so it is important that I am able to identify them and be able to spell them as well, when writing. I will be able to acquire the ability to discriminate segments in listening by relating how the word looks when written and relating that segment to the specific in memory. 

Currently in my journey of learning Korean, I am learning about the two different number systems used in Korean language which are the Sino Korean and native Korean number system. Native Korean numbers are used in situations like counting people, things, hours, age, etc. Sino-Korean numbers are used for time (minutes), days of the week, months, and years, etc. 

I hope to be able to efficiently apply the correct number systems within conversations. I would like to be able to state how old I am or someone else is, count items/people, tell time, learn the days of the week, and months/years. I hope to accomplish by the end of the week, the ability to state my age, the time/date in Korean.

Some strategies that my partner and I have worked on is that we would first review the numbers (sound and spelling) and then I practice and memorize them on my own. After I become more comfortable with the numbers, I would spell them out in hangul so I can fully grasp how the sound relates to the spelling. And then I would then be quizzed on random numbers. The book from global studies has really helped both me and my partner as it provided me a visual and showed me the different uses of the two number systems.

I think that this strategy has been effective as I have been progressing with memorizing the numbers. I think that now, using the numbers in conversation (forming sentences) and the correct situation would be a good challenge to really solidify the topic of numbers (time/date/age).

While learning Korean, I’ve experienced some moments of frustration due to the process being slow at times as it may take me some time to fully grasp the concept. I think most of it really has to do with focusing on not just memorizing but also relating the Korean word (the sound of the word) to a specific object, so it comes to me easily like my native language or other languages I know well.

This process of language learning, however, has been really enjoyable. I really like the motivation I receive from my language partner, and I love to see the small steps of progress I am making each meeting we have.

Spelling is the order in which letters are placed to create a word. It does not have a one-to-one relationship with sound, which is noise that can be strung together to create understandable words. Letters can have various sounds, particularly when placed in different orders, making the relationship between the two inconsistent. This makes it difficult to spell a word after hearing it or pronounce a word you read. This is a significant factor in my language learning because it is a big obstacle. English pronunciation is very different from Portuguese. The rules are also very complex. It is also a reason why it is important to focus less on spelling initially to be able to better understand the way words sound first, instead of constantly trying to make a connection between the way things are spelled and the way they sound. After some research, I have found that the phonetic inventory of Portuguese is extensive and varies by region of Brazil, depending on various dialects. My language partner usually gives me multiple pronunciations for words that she says are of various dialects. The internet also says that Portuguese is one of the most sound-diverse languages in the world. My strategy for learning more about the sound system of Portuguese and ensuring that I am able to distinguish its nuances is through my language partner and badgering her to repeat words as well as say them in a sentence so that she says them more naturally. I also think listening to some of the music she has sent me could also help. Below are examples of sounds in Portuguese that I do not believe I use in English:

Ex. the m in sim (yes), pronounced si with the barest hint of an m (like in mug) – it’s as if you were about to say the m and someone cut you off

Ex. the lh in Julho (July), pronounced, I believe, like a y but also with the barest hint of an i sound before it, like in igloo.

These are some of the sounds I have been having the hardest time with.

Right now, the biggest task I am working on is learning basic words and pronunciation in Portuguese. I have learned a lot of vocabulary like greetings, question words, numbers, and months. The general structure of our meetings has been that we’ll talk a little bit about Brazilian culture or geography, and then we’ll review concepts that we’ve gone over, particularly because I’ll forget the pronunciation the first couple times I say something. I usually have my partner pronounce things a couple times too and we volley back and forth different variations of the words until we settle on how best it will sound in my accent. There are some sounds that I simply cannot pronounce or words that it feels like I cannot move my mouth around enough to get through.

Our lessons so far have been pretty unstructured because we will move from topic to topic as it comes up in conversation. We’ll work through each topic extensively, however, and return to them regularly. It’s a strategy where I don’t realize how much I have learned until I am stringing together very simple sentences, filling in the blanks, or something clicks about a certain concept.

Some of the feedback on my learning plan was that it was too extensive. I would probably agree about that because I see how long it takes to, firstly, go over a concept and then work to actually remember it. It definitely feels overwhelming at times, but I have to remind myself that I am just starting out and I would need to be completely immersed to learn a language at an extreme pace. The slow pace can also be more meticulous, and I know is making me better at pronunciation.

I think that because my language partner has never formally taught Portuguese, we are both trying to figure out what works best for us with her delivering information and me receiving it as well as suggesting other topics I am interested in. It can be difficult for her to explain things sometimes because she is a native speaker and just knows (or was taught from a young age) certain things about Brazilian grammar and pronunciation. We have been using google images a lot so she can show me what she’s talking about or find examples that make sense to her, which help her to be able to then explain it to me.

Moving forward, we are excited to do a movie night with a Brazilian movie. My language partner also sent me a playlist of songs in Portuguese that I am excited to explore more. I am looking forward to these artistic endeavors because I think it will be a great way to gain insight into Brazilian culture, begin to further recognize the cadence of Brazilian Portuguese, and hear some of the words I have learned. When I listened to one of the songs, I was surprised by how much I recognized or at least sounded familiar. Overall, I can’t wait to keep moving forward!

What an eventful couple of weeks :)

During a fire drill run through, another RA and I realized we both speak Korean! We’ve actually known of each other since freshman year, but I never asked her if she spoke Korean with her family. We were the first ones to arrive to start the drill and she asked me if I regularly spoke Korean and we were both surprised to learn that we were quite proficient. We proceeded to speak in Korean and bonded for a while until the fire alarm blared at us.

Maybe it’s because I’m socializing a bit more this year, but I’ve been meeting many new Korean speakers these past weeks. Whether meeting the new international students or getting to know others I didn’t meet in the previous years, I noticed that I’ve been speaking in Korean to more friends and course, my language partner. This has been a great way to introduce myself and welcome the new students across campus.

This past week, an interesting opportunity came up. My art history professor asked me to be a guest speaker for her Korean Art course to talk about the SDLAP program and to teach the students how to write their name in Korean so that they can sign their paintings. It has been some time since I had to teach writing at a beginning level, so I did lots of research and watched videos on the best way to explain the pronunciations and the word building concepts. Thankfully, the students were wonderful participants and engaged well with my small talk. Reviewing the actual step by step procedure on writing in Korean was also beneficial to me. When I normally write, I don’t think about how to place my consonants and vowels- I just do it. But now, I am aware of it and writing in Korean feels more intentional.

Additionally, my professor asked the class to attend the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) for the class. Since we had to attend the East Asian exhibit, I also toured the ancient Korean art section. It was quite small, so there was not as many paintings or sculptures as I hoped, but it was obvious that I had entered the Korean art section by looking at the minimalistic styles of the vases and chests.

In addition to the general speaking of the language, I thought about journaling in Korean. Many of my friends do a 5 minute daily journaling session, so I want to start writing down my thoughts in Korean. Hopefully this will help me reflect on myself while continuing to get comfortable writing in Korean every day. I frequently do small researches of both significant people in Korean history and of interesting cultural facts throughout my weeks. One fun example was researching Kyung-Chik Han. He is the only Korean who received the Templeton Prize (equivalent of Noble Peace Prize but for philanthropists). I was having a normal conversation with my dad and his name came up, so I decided to do some more research while my dad shared the info he knew.

The language structure reading was interesting me. I think that I have struggled with language learning in the past because of how it occurs in such isolated parts, exploring each facet of a language. It is something that cannot be helped and is an issue that I am also facing in my Portuguese lessons this semester. I think it is important to acknowledge that when focusing on one part of language (e.g. grammar), then you tend to make certain assumptions about every other aspect of the language structure. I like that I understand this more after reading the Crystal text. It makes more sense why language, particularly at first, can feel like you’re learning it unevenly.

The figure in the Aitchison reading makes me realize that I have a lot of disciplinary interest and approaches when it comes to a language. As much as we have learned the words for each month, we also have talked about cultural differences among regions and when certain phrases are acceptable to say. So, sociolinguistics is of particular interest to me. I am also a big reader but have not ever reached the point in another language where I can fluidly read in it. I think that is a big way I continue to expand my English vocabulary though. Lastly, I have a particular interest in applied linguistics, especially how issues of language manifest and impact people’s livelihoods.

In order to combine different disciplinary perspectives to formulate a more holistic understanding of a given target language, one must first identify the concepts/parts that make up that language which include the use of phonetics, phonology, semantics, and grammar. It’s better to go over each category separately and then observe how each part works together. All parts of the different disciplinary perspectives are important, but I think it’s important to first understand the parts of phonology and phonetics to have the background knowledge to expand vocabulary and advance the language learning process. The knowledge of language structures and disciplinary methodologies give me a better idea of what area of language learning I need to start in. And as I continue learning about phonology and phonetics and I will change gears into semantics (meaning) which will help me understand why sentences are formed the way they are which in turn, could help me better retain the differences in word order and grammar when learning Korean.

Figuring Foreigners Out was a guide to the comparing of one’s own culture to others. It used 5 categories of comparison: individualist vs. collectivist, which is related to what people identify with and whether people work together cooperatively or not; non-verbal communication, which is the ways in which we use actions to communicate; monochronic vs polychronic, which is the way a culture processes time; internal vs external, which is to what degree a culture believes that they dictate their life’s course; and indirect/high context vs. direct/low context communication, which is related to how much is understood or must be explained when people of a certain culture are communicating. The Hofstede Dimensions of Culture were 6 factors (power distance index, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance index, and long-term orientation) that Hofstede studied and measured in 40 countries. There are concepts within both of these assessments that I do believe can elucidate how a culture operates. However, particularly in the Hofstede Dimensions of Culture, I do not believe these are quantifiers that can be extrapolated to entire countries and could be applied at most at a very small scale. These concepts minimize culture, buy simplifying it to 5 or 6 measures. Also, all of these are subjective and therefore, difficult to determine the accuracy of without an inherent bias from the assessor. I know that I can put my views of U.S. culture into these categories, but I am not sure I can do that for Brazil because I do not know enough about it yet. The biggest difference they have in the Hofstede comparison tool is that the United States is significantly more individualistic.

My learning plan so far has been really working for me. I have been meeting with the same teacher on Italki.com named Estevam. He is a polyglot and speaks pretty much all of the romance languages. Due to this he is an expert on the "rules" of romance languages and how to convert/translate words from one language to another. He has been teaching me these rules which make everything so much less complicated. We will take a spanish word and apply the catalan rules to it, so for example, tiene means he has in spanish; but in catalan you convert the "ie" to an "e" and also not words in catalan end with an "N" so the catalan word for he has is te. My peer tutor has been sick so we have not been able to meet yet unfortunately. Other than that, I am starting to learn some grammar, frequently used verbs, irregular verbs, and expressions. My classmates gave me some ideas based off of their learning plans; Parisa set goals in which she wants to achieve. For example, she wants to order at a restaurant in their native language; I think that would be super cool. 

The main ideas of Hofstede Dimensions include individualism-collectivism which is when people of culture represent and identify themselves to be self-sufficient, focusing on personal needs first then the needs of a group second, and also personal freedom, and self-reliance also represent this category. Collectivism, on the other hand, is the opposite where people group together for survival and view the group as their identity as they work together keeping harmony, and interdependence with the exception of ingroups and outgroups. Another aspect is a culture’s relationship and views with time Monochronic and Polychronic (how cultures view time).

The main ideas of Figuring Foreigners out are about the idea of external and internal forces.  Direct and Indirect Communication (how behaviors/actions are presented in different cultures in the form of communication) INDIRECT- IMPLY rather than say things directly DIRECT-more explicit in what they are trying to convey.

I do partially agree that I have seen some of these ideas being represented in different cultures in different ways. But I am also aware of the possibility that not everyone that’s a part of the same culture follows the same ideals or beliefs of that culture. And I didn’t find any statements, in particular, to be problematic.  

I think that much of American culture is based around individualism and monochronic because of how the government structure is set, the economy, and society (based and built on capitalist views and the ‘American Dream’). I think these ideas are important to research and learn more about for my target language because Korean culture may be very different in comparison. And by becoming more aware of these differences and more knowledgeable on the topic, I can avoid miscommunication that could occur and be able to build better relationships.

My Learning Plan

My plan might be a little different as most of my semester will be focused on finishing all the lessons on the website Persian Language Online, which consists of 3 levels of Farsi (Beginner, Elementary, Intermediate) totaling 60 lessons. Each lesson (generally) consists of a main text and two dialogues. 

"Beginner" comprises lessons 1-20; these are the shortest lessons of all levels, the main text being only a few short paragraphs. I have moved on from these lessons.

"Elementary" are lessons 21-40, this being the level I am currently reviewing. Though I have technically read every level, I consistently go back through them with my language partner to practice fluent speaking, using these lessons as a talking/listening exercise due to my familiarity.

"Intermediate" are lessons 41-60, which are quite difficult for me. They are very long, and sometimes it will take 2 or 3 meetings to get through one lesson, where is in "Elementary" it was rare to use more than 1 meeting to initially read through the text and dialogues. My goal is to finish PLO, but considering the spike in difficulty, for this semester I am aiming to progress to lesson 50 (as opposed to 60). I do not know if this is even practical, as each lesson becomes more difficult (and sometimes longer) than the last.

PLO provides cultural learning as well, which is why I think my task list is not as long as the template considering these lessons cover (theoretically) 60 different topics, though the "Beginner" lessons are quite short. 

My focus will be mainly on my first 3 tasks, PLO, spontaneous speaking, and beginning to learn writing. 

My Learning Plan.pdf

Now that I’ve had more meetings with my language partner, I learned through each of the meetings the importance of taking the language learning process slow, and not to rush it. As I would end up missing some valuable information that could help me be better off in the future with learning Korean, making the process a little bit easier and clearer. For the language plan, I have already started off with the basics (learning Hangul-Korean Alphabet). The reason is to ensure that I am able to spell words out in Korean and pronounce them correctly. And after I’ve passed that portion, I will begin learning vocabulary in my desired categories which are: Buying items/Shopping, Food/Restaurant/Grocery, Honorifics, School, Activities, Time/Date. For each category, after I’ve built my vocabulary (and feel comfortable with it), I will learn how to form basic sentences (using the vocabulary from each unit) to begin the conversating process with my partner. One day of the week I will be quizzed on my vocabulary and another day of the week I will watch a short video or listen to songs in Korean and through that I will get more familiar with the language. I have identified some textbooks that will be very helpful for my task-based objectives. Most of them are textbooks from global studios which are the Talk to Me in Korean Workbook (Level 1) and the Oxford Picture Dictionary Second Edition (English/Korean). What prompted my interest in learning Korean was Korean entertainment and that what followed was my interest in Korean music, the culture and the history that’s so different from the U.S. In the future I would love to be able to travel and spend some time in South Korea exploring historical sites, nature, shops and making new friends. Feedback that I received from Elspeth was that making friends was a good motivation that I have for wanting to learn Korean.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mw5fdwZeI9P83tLldRweJE5PEbP-nfD6E5qLVbGCvr8/edit ;

SDLAP%201st%20reflection.docx

https://youtu.be/s1-StAlw3aE

Context: I have only had two meetings thus far on iTalki with different instructors each time, neither of which are themselves deaf. Therefore, the information provided in this post is from a secondary source I found in my research on the topic rather than via interview. 

This video is about the history of a sign language in the continental US other than standard American Sign Language in use today. The interview focuses on Plans Sign Language or Hand Speak in the Midwest. Hand Speak was a lingua franca used among Indigenous Americans in the Midwest prior to colonization. Several known signs were lost over time as the settlers colonized their land and prevented the passing on of Native knowledge Today, there are a limited number of fluent signers, and they fill the gaps in their lexicon with ASL. 

I think it is very important that this knowledge is preserved for the next generation in order to revive the culture threatened by US imperialism. It is also important to teach hearing and deaf signers alike the history of sign languages in America. Along with common home signs, there are at least four recognized dialects of ASL: American Sign Language, Black American Sign Language, Martha's Vinyard Sign Language, and Plains Sign Language. Each of these languages developed from a community's unique intersectional struggles, particularly with otism and race. 

Furthermore, I feel that many people come into ASL classrooms expecting to learn a universal sign language, the deaf equivalent of Esperanto. This is simply not the case. Just as languages developed around the world over thousands of years, so have ways to communicate between deaf and hearing individuals. Yes, the standarization of various sign languages is a recent developement closing the gap between many signing communities, however sign language in the US is still totally different from sign language British Isles even though both countries have English as the dominant language! In fact, someone who knows ASL would likely have an easier time understanding LSF (French Sign Language) because that was the basis for developing ASL.

Yanran Li

Bi-weekly journal 1

During these two weeks, I met my language partner Vivian and we made a general plan for Korean learning for this semester. Since the last time I learned Korean was in 2020, and I have not learned and applied Korean for a long time, we start with reviewing the alphabet, trying to master the writing and reading of 40 phonetic symbols. Because Korean is made up of phonetic symbols, you can read any Korean you see as long as you master the pronunciation and writing of phonetic symbols, even if you don't know the specific meaning. Writing Korean is more complicated than reading Korean because some words sound similar and beginners can easily confuse some words. Therefore, my primary goal is to be able to accurately read out the Korean I see, and accurately identify and write down the Korean I hear. At the same time, pronunciation is also very important. Korean has something in common with Chinese and English and Japanese, which is convenient for learners to learn, but it still needs a lot of practice to speak authentic Korean. Korean has a special pronunciation structure, and the position of the tongue is very important in pronunciation. While we reviewing the alphabet, I found out that although I have already learned those alphabets once, I still make some wrong pronounce. All wrong pronounced alphabets are related to the double alphabet, and the pronunciation of these characters is an important part of learning Korean. Take ㄱandㄲfor example, the previous one is “giyeok” and the last one is “ssang giyeok”. “Ssang” means double, so “ssang giyeok” pronounced higher than “giyeok”, and there are 5 pairs of alphabets like “giyeok” and “ssang giyeok”. Therefore, it is necessary to explore each pronunciation slowly during practice, which will be of great help in the future. 

The second part of our meeting is to try to list all vocabulary I know and write it out. Words are very important when learning a language, and they are the basis of future learning. My learning goal this week is to get familiar with all the sounds of the alphabet, watch an episode of a Korean TV series, and learn how to express a sentence in Korean. When learning a language, it is not good to only master the theory, using it in real life is important. You can learn a lot from real communication. It is important to find problems in time and correct them. I also like watching Korean TV series, and variety shows and listening to Korean songs. After I’m able to accurately read out the Korean I see, and accurately identify and write down the Korean I hear, I would start watching some clearly spoken Korean TV series or news and turn off the subtitles. Local news in South Korea may be spoken very fast. If I cannot understand it, I will try to gradually increase the speed from slow to normal. I will try my best to achieve the learning goals and expand more cultural knowledge.

I find that the celebration of birthdays- especially the first birthday- is a unique and interesting aspect of Korean culture. Most commonly known as doljanchi, dol means first birthday and janchi means feast. Due to the high infant mortality rate in Korea in the 19^th century, a child’s first birthday was an incredible milestone that was celebrated to wish them health and longevity. Surviving the first 365 days was a bright sign that the child would continue to grow up healthy. Although there are many traditions within this grand celebration, I wanted to highlight two aspects: dolsang and doljabi. The infant wears a hanbok, a traditional style Korean clothing, and sits on top of the head "sang". Sang means table so dolsang includes all the food and symbolic objects that is intended to wish the infant a life without adversity. This includes fruits (prosperity), different types of ricecakes (knowledge and wisdom), silk pouches (vibrant life), and flowers as decorations. Doljabi is a tradition where a variety of objects are placed in front of the child and the object they choose represents their particular future profession or fortune. Some traditional items are the pencil/brush (scholar), money (wealth), rice (plentiful life), thread (long life), or bow and arrow (military career). Nowadays, I have seen items such as a microphone (entertainer), sport balls (athlete), gavel (lawyer), and stethoscope (doctor). Of course, there is only a small pile of items that the parents lay out in front of the baby, so there are limited options, but I always enjoy the doljabi section of the party because it can often be amusing. Attending a doljanchi can be incredibly entertaining and is an important celebration that the parents spend a considerable amount of energy into.

An example of a recent event was the celebration of my lovable neighbor’s first birthday. The doljanchi was held at our church and he seemed to have had a blast. When the time came to do the doljabi, some of the items were a tennis ball, guitar, and money. The adults thought it would be extra amusing to have both a $20 and $100 bill. When he was encouraged to grab an object, his hand immediately dived in for the $100 bill. This made the entire crowd laugh while the baby smiled and waved his prize around. I’ve attached the picture to the blog! I didn’t have many, so I included the photo where the infant grabbed the $100 bill.  

I have always been curious about what I grabbed for my doljabi, but it turns out that my parents didn’t set one up for either me or my siblings. I guess I’ll never know what object my infant self craved for that day. On another note, I do have a recording of my doljanchi which a family friend edited for us. In the video you can see the piles of fruit and ricecakes, flower and balloon decorations, close friends and family, and a younger version of myself and my parents in hanbok.

A question I had that came to mind from the readings was centered around the idea of localization. Although some areas of brain may have a specific correlated function, is it possible that all parts are connected in some way whereas to say that if one area of the brain becomes injured, it will affect in some way, the efficiency of other parts of the brain?  

I think language is partially a biological phenomenon in the sense that it took a series of events for it to come to be, in the sense of how different cultures and people have developed their own language with the use of sound or sign but also is innate.

The parts of the brain that are most important for the production and comprehension of speech are located in the left side (hemisphere) for most people in regard to language. Wernicke’s area (Posterior superior temporal lobe).

I personally seem to conceptualize and process meaning, by making references to describe something most of the time depending on what it is I am trying to describe. Meaning is the process of describing why or how something is the way that it is.

The first reading, “Brain language”, inspires me to use musical or emotional connection with the language I am learning in order to better retain what I learn while I am immersed in the language.

Ancient Hangul Metal Blocks (Yeonju metal blocks)

Small metal blocks were discovered in pots alongside other artifacts by the Sudo Research Institute of Cultural Heritage. These metal blocks were estimated to have been from the Joseon Dynasty (approximately 15th and 16th century) and totaled in 1,600 pieces.

What were these metal blocks you may ask?

Well, these metal blocks had been engraved with a written script on them. This written text is seemingly reminiscent of today’s hangul characters, alongside Chinese characters as well.

This is a very important discovery as it is a groundbreaking representation Korean written language that is still prevalently used today.

The time period in which these blocks were believed to be from was when King Sejong had reigned. King Sejong had made one of the most important historical changes that would advance Korean language and culture. This important change was the Korean phonetic system for written language.

Why was this change so important you may ask?

To answer this question, it is important to look to what previous system of written language was used during the Joseon dynasty and ones preceding even that.

Given the history of Korea, China had major influence in Korea as in the past, they had invaded and colonized the country (3^rd and 4^th century). And because of this, they introduced the writing system of Hanja, a tradition writing system that consists of Chinese Characters. Hanja would provide the ability for the Chinese to exchange, trade and communicate with Koreans.

However, Korea still had their own people as their rulers. And if not for King Sejong, the creator of the Hangul writing system, Hanja (Chinese characters) would still be used today.

Chinese Characters are known to be more difficult to learn given its complexity, but also the vast number of characters that exist which is just over 50,000. Even though 2,000-8,000 characters may be enough to be able to understand most written text, it can still prove to be a difficult task for many people. And it can be especially difficult and even virtually impossible to those who were poor, lacked resources (books), or not as privileged to receive the education necessary to be able to read and write.  

The hangul alphabet on the other hand which is what is used today, is much simpler and easier to learn and understand. Each of the symbols represent and reflect the shape of how a certain sound would look when using your mouth to produce that sound. This makes the alphabet purposely consistent with speech and is believed to be what King Sejong had in mind with its creation.

Now, everyone regardless of social or economic status would now have the ability to read and write, which would influence aspects of Korean culture, government, and society on forward.

The discovery of these Yeonju metal blocks that were found prove to be a reminder of the revolutionary and historic change that Hangul made to Korea’s future progression. And it shows how Korea’s writing language became what it is today.

Metal type blocks from King Sejong’s reign discovered (koreaherald.com)

Ancient hangul type among treasure trove of buried relics (joins.com)