Blogs

"Love" the Local, "Use" the National, "Study" the Foreign: Shifting Javanese Language Ecologies in (Post-)Modernity, Postcoloniality, and Globalization - University of Richmond (exlibrisgroup.com)

I'm centering the cultural studies of my course around the historic linguistics and comparative sociolinguistics of modern Indonesia. As a country that is incredibly diverse linguistically with around 700 spoken languages, I wanted to begin to explore how these languages interact with each other. 

Current language policy in Indonesia encourages people to "Love the local, speak the national, and learn the foreign" as a formula for engaging with language. Bahasa Indonesia serves as a Lingua Franca and the language of trade and educational instruction across the country. I didn't realize until recently that for a language that is so widely spoken, it only came to exist officially in the mid-20th century as a means to foster a national identity. Thus, speaking the national. As English continues to serve as a symbol of a globalizing world and, for many, a symbol of opportunity, much of the LOTI (Language other than Indonesian) education is focused towards English. Here, the value is placed on learning the foreign.

This creates an issue for the protection of local languages. Although Indonesians are encouraged to hold their native languages in high regard, their unintentional deemphasis in favor of national and global ways of speaking is distancing people from their cultural and linguistic identities. One element of Bahasa Indonesia (as well as its predecessor Malay and the related Javanese) is the presence of formal and informal registers. Unlike Germanic and Romance languages with differing second-person pronouns, the manner of speaking varies widely based on the formality of the interaction. In Javanese, this distinction divides the language into two extremely distinct registers. Kromo, on one hand, is the highly-regarded formal register often associated with the elite. Ngoko, on the other hand, is more often spoken at home and is the register that is often learned as a native language for those in Java. 

Because Kromo is both quite distinct from Ngoko and much harder to speak "correctly," many native speakers of Ngoko claim that they cannot speak Javanese, but rather that they can only speak in "daily talk." The imposed standards of fluency are high, and as the educational system deemphasizes local languages, more and more people are distancing themselves from a Javanese linguistic identity, despite it being their first language.

This paper included transcripts (in Bahasa Indonesia with an English translation) from a conversation between two young people in Java who, despite speaking L1 Ngoko and proficient Krono, talked about how "cool" it would be if they could speak Krono. It seems as though, from this paper, local languages are still highly regarded, but are feeling more unattainable as time passes.

For me, South Korea is a nation rich in culture and history. It is renowned not only for its influence on popular culture and city views but also its diverse and mouthwatering food, or cuisine. Throughout the history, Koreans develop their food in a way that reflects the country's tradition. For me personally, the meals I had during the visit to South Korea this summer offered a sensory journey that delights my dpirit while informed me of a deep cultural significance. In this cultural post, I will embark on the culinary adventure through South Korean food, exploring its unique falvors and uncovering the cultureal dimensions behind.

Both literally and figuratively, rice is the core of Korean cuisine. It is not only a staple food, but also a symbol of livelihood and prosperity. In South Korea, the most common type of rice is "short grain rice", also known as "bap". Koreans believe that rice embodies a spirit of hard work and diligence, reflecting their values of perseverance and dedication. In South Korea, every meal starts with a steaming bowl of rice, usually accompanied by various side dishes such as banchan. Banchan represents the deep-rooted sense of community and sharing in Korean culture. Among the meals I had in SOuth Korea, rice seemed an inevitable dish.

Without mentioning kimchi, any exploration of Korean food is incomplete. Kimchi is not just a side dish; It is a cultural symbol that embodies South Korea's resilience and protective spirit. This spicy fermented cabbage is made by mixing seasonings such as garlic, ginger, and Korean chili peppers. Kimchi is usually stored in pottery jars called "onggi" and fermented underground. This traditional method reflects the importance that Koreans attach to preserving culinary heritage and plays an important role in Korean culture. It is also my personal favorite among all Korean cusines.

Korean barbecue, also known as "gogi gui," is not just a meal; This is an interactive cooking experience. At a Korean barbecue restaurant, diners cook meat on the built-in grill on the dining table, creating a fun and charming dining atmosphere. This dining style emphasizes the importance of shared experiences and group gatherings, which are core values of Korean culture. I would really recommand this to Amercians since they can get access to a brand-new while uniqe way of cooking beefs and lambs.

In short, Korean cuisine is a delightful fusion of flavor, texture, and cultural value. From a humble bowl of rice to spicy and delicious kimchi, to the interactive fun of Korean barbecue, each dish provides a unique understanding of Korean culture. To truly understand South Korea, one must taste its cuisine, because it is through the taste and aroma of Korean cuisine that the soul of this country can be revealed. Therefore, next time you have the opportunity, you can embark on a cooking trip to Korea and experience the rich and colorful cuisine of Korea. Also, I think it is essential in exploring its unique flavors and uncovering the cultural dimensions that make it a fascinating aspect of Korean life.

Media / Live-streaming (Afreeca TV)

In one of my previous Ning posts, I have covered the topic of Mukbang. Mukbang is a type of content for live streaming, which has been very popular among Koreans for many years. Along with mukbang, other types of content include talk-bang, cook-bang, game-bang, study-bang, and girl or boy cams. These content names are abbreviations of the activities followed by “bang” which means room but also an abbreviation of bang-song (show). This popularity of live streaming all started with Korea’s own internet broadcasting platform, Afreeca TV. Afreeca TV stands for “Anybody can Freely Broadcast TV.” 

After its appearance in 2006, the popularity of live streaming has greatly increased due to its ranking system and star balloons sent by viewers that convert to real cash. Viewers tended to send these star balloons as they were also ranked between other fans. There was an unwritten rule that streamers should have a signature reaction for their fans who sent the star balloons. These reactions included dancing, singing, or aegyo (expressing with a cute, baby-like manner). This platform became another influential community, allowing streamers to personally connect with their fans. 

However, there seemed to be a limit of Afreeca TV as it was only used among Korean users and specifically younger users. A problem with the Afreeca TV platform is that it could tend to get very violent, disturbing, and inappropriate to attract more attention. Another controversy was that Afreeca TV did not treat their streamers fairly. Due to the falling Afreeca TV trend and appearances of competitive live streaming platforms, the popularity of foreign entertainment platforms started arising. Users started using YouTube, Twitch, Popcorn TV, and Kakao TV to reach their fans. YouTube has been around for a long time but now with different functionalities like live streaming and shorts. Twitch is mainly used for game-bangs (gaming) while still communicating with the viewers. Popcorn TV is an LLC that supports the development of the live streaming while incorporating free ads. Finally, the Kakao TV is a Korean based messaging platform but incorporated the live streaming process like Instagram. 

The streamers were able to reach a wider audience using these platforms that were used worldwide. Some of these streamers became extremely popular, they started entering the broadcasting television shows. This transition also applied to broadcasting television shows. These shows would edit their episodes into shorter videos to stream on YouTube to attract more viewers and provide convenience. 

One of the live streamers, Poongja, started off her career on Afreeca TV. Her typical content was talk-bang, sharing her personal experiences. When YouTube became the new trend, Poongja shifted from Afreeca TV to YouTube Live. She would also edit snippets from her live streams into full YouTube videos. After shifting to YouTube, Poongja started collaborating with other popular YouTubers to gain more attraction. She had also broadened her content by putting up mukbangs and makeup videos. When she reached a high number of subscribers, Poongja started appearing on television shows. These live-streaming/video content platforms started blurring the line between all different types of entertainment platforms. I believe that the shift of the fast-paced media has greatly affected this transformation.

https://www.creatrip.com/en/blog/11180

https://1drv.ms/p/s!AhrFsLEgm8KWgZFnXCJKK4QCKttzKA?e=qx5hO4

So far, I've learned that simply forcing myself to speak Korean has already produced results. The more I speak the more comfortable I become. My preferred resource will be the Korean community on campus. Talking to our Korean students will allows me to practice and learn the language while learning about their daily life in Korea. I want to learn Korean because it is my mother's native language, and I would like to be fluent in it. Justin has suggested we practice Korean together with a dubbing exercise of a popular movie or show.

SDLC%20105-%20Learning%20Plan%20Template.docx.pdf

I organized my self-directed learning plan based on my learning style as well as my goals for the semester. Since I already have a basic understanding of Korean grammar and sentence structure, I chose to focus on what I am lacking in. For example, since my main goal is to increase my speech fluency and my learning style is auditory, I included many activities that involved speaking aloud and listening to podcasts. So far, I’ve been studying some daily Korean phrases like self introduction and talking about my day and am practicing using those phrases with my language partner. Some resources I’ve identified are Korean current events radios like KBS world and Korea 24 to learn both translation and also more about Korea’s current political, social, and cultural environment. I also plan to start attending a Korean church in the area and listening in on Korean sermons. 

I first became interested in learning because my relatives live in Korea and I would love to visit them and talk together one day. The accounting firm that I am interning at also has a location in Korea and I am interested in transferring there one day, so learning Korean would be a big advantage there. I also included more details about what “daily language” meant after some feedback and decided to focus on introduction, talking about my day, and talking about college and business to reflect my current daily language.

In my cultural post #1, I would like to reflect on my personal experience living in Hungary and tell you a little bit about one of the most important and famous Hungarian National Holidays - Saint Istvan’s Day. I do not blame you if you do not know who Istvan is, why he is such an important figure in Hungarian history, and why the whole country shuts down and spends a lot of money on fireworks and celebrations. 

First of all, I would like to give you a little historical background. Stephen I, also called Saint Stephen (in Hungarian Szent István; original name Vajk), was the first king of Hungary, who is considered to be the founder of the Hungarian state and one of the most-renowned figures in Hungarian history. Stephen was a member of the Árpád dynasty and son of the supreme Magyar chieftain Géza. The official website for the Saint Istvan Cathedral (the main Hungarian cathedral which is located in the heart of Budapest) writes:

“On Christmas Day, 1000 CE, Stephen was anointed king of Hungary. According to tradition, he received from Pope Sylvester II a crown that is now held as a national treasure in Hungary. His coronation signified Hungary’s entry into the family of European Christian nations. With the exception of an invasion by the Holy Roman emperor Conrad II in 1030 and minor disputes with Poland and Bulgaria, Stephen’s reign was peaceful.

Stephen organized his kingdom on German models. He founded bishoprics and abbeys, made the building of churches mandatory, and established the practice of tithing. He promoted agriculture, safeguarded private property with strict laws, and organized a standing army. While a ruling class was created, the institution of slavery was left virtually untouched. Stephen also opened the country to strong foreign influences, while saving it from German conquest. He treated the church as the principal pillar of his authority, dispatching missionaries throughout his realm.

Stephen is Hungary’s patron saint. In Hungary, his feast day (celebrated on 20 August) is also a public holiday commemorating the foundation of the state, known as State Foundation Day.”

(source: https://www.bazilika.biz/en/saint-stephen)

King Stephen’s achievements and his successful attempts to transform Hungary into a modernized European catholic state is the first thing you have to learn when you visit Hungary. I live there now, so it is definitely valuable and crucial information for me. That is why I decided to dedicate my first cultural post to King Stephen. 

I was lucky enough that the semester at the UR started a week later this year, and I got a chance to still be in Budapest on August 20th - the State Foundation Day aka Saint Istvan Holiday. Free entry to all the main national museums and galleries, a lot of handcrafting fairs, and food markets which take place on the main streets of Budapest are just a few of the great things about this holiday. Another interesting tradition of the Saint Istvan Holiday is that sometime at the beginning of the year the national baking contest takes place, and the winner’s cake gets to be the symbol of Saint Istvan Day for the particular year. This year the winner’s cake was made out of figs, and the fig is one of my favorite fruits, so I could not miss trying the cake at one of the markets. It was delicious. 10/10. 

Also, me and my sister planned out the day so that we could use the opportunity of the free entrance to the museums and galleries. In the morning we went to the National Hungarian Museum (in Hungarian Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum) and in the afternoon to the National Hungarian Gallery (in Hungarian Magyar Nemzeti Galeria). I really enjoyed my time at both of them, it was a great balance of just walking around looking at the art pieces and learning new facts of Hungarian history. In the evening there were 30-minute-long fireworks all over the city. I did not go to that because I do not like fireworks. So, this is a small overview of what I did on my first Saint Istvan Holiday, and it seems like it is what most of the locals do every year. Hope you enjoyed reading it!

Below I will include a picture of my ticket and a small brochure from the Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum. 

SDLC%20105-%20Learning%20Plan%20Polina%20Shitikova.docx.pdf

I decided to organize my learning plan for Hungarian in a pretty specific form. I have divided pages in both of the books that I am using for learning Hungarian (grammar & language book) into 13 weeks of the semester. This way I can keep track of the topics, grammar, vocabulary, and always have homework to do. Each week I will be having at least 2 classes with my community partner, and the rest of the days I will be learning on my own. 

Below is the link to my recorded plan presentation from the class:

https://urcapture.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=09e20ca5-1970-4998-b7dc-b07b014d66a2 ;

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 started learning my second language, French, when I was 13. It was the first semester of my 8th grade year. Ridgefield, my hometown, had just started offering French as a language course. The only other language class offered was Spanish. From the day I started learning French, everyone around me told me that "French isn't useful." This was one of the many things I did not enjoy about learning a second language. There is a stigma that we have to learn language that is deemed to be "useful." 

Despite adults, and even friends at the time telling me to stop, I have kept a bright mindset about learning French ever since I started learning in middle school. My French teacher, Ms. Rebecca Frommlet, has been my day 1 biggest fan. She continues to advocate for me to pursue French studies in college and beyond. While in the moment some of her teaching methods were not my favorite, my French vocabulary and knowledge of the culture expanded immensely. Every Monday and Wednesday, for four years in high school, we took a vocabulary quiz with ten new French words. There are only so many ways that a person can learn words in another language. Ms.Frommlet's method was effective, I would say, in the long run. 

I have always wanted to learn another language which is what keeps me going at the end of the day. I have just started learning my third language, Spanish, at the beginning of my second year here at UR. It's crazy to reflect on the fact that I have been learning French for five years. WOW!

I forgot what it takes to learn another language. Reflecting on my learning style is important. My results on the quiz stated that I was primarily an auditory and visual learner. I would definitely agree with this. My brain immediately processes images, which is how I ultimately see the world. I like being able to come up with my own interpretation first. Then, I am able to use auditory cues to establish what other people think and/or to make meaning of something. The best language-learning activities for me are involving note-taking and saying different phrases out loud to myself. That has been the method I use since I started learning French at 14. The best way for me to expand my learning activities are practicing French and Spanish more orally. I get very anxious in these situations, but I understand that this is the best way to learn. 

Throughout my time learning a language, I’ve heard people say things such as “Oh, I just can’t learn this. It’s too hard” or “I wasn’t built for learning a language.” But is there any truth to these claims? Some languages are definitely more harder to learn than others. Whether it be learning to speak, read, or write some aspects are certainly more difficult than others to learn. 

Take Korean for example: from my experience speaking and reading are fairly easy to learn. However, writing is a completely different story. Reading, especially, in Korean is fairly easy as once you learn the characters, the pronunciation of the characters never change. All you have to do is read the characters and words as they are shown. Writing, however… You would think that writing would also be easy. Afterall, reading is read as it is seen therefore writing should also be written as it is read/seen. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Take ㅐand ㅔfor example. Both are pronounced exactly the same (ae) but its usage is still one of the most complicated things in the language. Even native speakers have trouble differentiating between when to use which. There is no pattern either, they just need to be memorized.

So what was the point of all this? To show that there are certainly difficulties when learning languages. But, despite that it’s never impossible. Let’s look into the human brain for a brief moment. For a right-handed person, it was studied that the left hemisphere of the brain was dominant in learning a new language. The left also helps with activities involving analytical tasks, logical organization, info sequencing, and complex motor functions. The right hemisphere on the other hand is involved in the perception of patterns, creativive sensibility, and emotional expression/recognition (Crystal, D. 2005 How language works). Now someone, might read this and think “Oh, my left side must not be developed as much as someone who is good with languages”. But I’d like the challenge this belief. Yes, the left side seems to help more with learning a language. But the right side also most certainly plays a part as well. As said before, the right is involved with pattern recognition and to say there are no patterns in languages is false. Everything from prefixes, roots, sentence structure, etc. all form patterns. If someone can recognize this, then learning a language, especially reading and writing would be easier. 

Keeping these in mind, what can I do over the next couple of months? Well I’ve had past knowledge in learning Korean. So I could build upon that by understanding that there are patterns when it comes to reading and writing. Speaking can also apply this concept, but speaking is probably mostly improved by actually speaking the language. Not by worrying if what I’m saying is correct, but rather just speaking the language and whatever comes to mind. The concept of collocations were introduced in How we mean (Crystal, D. 2005). Collocations, along with context, can be brought into the picture when talking about speaking. Even if I may not understand the full sentence word for word, with context I can assume what the general meaning of the sentence is if I know a handful of words.

A couple weeks ago, 2 long swords were added to Korea's national treasures - (past) properties of Admiral Yi Sun-sin (이순신). These swords, albeit having a more ceremonial purpose, are thought to have been forged in 1594 due to the inscriptions, but are in extremely good condition. Although ancient relics may become national treasures due to their age and physical value, that probably isn't just the case for these swords. There are at least 3 more national treasures related to Yi Sun-sin, indicating his importance.

Most Koreans will know who Yi Sun-sin is, at least by name. In terms of renown, it is like how most (hopefully) Americans will know George Washington, at least by name. For context, Korea was known as the Joseon dynasty beginning in the 14th century, when the earlier dynasty was overthrew. This is where most of Korea's historical culture resides, as the dynasty continued before the Japanese colonization in the 19th-20th centuries, until it would become the 2 Koreas. Amidst the 16th century, Japan and Korea, which had okay relations till then, started having numerous conflicts, and Japan, who had finally unified as 1 state after a 120 year period, begin to invade Korea. This is where Admiral Yi Sun-sin's renown would begin, as he led naval forces and won numerous battles against the invasion. The Battle of Myeongnyang is the most famous, where he led 13 warships against an invasion of 133 ships, and was able to fend off the invasion. Yi Sun-sin is one of the reasons why modern day Korea exists, else perhaps modern day Korea would be a part of Japan. Yi Sun-sin is also famously correlated with the Turtle ships, a ship design seen in many Korean textbooks and motifs, which were decisive in his battles.

It was cool to stumble upon the news of his swords being designated as national treasures, and learning about Korean history gives language learning a much deeper connection. I've attached pictures of the swords, the admiral, and his turtle ships for anyone to see.

Reflect on your 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?

My first encounter with formal language learning was in my eighth grade French class. I had an incredible teacher who was always willing to give me additional learning materials to accelerate the pace in which I could express complex ideas. I fell in love with the fact that there were somethings that felt more authentic to express in French, that I could get closer to meaning by expanding my toolbox of languages. 

Growing up neurodivergent, I found myself easily able to mimic the speech patterns of others-- I used this talent not only to help me pick up on linguistic patterns in foreign languages, but also to intentionally drop my Appalachian dialect at one point (which I now regret having done.) At the age of sixteen, I left Tennessee for a year abroad in Germany with the Department of State's CBYX program. This marked my first immersive language learning experience, and I arrived to the country with no prior German knowledge. Although it was undeniably one of the hardest years of my life, I learned a lot about my language-learning styles in that program and have remained at a C1 level of working proficiency. When brainstorming what was helpful, I realized that:

- Forcing myself to express and circumlocute ideas in my target language was both exhausting and crucial to building speaking skills. Even when I made little to no sense or embarrassing mistakes, it started a dialog with whomever I was speaking with through which I learned a more efficient way to express something in the future.

- Passively listening to the target language led me to a gradual building of comprehension and vocabulary. It took me roughly two to three months to be able to understand most things and about four months to be able to respond with more effectiveness. 

- Although mimicking the language acquisition patterns of children might have contributed to my existential woes of no longer being able to express complex thoughts and emotions, it helped me in the long run to think and speak more intuitively in German.

After returning from Germany, I felt empowered by my ability to express myself in a new way and connect myself with a greater variety of people. I took an introductory Chinese class, but found that the emphasis on direct translation limited my ability to understand the language from a Chinese perspective. I then did a short stint of time in Nepal in which I was able to learn much more in much less time by focusing on conversation. This makes sense considering my Learning Style and Multiple Intelligences results-- I'm a tactile learner, and my greatest intelligences are Social and Language. Conversation to me is experiential, and the most important component of language learning, personally.

Currently, I'm taking a 300 level Spanish class and beginning my studies of Bahasa Indonesia. For both languages, I want to try speaking as much as possible while placing more of an emphasis on grammar than I have in the past. As part of my learning for this semester, I'd like to challenge myself to write complex reflections with the help of external resources in order to quickly build a sense of grammar concepts. 

Hey y'all I'm Justin! I was born in Georgia (USA) and both my parents moved to the States from Korea. As a child, they would always encourage me to use Korean at home. Unfortunately for them, I would almost always respond in mostly English. They’ve sent me to multiple Korean schools throughout my life but sadly they would not help much. So, here I am now attempting to learn at my own pace, which hopefully will help now.

I’ve also learned Spanish throughout middle and high school. Learning a new language however helped not only in Spanish but surprisingly English as well. I don’t know about most people, but I grew up without learning much of the grammatical rules and whatnot. So speaking was no problem, but writing (especially on standardized tests) were an issue. Learning Spanish however gave a fresh start to a language, and a lot of the rules from there applied over to English as well. Yes, things such as the adjective placement are different but other rules, such as the structure of a “complete sentence” are the same. So although English was my first language, my third language was the one that surprisingly helped the most!

During my past 3 years in college, I’ve taken two Spanish courses as well. Both of which had a “drill”, which was essentially an oral practice class. These also seemed to help a lot in learning a new language. First of all they were fun since we would talk about almost anything but in Spanish. There was really no forced rule or way of learning, other than having to speak Spanish.

Over the years I’ve found myself to be much of a visual and tactile learner. Actually doing activities and practicing them helped me grasp the content much, much easier not just in learning new languages but in basically every subject. Visually, using diagrams, graphs, and charts helped probably because they help me make connections, similarities, and differences between the material that was learned. The tactile aspect also ties in well with the visual style. Drawing these diagrams and graphs along with doing practice problems help a lot. An example would be the drills for Spanish. Actually attempting to speak and use the language outside of just writing helps me learn it.

Hopefully, I can learn from the past and use those experiences that both failed and worked and apply them to this semester. I’m mostly hoping to learn to actually speak and write Korean well enough so that I can actually have some dialogue between my family. It may take a while, and it could be very ambitious. But practicing speaking and writing slowly will surely help me improve!

Reflect on your 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 was born and raised in France to a Korean mother and an American father. From a young age my parents taught me the importance of learning multiple languages. Both of my parents travelled the world extensively and shared with me their experiences with foreign languages and cultures. As such, being multilingual has been one of my earliest goals.

              Growing up in France, I attended an international school, where knowledge of multiple languages was not only encouraged, but a requirement. At my school, all students were fluent in French and another native language. Students all took classes together from the general French curriculum, as well as classes from their respective ‘section.’ Students were divided into thirteen national sections, with countries like the United States, Italy, Sweden, Japan, and Russia being represented. We also each took two foreign language classes. From 6^th to 12^th grade, I learned Spanish, and from 8^th to 12^th grade I learned Mandarin Chinese.

              My international background has always been a point of pride for me that I love to share with others. I enjoy having experience with multiple languages and having befriended friends from various cultures. I believe that my understanding of the world is much more complete than if I had only learned English or French growing up.

However, being part of such a rigorous curriculum had its challenges. I often felt like I was being forced to learn, especially during my Mandarin class. I found the language extremely difficult, and never felt like I had a firm grasp of it. As such, I didn’t always put my full effort into it and have since given up on the language.

I found that learning Spanish with a French and English background was a huge advantage. Many words are similar, if not identical. I often found myself being able to decipher entire sentences just from common language roots and sentence structure. On the other hand, I do not have the same intuition with Mandarin or Korean. I have found that both languages are completely different and share close to no similarities with the previously mentioned Western languages. Chinese and Korean do share certain similarities, but I do not believe my knowledge in either language is good enough to take advantage of this.

I learn best with a combination of visual, sound, and practical learning. The best way for me has always been learning by seeing and hearing examples, and then practicing based on these examples. For example, in class, hearing a professor speak the language helps me pickup the various intonations, which I will then master by mimicking and practicing on my own. When learning by myself, watching movies or listening to music can help me pickup common phrases spoken in everyday life. I also like to learn my reading texts or articles in the target language and researching words or phrases that I do not know. I find that this is one of the most effective ways to improve my understanding of the language.

              I believe one area of my learning that I can expand upon is vocabulary. I think that memorizing common words is one of the best ways to gain an advanced understanding of a language.

I grew up in a Spanish-only household so it was effortless to learn Spanish in a very immersive environment. I think growing up in that household, my survival skills kicked in forcing me to absorb the language making it easier to learn the language. I learned English in kindergarten but had to repeat it since I did not know the language. I was able to become fluent in about a year and a half which I attributed to my young age but after reading one of the required articles, I realized it has more to do with the immersive environment and the lack of an "escape route". I learned a bit of Chinese in the fifth grade but it was at a new elementary school where the students had commenced learning in kindergarten, I could not catch up and was thus, demotivated. However, I started learning French in the sixth grade and have stuck through with it since it flowed so easily and I received constant praise from classmates and teachers. I started Russian at the university because I really enjoyed the history and wanted to understand their films/literature in its original language. Informally though, I have learned a bit of Turkish, Italian, Norweigian, and Korean as I really like consuming foreign entertainment without dubs. For the informal languages, it has been significantly harder to retain and persist since I have no accountability layer to it. I have liked being able to pick up on conversations and seeing how the history/culture of a country influences its language. However, I hate how slow the process is since I am not the most patient person. 

According to the surveys, I am a visual learner and should try to visualize my learning for it to actually stick by creating a mnemonic, color coding stuff, or creating flash cards. I will attempt to insert more images into the online flashcards I create, and physically write out my notes using colored pens to make it more aesthetic and for myself to remember the content better. Trying to connect the pieces using the root of the words with their meaning using diagram also seems to be like a good idea. I think the most helpful part of learning a language through this class, though it is self-motivated, is that I will still have more of an accountability factor and someone with whom I can practice what I've learned and help correct any misconceptions I have. 

I am also an auditory learner so repeating words out loud is how I usually engrave new vocab into my brain so I will continue to do so but will also be speaking in the target language with my language partner. i recognize that making mistakes, however embarrassing or big of a setback it feels like, is essential to learning. Whenever my pronounciation or sentences are corrected, I am more likely to remember it and less likely to commit the same mistakes. I know at least for me, it is always easier to remember the negatives. I think that's why I prefer to do textbook activities like matching or filling in blanks because it's both visual and auditory when I am sounding out the words or reading out the instructions. I like straightforward activities since I am so impatient hence why I'd rather do grammar practice, written activities, and quizzes. I think I want to incorporate weekly quizzes into my study plan to make sure I am still on track and to narrow down the concepts that I am struggling with and adjust accordingly. That being said, I also agree with what the article said about needing to be intentional about our goals when attempting to learn a language. I think it was much easier to learn languages formally taught in school because my goals were always to do well on the assignments, assessments, and to communicate in class. Yet, with the languages I tried pursuing on my own, my mentality going in was always "i'm going to learn this language" and that proved to be unsuccessful. That is why I want to carefully consider my schedule and the amount of time/effort I can realistically spend on learning Korean without burning out or quitting midway. Though I also know that I am overly ambitious in the beginning so I will also have to heavily reflect throughout the first few weeks so I can adapt my schedule as needed to fit the speed I actually end up going at. I know it will be trial and error so I want to only plan out my first few weeks and then go from there once I've examined what worked and what didn't.  

I began learning my second language when I was 5 years old and enrolled into kindergarten. It was my first exposure to the English language both spoken and written. There was little effort required to learn English because I was surrounded by students and teachers conversing in English, English music, and English cartoons/tv shows. However, once I got completely immersed in English, I forgot how to speak Korean, my first language, because I wasn’t practicing or exposed to it enough. 

I never attempted to relearn Korean but eventually tried learning other languages. I realized how hard learning a language was when I took my first Spanish class in high school. I found it difficult for the grammar rules and conjugations to stick in my head just by looking at the charts that were provided. I disliked how unfamiliar the words looked despite being written in letters from the familiar alphabet. I further disliked learning ancient Greek (another high school class) because the unfamiliar letters made me feel like I was being left out in a secret conversation written in undecipherable code. When we had to read Greek text, I often stared at the words until my eyes lost focus because I couldn’t seem to make sense of anything. 

Both this experience and the survey about learning styles told me that I was not a visual learner, but an auditory learner. I only really started to catch on to Spanish when I took my first AP class and the teacher didn’t allow us to use English at all. Since I was constantly hearing and speaking in Spanish, I became used to composing full sentences and understanding others. I found catchy songs like the Spanish conjugations songs to be especially helpful in learning the flow of Spanish sentences, and the greek alphabet song helped me match the sound to the symbol. Once I continued to practice hearing and speaking the languages, I really enjoyed going to class to learn more in-depth concepts and reach a conversational level. 

Even though I didn’t continue to take those classes, I am still able to speak, read, and understand some Spanish and ancient Greek at a basic level. I am planning on learning Korean through the SDLC 110 course so I am hoping that when I learn Korean through the course, I will practice enough to not forget it once the semester ends. The multiple intelligences survey revealed my top three intelligences are social, self, and language. According to these, activities such as reading aloud, listening to tapes, engaging in interviews, and reflecting on learning suit my learning styles. I can incorporate these into my future language learning by reading Korean texts aloud, listening to Korean dialogue, having question-and-answer interviews with a native speaker in Korean, and reflecting on the day's work by keeping a daily reflection journal. Since I’ve never tried the interview and journal activities, I think they will further expand my language learning capabilities and allow me to explore more interesting and fun ways to learn.

I always get compliments from people who find out that I am bilingual - Russian native speaker, and advanced English speaker. And I always respond to them that they are exaggerating because I never really had a choice if not learning English. I completed 11 years of education in the regular public Russian school which was with intensive learning of English. However, I do not think that the learning was intensive at all. Right at the beginning of primary school my mum also placed me in a language learning center in the group with the kids who were older than me and had the elementary level for sure. On top of that I had private classes with the same teacher who was leading the group classes. If you ask me why did I have so much English when I was just 6.5 years old? Well, do not ask me, ask my mum. She is a huge believer that if you want to develop any trait in your kid, you have to do it from their childhood. I agree with that more than anything. Now when I realize how drastically English transformed my life and perception of the world I can not thank my mom enough for what she did to me when I was in primary school. So, regarding my previous experience as a language learner I can definitely say that most of the times I was placed in very challenging and uncomfortable situations where I had to be creative in order not to look like the most stupid kid in the classroom. This experience was really out of my comfort zone, and who can potentially like it? What I really enjoyed is the outcome. Since primary school I would always get the highest points on English tests/exams. By the age 14 I would freely speak English, communicate at the tennis tournaments, and etc. And, by the age 18 I was admitted to an American University based on my academic achievements, SAT and TOEFL scores. All of these were the result of my hard work in the classroom because let me tell you that Russian and English languages are completely different universes. Moreover, I never really had a chance to practice my English with native speakers except for my trips to the tennis tournaments. 

About a month ago I started learning a new language from scratch. Some people might say that it might be a very challenging task because adults learn new languages much slower than kids. However, I will respectfully disagree with them because some researchers showed that adults perform learning tasks much more successfully than kids due to the ability to keep focus and self-discipline much longer. So, here I am a senior at the University at the age of 21 starting the new language - Hungarian. I am very excited about it, and I am planning to put myself in challenging situations where I would have to perform to my best learning potential, same as my mum did to me when I was 6.5 years old. 

The surveys that I have completed did not reveal anything about learning abilities that I have not known before. I am definitely a visual learner, and I memorize things much faster once I see them or write them down. Maybe that is why I always prefer using the book where I can mark, highlight things instead of my laptop, write in the notebook with colorful pens instead of typing out lectures on my laptop. According to the assessment “Find Your Strengths!” My top three intelligences are body movement, a very good sense of self, and I am a very social person (aka I am good at gathering ideas from other people). Some of the learning activities and methods that I can incorporate in my learning journey can be:

-taking a walk while memorizing new words, story, project materials;

-use different types of surfaces where I write down new information;

-practice breathing and relaxation during study breaks;

-use brainstorming methods before reading;

-setting up interviews or little dialogues with friends or family in order to practice new vocabulary. 

I think these might be some very helpful learning techniques, and I am looking forward to incorporating them in my studies.

During this past month, I have been diving deeper into developing knowledge for the final project. Vivian and I reviewed the topics that would produce ideas for Korean culture. She had recommended a lot of good sources that informed the history, societal issues, and influences of foreign countries. 

A super helpful video that goes over the history of Korea was produced by an entertainment channel called “Infinite Challenge.” This channel is one of my favorite entertainment shows that I grew up watching with my brother. Through collaborating with rappers, the show members had to make hip-hop music that held significant figures and important historical happenings. One of the videos Vivian and I watched was talking about the Independence Movement Day and the activists who we should never forget. The first activist during 삼일절 was a young lady named Gwan Soon Yoo. Even at a young age, she wasn’t afraid to voice her opinion. Another activist, Dong Joo Yoon, who was a Korean poet who was born in China, wrote multiple poems expressing the yearning for Korea’s liberation. It was interesting to see these poets that were in Chinese characters, which have been significantly simplified compared to Korean characters nowadays. Finally, the teacher in the video talked about the most famous two figures, Kim Goo and Yoon Bong Kil. Kim Goo had created the Korean Patriotic Organization and was even physical towards the Japanese soldiers. Yoon Bong Kil left to Shanghai, also where Japan took over, and threw a lunch box shaped bomb towards the Japanese soliders. In a short and consice way, these entertainment shows provide impactful information to casual viewers. 

It made more sense how the Korean language had been influenced in a significant way by the Japanese and Chinese. These poems and letters written by these activists are the foundation of how Korean has been developed. These historical videos are very encouraging and makes me proud to be a Korean. It is very helpful in learning as they are very informative and entertaining at the same time. 

Another great show that she recommended is called “The Glory.” I will be creating the final presentation for this Netflix show. This show contains and portrays the social hierarchy and the characteristics of high school bullies, called 일진. Bullying is very common in Korea and has been a topic that has been focused on in current media culture. Although the show expresses the extremes of Korean bullying styles, it still depicts the main characteristics clearly. Not only does this show represent the revenge towards the bullies, it also shows how economic stances take a huge toll on everyone's lifestyles. 

I have noticed huge improvements in my Korean this month. As I am constantly watching videos that are only in Korean, I was able to understand most of the content even without the subtitles. My goal this month is to fully get rid of subtitles unless I come across vocabulary terms that I am not familiar with.

Ireecha is a traditional holiday celebrated by the Oromo people towards the end of September or the start of October. It is meant to mark the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the harvest season. This transition is significant because in Ethiopia generally the winter, which occurs during the U.S. summer season, is thought of as a difficult time for the people. One main reason is that families are unable to see one another during the rainy and winter season because it is challenging to travel internally. Therefore, Ireecha is meant to be a time when the Oromo people thank the Creator, Waaqa in Afaan Oromo, for getting them past this arduous time and allowing them to see the bright days that await them ahead. However, the people also use Ireecha to thank the Creator for the blessings of the rainy season, which brings new life to the land and sustains their crops and livestock. Although I knew about the holiday before, I learned more deeply about it after getting closer with my cousin who is a yearly adamant celebrator of the holiday. He showed me videos of all the times he has celebrated and it was beautiful to see the holiday come to life via his phone screen. The holiday is celebrated in outdoor locations such as rivers, lakes, and mountains, which are considered sacred by the Oromo people. The celebration involves various rituals and activities, including prayers, songs, dances, and the offering of grass and flowers as a symbol of gratitude to Waaqaa. The community also engages in communal feasting, where they share food and drink as a way of promoting unity and solidarity. As you can see in the pictures below, millions of people gather at a lake, hora in Afaan Oromo, and engage in celebratory practices there. Interestingly, one of the main places this festival is celebrated is in the town my mother was born and raised and where my grandparents still live in. I hope to one day attend. Furthermore, this act of prioritizing nature, God’s unaltered creation, is an effort to strengthen their bond with the Creator Waaqa and their ancestors. Tragically, in the 2016 Bishofto festival, a result of ineffective security forces, up to 300 festivalgoers were killed in a stampede. All in all, I believe that Ireecha serves as a reminder of the value of traditional practices and the need to preserve cultural heritage in the face of modernization and globalization. As we continue to advance technologically and socially, it is essential to remember the traditions and customs that have sustained our communities for generations.

This has been such an amazing experience. I’ve never had a language experience like this one before. In my podcast interview, I express immense happiness for taking a class like this. I had never heard of it until last semester and it wasn’t until I had extra space in my schedule that I went searching for a class like this. To my delight, I came across a course that would allow me to learn a language outside of the often-taught romance languages while simultaneously working at my own pace and tending to my own needs. One of my favorite aspects of the class was definitely the final cultural presentations and generally, the classes focus on the integral relationship between culture and language. Our final presentations made that vigorously discussed topics come to life in different parts of the world. On the other hand, I wished the class incorporated our individual languages more seamlessly into the topics we discussed. Rather than summarizing what the articles we read argued, it would have been both helpful and insightful to relate them to one another personal language journey. This experience has in some ways reinforced what I knew about myself as a language learner while awakening me to others. For instance, as I predicted I learn language best when it is personalized to me. Unfortunately, learning language in a classroom at school doesn’t allow for this, and obviously, it would be silly to expect it to. However, this class facilitated a semester-long interaction between a native speaker and a student which allowed for this personalized language learning to take place. As I’ve mentioned in my language journals, my classes with my teacher were personalized to me; for instance, the sentences and vocabulary I learned were seldom random, they reflected my life, the people in it, what things constitute my days, etc. The most challenging aspect for me was, although cliche, overcoming the fear of making mistakes and feeling self-conscious. It can be uncomfortable to speak a language you're not completely fluent in, and it's easy to feel embarrassed or frustrated when you don't understand something. However, I've found that the more I practice and make mistakes, the more confident and comfortable I become. This class has granted me the opportunity to practice, informally and without pressure. Frankly, I feel a little discouraged with the prospects of my language journey after the completion of this class and more importantly after my time with my language partner ends. Although I have native Oromo speakers literally in my household, I am scared that my practice with the language will stop when my time with her does because I have garnered the confidence throughout the semester to actually speak in Oromo despite countless mistakes. I am unsure if I can develop this confidence and discipline independently of my language partner. But on the bright side, I know that my genuine innate motivation for acquiring fluency in Afaan Oromo will push me past this difficulty and unsureness. 

Final Project: FengShui Link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ClUd1XMeYCLFDSSppeM9N1dLm-FFyGhO/view?usp=sharing

Slides Link

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dZi8uHn-XrIUgduI5vX768WYvxDQoTywX8skitBO8qI/edit#slide=id.p