Hand gestures:
"Come here" - Korea: palm down (never palm up or fingering), US: does not matter
money - Korea: circle with your index and thumb, like the "OK" sign, US: nowadays... index and middle finger rubbing against the thumb
posing for pictures - Korea: cheese sign, "V" victory sign, hide your face, flower face, US: pointing, "1"
For the cultural presentation, I presented on South Korean national symbols. I talked about the flag (taegukki), the tiger, the rose of sharon, and Admiral Lee Soon-Shin. Attached is my powerpoint for my presentation.
In order to get familiar with hand gestures, we went through the acceptable and unacceptable gestures from Korea as well as the US. Hand gestures that are acceptable in the US might be considered very offensive and rude in Korea. Gestures like "come here" with the palm facing up should not be used in Korea at all, while it is completely fine in the US. In Korea, people would gesture it with the palm facing down. This is helpful to know before possibly traveling to South Korea.
While learning about Korean sentence structure and grammar, it is also crucial to study casual conversational Korean. Therefore, in class we learned about Korean pop songs, movies, and entertainment shows to get introduced to Korean slangs that one wouldn't see in textbooks. Koreans tend to utilize a lot of slangs, so it might be helpful to learn "conversational" Korean before "textbook" Korean.
Continuing from 110, I still keep a personal dictionary of Korean words that I stumbled upon, translated into English on my phone. This allows me to always go back to it and recall certain vocabulary that I have had trouble with. Once you go back to look at it a few times for the spelling and pronunciation, you begin to memorize it and that's when you can take that word out of your dictionary.
I presented on a historical site in South Korea called the Hwaseong Fortress. To summarize the national landmark:
It is: A wall built under Joseon’s Jeongjo’s rule, Started in 1794 and finished in 1796, and Located in the heart of Suwon.
Attached is my powerpoint! Hwaseong%20Fortress.pptx
In preparation for my final exam in Bahasa Indonesian, I started to review my notes, the study guide Thalia made, and the study guide that I made. After seeing how much I have accomplished this semester, I finally feel like I have learned a lot. When going week by week, it is difficult to realize just how much material I have covered. This semester, I have learned the numerical system, tenses, grammar rules for specific question words, and vocabulary. While I do not have it all memorized, I do know a fairly large portion of the material. I am confident in my ability to take my existing knowledge and add to it in future lessons with Thalia next semester. I feel that I have found some good study habits for vocabulary, and I have also learned what methods of learning work best for me. Without using flashcards and recordings of the language, I would be lost in the class. The semester was difficult, but it is rewarding to see how much I was able to teach myself the language.
There are so many different kinds of Turkish dishes.
Köfte : A Turkish staple, köfte is balls or patties of ground beef or lamb, and can be served stewed, in sandwiches, over salads, or plain with yogurt.
Mantı: Mantı might remind you of ravioli at first sight, but the traditional Turkish dish is completely unique in taste and texture. Small beef or lamb dumplings are boiled or fried and served with yogurt or butter, and often accompanied with a range of spices.
Kuzu Tandır: The meat for this popular lamb dish is traditionally hung and slow roasted whole, and it often served with rice or potatoes, and yogurt.
Lahmacun: This flat and crispy bread is traditionally topped with minced meat, salad, and lemon juice (thought the above is a beetroot vegan option!), and can be wrapped, folded in half, or pulled apart to eat. Cheap and available on any street corner, it's the perfect light lunch or snack while touring.
Börek: Turkish savoury pastry comes in many varieties, most popularly filled with minced meat or spinach and cheese. Börek can be rolled, served as puffs, or layered like lasagna, and served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack. Anyway you have it, börek is always flaky and delicious.
Source: 27 Delicious Turkish Foods Everyone Must Try by Chelsey Pippin
I did my cultural presentation on Turkish sculpture. Turkish sculpture had transition under the rules of the religion. Ancient sculptures usually represented human bodies, but modern sculptures are more of decorative arts such as reliefs, engraving and inlay. Gravestones and marker stones were the most finely carved and beautifully decorated forms in the Ottoman period. I presented on Ancient Statues Near the Royal Tomb on the Mount Nemrut, Turkey. They are located on high mountain called Mt. Nemrut (2,134 m or 7,001 ft), the ancient statues near the royal tomb are famous for the giant head statues scattered on the summit. They were constructed by King Antiochus First in 62 BC. Historians think the place is a sanctuary and a royal tomb. However, the king’s tomb has not been found yet. The style of these ancient sculptures is Greek and Persian tradition. Mount Nemrut is recognized as a World heritage site by UNESCO. It attracts lots of tourists to this historically and culturally significant site. Since the 1980s, Turkey has been establishing itself as a center of contemporary art with galleries, institutions and local biennials giving artists increased international visibility. What is unique about the contemporary Turkish sculpture is that it is the mixture of the globalized art world and local histories bridging Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic traditions. Contemporary Turkish art is decidedly diverse and often provocative.I researched on Yasam Sasmazer’s Wooden Sculptures Explore Mental Hardship. Yasam Sasmazer, a Turkish artist who works in Berlin, crafts wooden sculptures the deal with psychological hardship and narratives. Series like “Metanoia” take influence from the work of psychiatrist Carl Jung, exploring the journey between mental breakdowns and the evolution that follows. Her use of three-dimensional figures and shadows, both simulated and real, offer an absorbing take on the duality of living.
My cultural presentation: Turkish Sculpture
Learning plans with self-assessment: Learning plans with self-assessment.docx
This week, we discussed tenses. In Indonesian, there are several important characteristics to keep in mind. The three areas are tense, aspect, and temporal marker. These have to do with time and if the action is completed, ongoing, or yet to be started. This lesson was very difficult. Different key words indicate different scenarios. Sudah represents a completed action. Belum means a continuing action. Bara saja means recently completed. Masih means a situation is ongoing. Masih belum means a task is expected, but it has not yet occurred. These tasks are all accompanied by time markers such as time, dates, months, or weeks. In Indonesian, these time markers are extremely important to clarifying speech. Depending on how recent or old an action is also determines what phrase to use.
This lesson taught me the importance of the vocabulary for time. Without this vocab, it is pretty much impossible to have a conversation in Indonesian. Because there are so many terms, I made flash cards to help me memorize their meanings and when to use them. I am confident in my ability to read and write with the new grammar rules, but I am not able, yet, to fully understand them as I speak or am listening. This grammar section was very difficult, and I hope to work on it more when I study Indonesian next semester.
After finishing my pronunciation exercise, I decided to listen to some Indonesian speakers and see how closely I could follow along. Thalia showed us a video from a video blogger a while ago that I thought would be perfect for me to use. The woman is from the United States, but she is currently living in Indonesia with her husband and son. The videos were helpful because the woman used both languages when speaking. She would say easy words in Indonesian and more difficult ones in English. I watched a few videos and just tried to focus on translating as she spoke. I found it extremely difficult at first, but I started to get the hang of it after a while. I started to realize her cadence and sentence structure. I then watched one of her more recent videos. In this video, she almost exclusively spoke in Indonesian. She was discussing the different prices that warungs, local stores, charge different people. Having knowledge of the most common food in the warungs, I was able to follow along very well.
This exercise showed me that learning how to listen and translate at the same time is the most difficult task for me to accomplish. The best thing I can do is try to learn as much vocabulary as possible. Accomplishing just this helps because I can at least follow along and fill in what I do not know with context clues.
Today, I decided to work on my pronunciation. I came up with a list of words that I feel confident in my pronunciation of, and another list of words that I have difficulty pronouncing. First, I recorded myself pronouncing the words that I am confident in. I then listened back to my pronunciations and thought back to how I have heard Thalia pronounce the words. I noticed that my pronunciation was close to Thalia’s. I then recorded myself pronouncing the more difficult words. I found that my pronunciation of these words was not like Thalia’s. My pronunciations were rushed and did not focus enough on the vowels in every syllable.
By doing this recording, I had an opportunity to dissect my speech patterns. This led to me slowing down and focusing on each letter. The pronunciation of Indonesian is much different than in English. Using my recordings, I was able to see where my pronunciations wavered from Thalia’s.
For my final artifact, I decide to try and experience some of the Indonesian culture. I decided to go online and search for authentic Indonesian cuisine near the University of Richmond. I found BoBoKo Indonesian cafe in Harrisburg, Virginia. The food focuses on fruit, rice, and aesthetics. For the most part, the food is simple and neat. The food was unlike any other I have ever had. The dishes were made with a mixture of all types of fruits, vegetables, and meat. Another interesting aspect of the food was the influence of the Dutch and French. French macarons were a highly requested dish by the patrons. I sat down at the table and talked with my waiter. He was not born in Indonesian, but he could speak the language. I told him about my class and why I decided to come all the way from Richmond to eat some food. He gave me the opportunity to try and order in Indonesian. I asked for beef rendang, a meet dish with rice and vegetables. The plate was small, but the food was delicious. I greatly enjoyed the seasoning on the beef. Finally, I tried the coconut ice cream. The waiter was surprised that I knew the word for coconut, kelapa, because it is very unusual. After eating and paying for the bill, I looked around the restaurant and saw all of the different kinds of people in the restaurant. There were all kinds of ethnicities in the restaurant. I think it speaks to the influence different cultures have had on Indonesian. Every group that has been on the islands has left an imprint that has culminated into a very eclectic environment. I was glad to see that others were experiencing and enjoying that environment as I was.
This week we discussed negation in sentences. When saying “no” to a verb phrase, the speaker uses the word tidak. When responding no to a nominal phrase, the speaker uses the word bukan. These words go directly before their respective nominal or verbal phrases. We also discussed vocabulary pertaining to the family. Generally, wanita, pria, istri, saami, and anak mean woman, man, wife, husband, and child respectively. Other important classifications are the phrases laki-laki meaning brother, adik meaning younger, kakak meaning older, and perempuon meaning sister. To learn this vocabulary and grammar, Thalia asked me to incorporate the two into a short paragraph about my own family.
Ibu saya namanya Lucibeth dan bapak saya bernama Clint. Saya purya dua adik laki-laki namany Jack dan Sam. Ibu saya tidak purya pekerjaan.
This translates as: “My mother’s name is Lucibeth and my father’s name is Clint. I have two younger brothers named Jack and Sam. My mother does not work.
Notice when indicating that my mother does not work that I used the word tidak because I am negating the word work.
To further understand these concepts, I created flash cards for the vocabulary because that has helped me learn previous vocabulary. To help myself learn negating phrases, I have been listening to people and myself talk so that I can think in my head whether I am negating a verb or noun phrase.
This week we discussed the days of the week and the formal way to create an email in Indonesia. In Indonesian, the week starts on Monday rather than Sunday as it does in the United States. The words for the days of the week are as follows: Senin, Selasa, Robu, Kamis, Jumat, Sabtu, and Minggu. These mean Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In Indonesia, the name of days of the week are upper case. To say the word week, the word for Sunday is used, but it is not capitalized. In other words, the word minggu means week.
The structure of an email is as follows:
24 Maret 2018
Bowman
Kepada: Kanin
Halo teman,
Apa kabas? Kurang baik. Saya berbica di sekolah ini Senin. Se mogu Anda juga baik-baik. Apa Anda tinngal de Florida? Syaa dari Tennessee.
This is translated as follows:
March 24, 2018
Bowman
To: Kanin
Hello friend,
How are you? I am not doing well. I have a presentation at school this Monday. I hope you are doing well. You are from Florida, right? I am from Tennessee.
To learn the vocabulary, I have created flashcards. Remembering the email structure is not as difficult, as it is similar to the structure use in the United States.
This week we covered prepositions and using the word apa. In Bahasa Indonesia, there are three key prepositions: ke, di, and dari. Di can be translated as at, an, or in in English. Ke can be translated either as to or toward. Dari is used when saying from a place or a person. When translating the sentence from Indonesian to English, the context is the greatest clue. To learn these prepositions and their functions, Thalia gave me several sentences that used each preposition. For instance, the sentence, “Ratih makan siang di rumah” means, “Ratih has dinner in his house.” To better learn when the prepositions are used, Thalia had me develop sentences without notes using the prepositions correctly. On my own, I found a paragraph that had missing prepostions and selected the correct ones to fill in the blanks.
Finally, we followed up on our discussion last week of the word apa. Apa is an indicator of a question sentence. When used at the beginning of a sentence, apa indicates a yes or no question. When the word is at the end of the sentence, the speaker is asking the listener to fill in the blank. For instance, the sentence, “Kevin makan apa” requires a response of a food item. The sentence translates as, “Kevin eats what?” The receiver of the question could answer with the word nasi for rice.
This week, I am working on numbers. This has been the most difficult lesson so far. I first learned how to count from one to ten. This part is simple vocabulary that will only require memorization to learn. The rest of the numerical system is much more difficult for me to understand. I do not feel that I have a very strong grasp on the numerical system, yet. To further my understanding, I plan on looking up numerical tables in Indonesian so that I can memorize the vocabulary as well as the structure. This is the first lesson I have learned that has required outside information. I have found one source that is provided by the Indonesian government to help travelers understand the system. However, I plan on finding more material in the coming week that can offer a little more clarification of the system.
