Korean culture places a huge emphasis on close families ties and family bonding. Korean parents generally want what they think is best for their children and place emphasis on their education and upbringing in order to attain those goals. Korean mothers often wake up very early in the morning to prepare fresh meals for their children to bring to school and eat during lunch. Unlike Wester culture, it’s fairly common for young Korean adults to remain living with their parents until they achieve financial stability and finding a significant other.
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The biggest thing that is lost when a language dies is cultural identity and diversity. A culture can exist and function without a language, however, this is not entirely feasible as language greatly helps cement a concept of identity and wholesomeness. Language is so central to the identity and unity of a culture that the extinction of a language almost certainly means the extinction of the culture itself. For example, Korean existed without an official written language for quite some time and was mainly just expressed through Chinese characters. The spoken language was unique, but it didn’t entirely mesh well with writing. Sejong the Great helped develop the Korean alphabet, hangul, and it greatly helped unify the country under a common writing system. I can imagine that if Korean suddenly died out, all of that culture would slowly dissipate with it.
It was interesting learning about completely new aspects of culture in the target languages that wasn’t Korean. The Korean presentations were fun because most of them covered topics I was already familiar with but I didn’t know too much about the specifics. One topic that was completely new to me was the use of 우리 or our/we. That aspect of Korean culture emphasizes the collectivist culture expressed by the Korean people. It was also interesting learning more about traditional Korean culture and the significance behind the use of the hanbok and other traditional clothing.
My experience with culture shock comes from my transition from high school to college life. I came from a very diverse high school in a very diverse area of Virginia and it was very off putting when I arrived at the lesser diverse community of the University of Richmond. The biggest trouble I had was being able to connect with people who didn’t come from culturally diverse backgrounds e.g. white people. Because of this I had trouble making friends my first year.
I think as I move on to life after college I’ll experience another culture shock as i transition into a new environment. I also plan to travel to Korea next winter break and I might experience some culture shock when I arrive.
One of the most confusing things about the Korean language is their sentence structure. In English, sentences follow the structure of subject + verb + object. For example, Enzo eats an apple. However, Korean sentences follow the structure of subject + object + verb. Ex. 엔조 사과를 먹어요 (Enzo apple eats). I have a lot of trouble getting used to this since I’ve been following the former structure all my life in both English and Spanish. I think with enough practice and exposure I’ll finally get used to it.
I think a reference grammar might be useful for learning Korean. I’ve been told Korean grammar is very difficult and a reference grammar would be useful in helping to understand some of the more grammatically complex or situational uses.
A major aspect of Korean linguistics lies in the use of honorifics. It's not uncommon or rude to ask for someone's age in order to use the correct honorific. In comparison to Western culture where it's rude to ask for someone's age, it's rude to use the incorrect honorific when addressing someone you’re talking to. Honorifics generally follow 3 levels of politeness: deferential polite, standard polite, and casual. The most polite form is most commonly used in a formal business setting when addressing higher ups. The second most polite form is generally used when addressing those older than you and people you meet for the first time. The casual form is used with people younger than you or people with whom you have a very close relationship with. As a beginner to the language, becoming familiar with all the honorifics is a difficult thing to learn, especially since honorifics don’t really exist in English or Spanish.
In this artifact I explain and give examples of how the Turkish number system works. This is important for my goal of travel vocabulary in that you can ask how much something is, or ask for a certain number of things, or ask for a building number or bus number.
This semester I learned a lot not just about the Turkish language and culture, but also about myself as a language learner. At the beginning of this semester I was nervous that it would be really hard for me to start learning a third language given that the only other language I know other than my L1 is Spanish which I started learning at the age of 5 and in an immersion program. I was apprehensive about learning a language in the conventional classroom style and on my own through technology. However, this semester has shown me that I think my brain having already learned a second language is primed to learn other languages as well. I have re-established techniques that I've used in learning Spanish when it come to learning vocabulary or constructing phrases. Obviously I am still very much a beginner level Turkish learner, but I hope that I can keep learning on my own until I can find someone to practice with and teach me more Turkish back at home.
- Complete the self-assessment of your learning plan.
I can introduce myself.
I can say different dishes of food.
I can somewhat ask questions depending on the situation.
I can somewhat remember how to count in Korean.
I can say I like or do not like something.
I can recognize some of the occupations when I hear them.
I can somewhat read Korean and sound the words out.
I can ask about family and the number of family members someone has.
I can tell you what I did on the weekday specifically the time.
I can somewhat say that I am wanting to do something like sleep, eat, or buy.
I decided to do my final cultural presentation on Turkish baths or hamams. I thought this topic was interesting because it has such a long history in Turkish culture and because we don't have a bath culture in our society. My list of vocabulary not listed in the presentation but read out loud included:
hamam - bath
vakif - charity
camekan - entrance hall
sicaklik - hot room
gibes tasi - the big pedestal thing in the middle
sogukluk - cooling down room
nailn - bath clogs
tas - bath bowl
kese - bath mitt
pestemal - thin bath towels in a plaid design
What struck me the most about the cultural presentations that were given in class, was the fact that almost all of the Korean presentations were about education or jobs or stress. Even considering that it is well known that Korean culture is one of high-stress and high expectations, I found myself wondering if the side that was being presented over and over again was actually all that you could see in Korean culture or if there is a more relaxed side but that just didn't get presented on. I also didn't know that it was so difficult to live there. It seems to me that even Koreans have a difficult time living in Korean society. Simple things like getting a job seem nearly impossible and I'm not sure if they just meant within the big cities or if there are just a load of unemployed people all over Korea. Overall, these presentations about stress did not make me want to visit Korea as much as I had thought I wanted to because it seems that Korean society could be very preoccupied and very difficult to interact with as an outsider.
I think that Turkish people have a great sense of family bonds. Sezgi often uses the example of a Turkish wedding in our class to help explain cultural concepts that we are learning. She describes the act of proposal where the groom-to-be along with his ENTIRE family (extended family as well) goes to the house of the bride (she basically knows it's coming, it's not a surprise) where she and her ENTIRE family are waiting to receive them. He then has to ask the girl's father for his daughter's hand and with her parents' blessing they can be engaged. The bride-to-be then has to make and serve Turkish coffee to everyone from both families and she puts salt in the groom-to-be's coffee to represent possible hardship in the marriage. If he can stand to drink it, it means that he will be able to take the hard times in their marriage too. From this example of the Turkish wedding, I think it shows how close families generally are and how important it is that they are involved in each others' lives.
According to Sezgi, people in Turkey have a very relaxed attitude towards time. She says that for the most part Turkish people are always late or it is expected that people will be late. She says that even transportation runs behind schedule. Although she says that public transportation in-between cities does not generally run late, it is more so the buses within the cities that are never on time. This doesn't really surprise me given what I have learned from my research on things such as raki culture or when Sezgi talks about meals in Turkey. It seems to me that Turkish people value time spent with people and on conversation rather than valuing a more strict sense of being on time.
For my research based project as mentioned in my earlier cultural post, I decided to do it on Korean String instruments. I first researched on the type of music that was traditionally played. That is court music, religious music, and lay people music. Then decided to look at instruments. I decided to focus on stringed instruments because I was first drawn to the Gayageum by listening to a similar instrument from the Japanese culture, the Koto. I then looked into Korean instruments and found that it was too broad of a topic with too much information. I knew I had to cut it down to a particular type. I chose stringed instruments particularly because I play a stringed instrument. I spent more time watching videos on how the instruments were made and the technicality of it. I also spent a lot of time on listening to the type of songs that are played on the stringed instruments (plucked, bowed and struck). However, I could not share as much as I wanted with the class because I did not know how to show all the videos I watched on instrument making and music videos in a more interactive way for such a short time. Thus, I decided on just going through short clips of the types of instruments and briefly explain their shape and what they are made of.
Link - Stringed Instruments
Over this semester, I believe that I have greatly improved my speaking. I am more comfortable and more confident when speaking than I was before. I contribute this to the change in scenery in my tutoring class as well as the practice I have been doing outside of class in conversations with my boyfriend. I am still not the best and I have a lot more improvement to do, but I am a lot better than I was before. My reading and writing have also somewhat improved as well. In regards to my learning plan, I definitely set my goals too high, but it was good experience to try to complete the tasks I had suggested for myself. I think I have set a good foundation for future language learning.
In this project I talked about the boom of Korean beauty products and how they made their way to the United States and across the world. The gap between Korean products and American consumers has been bridged by startup companies that are usually headed by young Americans of Korean descent. Also, American brands and stores are selling these products under the term “K-beauty” and are even making their own versions of these products. The appeal is that these products are luxury quality for a low price. This project also talks about the Korean mindset regarding beauty products as well as the use of traditional herbal medicine within them.
Project Link:
Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35408764
https://www.fastcompany.com/3038283/why-korean-skincare-is-booming
http://www.beautypackaging.com/issues/2016-03-01/view_features/korean-cosmetics-setting-the-pace-for-global-beauty
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-south-korea-beauty-is-skin-deep-just-make-sure-to-pierce-the-stubble/2015/05/10/4779f642-f354-11e4-bca5-21b51bbdf93e_story.html?utm_term=.152f8f23ba37
I have learned many things over multiple areas of culture. I have learned about the traditional aspects with traditional music and pansori. I have learned about traditional games that are older versions of games we know and love. I have learned about the more modern concept of beauty and the importance of skincare and makeup. I have even learned about the Korean mindset regarding politics and how Koreans live their everyday lives. I have learned about the past, present, and implications for the future. I feel that my cultural experience with South Korea this semester was very well rounded and interesting.
Over these last few weeks I have been taking more of a realistic approach to Korean learning. I have been watching a Korean news source on YouTube and trying to gather what they were talking about. I couldn’t understand most of it but we have had some conversations about it in class. We talked about the current situation between Trump and North Korea and what this means for South Korea as well as the situation with South Korea’s former president Park Geunhye.
Other things I have learned these past weeks was about hobbies and what we do in our free time. The grammar we learned for this topic pertained to present tense (는 것/기) and if-then statements ((으)면).
I also learned about describing travel plans like where we would want to go and what we would do there. The grammar we learned for this topic pertained to something you are going to do in the future ((으)ㄹ 거예요).
South Korean women and men cherish their beauty products. Korean beauty road shops are on every street in Seoul and carry every kind of makeup up and skincare with every kind of ingredient. The focus of Korean beauty is to correct and repair the skin rather than to cover it with makeup. As a result, makeup is usually very light and natural looking. South Korean women will spend twice as much of their income on skincare and other beauty products while men buy more than men in any other country. The look everyone goes for is bright, clear, soft skin that glows and is very dewy. Many Korean products are geared toward this dewy finish that many Americans would consider oily. The mindset is that plump, dewy skin allows them to look younger and fresher. Korean brands have begun to launch skincare and makeup products specifically for men, providing them with specialty cushion BB creams, brown products, and even military face paint that is less harsh on the skin. Skincare and makeup is a very important concept for Koreans of all ages from children to the elderly.
Mock application essay about my interest in Korean language
사람들은 저한테 왜 한국과 한국 문화를 좋아해 물어볼 때 나는 대답을 찾고 있습니다. 저는 항상 "제가 언어를 좋아해서" 먼저 말합니다. 옛날에 제가 5 년의 스페인어, 3 년의 독일어, 1 년의 중국어를 곻부했습니다. 저는 항상 많이 언어를 말할 수있는 사람들을 매력적이 있고, 그 사람들처럼 되고 싶었습니다. 이 모든 언어와 모든 단어를 기억하고 생각없이 문장이 만들는 것을 어땠습니까? 제가 많이 언어로 할 수 없다면 제가 적어도 하나를 할 수 있기를 좋겠습니다. 제가 "왜 한국어" 물어볼 때, 언어를 독특하게 만드는 작은 것들을 생각합니다. 이름끝에 추가 사랑과 존중의 단어 있고, 다른 단어을 만들기 위해 두 배로 된 단어가 또 있다고, 또는 어떤 단어는 더 귀엽고 엄격하게 소리를 낼 수 있습니다. "편하게 어떤것 하고있다"거나 "잘하고 있다"라고 말할 수 있습니다. 아무도 생각하지 않은 언어의 작은 것들은 제가 항상 생각하는 것들입니다. 언어를 영어와 더 멀리하고 감정이 넣는 단어와 구에 가장 좋아합니다. 그것을 말하는 사람들에게는 더 좋아합니다. 저는 모든 것이 공유하고 있고 식사를 할 때 사람들과 함께하는 것을 좋아합니다. 저는 사람들이 장로들에게 존경심을 표하는 방법과 그방법이 다른 언어가 있어서 좋아합니다. 저는 그들이 메이크업과 스킨 케어 및 패션에 관심이 많아서 저같은 큰 관심을 가지고있는 것을 좋아합니다. 한국인의 삶의 방식은 미국인 들과는 너무나 달라서 저는 이 삶의 방식이 저의 성격과 관심에 더 적합하다는 것을 알게됩니다.
I am often asked why I am so interested in Korean and Korean culture and every time I am asked I struggle to find an answer. I begin by saying that I have always been interested in languages. In my lifetime I have taken five years of Spanish, three years of German and one year of Mandarin Chinese. I have always found people that could speak multiple languages so fascinating and wanted to be just like them. How was it possible to remember all these words in all these languages and be able to put them together in strings of sentences without a thought? If I can’t do it with multiple languages I at least want to be able to do that with one. When I ask myself “why Korean” I think of the little things about the language that make it unique: the terms of endearment and honorifics that are added to names, the fact that there are words that are doubled to make onomatopoeia, or the fact that some words can be altered to make them sound more cute or strict, even the way that you can say you are “comfortably doing something” or you are “doing something well”. The little things of the language that no one really thinks about are the ones that I think about constantly. The things that separate the language further from English and the emotion that can be put into words and phrases is what I find the most interesting. When it comes to the people that speak it, I find even more interest. I love how everything is shared and how everyone likes to be with people when it is time for a meal. I love how people show respect to their elders and the fact there’s a whole different method of speech for it. I love that they care so much about makeup and skincare and fashion which are things I take great interest in as well. The way of life of Koreans is so different from Americans and I find this way of life more suited to my personality and interests.
