Blogs

For Turkish, as I mention before, I have never experienced that language so it is totally new language for me. For about reading, it is quite similar to English alphabet so I could just literally "read" and pronounciate the words and sentence. However I am really starter of learning Turkish, so I almost cannot understand what does that mean. Only after learning some words or expression, I could tell the meaning about the language. Writing is totally same situation, just after learning some words then I could write that sentence or expression. More formative or organized writing is kind of impossible for me. However, it is not my personal goal about learning language, so I do not mind. Just speaking is my important option. 

The subject of this readings is about intelligent of bilinguals. Some people may think that bilinguals are smarter than normal people, but I don't think so. They just have good skills to learn how to speak in different language which is not related about their intelligent or smartness. Language learning or speaking about several languages is like having good skills and the most important part of it is the experience. Things that decide the capacity of speaking some language is up to their experience, not the intelligent. Of course, some really super smart people could learn some language really easily, but the most factor is not the intelligent I think. They just have lot of experience and already know how to speak for that language. If anybody just get used to learning and using it, then it will be much easier.  

I am going to teach everyone how to introduce their family members in Korean.  Here are some basic words for the members of the family and I am going to make them as cards with Korean and English meaning on both sides so that others can practice more efficiently.

I am first going to ask people to try to use the above words in English sentences, and then teach how to use the words form sentences in Korean.


Example:
 

                       I am living with my (sister). 

A few rules in addressing your relatives:

1. When your father has several older brothers, the order is according to their age: the eldest will be keun abeoji (큰아버지), followed by duljje abeoji (둘째 아버지), setjje abeoji (셋째 아버지), etc. The same pattern applies to their wives. The pattern is also used to address you father’s uncles (your grandfather’s siblings) and their spouses, like keun harabeoji (큰할아버지) and keun halmeoni (큰할머니). However, this depends on the family.
2. For the aunts, the keun (큰) and jageun (작은) prefixes are added according to their order in the family: the older one will be keun gomo (큰고모) or keun eemo (큰이모), and the younger one jageun gomo (작은 고모) or jageun eemo (작은 이모), regardless on whether they’re older or younger than your parents.
3. Same goes for your older brothers and sisters, the keun (큰) and jageun (작은) prefixes are added when there are several of them.
4. The oe/weh (외) part is dropped when you’re directly addressing your maternal family members.

Reference:

https://www.koreanclass101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=98

https://thetalkingcupboard.com/2013/05/11/korean-family-and-kinship-terms/

         After learning Korean all by myself last semester, it is so nice to have a language partner who can actually teach and guide me during the learning process. I didn’t need to find learning resources bymyseff, but MInkyun would prepare for the teaching material that best fit our needs. It is also great to have two other students who are in the similar level as me so that we can learn from each other and make progress together. Throughout the semester, not only have I studied the daily conversations, the Hangu system, as well as the grammar in class, but I also have I gained more knowledge in Korean culture and political environment through watching Korean videos and articles online. In this reflection paper, I am going to first talk about the good things that I really enjoyed during the semester including my favorite learning sources, my good ways of learning the language, as well as the some amazing moments in the learning process. Then I will reflect on the problems I met and the limitations of learning plan. Finally I will conclude this paper with a summary of my learning results and some advice for my future self-learning either in Korean or other new areas.

        My favorite part of this class is definitely having Minkyun as a language partner. She is a very outgoing and accommodating person. Not only did she teach us a lot of knowledge in Korean language, but she also told us many Korean cultural related stories to help us develop a better understanding of the Korean society as a whole. Although I can watch Korean culture videos or articles online, her stories are more vivid and close to life. In order to help us study Hangu system better, she even took the learning tools to class so that we could see the structure of Korean characters more clearly. I think learning Hangu in class this semester has been much more effective than watching videos and exploring by myself last semester. Another thing I want to mention is the YouTube called “Korean Englishman” which I started watching last semester. It is about the daily life and family culture which has clipped garnering hundreds of thousands of views since 2013. I like this video and think this is a great source for Korean learners because Josh, the director of this show is also a Korean learner and he had all the cultural shock and he is trying to present Korean cultural from a foreigner’s perspective, in a way that resonates with us and easier for us to remember. Also the video is very funny, and I can use it as a way to relax while learning so much about Korean culture.

       However, there are also some difficulties and goals that I did not achieve. First of all, although have classes twice a week, the time for actual practicing is still very limited. Therefore we spent only a little time on each topic instead of digging into it. For example, we only studied the basic etiquette and polite way of saying before and after meals instead of the actual description about food or our preferences. This broad way of learning Korean seems have broaden my knowledge of Korean vocabulary in different fields, yet failed to give me a deep understanding on each of the area.

       In conclusion, through further learning a semester of Korean with language partner, I have developed a deeper understanding of Korean culture and customs, from people's daily life to the history and development of the country in a wider level. After knowing that Chinese culture had had a big influence on Korean culture and language, I did a comparison in the similarities and differences between these two cultures, and reflecting on how a culture develops based on the country's geographical location and historical impacts. Also, I now have a command of basic conversations of Korean and I could start talking to my Korean friends in their language. And one of my proudest things is that when somebody asks me about Korea, I could introduce the culture and history to them instead of only talking about pop songs and TV dramas.

This semester I learned that learning a language is more difficult than I expected. Going into this semester, I thought I would increase my fluency in Korean but my fluency stayed relatively the same. However, the cultural aspect of Korean was expanded significantly because of my language partner and the presentations that were given by other language learners. Since our language partner was straight from South Korea, she gave us a deep insight into Korean pop culture and colloquialism. Because she was from Korea, it gave us the benefit of learning new and changing Korean vocabulary.

Although Korean is considered one of the simplest languages to learn, I had difficulty increasing my fluency. I was already aware of some Korean because of my background and was looking to increase that fluency by speaking with less of an American accent and increasing my vocabulary. Although I did increase my vocabulary slightly, I saw no improvements in my accent. Watching lots of Korean television shows did help in showing what a native speaker talks like. However, I had trouble mimicking that accent in a proficient manner.

Because our language partner was a high school teacher and was relatively young, we were able to relate to her. She gave us insight on the current political situation that is going on in Korea and many different social issues that are ongoing. These aspects of my language learning were the most interesting to me. I was not really aware of what was going on in South Korea before this class, and this class really sparked an interest in my home country. Through this new interest I have, I can combine my language learning with current events by reading more Korean articles and watching more Korean news. 

The most useful information I learned throughout my time as a language learner was the concept of working in Korea. Since I have a possibility of securing an internship in Korea, I was eager to learn more about the work place and its correct and formal language. Minkyung provided us with different vocabulary that is used in the workplace and gave us a summary of what it is like to work in South Korea. I also found the presentations to be helpful in learning about culture as well as presentational speaking. The cultural presentations in the 105 classes helped me to understand the Korean culture and how it relates or affects the Korean language while the 110 presentations has given me a chance to practice my Korean in a presentational manner. During the 110 presentations, it gave me a chance to explore different topics like news, media and society, and trendy vocabulary.  It also gave me a chance to speak in a professional manner in Korean, a chance that I never had before. This gave me a sense of my skills in Korean and what I needed to work on. I had to think of some ways to phrase things on the fly and find a way to connect everything together.

All in all, this whole semester I learned many things about the culture as well as the vocabulary, but my overall fluency in Korean has not changed. I enjoyed this semester and learned many things including the current politics and pop culture in Korea.

undefined

I did my presentation on Ukrainian wedding traditions. Ukraine has an interesting set of traditions associated with weddings, and the celebrations last much longer than American weddings. The festivities often start on the eve of Ivana Kupala day, when young couples go into the forest in search of a rare flower. The girls go in wearing a vinok, and if a couple comes of of the forest together with the man wearing the vinok, the two are engaged. The process then involves the families of the two. There is a process of blessing the wedding, and then wishing the couple good luck and happiness. Then the celebrations begin and there are several songs typically played during reception ceremonies (one is included in my presentation). Finally, the tradition of "kidnapping the bride" is when the bridesmaids "kidnap" the bride and give the groom clues so he can find her. 

This week, I wanted to learn how to invited a friend somewhere. I figured that this would come in handy during my time in Ukraine next year. In order to learn this skill, I used my textbook for guidance and then I practice writing my own dialogues. I also wanted to start learning the genitive singular case. This case has tons of uses, so I think it will take me some more practice to learn all of the right times to use this case. 

upfile_1919422352.mp3

For this artifact, I decided to practice introducing myself to my future English class in Ukraine. I tell them a little bit about my background, and then I tell them that if they have questions, it would be best for them to ask in English or Russian because I have only been studying Ukrainian for a few months. Then I tell them that in our class, we will have an English only policy. 

%2522I%20can%2522%20Statements.docx

SDLAPFinal%20Learning%20Plan%20-%20Jinhoo%20Bong.docx

Culture presentation

The cultural presentation I did is about Korean housewife culture and the social status of Korean women. Women in South Korea have experienced great improvement in social status over the last 30 years, however there are still major inequalities in workforce and political participation. Most young women, even those who are well-educated and have professional positions, will leave their jobs as soon as they are married due to family and husband expectations.In fact, most Korean companies will dismiss their women employees once they married. As a result, less than 15% of married women in contemporary Korea work outside the home.Looking back to the history, the traditional role of a Korean woman has been submissive and confined to the home.A woman was expected to produce sons and take care of parents-in-law.There has been a increase in the number of women joining the workforce, the gender wage gap in Korea is still the worst among OECD countries. The Korean housewife culture has contributed to many negative social impacts such as the "bored housewife syndrome", neurotic symptoms for those housewives who experience unenjoyable family life. Positive impacts of housewife culture would be the contribution to the development of Korean dramas, especially those build on housewife lives. Despite the many promises the woman president Park Geun-Hye has promised, there are still less manifested, and I think the way for a true woman's revolution in Korea is still very long.

Artifact%204.m4a

Artifact%203.m4a

I read an article called "Why Korean Dramas Are Popular?". It talked about the most common reasons why people become kpop or kdrama fans. As a big Korean drama fan, I always doubt the reasons why I am so obsessed and could not find a specific reason. This article gave me a better understanding of the production and stories behind the drama itself. According to the article, the first reason is that Korean drama is "Squeaky clean". The majority of K-Dramas are G-rated and very clean compared to American movies and television. Foul language is rare, violence is minimal, and love scenes rarely progress past kissing. In fact, even seeing a French kiss in a Korean drama is newsworthy. Some types of scenes make more impact to viewers when the show isn't flooded with them. Another reason is of course the attractive idols. There is a reason there are lots of "broody shower scenes" and "princess for a day makeovers" to be found in Korean shows. Other reasons such as romantic music, cool clothes, the format, addictive properties, etc also contribute to the popularity of Korean drama.

This semester was interesting in terms of my Korean language learning. I learned many things about Korean and the culture as well. I came into this class thinking that I will greatly increase my fluency in Korean, but I ended up just learning a tremendous amount of Korean pop culture along with traditional culture. I did end up achieving my main goal of being able to have a texting conversation with my mother. This was due to the constant drilling that was provided by Minkyung. Through these drills, it taught me proper Korean grammar, along with some colloquialism that is commonly used in Korea. My vocabulary of Korean also increased, but it was not a significant amount. I did, however, learn a tremendous amount of Korean business terms through the business articles that I read. Although I can not understand the articles fully, I can somewhat understand the gist of the article. This is due to my constant exposure of the Korean language. 

I did have difficulties in writing. Since Korean has different consonants that sound the same but are used differently, I frequently confused the two. However, with the help of my phone's autocorrect, I was making less errors. Overall, looking back at the semester, I realized that I learned a lot of Korean without even realizing it. Being able to talk to my parents and shoot them a quick text message is a skill that I learned from this class.

This week I decided to review the cases that I have learned so far, and practice with other aspects of grammar. Aspect verbs still give me a lot of trouble, so I worked on trying to distinguish when I should use the perfective and when I should use the imperfective. In order to study these grammar concepts, I used the Ukrainian grammar book from the global studios and I also found some videos online that explained the differences between the aspects. I think this will be one of the things I struggle with the most in Ukrainian, so I really wanted to practice it some more. 

This week my goals were to learn how to use the locative case. This is one of the cases that Russian does not have, so it was a little difficult for me to break out of the pre-established thought process and make a distinctive locative case in my mind. I still struggle a little bit to understand when I should use locative case as opposed to other cases, but I think it will start to come together with more practice. For review, I have been doing the exercises in my textbook.

This week my goals were to learn how to use the locative case. This is one of the cases that Russian does not have, so it was a little difficult for me to break out of the pre-established thought process and make a distinctive locative case in my mind. I still struggle a little bit to understand when I should use locative case as opposed to other cases, but I think it will start to come together with more practice. For review, I have been doing the exercises in my textbook.

SDLC%20110%20Final%20Presentation.pptx

Sources: