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The Korean language has different structures when it comes to using it in a conversation. For example, Koreans love to emphasize adjectives especially when describing something big or small. Additionally, most conversations in Korean involve the formal way of speaking the language so I should be more comfortable with that style of speaking.

I do not believe that a reference grammar will be useful to get better at Korean. Not a lot of languages are similar to Korean when it comes to speaking. However, learning a lot Chinese characters and knowing their meanings can help one figure out the definitions to many difficult vocabulary words in Korean.

The Korean language is very specific to the Korean culture and shapes the way Koreans act, speak, and communicate. The Korean language has a very unique structure even though it is somewhat similar to the Chinese or even the Japanese language. The Korean alphabet is made up of 14 consonants and 6 vowels that can be combined in numerous ways to make different sounds and meanings. In Korea, it is often rude to speak loudly so Koreans have a calm demeanor when speaking.

The language of Korea is also very rich in its history. Once written in Chinese, the Korean language changed drastically when King SeJong introduced Hangul, the Korean alphabet. As decades went by, the Korean language also changed and adapted to the changes that the Korean culture experienced. The language is still changing little by little even today. 

In the reading, the writer talks about how different cultures have different ways of interpreting personal identities. South Korea has a respect system where older individuals are accorded with honor. Anyone older or of a higher status is always addressed differently than that of younger individuals. The use of honorifics reflects the differences in social status between Korean speakers.

Koreans utilize non-verbal ways of communicating and expressing different behaviors. Similar to many other Asian nations, Korea has an important aspect of bowing. A bow must be almost 90 degrees and one’s posture is extremely important. Additionally, Koreans treat direct eye-contact as rude or impolite. Koreans also use both hands when handling drinks or receiving and giving objects to show respect. 

Document (a) your goals and tasks for weeks 4 and 5, (b) the resources and activities you will use to achieve your goals, and (c) how you will evaluate your success.

a) Goals and Tasks for weeks 4 and 5:

• Week 4: to fully grasp greetings, goodbyes, thank you's, and apologies.
• Listening -- to understand conversations that involve greetings, goodbyes, apologies, and thank you's
• Speaking -- to speak using greetings, goodbyes, apologies, and thank you's
• Reading -- to understand a simple email, to understand greetings and farewell expressions in an email, and to understand the structure of emails in Bahasa Indonesia
• Writing -- to write a simple, informal email

• Week 5: to begin self-introductions, that of others, asking for information of others' identity, and survival language
• Listening -- To understand a monologue of others' self-introductions, to understand conversations that involve self-introduction; and, for survival language, to practice listening to a conversation that is mixed with Bahasa Indonesian and English.
• Reading -- to understand an Indonesian ID card
• Writing -- to write some descriptions about people / places

b) Resources and Activities

For week  4, I used a unit from the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Education's resources. I wrapped up my goals for this task (greetings, goodbyes, thank you's, and apologies). I practiced my listening via dialogues from the unit as well as from videos on youtube such as Travellinguist. Next, I learned how to read a simple email in Bahasa Indonesia. I worked on the basic sentence structure of an email -- such as greeting and farewell sentences -- as well as sentences that would be the "core" of an email. For writing, I wrote an email to my learning partner's sister about her recent graduation from university in Indonesia. In it, I wrote: (Translation) "Peace and my respect, Hi Chacha, How are you? I am doing well. I hope that you are also well. Congratulations for graduating from university! I am learning Bahasa Indonesia! And I hope to meet with you this upcoming year. Peace, Brad" This email is my first artifact. 

For week 5, I used Let's Speak Indonesian and another unit from thhe Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Education's resources. I learned simple self-introduction phrases, as well as soliciting identity information from others. Next, I learned how to read an Indonesian ID card. Every Indonesian has one. It is helpful to learn the language because it includes date of birth, marital status, occupation status, place of residence, etc. Moreover, I worked on my survival language from online videos (see below). From these videos, I learned basic directions, helpful phrases in a dining context, helpful phrases in case of an emergency (Where is the doctor and help!), as well as sentence structure. Furthermore, I focused a great deal on culture. Helpful videos from youtube allow me to gain insight into Indonesian culture. Some topics include etiquette, job availability, relationship advice, weather, food, etc. I also read about Indonesia's history from places like Foreign Affairs. 

c) Evaluation

For these two weeks, I met with my partner for a total of 4 hours. There, my learning language partner tested me via speaking, writing, and listening tasks. I practiced not only vocabulary recollection but application as well. Lastly, to evaluate my learning progress, I watched a ton of videos. Slowly but surely, I am getting there as I can understand where words end and start, as well as introduction phrases and farewell phrases as well as some basic questions. This also allows me to hone in on my accent and listening skills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydIv8nvZHnQ&list=PL5932C77CEDE9BE30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDuOSAxOQDk&index=2&list=PL5932C77CEDE9BE30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFMrIjNRioU&index=4&list=PL5932C77CEDE9BE30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr-ikig2a1I&index=5&list=PL5932C77CEDE9BE30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19IIBscA5as&index=6&list=PL5932C77CEDE9BE30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GNP6PuN2qE&list=PL5932C77CEDE9BE30&index=8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-qhMlVU-JQ&list=PL5932C77CEDE9BE30&index=12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msodQF1XR9E&list=PL5932C77CEDE9BE30&index=17

Artifact%201%20--%20Letter.JPG

artifact%201.band.zip

Coming from a Korean background, I have to say that there wasn't anything that stood out for me during the presentations since a lot of the presentations were focused around the Korean culture. However, the other cultures that were presented: Basque, Turkey, and India, were all extremely interesting and new. The idea that Basque words, albeit a language I had never had knowledge of before, was so diverse in such a small piece of land was surprising. However, I do see some connections in that to the Korean language because despite Korea being a small piece of land, it has a lot of different accents and different uses of words throughout the country. But it was still very interesting to see how the Basque language was so heavily affected by the surrounding countries. Although she gave a simple example, it represented a much bigger idea that despite the size of the country, Basque is a language of a culture that is extremely diverse and reflective of surrounding countries yet unique in its own way. 

The turkish culture was also interesting as well as I had never thought that coffee would play such a big role in a country's culture. Seeing how heavily coffee was incorporated in the daily lives of the Turkish, I was surprised to see just to what extent they involved coffee. The most surprising fact to me was how coffee was involved in the relationships of the people in Turkey and how it had a role in marriage. I had never thought of coffee holding such a great value that people would not marry over how their roasted coffee tasted or what kind of snacks they ate with coffee. It was an idea that I had never been introduced to, and so it was fascinating to see such different practices in different cultures. It really widened my perspective on the world. 

My target language is Hindi, which is based of linguistic paradigms that are deeply entrenched within the the cultural norms of the country. As Hindi has multifaceted aspects comprising of gender and tense based attribution to objects, learning it has been extremely complicated. So far my approach has been to engage with family and friends from India, as well as new acquaintances from Middle Eastern countries made in the University of Richmond. This format of engagement has been extremely helpful due to the opportune nature of my association with the country. Since I grew up in India, I have always been affiliated with Hindi and have become accustomed to it. However, I never knew the nuanced nature of the language and so approaching the feminine aspect of the language has been key to my furthering of knowledge. As I am at an intermediate level, the cultural aspects were more relevant to me a the nuances were becoming more apparent as the language became more complex. Dealing with aspects of how Indians have historically dealt with females and feminism throughout the past centuries, enables one to understand the deeper aspects of the linguistics related to the formulation of words. Particularly, what has been confusing is understanding the difference between cultural and traditional differences. While tradition tends to dictate a respect for females, with female Gods, seeking one's mother's blessings and ascribing a general respect for knowledge, which has female connotations. Conversely, cultural aspects show that Indians have historically been patriarchal with lack of education for females, disrespect to wive's and the practice of Sati. 

When dealing with the language what becomes apparent, is the manner with which this confusion applies to objects. Illustratively, while books which are considered sacred have female linguistics, money which has deep practical aspects has male ascriptions. This especially relates to the current paradigm, wherein the nature of females are changing. Culturally, the issue has led to a controversial argument into the role of females, through history. As Hindi has a complex and largely mythologically based history, gauging the role of females has become especially difficult. 

To understand how female and the feminine gender extends further within Hindi, I have chosen to observe political speeches. These speeches, in particular, are complex but also have cultural connotations both for the present and the future of India. With the changing role of gender within the current era, the manner in which this effects linguistics of languages that have gender based aspects, becomes especially interesting.

Culturally Hindi has some important aspects with the manner with which individuals behave with respect to elders. A key aspect relates to the form of respect given to certain words and even tone changes when speaking with respect. Although in English tone affects respect, in Hindi it is also affected by certain mannerisms. For example due to religious connotations, books are given religious respect, and so are treated differently. When making these considerations, the manner with which these objects are treated are significant as they shape the language due to the importance of these words.

The first week of class with my language partner, I learned basic adjectives to describe people. This will help in my task of being able to have a fluent conversation in Korean. My language partner showed us a music video that gave us a glimpse of Korean culture along with listening skills that are needed for learning the language. After, we played an activity where we described our class mates using the adjectives we just learned. Through this, I learned how to form sentences correctly using subjects, verbs, and adjectives. Although this was not extensive, it was enough to expand my vocabulary as well as my syntactical skills. Since my language partner assigns us online lectures to listen to, I can go at my own pace to learn the material. These lectures are what structures the next class and gives me a foreshadowing of what we are going to learn. With the written homework that the language partner gives us, it gives me a chance to increase my skills in writing Korean and spelling.

I started learning the language through my Korean language partner. She assigns us lectures to watch for every class that is informative on the grammar and sentence structure of the language. This helps me expand my Korean vocabulary as well as my knowledge in grammar. My language partner does a great job at teaching Korean because of her experience as a high school teacher in Korea. The class is interactive and informative. These classes form a basic foundation to help me succeed in my tasks that I have set in my learning plan. Since this class with my learning partner is more of a traditional class, it helps me to go step-by-step and actually learn the intricate details of Korean as well as the more colloquial Korean that is used in today's culture.

I have bookmarked two websites that will help in learning the language. howtostudykorean.com does a great job dividing each lesson into levels of difficulty and explains in both English and Korean. While learn-korea.net is more for a basic Korean lesson and does not go in depth. The website is good for reviewing the foundations because of the lack of actual Korean that is used. 

SDLAP_learningplan213.docx

In order to learn my language, I need to understand the difference of hierarchy in the structure of my language. Since there are formalized ways of saying things to the elderly, I need to learn the correct structure to not offend people. There are also different grammatical structures in the Korean language compared to English. In English, we would say, “I like to eat pizza,” but in Korean we would say “I pizza like to eat.” Different phrases like that along with different idioms and different ways of saying things will be important to learn.

I already have some basic knowledge of the Korean grammar, along with the formalized sayings; however, my knowledge of the language is still minimal at best. I will learn more about the structure and grammar of my language through mainly my language partner.

Although a reference grammar might be useful, I believe it will not be useful for me. Since I learn better by listening and actually applying the concepts, I believe that it will not be an effective method of learning.

The sentence and word structure is significantly different to English. Koreans do not conjugate verbs using agreement with the subject. A reference to the past in Korean would be made through a single past tense. In English, there would be many other possibilities such as past simple, present perfect, past perfect continuous. The Korean language also uses a subject-object-verb grammatical structure. For example, I am learning Korean would be pronounced I am Korean learning. All this information can be found through some simple research online. There are many educational sites that teach these important concepts of the Korean language. I think a reference grammar would be beneficial in reinforcing the structural ideas of the Korean language. It would helpful in the beginning of learning the language because all the grammatical differences compared to English would be new to me.

• Do some research about the culture of your target language and write about the 'linguistic aspects', e.g., body language, how people talk about time, etc.

In South Korea, the meetings and greetings is very distinct from American culture. While in America and most other western cultures it is sufficient to wave or simply give a nod while passing by, in South Korea the traditional greeting is to give a bow. A bow may signify both a greeting, or a signal or respect or gratitude towards elders. In a similar manner, it is normal for men to shake hands in South Korea, whereas Korean women will simply nod at each other. Korean women do not shake hands with western men, but some women do shake hands with a Korean man.

When addressing a Korean professional, it is important to use titles such as “teacher” or “doctor.” These terms can be seen as the equivalent to “Mr” “Mrs” or “Dr” here in the western world. In regards to eye contact, sometimes direct eye contact with a superior (someone older than you) can be viewed as disrespectful, almost as though you are challenging them. 

Step One:  Assess Your Abilities

I have zero experience with Ukrainian. Up to this point, I have learned the alphabet, but that is all I know. I do have a background in Russian, so I think that my background with another Slavic language can help me in my Ukrainian learning process.

Step Two:  State Your Learning Goals

Because I will be spending next year in Ukraine, the most important thing for me to learn how to do is communicate through spoken language. While reading and writing are also important skills, I think that because I have a limited amount of time, I will need to focus on my speaking and listening skills the most. Ukraine is a functionally bilingual country, and since I speak Russian fairly well, I will be able to supplement my writing and reading gaps with my Russian knowledge.

Step Three:  Determine Tasks and Activities to Meet Your Goals

Tasks:

• Greetings
• Introductions
• Talking about myself and my family
• Date and time
• Ordering in a restaurant/ grocery shopping
• Film terms
• Swimming vocabulary 

In order to master the Korean language, I think I need to know how the grammar structure works and how language changes in different situations. From my previous knowledge, there are difference in how we may interact with peers and how we interact with those who are older, or more highly respected in the society. There seem to be invisible rules that outline how I may speak depending on those certain situations. In order to acquire this knowledge, I would have to search for a website or teaching video that writes these rules out. Just as in an elementary school, the English grammar is taught at younger ages to enforce the idea that grammar should come subconsciously, the grammar in Korean would be taught the same way. So moving backwards, I would have to find a site or rulebook that reinforces such ideas, and presents them in a learnable manner. I see a reference grammar being useful because it can help explain the basic concepts and rules behind the language. Being able to understand the structure to which the Korean language is structured would boost my knowledge of the language. 

BradFischerLearningPlanIndonesia.docx