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These readings emphasize to me how little we know about the brain. While a lot of the claims in the first reading are based on scientific evidence, I also know that a lot of the studies of the brain are based on what results when parts of it malfunctions or what part is stimulated during certain situations. However, I am not a neuroscientist, so it is possible that this is too wide of a generalization. Reading about how language and meaning is processed and created in the brain, however, still highlights to me how immensely complex the processes in our brain are and how little we are able to physiologically visualize as of now. I thought that little anomalies like the left hemisphere being more dominant when it comes to language in right handed people, but that not being the case in left-handed people were fascinating and also just so confusing. It makes me think about evolution and how our bodies are not always operating in the most efficient fashion. They are using pre-existing processes and structures that have changed over time to better fit the needs of humans. Language processing and comprehension in the brain, even particularly in left-handed people, could have different processes, in a way that manifests in these varying dominances of the hemispheres. Dominance could be the wrong approach entirely. Who knows! Probably not me after reading two chapters. I also thought the exploration of meaning was particularly powerful, specifically that connections between words and phrases are arbitrary, even the meaning of meaning. One question that I began to wonder as I read was does language more affect how we see the world or does how see the world more affect our language?

As I write this, I have not had any further formal education on the topic at hand since leaving Reba Poole's introductory ASL course at the end of the spring semester. Instead, I intended and partially achieved my goal of having a relaxing and work free summer where I did no studying whatsoever and caught up on my sleep. However, I found myself presented with the unique opportunity to practice my foundational skills and thus renew my interest in the language. 

I have experienced many deaths in my family this year and met, by chance, at a funeral the widow of the event. Both parties were deaf and had attended the same deaf school in Staunton, Virginia. The widow and her hearing daughter spent a good deal of time with my immediate family in their period of mourning. It was during these three meetings that I realized I had absorbed a good deal of information in my elective class and that I had a long way to go to achieving fluency. 

I chose to study ASL because I generally enjoy learning languages. My goal is to be thoroughly conversational by the end of the semester so I may communicate with my few deaf relatives. In order to achieve this, I intend to partner with an iTalki tutor and meet with them twice a week to immerse myself in the language. My relatives will serve as a resource, also, whenresearching the deaf community and deaf culture in Virginia. 

Parisa Mershon

SDLC 105: Introduction to Self-Directed Language Learning

Dr. Marsh-Soloway

August 28, 2022

Reflecting on My Language Journey

If I were not on the pre-med track, I would most likely be pursuing a career in linguistics. I could say my passion for language began in my elementary school days on Duolingo, but I am not entirely sure; I can say, however, that COVID-19 accelerated my drive to learn Farsi. At the time, my father was simply visiting family. Once the pandemic hit, the airport shut down, and his month-long stay turned into a year-long one, culminating in his decision to formally move back to Iran (where he is now). Learning Farsi is one of the ways we can stay in contact, and as I’ve grown older, I’ve wanted to try and bridge the cultural divide I have with my Iranian family 一 at least a little.

The other language I have been learning is Mandarin Chinese, which I started in my freshman year of high school and am continuing here at UR. I fell in love with writing characters and would spend many hours practicing. Chinese was the only non-Latin-based language, which, for some reason or another, has always been more intriguing to me (especially languages with a different writing system/alphabet, like Farsi). 

My likes and dislikes heavily depend on the language I am focusing on. In Chinese, I loved writing (both characters and grammar structures), as well as listening and reading. Speaking, however, has always been my Achilles heel, as the tonal system in Chinese is a considerable challenge for me. In Farsi, my pronunciation/accent comes much more naturally (possibly because I have heard the language most of my life), but forming sentences is comparatively more difficult. I would suppose this has to do with Farsi being a Subject-Object-Verb language, yet I am not entirely sure. 

It is rather difficult to say my dislikes, as I largely don’t have any. I enjoy working on my various challenges in language. Nevertheless, if I had to highlight one, speaking with other native speakers/public speaking in my target language has always been an area I am not quite fond of. I am not particularly invested in improving public speaking, but I feel as though my hesitancy to converse with other native speakers is holding me back more and more as I progress in each language.

I try not to ascribe to a particular learning style, as I am not convinced systems like the VARK Learning Styles are truly beneficial. In terms of general learning, spaced studying and mock assessments are beneficial. In terms of language learning, I find that long-form writing and conversational speaking (alongside the aforementioned study methods for vocabulary) are particularly valuable. In long-form writing, I can ascertain the limitations of the grammar I have learned. I can also start understanding which words have what connotations, and which words are more formal versus informal. 

Since my focus in the course is Farsi, I will not reflect on how I can improve my Chinese-learning methods. I think I should try to speak with other native speakers of Farsi (preferably those who are familiar with Iranian vernacular / colloquialisms). Though my father has been an excellent teacher, he moved to the United States when he was 17 (due to the 1979 Iranian revolution), and until 2019, had not stayed in Iran for more than a couple of months at a time. Consequently, his Farsi is slightly odd compared to others, as he has lost touch with certain cultural practices (such as being too direct/blunt). And as he always jokes, Farsi was the one class he failed in (Iranian) high school. I also have delved deep into writing, so I would like to practice both the script and the more formal language associated with it. 

August

It has only been one week, but I am already so excited to continue learning Farsi! I have started off strong and met with my Language Partner for about an hour five times this week. Because I was really busy in the summer, I was not able to meet much, so this week we have mainly focused on reviewing old material, and we will probably continue to focus on just reviewing for a while. Both of us think it’s much more important to adequately learn the material, move forward, and then keep reviewing old material so as to cement the vocabulary.

I use the website Persian Language Online (abbreviated from here on out as “PLO”). It is a free resource made by the Iranian Heritage Foundation. I have been using PLO for about a year now, and it has provided a lot of needed structure in my Farsi learning journey. It is separated into three levels (in order of difficulty: Beginner, Elementary, Intermediate), with a total of sixty lessons (twenty lessons per level 一 B1-B20, E21-E40, and I41-I60). Elementary lessons have a main text and two dialogues; the main text uses more formal language, while the dialogues use more conversational language. 

Because my language partner lives in Iran, where the government heavily censors the internet, I made all the lessons on PLO into a pdf file (PLO Elementary 21-40.pdf). 

I am currently reviewing the Elementary lessons (E21-E40). This week, I reviewed the first three lessons, which I think is what I will focus on for the rest of this journal. For reference, here is the layout of a standard lesson (E21).

Lesson 21 (shown above) introduces some basic vocabulary about hobbies, school, friends, and music. I have done this lesson more times than I can count, so we only spent one session on it. I read through it, practicing speaking at a faster pace. My language partner then asked some basic comprehension questions, which I answered (in Farsi), and then we finished off with me reciting the lesson, but saying it from my perspective (e.g. instead of saying I am 17 years old, like the narrator in the lesson, I said I was 19). I think I struggled the most with this, as my biggest struggle right now is formulating sentences (in terms of grammar).

I am hoping taking SDLC 105 will help me have a better method for tackling some of the grammar that is making me struggle. In Farsi, the sentence structure follows a Subject-Object-Verb/SOV order (boy ball throws), while in English it is SVO (boy throws ball). I feel like there is more that is confusing me, but I don't think I know enough about grammar to articulate it. I think the strategies I am using now are sufficient for the amount I know about language; again, as SLDC 105 progresses, I am sure I will modify some of my techniques, or at least be able to articulate the aspects of Farsi that are confusing me. 

 Wahoo~

It’s great to be back to actively learning a language again!

This week was mainly about planning out a rough idea on what I wanted to learn about this semester. Although I am a native speaker, there is so much information about Korea I don’t know about since I grew up and attended school in the U.S. I hope I learn a lot about my home country and can also share what I learn with others in the future.

It’s been about a year since taking an SDLC course and this will be my first time taking Korean after having the experience of also “teaching” Korean through the SDLAP program. While most of my language partners focused on learning the Korean language as an introduction, I want to focus on learning Korea’s history and the roots of the culture’s unique traditions. I enjoy watching Korean variety shows such as Sixth Sense or Running Man, and I realized that I didn’t quite understand some of the jokes or references. They frequently play games to “guess the saying/idiom” and although I could participate occasionally, I found that I needed to actively study to get a better and broaden my knowledge of Korean culture.

 Another reason I wanted to take this course again was because of the influence of another course, Art & Asia. When I tried looking for a history gen ed, I was encouraged to take this course and discovered that the professor was Korean and studied art history, mainly that of China, Japan, and Korean. When I think of the “arts” in Korea, like many people, I think about the popular music or dramas that are recognized internationally. While those topics are relevant and interesting, I also want to dive into learning about Korean art history and how it shaped its culture.

This semester, I will mainly do my research on Korea independently, but use my community language partner (Vivian Shon) to continue conversing in Korean and help me keep accountable. Although this might seem simple, I understood the large impact of frequently using Korean while being a language partner. I find that when I come back to school after staying home, I sometimes am unable to find the right words in English. This also happens when I return home but seems to be more extreme such that I sometimes need to use a translator or describe the word I’m looking for. I haven’t informed Vivian about my plan yet, so that’ll be the first thing on my list I’ll have to do this week!

I’m looking forward to study the unique traditions in Korea and to explore both traditional and modern art. And since the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is close by, I plan on visiting too! This semester I hope to compile my weekly study in a Google Docs so that I can keep track of the topics I covered throughout the months. Since I’m also a language partner for others, maybe I can use this compilation of information and share them with my partners next semester!

My past experience with language learning has been positive for the most part. Spanish is one of the first languages that I gained interest in. I began my language learning journey with Spanish in elementary school and continued to become more advanced with the language from middle school to high school and college as well. Most of the experience I have when learning Spanish was based in a classroom setting. And each piece of information we learned would allude to what skills we would be need for the next unit or next piece of information we would learn. For example, when we learned conjugating verbs in Spanish it would go in the order of learning present tense, past tense, conditional, and future tense. And if a unit was based on health, we would learn basic vocabulary that would be associated with that unit, such as food (types of healthy/unhealthy, exercise, check-ups/doctor’s appointments, etc.

I enjoyed the feeling of being immersed into a new language. Learning the language of a culture I admire really helps me to feel more connected to that culture and its people. During the process of learning a new language I enjoyed the small little victories achievements I’ve made, which continue to bring me closer to actually being able to conversate with a native speaker or someone that spoke the language comfortably. I’ve come to realize that I like the process of being able to learn new vocabulary and form sentences through writing and speaking.

As a language learner however, I dislike the struggle I faced with differences in grammar between my native language and the language that I was learning (Spanish). Sometimes I would have difficulty memorizing some of the rules or it would take me a while to get used to the changes and differences. And while learning Spanish in college in comparison to learning it in high school, I feel a little left behind in the sense of differences of learning style I experienced and missing vocabulary.

In regard to the fire model and surveys that I took, they concluded that I am more of a visual learner, and secondly an auditory learner. With these given characteristics it was recommended that I color-code notes or draw pictures to associate a word or concept to help me in the learning process. I will definitely take these tips into consideration when I begin my language learning journey with Korean. In one of the surveys, it stated that one of learning styles is being music.  It went into detail to explain that using background music can help me while reviewing important information or memorizing important material when learning a new language. This is something I do on occasion but now I will definitely incorporate it more when I am learning Korean. Since music is something, I truly enjoy, I think analyzing Korean song lyrics in order to learn new vocabulary would be a good strategy to memorizing important vocabulary faster and more efficiently.

As of now, I’m learning about the different types of learning styles and what kind of learner I am. This will help me have a greater chance of succeeding in my language learning journey. During this research, I discovered that I am a visual and auditory learner with music being one of the best ways I learn and retain information.

There are so many things I wish to accomplish when learning Korean. But as a start, I hope to be able to read Hangul and be able to pronounce Korean words more efficiently as my first small goal. In addition to the Korean alphabet (Hangul) I also want to learn the Korean number system and learn everyday greetings and phrases in order to have a simple conversation in Korean. I hope I can slowly build from that point into a more intermediate conversation within a year. Some strategies I could use is learning vocabulary from Korean music and learning how to analyze Korean songs. I would do this in order to improve my listening skills, in combination with watching Korean Dramas and selecting words that I do not know or recognize. Then I can look-up that word in order to find its meaning. Some resources I will use are books from the library, resources in the Carole Weinstein International Center, and resources posted on Ning, and my language partner. I will build on what I have learned by firstly making a list to visually see how much Korean I know and work with my language partner to figure out the best way to go from there (as I am knowledgeable with some phrases, some hangul characters, limited vocabulary, and the Sino-Korean number system).

My first experience with a foreign language was learning German throughout middle school and high school. It was not the most popular language to learn, which I ended up loving. By eighth grade we had a cohort of people who had studied German all 3 years of middle school. It was our little community of (self-described) oddballs that continued until we graduated from high school. I think one of my favorite parts of those classes were how much our community enjoyed humor. We would be assigned skits about going to the grocery store or something equally as simple and it was a competition to see who could have the class rolling on the floor with laughter, while saying all of the German with a straight face. It was through this environment that I realized how much I loved collaborative language learning. I am now seeing how this manifests in the form of a high Social score on the Multiple Intelligences Survey and being an evaluative learner in the FIRE model. All of the statements in the E column spoke to me and made sense in the context of my learning experience with German and other languages as well.

From when I was very little I knew I was a visual learner. I wasn’t the best listener, I was distracted easily, and I needed to create my own focus in order to hone in on anything. If I could digest something put in front of me myself, I was able to comprehend it much better than anything explained to me, particularly without a visual cue. I also have always known that I am a much better writer than speaker, no matter what the language. I particularly struggled with this in German. However, I also think that our teachers were always kind to us, allowing us to have a script or know prompts so that we were not forced to speak off the cuff. However, this also ensured my speaking skills did not improve much over the 7 years I learned German.

The other language I have had experience in is Spanish. At UR, I joined geography research about the Amazon. As I became more and more invested in the less technical aspects of the research and particularly as I began my own research project, it became apparent that my lack of language skills in Spanish and Portuguese were a barrier. I had picked up key words and phrases along the way and could guess at what was being said in meetings at times. It was my first time learning a language for practical, applied reasons. I was frustrated I couldn’t take a Spanish course about sustainability, geography, and the Amazon! This experience made me realize that languages are key if I want to continue research abroad and that the way to learn a language is exposure to native speakers and having a goal of what you need to interpret and converse about. That is why I am excited for the structure and autonomy this course provides in regard to language learning.

In the fall of 2020, I began doing research for Dr. David Salisbury in the department of geography and the environment. He specifically focuses on regions of Peru and Brazil in the Amazon. I started out mapping roads for him and at most Google translating the names of shapefiles. I would sit and blink while my professor spoke rapid-fire Spanish and Portuguese with on-the-ground collaborators about our maps.

I then moved on to my own research project mapping COVID-19 among Indigenous communities. This involved working in a research team with my professor and two other professionals, one of which only spoke Spanish. From that point forward, anything involved in my data analysis was translated into Spanish. I couldn’t hold a conversation with anyone, but I started trying to comprehend the meetings more and I began to know some of the key phrases from the excel sheets and data visualizations that were all in Spanish. It was such a vastly different approach to a language than any that I had previously taken.

I took an introductory Spanish course over one summer in an attempt to better understand what was going on in meetings, but I needed more practice listening and speaking than what we did in a class. That was when I realized that I would not be able to learn these languages the way that I thought I needed to through any standard path because they were not as focused or applied. However, I also knew that I was not someone who could learn a language on my own. I am someone built for setting aside a specified time for something and I also am more motivated by collaboration. These are some of the reasons why this program really appealed to me.

This past summer we, as a student research group, traveled to Peru for a workshop about environmental issues in the Peru/Brazil borderlands of the Amazon that we study. We got there and I was thrown into a language blender with Spanish, English, and Portuguese coming at me from all sides. Most of it I didn’t understand. A lot of times I needed someone to translate or I would type things out on my phone. However, an amazing part was how much people were willing to teach me or communicate in broken Spanish or Portuguese. I learned an insane amount because I had people willing to engage with me.

I say all of this because I now have a research collaborator who only speaks Portuguese and after hearing about this program I think it could be what helps me to meet my goals of conversation, comprehension, and investigation when it comes to Portuguese, particularly in my area of study. One of my main goals as a part of this program is to speak as much Portuguese as I can. It is the most challenging aspect of any language to me, but I also think it pushes me to be more competent in that language as well. I also hope to put a specific focus on communicating in the context of the research I am doing. I recognize that I do not even know foundational Portuguese, but I think being able to communicate with my collaborator will be a good initial motivation.

    I have followed two language courses throughout high school and college: Italian and French. I took French in high school and enjoyed it, especially since the lessons were structured and comprehensible. However, at times they were also stressful because of the difficulty of the other courses I was taking, which made it difficult to “find” time to study. I will say, however, that during this period I did not have an efficient idea of how to study, manage my time, or reflect on my goals or mistakes. Something that I much preferred to a college setting with French is that the emphasis on communication between partners was stressed more, with more activities to develop vital listening and speaking skills. It is difficult remembering much else of French class as the last class I followed was about 3-4 years ago, but I do remember very much enjoying the process of learning a different language and the culture attached to it. 

    With Italian, I am finding it easier to develop specific goals and strategies in how to improve with the language. For example, I exposed myself to efficient study strategies like spaced repetition, dual coding, and recall methods that have made it easier to memorize vocab and understand how effective language learning takes place. I also appreciate the emphasis my Italian courses have on immersing oneself in the language, pushing students to read, write, listen, and speak in Italian while also engaging authentic sources to further one’s studies. One critique I would give to language courses at Richmond specifically, however, is the way in which professors encourage students to develop goals around language, because they often never do. I have thus had to determine my own goals, such as how Italian relates to my academic and personal interests, to promote a sense of intrinsic motivation that allows me to study the language despite the frustration I might experience with it. Developing goals is something I think will help continue with the language learning process, and I am glad that the articles we read emphasized this point. 

    Based on the Learning Styles Survey, the Multiple Intelligence Survey, and the Fire Model, it seems that I am a hands-on learner who appreciates “factual” learning. I enjoy very much learning from examples and examining what makes them correct. I also find that I am able to correct my mistakes easier when I can review from something concrete rather than thinking about why the general idea is correct. I will say, however, that I don’t entirely trust these surveys considering the pedagogical debate surrounding learning styles and whether promoting them is a detriment to the many ways a student can engage in self-directed study. Although, I am willing to drop this practical bias to determine if adopting some of the study methods they provided, like memorizing things through mnemonics, journaling, and speaking aloud may help in improving my learning. 

    Based on these learning styles, things like journaling (perhaps reflecting on the topics that I learned or the mistakes I made) would aid in self-directed language study. Additionally, gathering concrete examples when it comes to grammar rules in order to check for accuracy and develop my own problems could help in my comprehension of the ideas attached to these rules. Reading and writing activities like transcribing and identifying unfamiliar words could help build my vocabulary and improve my ability to interpret texts. Tips that Benny Lewis offered in his articles like learning cognates and immersing myself virtually in unconventional ways like changing my computer’s setting to my target language or utilizing online textbooks and websites that offer authentic sources (for free) may prove to be useful. Setting SMART goals is also another practical aid since it would better identify my own intrinsic motivation for learning languages. And, challenging myself to speak the language everyday might also help in making me more comfortable with making mistakes when communicating with people and understanding that those mistakes are an opportunity to learn. 

    I think a good place to start in expanding my language learning activities is to choose one of the aforementioned strategies in respect to the four key areas of language study: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. For example, engaging with texts that correspond to my proficiency level would help introduce appropriate vocabulary that will help me to continue my learning and eventually move on to harder material. Likewise, writing in my target language would encourage me to better understand the grammatical structures of the language and realize the mistakes that I am making (a good activity could be journaling in my target language and perhaps asking my language partner to review it). For speaking, talking with a teacher on italki would vastly improve my ability to engage in conversations across different areas so that when it comes time to engage in organic, unplanned conversation, I am able to identify how and in what manner to speak. Lastly, transcribing audio, listening to podcasts, watching films in my target language, and listening to other materials would force me to try to make sense of the words and phrases that I am hearing. I am hesitant to try some of these methods as they stray from the conventional study methods that many pedagogists promote, but I am willing to try them based on the results of the surveys and the success that Benny Lewis has had in learning multiple languages.

Final Podcast

https://youtu.be/6Isn5pcmjN8

Hello - I realize this is a bit short word-count wise, but truthfully I couldn't think of what else to say.

This is probably the hardest cultural learning post to write. As I said, one of my focuses for this course is religious Hebrew. I had a death in the family this past week, so have been familiarizing myself with the mourner’s kaddish (below) as well as other Jewish laws around death and mourning.

One thing that attracted me to Judaism as a religion was the lack of a focus on the afterlife as a motivator for action. In Judaism, you’re compelled to be a good person because that’s what you should do, because you’ve been given a responsibility to care for the world and all its blessings, and so what choices you make that impact the good of others and the whole is what’s most important, rather than a threat of punishment if you don’t live up to rules set for you. In my now multiple years of attending regular Shabbos service, the idea of an afterlife hasn’t been mentioned once. Even in the case of the Mourner’s Kaddish, it’s a prayer of praise rather than of true sadness.

To that end, I find the Jewish idea of death extremely comforting. The best way to remember those who are now gone is to honor what you learned from them by living a life with the virtues they’d want you to live. It’s encapsulated best in this phrase, which Jewish people say to each other when one has passed: may their memory be a blessing. (זיכרונה לברכה zikh-ron-ah liv-rak-ha).

I’m very excited to say that I was able to see Fiddler on the Roof when it came to the Altria this week! My Fiddler plot summary is below.

Fiddler on the Roof features Tevye, a Jewish milkman. The show opens with the song “Tradition”, where he explains the customs in the town of Anatevka. At his house, Tevye and his wife Golde prepare for the Sabbath with their five daughters. The matchmaker Yente arrives and says she may have a match for the eldest daughter, Tzietel. The sisters Tzietel, Hodel, and Chava discuss the excitement of the possibility of marriage – and the risks. Meanwhile Tevye in the barn asks G-d why he couldn’t have been a rich man, then finishes his deliveries for the day. While in town he meets the student Perchik, who offers to tutor his daughters. They have him and Tzietel’s friend Motel over for Shabbos dinner. When he arrives home, Golde informs him he must meet with Lazar Wolf; Lazar Wolf wishes to propose to Tzietel, though Tevye mistakenly assumes he wants Tevye’s newest milk cow. They agree to the bargain and celebrate at the local tavern. On his way home, the Russian constable stops Tevye and warns him of an upcoming “demonstration”.

The next day, Tzietel and Motel protest Tziedel’s engagement to Lazar Wolf, as they’ve given each other a pledge of love to marry. Tevye eventually agrees, as he doesn’t value tradition over his daughter, and pretends to have a wild dream featuring a curse from Lazar Wolf’s late wife, Fruma Sarah, to convince Golde to marry Motel. They are married in a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony, which is interrupted by a small pogrom from the Christian majority in town. This closes Act 1.

Act 2 opens and many months have passed. Meanwhile, Hotel has fallen in love with the revolutionary Perchik, who’s soon to leave to Kiev to support the revolution. She and Perchik ask Tevye only his blessing, not his permission, to marry. Tevye struggles with this, but accepts it, because once again he does not value this tradition over his daughter’s happiness and knows that they will take care of one another. Perchik leaves and is later arrested and sent to Siberia. Hodel decides to go to him, and Tevye sees her off on the train, with the promise that she will marry under a canopy, aka that they will uphold their Jewish values and bring them into their new lives.

Lastly, Chava, the middle child, has fallen in love with Fyedka, a non-Jew who lives in their town. She pleads with Tevye to accept them, but this is the one violation of tradition he will not, “cannot” allow. Chava and Fyedka elope at the Christian church, and Chava is disowned by her family.

Trouble continues brewing until ones day the constable tells all Jews that they have three days to leave Anatevka. They’re off to the far corners of the world – other parts of Russia, Israel, America. Everyone prepares to leave as they reminisce about the town that they’ve called home for so long. Chava and Fyedka come to say goodbye and make peace. Tevye refuses to look at Chava, but has Tzietel wish her well before they all depart, the fiddler playing as the show draws to a close.

Okay, so, my plot summary of the show took a very long time, but it’s like a three hour show without cuts. This was an interesting deep dive into some Jewish culture that I might not’ve otherwise known about yet – particularly after watching the gendered dancing at the wedding, I looked up a lot of Orthodox wedding traditions and learned about what it takes to be formally married as an Orthodox Jew, what vows are shared, what traditions are typical and why, such as the canopy and the breaking of the glass. I think the show does an amazing job making it close to home for Jews and still enjoyable for people who don’t understand any of the references, especially as I find myself somewhere in between.

This was recorded with Ben Lee and our language partner, Jannette You.

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ACq6vlcFplch4Fo&cid=83EC00B36A6165A7&id=83EC00B36A6165A7%216218&parId=83EC00B36A6165A7%215821&o=OneUp  ;

Podcast with Jannette and Grace

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqdlYWqzAOyDsEr64-lPS-jpq0ws?e=iqUPMS

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13s4rUpZP6jaykWFadVSkc3ITBKNPFxbj/view?usp=sharing

(Right click and select open link in new tab)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QvL_WUH04NRjob-ydViI4m7B_aZWER-O/view?usp=sharing

For my final cultural artifact post I have chosen another world heritage site that my language instructor visited while he taught me this semester. This site is known as the Incense route in the Negev Desert in Israel. Incense route is the name because the route started from the massive demand around the Middle East for incense that were being sold in modern day Egypt. Many traders would use the route all the time riding camels back and forth from each different kingdom. The site that Michael visited is actually a string of structures in the Negev known to be a trade route in the past. In this area there are many structures that were left over from when the route was used for trade. The history behind the route is extremely intriguing because it was one of the main routes the Judeau kingdom used to trade with the Byzantine empire located right across the present-day border in Petra, Jordan. The site of Petra is one that I have wanted to visit ever since I was a kid and saw the incredible back drop in movies. Nabeatan people, (the individuals apart of the Byzantine empire) routinely traveled this route selling all sorts of unique goods. The photo below taken by Michael is of one of the four fortresses located on the route. The fortresses are known as Kazra, Nekarot, Makhmal, as well as Grafon. It is remarkable to think that this route and the structures located there still exist today. Throughout Israel’s history and all the empires that have come through the territory, the site remains very intact. A nick name for the road is elephant road because supposedly a general brought his army through the rate and an elephant was apart of his battalion. I find this site particularly unique because of how crazy it is to think that trade was conducted this way when today there are massive planes that bring goods all around the world. Michael said this is also what stood out to him, how many people would routinely travel the route to make money for themselves and their families. I think it really speaks to progression and how far humans have come. Routes like these where there was likely so much death and war from traders crossing the area with their goods do not exist today. It is also remarkable to think that traders were able to traverse the route without maps or any way to navigate. Now when hiking people have phones and applications that can simply direct them to wherever they would like with the press of a button. Traders would wander through the scorching hot desert likely not entirely sure where they would end up to sell and buy goods in other empires, that were often hostile. Michael said he drove the stretch and could not imagine what it would be like walking through the desert. When I visit Israel I would like to visit this area but I will surely be driving as well.

Citations: Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev - UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Photo Credit: Michael Hibner

https://www.bing.com/search?q=incense+route&cvid=2aa71a32d09e40cdbccd7c5194dec32d&aqs=edge.0.69i59l2j0l4j69i60l2j69i61.3857j0j4&FORM=ANAB01&DAF0=1&PC=U531

For my third cultural artifact I have chosen Masada because my language partner visited there during our time working together. Masada is a very significant site for the people of Israel and the Jewish community as a whole. Current day Masada is a fortress located in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea. It is apart of the remains of Israel when it was an empire back in the AD period. Current Masada is only remains of the much larger fortress that was there before the Roman Empire invaded. Masada was the last defense position for the Jewish people against the Roman Empire. The site was originally a complex created by the king of the Judeo kingdom. Even the remaining architecture is incredible according to my instructor. It is seen to represent the strong response of the Jewish people in the face of adversity as they fought until the last defender that was alive. Its location in the desert is extremely advantageous from a defensive perspective but there were so many Romans in comparison to those fighting for the Jewish empire that the group was still over run. It is a very unique site in the sense that most places the Romans invaded were completely destroyed. My instructor said that the tour felt very surreal because of how many individuals on both sides perished in the fighting. After the Romans prevailed, the new ruler of the area renovated the site and added many Roman aspects such as barracks as well as armories for Roman soldiers. There is talk of the possibility of a mass suicide of all the Jewish people who remained at the site when the Romans invaded. This can not be confirmed however, so the validity of this claim is heavily put up to debate. After the Romans prevailed, capturing this last stronghold, life for Jewish people who lived in the kingdom was not the same. Jewish people rebelled against the new governing power and this resulted in countless inhumane events like mass crucifixions. Today many young Jewish boys and girls opt to have barmitzvahs or batmitzvahs at the site’s synagogue. Special forces and military units of the IDF also routinely march there and are known to take oaths to the State of Israel at the site. It seems that Masada has significance in Israel as a place that will not be allowed to be controlled by a foreign power again. Israeli’s even sometimes use masada as a term to criticize Israel foreign policy. Obviously, this is a highly contested subject as people have differing opinions on the foreign policy of Israel. Excavations during modern times have also revealed even more remaining roman military sites like defense walls and camps that would house Roman soldiers. To my language partner as well as many Israelis, Mosada is a site meant to symbolize the history of the Jewish state and serves as a reminder that an invasion of Israel in the present day would be devastating to Israel. When I do eventually visit Israel I will be sure to visit this incredible site.

Masada - UNESCO World Heritage Centre

masada photos - Bing images