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Omer Genosar       

            I absolutely LOVED the culture shock video, I related to it in many ways. I never thought of culture shock as a multi-step phenomenon in which it is expected to have an immediate high proceeded by a what-the-heck moment of home sickness and then ended with acclimation to the new environment. I related with the culture shock video because personally, I feel as if I am stuck between two different cultures and so if I am in Israel I get a certain culture shock (although minimal) but then after a month in Israel, when I come back to the states I get another culture shock just because I acclimate so quickly to Israeli culture and society. I’m sure that I am not the only one who gets these feelings and so I think it is important to note that culture shocks come even to a person who is fairly acclimated to more than one society. I wonder if study abroad students have a culture shock when they come back to their original home? 

Omer Genosar

           Learning about a language’s history is actually extremely helpful in learning the language. Knowing what is from the past and what is more recent allows us to put context to some words. This works the best for technology and that ideas and objects from the 20^th and 21^st Centuries tend to be in Hebrew but still in the English form. For example meecro (Hebrew) and microwave are the same word. On the flip side of that, much older words many times have roots that come from ancient Hebrew or Yiddish or other dialects. For example the word day in Arabic and Hebrew is very similar (yom) that means that the both share the same root. In fact the word yom is in the bible several times and is probably a very ancient word. But it does not take a genius to know that microwave is not said in the bible. What I am trying to say is that if a word kind of sounds like English, then meaning could be figured out just by knowing that it is a (relatively) recent word.

Here is the document: 

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Omer Genosar

           To be honest I feel as though my situation is not that of an organic learner. The structure of Hebrew is really ingrained in me whenever I speak the language. It is very difficult to explain, but the best reasoning I could give is that because I was born as a toddler with Hebrew, the structure of sentences are very natural to me. I think that Hebrew is very much like many Latin based languages in which the adjective is after the noun unlike English. On the other hand, Hebrew is like English because there are not too many grammar rules and rules for forming words, yet a large amount of exceptions. Hebrew in many ways is closer to English than Arabic because Arabic contains many different rules but a limited number of exceptions, so a “script” could be written out to figure out how to grammatically write a sentence. In my case a reference grammar is not so useful because I am not focused on the sentences themselves but the missing pieces in the sentences. 

Learning Journal #2

I think that the linguistic aspects of Israeli culture are all very much in line with American/ Western culture except for a few distinct differences. First of all in regards to time, Israeli culture is very difficult to figure out. It is both monochromic and polychromic. To clarify, the general feeling in Israel tends to focus on being lax and seeing life through a polychromic lens. However, Israelis are able to adapt very quickly and situationally they become monochromic. This could be due to Israeli history and the struggle that the Jewish people have had to go through; all of the wars and conflicts that Israelis have dealt with have hardened them to become very pushy, especially when it comes to time sometimes. This extends into another linguistic aspect, which is their very direct communication and low power distance. Israelis are very forthright and direct, regardless of their standing with the other person, the low power distance is a very important cultural aspect that could not be stated enough for it influences most interactions.

Over the course of this semester, I was able to expand my Korean vocabulary while also increasing my proficiency in reading and writing. My main goal, which was to improve my speaking, was very minimally improved due to the absence of a language partner. I believe this was the greatest difficulty that I faced since I was unable to practice communicating in a formal manner with someone who would be able to correct my pronunciation, intonation, and grammar. However, through the many resources I was provided with from this course such as voki, vocaroo, and diigo, I was able to utilize many new tools in helping me improve my Korean. Furthermore, I believe I was able to improve my reading and informal writing abilities through the use of the HelloTalk app. Through HelloTalk I was able to meet many native Korean speakers who helped me understand the way younger Koreans communicate. This included learning the younger generation's "style" of messaging with the use of aegyo, jargon, and etc. The presentations that we did for class were also very helpful and enjoyable since I got to learn many different aspects of Korean culture in greater depth such as plastic surgery, traditional Korean architecture, school violence, blood types, and much more.

Overall, I believe my knowledge of Korean culture improved vastly from the cultural posts, presentations, and final cultural project. My improvement in the Korean language itself however, consisted mainly of increased vocabulary knowledge and a better understanding of informal communication which will both be very helpful for my travel to Korea this summer. 

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I really loved hearing about all of the different cultures out there. I have learned so much about the Korean culture, and it is really a fascinating culture. Because of my peers, I feel as if a whole group of people and way of life has opened me in regards to the Korean people. From more general to Eastern societies of a hierarchical structure between families and their elders, to more Korean related specifics such as the insane popularity of dramas and looks. 

I also really loved hearing about the other cultures that students brought up. From Turkey's following of Ataturk to the Greek culture and then to Urdu and the stories that came with that presentation, I really was able to get a sense of each culture. If I ever go or talk about these different places, the presentation today will give me a lot of important information on cultural backgrounds that I will need. Imagine saying something bad about Ataturk in Turkey!

The reading reminded me of the other journal I had read before, Tribe Revives Language on Verge of Extinction. In the artical, author Kirk Johnson mentions that an oblivion to local languages paves the way for tribe language extinction. Specifically, he refers to people’s diminishing interest in less commonly spoken languages. Experts expect about 90 per cent of the world’s 7,000 languages to become extinct in the next 100 years. What will be lost if a language dies is the humanity coded in the language. The knowledge of human development the languages has witnessed is likely to come to an end. The diversity associated with a language is the richness of expression, the identities of our ancestors it embodies, and the roots of our community. Though I understand that it is hard to unify national identities between the past and the current, there is no excuse that reviving the less commonly spoken languages is a responsibility for people who are alive.

Korean is language that is spoken by more than 72 million people living on the Korean peninsula (Todaytranslations). With slight difference in spelling, alphabet, and vocabulary between South and North Korea, Korean is the official language for both regions. Even outside Korea, two million people in both China and the United States speak Korean as the first language. 7,000 in Japan, and 500,000 in the Russia regions of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan also speak Korean (Todaytranslations). When I know that Korean is mutually understandable among different regions, I felt more comfortable speak to on-campus Korean-speaking students from multiple places across from the world. Scholars have reached a consensus that Korean is a member of the Altaic family of languages, which originated in northern Asia and includes the Mongol, Turkic, Finnish, Hungarian, and Tungusic (Manchu) languages (Todaytranslations). That Korean incorporates Chinese ideograms (Hanja) has eased the learning process for me.

Cultural shock is not an unheard description of mixed nerves when we encounter new cultural phenomena. Cultural shock also depicts my feeling when I began my study in the United States. As I moved from a different cultural context from that of the US, my eyes were filled with a combination of wonder, excitement, doubt, and impatience. I wondered how a culture different from my own would change my way of interpreting things. I was excited, because there was always something new to expect and people to meet with, which added meaning to my daily life. Nevertheless, I doubted whether I could enjoy this new form of living as much as I used to. I was, from times to times, impatient with my slowly growing confidence. I come from China, and the past 17 years have taught me how to behave, to speak and to interact with the others. Here I am, in the States, trying to become someone no less of dedication, ambition and love.

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1k93ZqfYJoeSfN5F1Gn7nWwC84WQYOGDXJjFTgD29-Ek/edit#slide=id.p4

Notes:

• Rapid increase in the number of North Korean refugees entering South Korea after 1998, when several years of famine killed thousands, if not millions.
  • Lethal nature of the famine and estimate the number of deaths as low as 580,000 and as high as three million.
  • This famine occurred while the North Korean regime maintained an army of over one million under the infamous “son-gun” (military-first) policy.
• Women comprise over 65% of the number of North Korean defectors to South Korea.
  • Wider array of economic opportunities available to women in China such as waitress positions and babysitter jobs.
  • Darker explanation: Chinese or Korean-Chinese bride-brokers, or matchmakers, attempt to secure North Korean brides for Chinese men, often through trickery.                Also sold into prostitution.
• Physical differences in height and weight
  • 2010 study: The growth status of 1,406 North Korean refugee children aged 6 to 20 were compared to the same age group of South Korean children. North Korean boys and girls were significantly shorter and weighed less than their South Korean peers. Average height differences between the two groups were 10.1cm (~4 inches) for boys and 7.2cm (~3 inches) for girls. In case of body weights the differences were 11.1kg (~24.5 lbs) for boys and 3.8kg (~8.4 lbs) for girls. 
• PTSD:  North Korean refugees have typically been exposed to traumatic events, since many of them either witnessed or experienced violence within North Korea (Kang, 2011). Some were tortured or forcefully repatriated to North Korea from China while attempting to reach the south (Byun et al., 2006; Kim, 2010). 
  • 70% of North Korean refugees are female, and North Korean women are at high risk of being victims of sexual violence and exploitation as well as human trafficking either in North Korea or China
• According to a survey conducted by the Database Center for North Korean Human rights (NKDB) in 2012, 290 sexual violence cases were reported out of 8,703 witnesses.
  • In a recent study on the effects of PTSD (Choi et al., 2012), two thirds of 301 North Korean refugees surveyed showed PTSD symptoms such as insomnia and feeling of helplessness that made it difficult for those with the symptoms to hold steady jobs or perform well academically.
• North Korean refugee students often displayed PTSD symptoms (e.g., anxiety) that made their adjustment to school environment challenging (Jung et al., 2002).
  • Some teachers in the study also reported that North Korean students tended to display more aggressive and violent behaviors compared to South Korean students, again indicating high levels of anxiety among young North Korean refugees.
  • Same study found that some of the participants from the study mentioned loneliness from living without the family members indicating that there was little social support to alleviate their PTSD symptoms.
• Education gap: Almost all North Korean refugees are placed in lower grades with students who are younger than them, yet they find it difficult to catch up academically with their younger peers (Jung et al., 2002; Kim and Lee, 2013). 
  • These difficulties that young North Korean refugees experience translate to relatively high rates of school dropouts. The school dropout rate for North Korean students in middle and high schools combined ranged between 4.2% and 7.5% in the three years prior to 2014, compared to 1.2-1.3% among South Korean students in the same period. 
• A North Korean college student, Kim Seong-cheol, said in an interview with the New York Times, “I felt like someone from the 1970s who was put on a time machine and dropped in the 21st century”⁷. In fact, more than half of North Korean refugee students in college eventually drop out of college, increasing concerns that North Korean refugees will remain as “permanent underclass” in the South Korean society (Fackler, 2012).
• Socializing:
  • Refugees faced difficulties in abiding by the rules in the office, the amount of work, and difficulties in completing given tasks due to the inability to use the computer.
  • North Korean refugees regard their South Korean colleagues’ indirect way of communicating as ‘hypocritical’ because they were used to openly talking about their own and others’ wrongdoings through mutual- and self- criticism sessions that are deeply embedded in North Korean society.
  • Moreover, North Korean refugees in the workplace are cautious not to speak in their North Korean accent as not to reveal their background and identity to their South Korean colleagues (Choi and Park, 2011).
• A cursory reading of the public attitude towards the North Korean refugees shows a deteriorating trend.
  • In 2005, a poll survey conducted by the East Asia Institute (EAI) showed 75% of the participants expressed some degree of closeness towards the North Korean people, but the proportion dropped to 55.2% in the same EAI poll taken in 2010. Lee and Son (2011)’s study showed that South Koreans in their 20s as a whole had the most negative attitude towards North Korean refugees, in contrast to the sixty-or-older group.
  • This generational difference is likely due to the fact that the younger generation of South Koreans no longer consider North Koreans as part of the same nation, as the two Koreas have been separated for more than half a century. As the result, many North Korean refugees experience mistrust, unfair treatment, ostracism, and discrimination, even outright hostility, creating serious challenges to the prospect of successful resettlement (Choi and Kim, 2013).

My project focused on what it is like for North Korean defectors and refugees to live in South Korea and the hardships they focus due to mental trauma, physical deficiencies, and social pressures. I also focused on the growing trend of defectors coming from North Korea as well as the public attitude towards defectors which is sadly becoming more and more negative among the younger generations. The general conclusion of my presentation is that even though there is much ridicule and mockery of North Korea due to Kim Jong-Un's reign, it should still be recognized that many North Koreans are still starving and suffering and that defectors should be helped rather than rejected when escaping.  

Omer Genosar

Final Reflection

            I have really grown as a language learner over this past semester and year. As I stated before, I am currently taking Arabic at the 100 level and Hebrew through this self-directed learning course. The difference between the two types of learning are night and day. For my Arabic class, I have been trying to learn hundreds of vocabulary words while putting together and understanding all of the grammar rules necessary. My learning has been broad and what is taught is honestly very spread out and not very concentrated. Meanwhile, for Hebrew I have been diligently working on one main goal: to expand my conversational speaking skills. I have put all of my energy into filling my speaking needs; this means that any times I have words that I do not know, I do not memorize them but instead just look them up until the next time I stumble across them. Speaking and having conversations has been my path to learning vocabulary. I feel as though, contrary to my initial beliefs, the vocab that I keep looking up is not as wide ranged as in Arabic class. Instead, the words I do not know and use often have two categories: political words and more complicated adjectives. The first category is easy to explain, I am interested in politics and I have found a need to be able to explain my political viewpoints/issues in a Hebrew conversation. The second part is a little harder to explain, and where I have found more difficulties. A good example of this is the word subjective; I used to say – it is only what you think (ze rak ma shehata choshev). If I now want to say that is subjective I would say – ze eeshee (personal) or soobyektivi (subjective). Of course the Hebrew word is noticeably based off the English word and has no real Hebrew root, but regardless of that, these are the type of words that I find myself needed to fill in my vocabulary. Knowing Hebrew beforehand is of course very useful in acquiring a language, but I believe that the step to get to the next level is just as difficult as the process that one learns in a 100 level language class. Regardless, I plan on continually honing my Hebrew skills hopefully for the rest of my life.

            My favorite learning activity when I was doing the PowerPoints. My first one was on McDonalds in Israel, the second on the Hebrew language’s history, and the third on the May holidays in Israel. All three were really fun for me because I was able to learn more about my culture and I enjoyed being able to connect more with my Israeli roots. Maybe if I was doing a different culture, such as Korean, I would be a bit more disengaged; however, overall I think the PowerPoints really opened my eyes other cultures as well as my own. Additionally, my favorite learning journals were the culture shock based one and the early one on Figuring Foreigners Out, I really enjoyed the viewpoints that both introduced (or more accurately, confirmed) to me. 

          Just to touch upon my progress of my learning plan as well, I think that I have a ways to go when it comes to finishing my overall goals of being fluent. I have made great gains when it comes to my reading and conversational skills and so I feel as though I have achieved most of my specific goals for the learning plan. I have increased confidence in my conversational skills in Hebrew and I feel much more secure with speaking. On the reading aspect of my learning plan, I have fallen a bit short of my initial goals, but I did succeed in familiarizing myself more and more with non-punctuated readings. I feel as though I have finally transitioned from needing the Hebrew diacritics to leaning on the a lot less and understanding words without them. Overall, I feel as though I reached my goals for the learning plan and I am very satisfied with the results.