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Formality in the Korean language is purely hierarchal. From the bottom rung, you have banmal, which directly translates to ‘half-speech’. This consists of common informal speech used mostly by the younger generations and among people of the same age. Also, Koreans speak banmal if the two parties have a close relationship, such as those among parents, siblings, and children. However, speaking banmal can be seen as disrespectful unless an informal status has been mutually established between the two parties.

On the second level is jondaetmal, or 'formal speech'. This is the default type of speech Korean use when meeting a stranger or when addressing someone of a different age. Oftentimes, you hear titles like 'oppa' (older brother) and 'unni' (older sister) used to address older males and females and 'sunbae' (senior) and 'hoobae' (junior) to address certain classmates in school. Basically, the level of formality depends greatly on one’s age and, like many other cultures, greater seniority calls for greater respect. I see this as the safety net of formality.

We then upgrade from jondaetmal to super jondaetmal (I don’t think this is the actual term, but I think it captures the concept well). Koreans use super jondaetmal when addressing someone who evidently deserves high respect, someone with an established title, like the CEO of a company or business client. You may also hear super jondaetmal on radio talk shows and news broadcasts, where there is a public audience of varying ages and statuses. Commonly used super jondaetmal sentence endings include ‘-hamnida’ and seumnida.’

And then the greatest of them all, extreme jondaetmal (again, work with me here). This type of formal speech is reserved for people of greater power than the modern CEO, people like emperors and empresses. Now, South Korea is a democracy and no longer has a royal family in power, so you don’t really hear this type of speech in everyday life except maybe in historical dramas or plays. But, I think it’s still interesting to study the roots of a language so that you can see how the language evolved into what it is today.

The Greek language is one of the oldest still spoken languages in the world, although it has changed a lot since Plato and Aristotle. It is unique, yet it has influenced many languages including English, but these are not the reasons I'm interested in further developing my Greek language skills. I have a strong connection to Greece being that I grew up there and only due to some unfortunate circumstances did I immigrate to the United States. Most of my family still lives in Greece and I still have friends in Athens. Due to my connection to the language and culture I want to make sure my Greek is at the same level of fluency as my English. My goal is not to be able to simply hold a conversation because I can already do that without a problem. I want to be able to write college-level essays and hold complex conversations in professional environments.

The brain is vast web of interconnected wiring that allows us to absorb and analyze vast amounts of information. The Crystal readings focused on this concept and attempted to shed some light on how our brains perceive language. Due to the complex nature of our brains, which is revealed in the reading, it is clear that several techniques must be used in order to learn a new language. By this I mean that the learner must use listening, speaking, writing, and reading as tools to learn a new language in order to ensure that information is entering multiple areas of the brain and is being retained or learned. It is important that I make sure I utilize all of these techniques if I am to learn Greek at a superior language level.

Based on the “Levels of Competence”, I would classify myself bellow Beginners 0 in terms of Korean because I have no knowledge of the Korean language. I am an extreme novice because I have no background therefore my goals:  

1. Learn basic vocabulary words (commonly used words) such places, actions and objects in order to used in conversation
2. Be able to greet people with formal and informal greetings like hello, good bye, and how are you
3. Gain proper pronunciation of greeting phrases and vocabulary
4. Learn how to say some numbers or quantifiable expressions which can be used to tell time and
5. Learn to ask simple basic questions in order to engage Koreans in dialogue
6. Obtain an understanding of Korean alphabet system structure in comparison to the Spanish, French and English alphabet
7. Learn how to have a basic conversation in terms of comprehending what’s being asked of me and responding (speaking)

Korean has a pretty complicated system of formality and informality. Based on a person's age, social status, position, or the context of the situation, different greetings and sentence endings are required. It seems like the polite form requires you to end a sentence with the word "yo", but there are also deferential endings for very formal situations with different endings. For a conversation between friends, it is fine to drop some of the politeness words, but this would be considered very disrespectful when talking to a teacher or anyone older. 

Last week, we took a look at all of the resources available to us for studying languages. I thought that Mango Languages seemed like the most helpful, because not only did it have a ton of languages to offer, but it also had both a web and mobile version. It seems like the program stresses repeated quizzing and intermittent learning, which seems very helpful for learning vocabulary over time. That being said, it seems like Mango Languages is somewhat limited, and only has the basics for the language. 

Byki seems a little more expansive, but does not have a mobile app like Mango Languages. The website is also not nearly as polished, but I think Byki would be a great resource to supplement Mango Languages. This website can further be supplemented with Diigo, which is a really useful tool for bookmarking websites for sharing with other. On top of that, any online English-Korean dictionary will help a lot. 

I've started to learn Korean by looking up basic greetings online, which are pretty easy to find from a quick google search. It's been easy to find out how to say "hello", "goodbye", and "how are you", so I'm hoping to continue this process to learn basic conversational statements. 

Based on the Levels of Competence and Can-Do statements, I’m currently incompetent in Korean. I may be able to recognize phrases here and there by ear but I still consider myself a complete novice. And so because I want to be competent in Korean, here’s my plan of action: 1) to master Hangul so that I'll be able to sound out characters even when I don’t know them yet; 2) to develop a decent vocabulary so that I may eventually engage in a minimum of 5-minute conversation in Korean with a native speaker. I think I’ll start with these humble goals for now and gradually build on them through the course of the semester. My goal is to reach at least novice mid or high, particularly in the interpersonal communication and interpretive listening aspects, by the end of this semester. 

Although there are lots of competing ideas for how the brain processes language, it seems apparent that language processing is a complex neurological process that involves many different parts of the brain. As a result, it would be helpful to the language learner to make many different associations when learning vocabulary in order to make neurological connections stronger. This can be done by varying forms of learning (listening, speaking, and reading) as well as frequent quizzing.  Also, we tend to learn and understand words based on the context of the sentences around them. When learning vocabulary, it helps to also practice sentences with the words, because this helps the language learner understand how the word functions in a sentence. 

The three articles expressed the interactions that languages have within science and the brain. There were several interesting learnings that came from the learnings. First and foremost, I found it interesting that your dominant hand played a role in what type of thinker you were. The hand you use is dictated by what region of your brain is being utilized. Furthermore, one of the article investigates the origin of tongue slips. Apparently, tongue slips are voluntary and are engrained in our brains.

In addition, one of the articles talks a lot about how we make different, distinct meanings. Language is a tool used for communicating meaning to one another. Different cultures have different meanings for certain objects, which make it difficult to always translate language. Languages also have ample exceptions and caveats, which may also make it difficult to fully understand a language. Overall, it seems that the meaning of different languages must be interpreted in different ways.

Overall, I think that I can use this information to become a smarter learner. Different psychological and mental techniques may prove to be extremely beneficial when I teach myself a language. 

Like many Asian countries, Korea consists of a hierarchical format based on age, in which elders are given ultimate respect in terms of not only how they are treated but also how they are spoken to by those who are younger. In simple terms, when a younger person is talking to an elder, he or she must speak using “요” (“yo”) at the end of every sentence as an indication for politeness and formal speech. “존댓말” (formal speech) is not just addressed to those who are older in age but it is also used when talking to strangers, professors, and someone who is "higher in rank" job-wise. There are exceptions, however. For example, based on a family’s rules and culture, some children may speak with parents using “반말” (informal speech) if it is permitted. “반말” is essentially used between two people if they have a relatively close relationship, such as best friends, boyfriend and girlfriend, and etc. When an older person is speaking with a younger person, the older person is allowed to automatically speak in “반말” to the younger person while the younger person must speak in “존댓말” to the elder unless he or she is permitted to “lower his/her speech” to the informal style.

I have grown up with the Korean language and culture all my life since my parents are both from Korea. But while I did grow up learning the elementary parts of the Korean language, such as how to read and write simple sentences and how to speak informally and formally, my passion to become better in Korean only truly began when I got older and I realized my Korean was becoming less and less adequate for my age. I became more interested in the Korean culture when my older brother introduced me to my first Korean song, “Wedding Dress” by Taeyang that is still to this day, one of my favorites. As I got more into K-pop I quickly discovered other Korean entertainment as well such as Korean dramas.

Before my senior year of high school, my mother had promised for years that we would be visit Korea the summer after I graduated. I patiently waited and waited with this trip in mind, since the only other time I visited Korea was when I was five years old. Unfortunately, when the time came around we were suddenly unable to go due to complications. So as I began my first year at UR last semester, and learned that there was actually no Korean class but instead an independent study option, I immediately decided that learning independently was better than keeping my Korean skills at an elementary status. Through this program, I am hoping to become proficient enough in Korean to carry on a conversation with any person (elder, friend, stranger, etc.) while also improving my reading and writing skills, expanding my vocabulary, and gaining more knowledge of Korea’s history and culture.

To be honest, I don’t really like learning from online sources because prolonged hours in front of a computer screen hurts my eyes. Also, my past language study has been primarily textbook- and print-based so I’m used to offline studying. However, I’m willing to give it a try. I looked through Mango Languages and it seems to offer very basic and practical Korean lessons, which I appreciate as a beginner but unfortunately it seems that I’m only able to access a limited number of lessons, so I don’t think I’ll use Mango too often beyond the first couple lessons. Diigo seems surprisingly useful: it’s a nice place to store any potentially informative Korean study and culture websites I come across on the Internet. BYKI is more comprehensive than Mango and arranges useful vocabulary words into lists, which makes it super easy to plan out lesson times. Overall, I think I’ll use Diigo most; Mango and BYKI will be nice transitions after I learn Hangul.

I recently purchased a Korean self-study book called Korean Made Simple by Billy Go. It appears to be a holy grail book for a lot of Korean self-learners and it received high review marks on Amazon, so I thought ‘Why not give it a shot’? I think that book accompanied with a high-quality Korean dictionary will be a good start. I’ve started learning Hangul because I was advised by my Korean friend that it’s a wise first step if I really want to understand the language in the long term, and I do. And based on my past experiences in education, I want to try my best to avoid leaving gaps in my learning because it will make learning the advanced material a lot easier. So, Hangul first.

My plan for the week:

Task 1: Learn Hangul (~3-5 days)

Task 2: Study basic everyday phrases (using Hangul, no Romanization) via Mango and BYKI (daily)

Task 3: Do Chapter 1 of Korean Made Simple Book (KMS) (2 days, after learning Hangul)

Turkish is a language that puts a lot of emphasis on respect. In Turkish culture, one’s familial and social roles are extremely important, as that determines your interpersonal relations. Along with placing an emphasis on formality, Turkish talks about time monochronically. Meaning, time is viewed as tangible- something that can be wasted or saved. In the Turkish culture, it would be rude to show up late to a meeting or dinner, as time is something that can be wasted.

Last week I learned greetings, introductions, and farewells. This week my goal is to learn numbers and phrases for ordering at a restaurant. By the end of this week, I want to have the vocabulary to confidently order at a Turkish restaurant. On Friday or Saturday, I will go to Doner Kebab on Cary St. and I’ll record myself.

SDLC%20Reflection%201.docx

Esther Kwon

SLDAP 110

Learning Journal #2

I have begun working on my first language task of improving my grammar by searching for specific YouTube videos that teach me how to use basic, subject, and object particles as well as prepositions. I also searched for online references through Google and found one particular website called zkorean that provides extremely helpful grammar lessons. I have also searched for YouTube videos that would help me improve my knowledge on the Korean number systems, time, and currency while also finding other lessons that will help me learn more basic skills and vocabulary such as the proper terms when doing math in Korean. To help me consistently listen to Korean dialect I have also been listening to Korean music as well as watching Korean dramas. I believe the video I linked to Diigo for learning the Korean number systems will be extremely helpful to those who have never learned them before.

These three articles talk about learning languages in science and brain aspects. It is very interesting to know that for right handed people, left hemisphere is found to be dominant in analytical tasks, calculation and logical organizations while the right is dominant in perception and creativity. Moreover, tough slip is not random but explicable by reference to certain basic constraints. This article explains many phenomenons happened for a learner to learn a language and tries to use science knowledge to explain. The another two articles, which are discussing about meaning analysis, are more valuable for me to shape the language learning process. For example, one of the articles mentions that different language "parcel out" the word in different ways. In English, there is no single word representing mother's brother or mother's sister. But in Chinese, there are different words to express the notion of mother's brothers or sisters.  I am also interested in knowing whether Korean has the words to express this family relationships or not. In addition, the collocations idea in the third article is also interesting. In English, when we see the the blond, we will strong relate it to hair.According to the article, collocation differs greatly in languages and makes us difficult to master a foreign language. Therefore, I look forward to know the collocations in Korean and how they are different from that in English and Chinese. 

There are various resources on reserve and the open shelves of the Global Studio for Korean including the Korean building blocks and workbooks. The building blocks would be a fun way to learn different words in Korean in order to expand my vocabulary. The workbooks would be useful to practice grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary. By using both of these resources, it will provide me with a fun and practical way of learning Korean.

On my Diigo group I shared three resources:

http://www.rocketlanguages.com/korean/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vntyHChognQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7qVwQk149w

These three sources along with BYKI and Mango Languages provide so much information on vocabulary and on how to pronounce the words. They are very helpful because they all allow you to listen to the word over and over again, and see how it is spelled. The "rocketlanguages" resource link also allows you to record yourself which is great because it helps me listen to my pronunciation of the words or sentences, so i know if i am doing it right or if i need to improve. They also all show you the different types of greetings used in Korean, formal and informal. Overall, all these resources are very helpful, and thus far I have not found a weakness in any of them. They will all be used to enhance my knowledge in Korean.

Finally, I have began to work on my first language task by watching a YouTube video on useful Korean phrases that are life survival language phrases. I also have practiced recording myself, and talking to my Korean friends using these phrases in order to improve my pronunciation and engrave what I learned. 

Interpersonal Communication:

I want to be able to use simple sentences and ask and answer questions in everyday conversation.

Presentational Speaking:

I would like to be able to give a short presentation (3-5 minutes) on a chosen topic, without hesitating or making grammatical errors.

Presentational Writing:

N/A

Interpretive Listening:

I want to be able to completely understand simple sentences and understand the main idea in a presentation (whether that be religious, academic, or something else).

Interpretive Reading:

N/A

Learning Calendar:

Weeks 3/4: Brush up on older vocabulary and learn more religious vocabulary.

Weeks 4/5: Focus on speaking in complete sentences and answering questions that do not just involve a “yes” or “no”.

Weeks 6/7: Learn more religious vocabulary and be able to talk about the weather and the seasons.

Weeks 8/9: Practice asking questions (correct words, facial expressions, etc…) and answering them.

Weeks 10/11: Practice speaking about a certain topic in ASL for a few minutes, instead of just having a casual conversation.

Weeks 12/13: Continue to speak in complete sentences and begin moving on to more complex sentences and questions.

(I’m planning on continuing to learn ASL even after I graduate, so that’s why the last few weeks are focusing on more complex sentences, instead of just practicing what I already know.)

After doing the readings, this knowledge helped me shape my language learning process because now I know that right-handed people have a dominant left hemisphere that is in charge mainly with language. When producing a speech its important to know how the brain processes the information, and that the brain does not issue motor commands one segment at a time. The "tongue slips" was interesting because it further explains the neurological processes of the brain regarding speech. Furthermore, knowing that different languages talk about the world in different ways helps shape my language learning experience because now I can better understand that the relationship between words and entities or concepts is all arbitrary since people see things differently than I do; thus, the words they use have different senses than how I would use them. The interaction between words and sentence structure is what conveys our 'sense of sense,' and this is important to know because words only make sense when they are used in a sentence. Therefore, it is important to know the sentence structure when learning a language in order to make sense of words because words in isolation can have many different meanings. Moreover, collocations is important because they are links between lexemes made by all who speak a language and they differ between languages. Also lexemes have sense relationships which include synonyms, antonyms, hyponymy, and incompatibility which help shape my language learning process because they help me with semantic analysis.