Blogs

Here is Azmain, Gargi, and I's presentation on the Korean language

Korean Language Understood

So I think I have made progress. This week Louise made Molly and I have a conversation about what things we did like and did like about Swedish food, and for the first time I didn't feel like I was going to faint. Mind you I still was not comfortable in any shape or form, but the fact I did get all red in the face this time is a major improvement for me. I think what gets frustrating but will get better with time and knowledge of the language is you will be trying to for a sentence to say and you just don't have the vocab to say everything you want to. So basically you start speaking Swenglish, filling in the words that you don't know in Swedish with English. I feel like this is just going to be something that will eventually get better with the more words we learn. There is no way to learn everything now.

 During weeks 9 and 10, we learned the vocabulary for fork, spoon, knife, plate, cup, etc. I originally thought these words would be interesting for an artifact in which I would draw and label a place setting.  I do not think I am going to end up doing that because the words do not have a lot of meaning for me so I’m not going to concentrate on them and would rather concentrate on family words. I think these words are useful and relevant though if for example someone were at a restaurant and needed to ask for an extra plate or a new fork. 

In the last two weeks, i have read few short stories and tried to understand it without using a dictionary or any other kind of help. Then i wrote in short sentences the summery of the stories and checked them with my language partner. We also practiced in in speaking and i tried to say the sentences that i wrote. I found out that it is really helpful if i write things down and then practice them in sayings. It helps my speaking. Talking to myself or practicing with myself does not help me very much. I have talked to my language partner to spend our sessions more on talking rather than anything doing anything else. I am looking forward to this strategy and hoping that my language partner can help more with my speaking. We will be spending our sessions practice my speaking in this and next week. I hope i can get a good result from it. 

Artifact #1

this is my second try. If you click on the link, a new page should pop up with the audio on it. I really hope this works.

History of Hindi

Learning the history of a language can be helpful because if you learn that a language developed from a certain region or spawned off of another language then you may be able to recognize some of the words. Hebrew has a particularly interesting history because it technically died and was revived. It is similar to Latin in this regard, but Latin has not been revived as a spoken language only a written one, while Hebrew is now used for written and oral purposes. The use of Hebrew as a spoken language decreased because of the persecution of Jews who stopped speaking the language and assimiliated to their new countrys’ languages.  I think learning about the revival of Hebrew motivates me to want to learn the language so that it continues to live on. When Hebrew was dying out Yiddish was a common language spoken, but now Yiddish is dying out. I love some of the Yiddish language though so I hope it makes a revival like Hebrew.

So for my final project I decided to look into depth about Sweden and how swedes interact with nature. This post I will be focusing on the festival of midsummer. So the origins of Swedish midsummer came from agrarian times in which Swedes would welcome summertime and the season of fertility. People would dress up as 'green men; and decorated their houses and farm tools with foliage and would raise maypoles to dance around. The festival being their five-week holiday by heading out to their summer homes in the country.  During Midsummer eve is always between a Friday between June 19th and 25th.Midsummer night (eve) is the lightest night of the year so it was and is considered to be a magical night and the best time to tell people's future. As usual there is a typical meal that follows in suite with a midsummer menu. Such as pickled herring, boiled new potatoes with fresh dill, sour cream and chives with some meat such as spare ribs or salmon. For desert there would be the first strawberries of summer with cream. There are many little traditions that go along with midsummer such as how young women are supposed to pick seven species of flower and lay them under their pillow and at night they will dream of their future husband. Overall it seems like a very fun time and a holiday that depends on the beauty of Swedish nature.

I finally finished the Speak Confident CDS, but now I have over 300 hundred new words to learn.. I think the thing that was most unusual but kind of helpful was that I met one on one with Louise. I really wanted to work on my speaking and it takes me a little longer to process things. I think one of the things I have figured out about me is I don't at all retain things when I just saying things in passing, I have to write it down for me to remember. For example when Louise and I were speaking I couldn't remember the world "then", and she would tell me what it was and for two seconds I would remember it. But then two seconds later I had no idea again. I think I need to take more notes during the sessions when we meet up. Im not very good at understanding quick conversations or even regular speed conversation for that matter. But slow basic conversations Im getting good at. Its kinda cool.

While I was preparing for next week's language history presentations, I stumbled upon some articles that were discussing a current problem that Urdu is facing that is very similar to what the Arabic language is facing too.Urdu is traditionally written in a Perso-Arabic script called nastaliq, a flowy and ornate and hanging script. But when rendered on the web and on smartphones and the entire gamut of digital devices at our disposal, Urdu is getting depicted in naskh, an angular and rather stodgy script that comes from Arabic. And those that don’t like it can go write in Western letters. 

This kind of information is important to know. It shows how much Urdu speakers respect their language and try hard to preserve it. It's also important to know for non-native speakers. Making sure I write in Nastaliq shows my appreciation and respect for the language as well. 

After reading Kirk Johnson’s article “Tribe Revives Language on Verge of Extinction,” I couldn't help but think about the history of the Hebrew language. Both Siletz Dee-ni and Hebrew have experienced a near death of the language and both have been brought back to life. The difference between the two stories, however, is the time periods in which the revitalization took place and the resources available during those times. One of the most powerful tools in bringing back a language is to spread it through the Internet and that is what Bud Lane, a tribe member, was working on. Through his work on the online dictionary, Lane was able to make more connections with those worldwide who speak the language. I think that it is important to recognize how useful the Internet is and the ability to use it to find others who speak such an unusual language is key. I also believe that the ability for a small tribe to revitalize their language shows their cultural strength and pride. Something I found interesting in this article is how governmental boarding schools play a big role in killing the tribal languages. I’m disappointed to know that administrators at these schools do not find it important to keep these languages alive. In conclusion, I think this article really shows the importance of using one’s resources to spread ideas.

Knowing the history of Hebrew has been helpful for me to learn the language in a few ways. Through doing research and talking to my language partner, I found out that the Hebrew language once was dead and came back to life around 1881. This is extremely impressive and very motivating for me as a Jew to want to learn the language to make sure that it never dies off again. It is hard for me to imagine or even to understand how a language can “die” and then come back to life. This has taught me how strong the culture is in Israel and the sacredness of the language. After learning more about the language’s history, I now can better understand its origins and the vast differences between male and female words. Today, Yiddish is dying out and I think that is important for the people of Israel to try and keep it alive. Learning the history of Hebrew has helped me to have a greater appreciation for the language. 

I was really interested to know some about village life and city life in Pakistan. I did some reserach as well as talked to my language partner to get some more information. So i have written a piece mostly about village in Pakistan.

Village life : 

Pakistan is predominantly a land of villages. A major portion of Pakistani Population resides in villages because agriculture is the main occupation of the Pakistani people. Today, there are more than a thousand villages in Pakistan. A Pakistani village reflects the real picture of Pakistan. A Pakistani village, as a matter of fact, is the very epitome of Pakistan's progress after the attainment of Independence . The Government of free Pakistan paid much attention to the lifting of the standard of Pakistani villagers.

A Pakistani village is still confronted with various problems ranging from the lack of education to improper sanitation. No doubt, during the last many years. much has been done to uplift Pakistani villagers, the majority of them are still afflicted by the evils like ignorance and illiteracy. A Pakistani villager is a rough diamond. He still sticks to the old superstition. customs and conventions which have become obsolete and outworn in the modern age of science and technology.

A Pakistani village, in the truest sense, is still made of mud with thatched roof and kucha compounds having unmetalled roads leading to and coming from the village. Its surroundings are green because of the crops and other vegetation. The streets are usual!) narrow and dirty with the open drainage system which gives out foul
smell. During rainy season, the entire village, because of its insanitary conditions, gives out a very foul smell.
Outside the village, there is a pond where cattle take water.

There are some big shady trees on the outskirts of the village, where village people, farmers and others, take rest during their leisure. Under these shady trees, they hold discussion, smoke and enjoy tit¬bits and talks. Some take their lunch under these trees.

Outside the village, there is also a well from where villagers draw water for drinking. The scene at the village well both in the morning and evening. A Pakistani village lacks all amenities like police station, a post office, a health centre, and a rural dispensary. 

This is recording of the vocabulary I learned for my cultural project on Hannukah.

Hannukah

Holiday

Tradition

Candles

Mannorah

Shamash

Latkes

Food

Dreidel

Blessing

Light

Artifact%203.band.zip

History plays a major role in learning the language of a given country and culture. In Korean history, its language system went through many changes to get to the state it is in now (as in all countries basically). It began with Hanja in which the Koreans borrowed many Chinese words. This progressed into Hangeul which is the current Korean alphabet. One can see how geography and cultural exchanges greatly impacted the Korean language in this way. A country’s history is literally telling you a story of what that country has undergone-wars, famine, disease, natural disasters, etc.  It tells how these events shaped the people which in turn shaped the language. Having this idea in mind helps me to learn the Korean language because I need to understand the culture and customs along with the language itself. It is an all-inclusive package; it does not make sense to learn the language without understanding the cultural context of the words and expressions. Korean history can assuredly depict why formality and respect have such a great presence in the Korean language. One only needs to do some research to see the big research and not just focus on the small details. 

It was interesting to read about new terminology such as communicative competence in the given article by H.D. Brown. Communicative competence relates to competence that enables us to convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within specific contexts. This can only be seen by observing two or more individuals communicate. This definition led to many sub-divisions and definitions and I also learned about cognitive/academic language proficiency (CALP) as well as basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS). It was amazing to learn of all of these terms which I never knew existed. I am a visual learner so having a chart that encapsulated all of these different types of competencies under the large umbrella of language competence was great on pg. 271. I appreciated learning the difference between the forms/functions of language and discourse as well. It may seem like a small detail but it struck me that discourse really is language beyond the sentence. It can entail so much more in relation to kinesics (body language) and cultural context. Essentially, saying yes in a given culture could really mean saying no, funnily enough.

In relation to cultural competence, I learned about this term in my Medical Anthropology class from last semester. It relates to one having an understanding and openness to other cultures. In my class, we learned how it is essential for health practitioners to have cultural competence as they need to be understanding of the customs and practices of other cultures. One patient may not understand what a doctor says and say OK when the doctor asks if he/she understood how much medicine he/she needs to take. Some cultures do not pay as much attention to instructions and simply may not be used to a hospital environment. Therefore there needs to be a certain level of patience and guidance in this matter. 

I found the “Culture Shock” video to be very illuminating in the way that international students and faculty perceive the reaction and transition of international students into the University of Richmond to be. This was a great way to really delve into the minds of the international students especially so that students from various universities around the world could voice their opinion on how their stay at UR was, from beginning to end.

I personally connected this video for a few reasons. First of all, I am the offspring of two immigrants-my mother was born in Mahebourg, Mauritius and my father was born in Bangkok, Thailand. Through my interactions with them, I have seen firsthand how difficult it can be to deal with issues relating to differing cultural customs and practices. Culture shock is not always an easy or simple process. Oftentimes there is a period of feeling lost or confused when one is in a completely new environment without any familiar faces. Some can adapt but some honestly do not cope well with this overall feeling of the foreign and unfamiliar.

Secondly, I am a multi-cultural pre-orientation advisor at UR. Therefore I do not interact with international students specifically but incoming first years who have multi-cultural backgrounds. They may have been born or lived in other countries but have lived in the U.S. for the majority of their lives. The advisors provide guidance for them because they also need help in their transition from high school into university life. Every student has some type of worry when they are starting this new journey into university life. Some have an idea of what to expect but international students can only learn from the media and stereotypes of Americans and the U.S. I have noticed that the international students at UR can be open as well as exclusive. It honestly depends on the students themselves. During my junior year, I made many great, international friends from Brazil, and China who I still keep in contact with. Yet this year I see more international students clumping together and not interacting as much with the UR students from the U.S. This was an interesting and informative video that was engaging. I would like for this video to be expanded upon even more-a sequel should definitely be in the works!  

Post Learning Journal Entry # 5:

How many new words have you learned? Do you have realistic goals?

I have learned about 30 words fairly well, I would say. This list also includes common phrases.

Here are some of the words/phrases I have learned thus far and have memorized.

1)      Hello=an nyong ha sae yo (formal) &anyoung (informal)

2)      Goodbye=an nyong hee gah sae yo (formal) & anyoung (informal)

3)      Nice to meet you=Man na seo ban gab seub ni da

4)      Good morning (informal)=Joh ohn ah chim

5)      Older brother (for guy, to older guy)=hyung

6)      Older sister (for guy, to older girl)=nuna

7)      Older brother (for girl, to older guy)=oppa

8)      Older sister (for girl, to older girl)=unni

9)      Younger person= dongseng

10)   I am sorry=Jwai song hap nee da

I have also learned the basics of how to order food with my language partner. I would like to create an artifact on how to order food with another peer who is learning Korean. I believe that my goals are realistic. My goals relate to common situations that a tourist would be in when going to another country: greeting others, getting directions, ordering food, etc. My vocabulary preferences will relate to these kinds of situations. Therefore I am not necessarily looking for a specific number to learn by the end of semester. I would just like to know the words necessary for specific occasions.