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After viewing the Culture Shock video in class last week, I couldn't help but reflect on my own experiences traveling abroad and dealing with culture shock. The video discussed the challenges that come with living somewhere new, especially the first two weeks of living there. I could relate to this statement when thinking back to my first two weeks living in Prague. I remember feeling very lost and alone and unsure of myself. I was experiencing a new language, a new location, and a new culture. Tasks that used to be so simple at home, such as going to the supermarket, always seemed to be a lot more effort and tiring. The way people checked out after shopping was confusing to me and I always felt like the woman checking me out was yelling at me for doing something wrong. Instead of getting frustrated by the situation, I tried to understand the differences in culture and how I could adjust my ways to fit into the Czech culture more.

Something that stood out to me during the movie was how many of the students being interviewed talked about how much harder the schooling is in America. I can understand how this is absolutely a huge challenge for a student studying abroad here. When I was in Europe, I found that I only really needed to do my work at the end of the semester for finals. There was no homework or exams throughout the semester, rather just at the end of the term. This would be a huge challenge for someone to come to the US and have homework, projects, and exams each week!

Finally, I found the idea of flight vs. fight to resonate quite well with me. The person in the video described flight as “I will go home in X days” versus fight as “I will resist the urge to want to leave.” One of my friends studied abroad in Hong Kong last year. She was miserable the whole time and I think that is because she was unable to embrace the culture differences and was instead focused on counting down the days until she would be back in the US. I think this is negative mentality to have while living in another country. Whenever I would feel homesick abroad, I never thought about leaving. I embraced the cultural differences and enjoyed learning about a new country. To me, different does not equal wrong.

Third Cultural Post: Learning how to read the time

Being able to read the time is a necessity in the business world and this cultural post is written to teach how to read it.

In order to read the time correctly you will have to learn the two different set of numbers used in Korean: one for the hours and one for the minutes.

KoreanTime_CulturalPost3.jpg

This week we met to talk about the quizzes we took and about articles we read, translated, and summarized (in Swedish). Both of these activities were really productive. In terms of the quizzes it was helpful to go back and see where I had been wrong about certain grammar rules and where I needed to learn new words/rules. She had us translate sentences into Swedish which was neat because up until that point I hadn't considered how you would translate certain question words or what the rules were in Swedish for when you have two verbs in a row (do you conjugate the second verb!?). I also was able to make note of where I needed more practice and plan on adding words/rules to my study list.

Next we went over 1-3 articles that we had read in Swedish and then translated into English and then summarized in Swedish. This was helpful because it forced me to really think about what the article was saying because I had to be switching back and forth. It taught me that I knew a lot of words already and that I still have a lot more to learn. The articles ranged for me-- I understood almost all of one and found it easy because I already knew about the story in English. And then the others were progressively harder for me to understand and then summarize in Swedish. Even in my summaries I learned things in Swedish that I didn't know. Overall this was a helpful exercise but still overwhelming to think of all that I still don't know!

So far I have found most enjoyment in reading hebrew and writing hebrew. In terms of speaking, I am having trouble speaking confidently. I know this will come with practice, but right now that is a frustration of mine. I have enjoyed learning the vocabulary of my choosing and have enjoyed practicing this on my own and also with Michelle. I have found that we are at a similar level of speaking and understanding and it has been nice working with her.

We recently learned the vocabulary of questions words. Although this would be helpful for an artifact about questions on identity, I have decided to chose an artifact of my family vocabulary instead. I think it is important for me to know the questions words, so we learned them from Emily. That being said, I think I would use my family vocabulary more so I am focusing on mastering that. 

I have found Rosetta Stone and YouTube to be the most helpful when trying to learn the question words and learn more about asking about identity. I have relied on these resources to master my pronunciation of these questions. I am finding myself a bit behind in terms of what I have learned so far this semester and so I am continuously adjusting my learning plan.

Here is a recording of me saying the family vocabulary in which I learned.

My family, Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Me, Older (M), and Older (F)

Artifact%202.band.zip

Here is one of the learning task that I've been working on: the age in Korean.

In order to talk about the age, the number used are different from the ones used when talking about money and time.

There is a special rule when used the number 1, 2, 3 and 4 that I have listed after the explanation of how to write your age. In the example attached, the first phrase means " I am 22 years old", you can substitute the signs on the first line with the other numbers written below to be able to write your age in Korean.

Artifact2_AgeKorean.jpg

As I watched the Culture Shock video, I could definitely relate to a lot of the comments as well as understand and empathize with the students. Although I grew up in the United States, coming from a South Asian background, I had a few similar experiences. Because American culture is quite different from South Asian culture, I had to learn to find the balance of both cultures as well as learn to adapt to different customs and/or mannerisms that were unique to each culture.

Also, I have several International friends who have told me many stories that are similar to the ones in the video. International students undergo several challenges as they live and study abroad. One thing that was mentioned in the video as well as my peers have commented about is how Americans greet each other in passing. Usually, Americans say “Hey, what’s up?” or “Hey, how are you?” yet they don’t actually expect a complete response to this question. Many international students find this frustrating and strange. Why would someone ask you how you are if they aren’t going to stop and hear what you have to say?

The video also talks about how students initially experience loneliness or homesickness when they first encounter culture shock. This was also mentioned in the reading for this week. We experience culture shock in a series of stages. First, we are amazed and excited about our new environment. However, we then may begin to feel lonely and may seek out resources to help ease the transition. Being an International student is definitely not easy. Students are placed out of their comfort zone and are forced to take risks and experience new things. It takes a while to adapt to the customs of the home country.

Watching the video also made me reflect on my abroad experience this past summer in Spain. When I first arrived, I wanted to see everything, do everything, and meet everyone! However, after a while I started to feel out of my comfort zone a little as I had to put in the extra effort to speak in Spanish and meet the natives. If I wanted to get the most out of my experience, I knew that I had to put in more on my part. It is also important to understand cultural differences instead of quickly becoming frustrated.

While watching the Culture Shock video during Tuesday's class, I found myself nodding along throughout at least third of video. It resonated a lot with me. As an international student, I could relate to a lot of things that were mentioned. 

I always thought of culture shock as something that would literally shock you, but I now realize that it's a whole process. It can take anywhere from two weeks to two semesters. Even though I grew up knowing a lot about American culture, it was still very hard for me to be 100% comfortable when I first started studying in the States. Being away from my family, speaking in a different language all day and living on my own for the first time was tough. 

No matter how much a person knows about a culture, she/he will always go through some sort of culture shock. It's inevitable. But knowledge will definitely make the transition easier. Though I don't plan on going to Pakistan any time soon, I believe knowing one another's cultures makes relationships stronger. It lessens problems that come from miss-communication and is important to know the language better. 

To my mind, the University of Richmond is quite elective. I say this refering to the application process. Besides getting all the paper work done, there were lots of other things to worry about. Since the US is very conscious about foreigners bringing in sicknesses, I faced serious issues meeting the Tuberculosis requirements. I had to spend a big amount of time investigating which institution offers the Tuberculosis Quantiferon test, yeah, I still now its name, required by the University's health department. Finally, I found out that the department of national health security only does this testing and that this test is requested once in a blue moon.

The students in the video talked about their experiences with Americans, f.i. it is not usual to say 'no' in the US. This may lead to a misunderstanding unless people are aware of it. In addition, this might be a reason why international students tend to stick together most of the time. Since they all have to deal with culture shock, they feel that they get along better having something in common. 

I found the culture shock video very interesting and even amusing some times. Being an international student, I can confirm that we internationals tend to stick together a lot. I would say this is because we know each other for longer and most of us are studying the same, business. For instance, in the spring 2014 term approximately 90% of the internationals are business majors. This is not surprising to me as I spent much time on selecting the university I want to go to in the US and I think my fellow colleagues did the same.

For myself, I put great effort in getting to know Americans better and it has been worth it. Also, this is because I am interested in lot of different activities. From what I have been told and from what I have experienced so far, the key to an American is doing something together. Activities in all kind of varieties, whether it is going to Salsa or Tango night, joining the Quidditch team or Archery club or simply attending professional events like a talk with an UR alumni CFO or Barclays manager, will certainly help making friends.

So I realized there was a flaw in my plan to practice speaking. I don't actually know if I am pronouncing the words correctly. So I need to figure out how to practice speaking by myself but actually learning the right pronunciation. I thought about google translate for a second but then I realized google probably pronounces it just as bad as myself. I think I will try to look for some videos with subtitles or something along those lines. Or maybe even skype my friends some more. I have a few friends in Iceland and Sweden who speak Swedish. Perhaps if I could some how coordinate with them to speak once a week, that could help with improvement. But I am just so gosh darn shy when it comes to speaking it. Oh well I'll figure it out.   I also went to the global studio to check out what Swedish material there was. I didn't have a lot of time to spend there but I think it could be helpful, I just really need to review the basics. As for meeting this week, we did practice speaking the sentences we prepared and asked the questions we had. I think what has really been helping me is forcing myself to spend an hour on Swedish each day and by the time I have class with Louise I have a list of questions to ask.  

A) My evaluation of my first artifact conversation is one of success! I was very pleased with my pronunciation and with my confidence in speaking. I felt comfortable introducing myself and saying where I am from. I feel as if I would be able to understand this in a conversation with someone in Israel as well which makes me very excited. I think I need to keep practicing without the words in front of me so that it becomes more natural and smoother off of my tongue. All in all, I was very pleased with artifact one.

B) I am also pleased with my progress on my learning goals for weeks 4 and 5. I have learned the vocabulary for my family from my language partner and have decided to use this for another artifact. Because family is so important to me, I thought it would be valuable for me to know these words. I can remember learning these words in Hebrew school growing up and it was a nice feeling being able to remember them after such a long time. I would say that I successfully met my learning goals of learning greetings and vocabulary about my family.

http://www.siirfm.com/anlatamiyorum-orhan-veli-kanik/ 

I have not found much enjoyment out of speaking Hebrew yet, because it is not what we have been practicing a lot, rather we have been doing more reading and writing. I think I find reading the easiest because I can recognize letters and words really easily, but hearing the sounds of a word to write them down is more frustrating to me because there are several sounds that resemble each other. For example there is more than one “t” sound, so it makes it challenging to know which one to use.

We recently learned the vocabulary for question words. I have seen some of the words like “who” and “what” in our text already so it was a bit easier.

I continue to use flashcards and byki to help me master my words. I would like to say I have really mastered more words than I have, but I continue to work at a slow, steady pace and am readjusting my expectations

I think the University of Richmond is challenging as a native English speaker and so it is three times as challenging when you have to speak, write, and listen in a foreign language. One of the challenges they mentioned was having to write essays here at the university. Most Americans are accustomed to writing analytical or argumentative papers while in other countries it is more typical to summarize the authors point. I think it would be really difficult to attempt to write an analytical paper if you've never written one before.

The video also talked about how international students often clump together because they are able to sympathize with one another. They understand how each other are feeling and the little cultural American customs that are strange or annoying they can complain about together.

The Culture Shock video made me feel a little bit bad because I feel like I haven't always taken opportunities to get to know the international students or to help them out. After watching the video I feel I can't even imagine all of the changes and challenges they are facing as they are miles away from their families. I was able to relate somewhat because of the experiences I had studying abroad in Spain and the culture shock I had there. While Spain and the US are not that different and it was only four months, there were a couple of cultural things like when people ate meals, how people showed affection for one another, and how people addressed time that stood out while I was there.

The past week, my classmates shared cultural facts about their language. A few people were absent that day, but the two presentations that stood out for me were the ones discussing Israeli same-sex marriage as well as Indian weddings.

Israeli same-sex marriage laws were interesting because even though same-sex marriage is illegal and will not be recognized in Israel, if the same-sex couple is married abroad, the Immigration Office will recognize that marriage. This is done for statistical purposes. If a same-sex marriage is performed without approval within Israel, it will not be recognized. These laws are set in place to demonstrate a separation of the Church and State as well as to avoid conflicts within Israel.

The Indian wedding presentation was also interesting to me because it was eye-opening. I learned about just how expensive Indian weddings were. Indian holds the greatest amount of billionaires in the world and their weddings often reach price ranges in the millions. The size of dowries are also a controversial topic. I learned about deaths of wives over dowries; if the husband is not satisfied with the size of the dowry that his wife's family offers, he will sometimes kill his wife, claim the dowry, and find a wealthier family to marry. Even though there is about 100,000 of these occurrences per year, it is also important to consider the population size of India. The numbers are not to be ignored, but it is also a small number ratio when compared to the Indian population. 

This has been quite a week! Last week Louise and I both discussed that we were hitting sort of a plateau in our learning because we have gone through so many different "categories" of words to learn and there is only so much grammar that comes up naturally in our sessions that we can look up/learn for reference. So we were really starting to struggle and I could even feel a slight lag in my motivation to study/practice just because we had hit a wall.

But!!! This week. Much better haha. We took a quiz on everything we have been doing this semester (occupations, prepositions, country names/nationalities, etc.) and it was the most helpful thing we have done all semester. Louise had us translate very practical question sentences into Swedish and it made me realize that there was still a lot of practical grammar issues that I had not mastered. It's one thing to know vocabulary but a whole nother thing to understand how to use verbs in the proper order and tenses in order to make one complete/perfect question/sentence. So I'm looking forward to getting that quiz back and making note of what I need to improve on.

Something else that we worked on for our next section was translating some Swedish articles into English. I know that straight translation is typically not the best way to learn a new language because you need to engage with it, reproduce it, use it in contexts, hear it, etc. But at the same time I think that because we have been taking a very varied/interdisciplinary strategy to learn Swedish up to this point that it was helpful to do some straight up translation. I was happy to see that I could understand most of an article that I read about Facebook buying WhatsApp. I made note that it was helpful in this case that I already knew this news story and therefore it took the guess work out of deciphering the article. Instead I was able to just fill in the blanks where I needed to and learned some new vocabulary and syntax rules along the way!

P.S., it's really hard to memorize prepositions and I need to look into a better way of doing it. I tried making word associations between English and Swedish to no avail. Perhaps I need to focus more on using these prepositions in their proper contexts in order to remember them in Swedish? :)

This week I attempted to learn colors, body parts, and practice greetings. As one might guess, I have not come close to mastering this new vocab lists. I think this week I learned that cramming vocabulary is not the best method or process to learn a language. Because I have failed my learning task this week (to learn these words), over the next week or two I plan on implementing some strategies we talked about in class to help me learn these words. This week I tried just learning the lists by going over them with my Hindi partner and studying flashcards. I am going to continue to go over the cards, but I am also going to implement the following strategies: 1) use either myself or my roommate and point to her arm, leg, etc. and then make a sentence with the body part like "She has two hands", and 2) I have plenty of food in my apartment, so I will practice my colors and food by identifying the name of the food and then saying what color it is. I think that implementing kinesthetic learning will aid me greatly in studying these terms.
This week I did try to find a children's song that I could learn, but I was largely unsuccessful. I knew less than 20% of the vocabulary for all the popular children's songs I found, so I decided not to learn a song this week. Hopefully, in the future I can work with my Hindi partner and learn the necessary vocabulary for a particular song, and then implement the song into my learning plan. While this week was slightly discouraging, I am excited to practice and try some new strategies.

The Class Presentations were a very fun and educating experience. I had never consciously thought about it, but the presentations made me realize how intricately connected culture and language are. Fatima's presentation demonstrated likeness among cultures with languages that are derived from similar roots (Urdu and Hindi). Nirshiee's presentation made me think hard about a deeply rooted issue in India- obsession with fairness of skin- and how us Indians do not realize what a grave problem this is developing into. Azmain's presentation gave a new perspective to my interest in the Korean pop culture, and also showed a dark side to the industry hidden behind the flashing lights and extravagant outfits. Fionna complemented Azmain and Nirshiee's presentations by talking about the popularity of plastic surgery in South Korea, especially among celebrities. Oliver's presentation made me dearly miss my country's food, and I also became aware of facts I never knew about Mumbai's 'dabba waalas'.