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This diction was from a book from the Global Studios, Complete Bengali, Chapter 19 “Health and diet.” It was interview style, like many passages in the book. Clearly, this is much longer than the last diction. I keep surprising myself with how much I am able to do. At this point, I think I am set with the basics and need to push myself towards learning more conjuncts. I think reading will help with that so I should tackle larger pieces of passages and so on. This passage actually did have more conjuncts, but they were not very hard or complicated so it ended up being fine. I've pretty much mastered the "k + t" conjunct.
For my fourth artifact I attempted to translate a Dari news broadcast; which you can watch here. Of course, given that I am not entirely fluent in Dari, this is a rather rough synopsis of what the broadcast was discussing:
(0:00-0:11)
South Sudanese president Salva Kiir Mavardit discuss fighting in the region and imposes a curfew in Juba
(0:12-0:18)
EU leaders meet to discuss the situation in Ukraine
(0:19-0:27)
Unseasonably cold weather has created issues in Syria
(0:28-0:37)
Chile elects its president
(0:38-0:47)
I had some difficulty translating this, but I believe it is about a theater or production in what appears to be Russia
My primary goal for this semester was to learn more grammar and practice speaking with my TA. We used an intermediate book and throughout the semester we have covered about half of the book. I personally did not believe that we would be able to cover so much in such a short period of time. Last semester I learned basic grammar rules, but this semester I feel that we got much deeper into the grammar which made me more comfortable using the language and enable me to express myself more fluently. I am definitely happy with my progress and with how much I have accomplished this semester. During this semester, I read several Turkish books that Miss Hanife gave to me, which improved my vocabulary and also helped me pronounce words more clearly. I would read out loud in front of my TA and then she asked me some questions about what I read to see how much I could understand. This kind of activity helped me expand my vocabulary. We also played some games in Turkish but above all, I was assigned a lot of homework such as reading small paragraphs and summarizing them or writing about a topic of my choice. Also, every week we spent about half an hour speaking in Turkish. I would choose a topic, and then I would express my opinion about that topic in Turkish to the best of my ability. Also, every week I would have to read Turkish news, and pick an article and then me and Miss Hanife would discuss it. Such activities improved my Turkish and made me more comfortable speaking in Turkish. Comparing how much I know now to how little I knew in the beginning, I am really happy that I made so much progress and I am looking forward to improving my Turkish even more next semester.
What I would like to be able to do:
- 1. Solidly read and understand the letters of the alphabet
To meet this goal, I am going to go over the alphabet multiple times. I am also going to use the blocks and magnetic letters from the global studio to have a tangible way to practice the alphabet.
- 2. Solidly read and understand the system of vowels
To meet this goal, I will write and practice saying the vowels out loud over and over again. I think repetition is a great way to learn and since there are no good learning tools for the vowels, I will use my voice as a learning tool.
- 3. Have an accurate pronunciation of said letters and vowels
This is a learning goal on which I will need Emily's help. Speaking correctly is very important to me and I want to be sure that I am doing that. Emily's help will ensure that what I am learning, I am learning correctly.
- 4. Make introductory conversation in Hebrew (introduce myself, ask how someone is, etc.)
For this learning goal, Emily, Sarah and I will converse regularly. I think consistent conversation will be the most helpful tool here, for it will help us to have constant practice and ensure that Emily is teaching us what we want to learn.
- 5. Talk about my family
I want to learn how to say the words for family members. I know a couple of them (aba is father, ema is mother) but I would like to become more familiar with them. I will do this by using flashcards and repetition.
- 6. Count to 10
I already know how to count to 10, so this should be an easy learning goal, but I need to brush up and make sure that I have correct pronunciation because it has been a while, so I will make sure I am doing this goal with Emily so she can supervise me.
- 7. Continue with my knowledge of the Israeli army/increase military vocabulary
For this learning goal, I want to have a long conversation with Emily about the culture of the military in Israel, and I will write down some of the vocabulary that she uses and then make flashcards and use repetition to memorize/engrain it in my head.
- 8. Converse with my Israeli friend using some Hebrew (have a conversation not all in English)
This is not a goal that I can practice during the semester, it is my end of the semester goal. Hopefully I will achieve this, because it is really important to me.
- 9. Listen to a news clip or a YouTube video and recognize words and/or phrases
This is also a goal that I cannot practice during the semester (well I can, but it is more a marker of my success at the end of the semester). I will, however, continue to listen to Hebrew songs and news clips throughout the semester to increase my familiarity with the language to make sure that I can achieve this goal at the end of the semester!
How well did I meet these goals:
- 1. I definitely achieved this goal. Brushing up on my alphabet skills was much easier than I expected. I remembered all of the letters and their sounds within the first week, and my reading (using the letters, obviously) was much more fluent and easy than I thought it would be.
- 2. This was also an easy goal for me to achieve. It was a little bit more difficult to re-learn the vowels than it was to re-learn the letters, but it came back easily and now I remember all of them and can recognize any and all of the sounds.
- 3. My pronunciation, I think, is pretty good. Emily seemed to think it was good and I know I improved on it throughout the semester so I feel good about my progress. Hebrew is difficult because there are a lot of letters that make similar sounds, and there are sounds (like the throaty ch) that don't exist in english, but overall I feel confident about my pronunciation and I think I achieved this goal.
- 4. I believe I did kind of achieve this goal. I know how to say how are you, what's up, my name is, all of the things that are necessary to initiate small talk. Next semester, when I go further in this class, I plan on continuing in this sector much more. But I did achieve the goal I set for myself this semester.
- 5. I somewhat achieved this goal. I did not memorize the words for family, however we spent a week or two discussing our families and their structures and how family works in Israel vs. the US so I think that if the goal was to learn about family, I achieved that.
- 6. I achieved my goal of remembering/re-learning how to count to 10. This was something that I remember fondly from my childhood and I wanted to do it again to show myself that I have come full circle, and I was definitely successful in this.
- 7. This was my favorite goal that I achieved. I have a special interest in the Israeli military and so to learn some of the basic words to use to know how to talk about it was just great. I know how to say army (tsavah) and base (basees) and many other words, and this is a part of my Hebrew vocabulary that I really value.
- 8. This is my other favorite goal that I achieved. It is so special to me to be able to converse with Omer in Hebrew. We don't say much, but even saying "ma nishma" (what's up) or talking about his nightmares from being in the army in Hebrew is just a great great thing for me. It makes me feel like we have a more equal relationship and I am so so excited for this!
- 9. It is so cool to have achieved this goal! I love listening to a song or looking at an Israeli newspaper and recognizing a word that I hear or see. This is the ultimate goal, I think - to be able to immerse yourself in culture and be successful. I am starting to be able to do things that normal Hebrew speakers do, and I can understand them! And that makes me feel so successful.
Final Pres. Notes and Bibliography
Hebrew Presentation: IDF (Keynote)
Hebrew Presentation: IDF (Powerpoint)
Note: the presentation will work better in Keynote if you can see it on your computer, but if not, powerpoint is fine!
A copy of my learning plan with the self-assessment portion filled out is attached below:
I really enjoyed getting to spend some time this semester learning more about sports and its role in Afghan culture. Having grown up in the United States, where sports forms such a large aspect of the nation's culture, it was interesting to see how sports are perceived in Afghanistan. I also chose to pursue the topic, aside from my own interest in sports, as I believe that sports are one of the few truly global activities. Ultimately, soccer is the same whether you are in Afghanistan, Brazil or the U.S.
Whether it was learning more about Afghanistan's physically mind-boggling national sport, buzkashi, or the nation's intermittent participation in the Summer Olympics, I was able to touch upon a lot of aspects of Afghan culture that extended beyond sports. As a result, this realization pushed me towards a cultural project that not only focused on sports but the underlying drivers that determined the way different sports were perceived in Afghanistan. Therefore, after months of pondering the role of sports in Afghanistan, I decided to write about how the Taliban influenced sports in Afghanistan and what has changed in the nation's sports culture after the Taliban's fall. Learning about sports in Afghanistan truly exposed me to social and, even more so, political aspects of Afghanistan that I had not previously thought I would be encountering when researching a topic so seemingly innocuous. Nonetheless, I am quite happy that I chose to spend my semester learning about the impact sports has had in Afghanistan as I found out a lot more about the nation's culture through a very interesting lens. That said, to get a better understanding of my findings, refer to my cultural project.
Attached below is a PDF copy of my cultural project entitled "Overcoming the Taliban: A Look at Sports in Afghanistan." For reference, my sources and the vocabulary I used can be found within the project.
Final Blog Post: IDF
The Israeli Defense Force was created shortly after the creation of the state in 1949. The draft applies to all citizens who are 18 and not exempt. New recruits are required to pass an exam and then go through 6 months of training. Before beginning training all Israeli soldiers are required to go to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. This is supposed to remind people why being a part of the IDF is so important. Getting into the Special Forces or becoming a spy is very competitive and is very honorable. Deferment is given to those who have not yet completed high school. Exemptions are given to mentally ill, pacifists (as of 2002), and orthodox Jews who are currently studying. There is currently a huge debate if studying Judaism should be a valid excuse not to serve in the army. Something fairly surprising is that people of the Druze community (Druze is a religion you can only be born into – millions of Druze people live in the north of Israel and proudly serve in the IDF.
Serving in the army drastically changes their higher education system. After high school all citizens will serve in the army for 2 to 3 years (2 for females, 3 for males). After they finish their service they will live at home with their parents and work a simple job, like being a waitress or waiter, to save up money for a year or two. After they save up enough money they will travel for a period of time (anywhere from 6 months to 2 years). Most people travel around Southeast Asia because it is not expensive. Then after traveling they will go to a university where they can go directly into their specialization (medical school, law school, etc.).
When serving in the army all of the soldiers live on the base and are allowed to come home infrequently. They normally go home for the Sabbath, Friday and Saturday. This can constrict many of their social lives because the one night they are able to go out and socialize is Shabbat; in Judaism Shabbat is a time for rest and is Friday evening through Saturday evening. So anyone who strictly observes Judaism will stay home and rest on Friday nights. Life on the base can be very fun; most people are between the ages of 18 to 22. There are also many different types of jobs people can do in the army. A family friend of mine is the “party planner” for her unit of 300 people. She organizes social gatherings and makes sure all of the soldiers are as happy and healthy as possible. On the battlefield officers take charge and lead by example. Citizens continue to serve in the army reserves for one month a year for about 40 years. From Israelis I have spoken to about this, they say it is a great break from their daily lives and fun to be in a different environment for a short period of time.
The majority of the Israeli population supports the IDF. Due to Israel’s geographical location they feel having a draft is necessary. It is also something people can bring up in small talk when getting to know someone and many people find common ground with others through their experiences. In interviews it is asked about all of the time. The army is part of the daily life in Israel, soldiers are stationed all around the country and do not only stay on their bases but also are around in the communities. When I was in Israel a couple of years ago I was taking a train and sitting across from a girl my age that was holding a huge gun. I was shocked but no one else even seemed to notice, seeing soldiers around carrying guns is part of everyday life.
American Jews are also very proud of the IDF; when Jewish American young adults go to Israel most people come back with an IDF t-shirt. Many young Jews around the world experience Israel for the first time through a trip call Birthright, or Taglit in Hebrew. Birthright is a free 10-day trip to Israel to any Jews between the ages of 18 and 26 around the world. There are always at least 2 Israel soldiers on every trip and it is very competitive to get those spots because all of the soldiers want to come on these trips. It is a good chance for Israelis to bond with other Jewish people their age around the world and creates long lasting friendships.
I wanted to switch gears a bit with my fourth cultural post and discuss something that was not related to sports, despite that topic being the center of my cultural project. In just a few months, April 5, 2014 to be precise, Afghanistan will be electing its next president. This should be an interesting election as incumbent president Hamid Karzai, who entered office on December 22, 2001, will be ineligible to run as he has reached his term limit. Therefore, Afghanistan will be under new leadership for the first time for well over a decade. Likewise, the timing of the election also coincides with the United States' extensive withdrawal plan that is slated to occur sometime in 2014. There are 11 candidates that are competing for the presidency, including Hamid Karzai's brother Qayoum Karzai; the ballot was finalized in November and can be read here. Notably, there were originally 27 candidates who were vying for the presidency, however, 16 were disqualified for various reasons. Recent polling has indicated that Abdullah Abdullah is the election's current front-runner. Abdullah, a doctor who used to be the nation's Minister of Foreign Affairs, was Karzai's closest competitor in the Afghanistan's 2009 presidential election.
An interesting topic to follow heading into the election surrounds relations between Karzai, as he exits office, and the United States. Karzai and Secretary of State John Kerry had originally agreed to signing a bilateral security agreement that would ensure that several thousand U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan even after the planned withdrawals in 2014. In an interesting turn of events, Karzai has claimed that he does not want to sign the agreement, and would rather have the next president sign the agreement. It is difficult to understand Karzai's rationale as the agreement had been in talks for over a year - some foreign affairs experts suggest that Karzai may want more leverage in negotiations as he winds down his presidency. Given the recent developments surrounding Karzai and the U.S., the disqualification of candidates and the timing of the U.S.'s exit, this election should prove to be not only very interesting, but also pivotal in shaping that direction that Afghanistan is headed in, at least for the near-term.
The following articles add some more context to the discussion:
"Afghan Election Race Kicks Off" (WSJ)
"US Organization Optimistic on Afghan Elections" (AP)
"How will Afghanistan election affect U.S. interests?" (USA Today)
"U.S. urges Karzai to sign Afghan pact before Afghan elections" (PBS)
Response to reading "Bilinguals are smarter" NYT.
I definitely agree that bilingual people are smarter people. Bilinguals are people who understand and think in two different languages. It makes sense that their mental abilities are expanded, because there is much complexity behind managing oneself within two languages. I have also heard that it is easier for bilingual people to learn new languages because they already have the mental ability to comprehend the differences between languages. The brain is a muscle that needs training, and those who are able to speak more than one language are constantly training their mind to switch between two different modes. I am personally very grateful that I have been brought up to be a bilingual person with english and spanish. I hope to soon become trilingual with Hindi! If being bilingual makes you smarter, I can only imagine what being trilingual makes you!
Read: "Tribe Revives Language on Verge of Extinction" NYT.
This was a fascinating article. It was interesting to read about another language that is on the verge of extinction. It is actually a very sad thought to think that a language can just die like that. I can relate. The type of Indian that I am - Sindhi - has its own language, called Sindhi. However, the language is quickly dying out with my generation. My grandparents and their generation of Sindhis all speak it very fluently. My parents and aunts and uncles and others in that generation are also capable of speaking it, but they dont speak it very often. Now, in my generation, I have heard Sindhi spoken amongst my parents and my grandparents but normally when speaking in an Indian language, Indians just speak Hindi. I am currently trying to learn how to speak Hindi because it is important to me to be able to converse with other Indians in Hindi. However, because not many people speak Sindhi, it is not as useful to learn that language. My personal goal is to first learn Hindi, and then learn how to speak Sindhi, because I think it is very important to keep the language alive. I worry that not many others in my generation realize the importance behind their learning Sindhi. When a language dies, along with it dies the identity of a whole people. A language is a very important factor when defining a people, and to think that a language could just disappear forever is a very scary thought indeed. I hope that I can learn Sindhi and pass it on to my children when the time comes!
Reflect on how knowing a language's history can help you learn the language.
Knowing the language's history definitely helps one in learning the language because it helps you better understand the origin of the language and the words that you are speaking. It helps put the language you are learning in context. When learning the history behind Hindi, I learned that Hindi actually originated from the language Urdu (the language commonly spoken by Pakistanis). This actually helped me because a lot of things made more sense knowing this. It is for this reason that Pakistanis and Indians dont have as much trouble conversing with one another. Because the two languages are essentially the same with a few random different words.
When I spoke to my language partner about this, she confirmed it. She related it to the desi community on the Richmond campus. She told me that it is for this reason that the Pakistanis at UofR and the Indians at UofR are always speaking in Hindi because the Pakistanis can understand Hindi perfectly well. Urdu, she told me, is just like Hindi, there are just a few words that are different.
Knowing the history of a language can help in many ways. It can help one understand why people converse in the ways that they do. It can help one understand why the words and the script are the way they are. But it can also help one truly appreciate the language and the culture they are learning. It helps one gain a deeper understanding for the culture they are trying to enter by learning the language.
Reflect on "Communicative Competence".
While this entire chapter was definitely very interesting, the part that interested me the most was when the author said, "What are the rules that govern our conversations? How do we get someone's attention? How do we initiate topics? Terminate topics? Avoid topics? How does a person interrupt, correct, or seek clarification? These questions relate to an area of linguistic competence possessed by every adult native speaker of a language, yet few foreign language curricula traditionally deal with these important aspects of CC [Communicative Competence]" (page 228).
Thinking about this, I completely agree with this! It is so true! There are certain aspects of a language that one really only knows if they are native speakers. This doesn't even only refer to slang. There are many phrases and ways in using certain sentences that reflect certain things only native people understand. In this way, it could be very easy for a foreign speaker to innocently insult native speakers because they don't know any better. For this reason, it is very important to also learn about the culture that relates to the language you are learning. I recently learned (I have not verified and do not know if it is actually true) that it is considered rude in China to say please and thank you to a waiter. Therefore, when the Chinese people come to the United States, they are not used to saying please and thank you. However, in the United States it is considered rude not to say please and thank you.
An interesting article that Professor Grove shared with our class spoke about "Huh" being the only universal word. "Huh" tends to mean basically the same thing in every language. This was a fascinating article to read and reflect on. It is true, there are not many universal words and expressions, which puts additional barriers between people of different cultures, even when they have begun learning similar languages.
Reflect on "Culture Shock"
I was having trouble viewing this video online so I will just talk about my experience with culture shock in general. I have never actually experienced complete culture shock despite all the traveling I have been fortunate enough to complete in my life. I think this is because I try and educate myself on the place I am going to before I go. I try and prepare myself for what is to come. Something I have experienced, however, is having international friends who are not used to the American ways and therefore have trouble with certain things. Whether it be with their english pronunciations, or just the American culture, it is interesting to hang out with international people and get their perspective on the American people. One thing that amazed them is the big portions given at restaurants in this country. Many internationals have mentioned that they don't know how people finish their plates! They are also amazed by the free water. I have many Indian international friends who are uncomfortable drinking from the tap here in the United States despite knowing that the water is very much clean. This is because they are used to having to be careful with the tap water in India. In India, one has to pre-boil tap water, and then put it in the fridge to drink later. It's interesting because when I am with Indians here in the United States, they almost always, ask for no ice in their drinking water, because in India people dont eat ice. Whereas when I am with Americans, they sometimes ask for extra ice! There are so many cultural differences between people, even in the smallest ways, if you pay close attention, they are really fun and interesting to notice!
