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Knowing the history of Hebrew is helping me learn the language in a few ways. The first way being that it makes me feel proud of my people and motivates me to learn the language. Hebrew is the only language to be revived from the dead and come back strong; it has also helped create the state of Israel and a home for the Jewish people. Having a language is very important to having a strong country and culture. The second reason why this knowledge is helping me learn Hebrew is because I understand its origins better and can now understand why certain things within the language are the way they are. Right now Yiddish is dying out and some of the words are used in colloquial Hebrew which is important to be able to understand. Hebrew is a language that is always fighting for its place in the world and it is essential to keep it growing strong. 

Power Point Presentation: The History of the Hebrew Language

Last week we were talking about Swedish culture in terms of eating habits and general manners/etiquette. When I am with the Anderssons I notice that they hold their knives with their right hands and eat with their fork in their left hands whereas I, as an American, tend to cut with my right hand and then put down my knife and then pick up my fork in my right hand to eat. Also, when I drink wine with the Anderssons I notice that they all hold their wine glasses from the stem while I tend to choke the glass with my whole palm. My language partner was telling me the other day that it is a tradition that stems from the vikings that you cannot eat with your other hand in your lap because the vikings took that as a sign that you could be holding a knife in the other hand and attack your fellow eater during a meal. Although obviously I am not going to attack my Swedish friends, they still value that you not hold your hand in your lap while you eat. I am confident, however, that the Anderssons are impressed enough by me (and contrary to popular belief Americans might eat differently but we still don't eat like dogs) that they might notice that I hold my wine glass differently but that they won't judge me for it.

Here is an interesting article about manners in Sweden:

http://www.etiquettescholar.com/dining_etiquette/table-etiquette/europe-w_table_manners/swedish.html

Although some of these pointers seem to be unique to Sweden or Scandanavia, I think for the most part they are basic etiquette tips that apply to any country. For instance it just makes good sense that at a business lunch you would wait for your hosting party to bring up business before jumping right in, lest you seem rude as a guest. Also, the basic table manners like passing to the left or keeping the salt and pepper together as a pair seems to make good sense too.

This past week was challenging for me because we are getting to the point where we know so many words that it's hard to remember them all! We had a quiz this past Wednesday and although I did well I felt like there were so many combinations of words that Louise used on the quiz that I wasn't familiar with. That said, at the same time she purporsefully put trick words on the quiz that she thought we would be able to guess intruitively. For instance, the word "visp" was on the quiz and I knew that it was probably just "whisp". There are also many different ways to say different kinds of beef/meat in Swedish (just like in English) so I thought it was challenging when she put "oxkött" on the quiz (meaning beef meat as opposed to a different kind of meat) when the word she had taught us for beef was "nött". But, I guess now I know two different ways to identify cow meat! We also went through last week all different parts of the body and words for different clothing items. Again, this was just a lot of information to process but I think with some flash cards and thinking rationally about the cognates and using the words in context I will be able to commit them to memory. Overall I'm proud of how far we have come as we approach the end of the semester.

Tribe revives language on verge of extinction.

The story of a language that was recognized as dead by the United States and that survived due to the creation of a dictionary is extraordinary. From the article can be addressed several key points. The first is that one should not underestimate the power of words. Words represent the bricks that construct the immensity of a language, and to a further extent, to a culture. The tribe mentioned in the article could be mainly identified by the use of their own language which distinguished themselves from any other tribes. In other words, language constitutes an important part of their identity.

The second important point of the article, to me, is that writing is crucial and fundamental to the survival of a culture. What we know from the culture of our ancestors thousands of years ago mainly come from the manuscripts, papyrus and texts of the time. Because writings can be spread and learned more easily than oral words, that can be easily distorted, a larger amount of people can get to know more about a culture by reading its writing. That is what exactly happened to the tribes that decided to put part of what identified themselves on a piece of paper that could be shared with the world

Something from the reading that really resonated with me is this: language - the means for communication among members of a culture - is the most visible and available expression of that culture. 

This reinforces why learning a language coincides with learning about the culture. It is so important to not only understand words and grammar to communicate in another language but to also know the dynamics of that culture. Something we discussed in class at the beginning of the semester was that one sentence can have many different meanings depending on its context and intonation. If you do not understand the cultural norms and societal values you can completely miss the meaning or a statement or offend someone without meaning to and the list goes on. 

Israelis, for example, are very straight forward and aggressive (from our American point of view). It is very easy to mistake the meaning of what they say because it is not "PC" and may make others feel uncomfortable. Having realistic expectations for people is very important in relationships and even simple conversations; so knowing that an israeli person is going to be blunt and honest is a good thing to know and expect. 

The "Tribes" article was very interesting. It shows the importance of having one motivated and dedicated language learner, and how just this can change a language's course of history, in terms of going extinct or not going extinct. In this article, Mr. Lane saves the language from just a handful of speakers by basically creating his own dictionary, which he spreads far enough around that now the language has been "resurrected" and has a healthy following. I think how languages ebb and flow is fascinating. Yiddish, for example, has all but died. Part of this is because most of the people that spoke it perished in the Holocaust. When I was in Poland, we met with a group of people who are trying to bring it back. However, this is difficult to do without a written use for the language, a place where it is spoken and a context and which it is spoken. This article on Mr. Lane and the Siletz people do show that this can be done though - all it takes is one person in the right community and a language can be resurrected. In terms of Yiddish, however, I think the community is too big to ever be influenced by just one speaker. 

This week, I learned about the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) and how their military works. It is really interesting to think about how the very same principles that have created a draft in Israel have led to a lack of draft in the US. In Israel, their "necessity" for military service is why they have a draft. They need people to serve and for that reason, they have one. But people like to serve - they like the army, support the army and do not have moral opposition to it (for the most part). They understand that their their territory is threatened and they feel a deep need to defend it. I think that this is so fascinating. In the US, we also feel that our borders are threatened - but maybe not in the same way. And, we think that it violates our personal liberties to have a draft. In Israel, I guess less is threatened so they are not as concerned about their personal liberties - they do not have room to be. I don't know. In a political manner, this is just really making me think. It is fascinating to me that some countries can create a draft and some don't. Additionally, in many ways, Israel and the US are the same. They are both very Western (the US really is and Israel is "Westernized"), and these cultures create similar thoughts about issues - usually. However, based on geography and military threat, Israel and the US have developed very different opinions on the military and the draft. Just something to think about. I like this stuff.

This article was a very interesting one to me. It spoke of how this tribe's language went from being declared dead by the United States to a federally recognized status due to a dictionary that was created. I have a lot of doubts from time to time learning Swedish. It isn't like Spanish where it makes sense to learn to because there are a lot of countries who speak it and it is becoming prevalent in the business world as well. There are only a select group of people (the swedes) and then some various other Scandinavians who can actually speak the language. So logically it may not be the smartest move for me to learn Swedish, but I like it. I like it a lot. I think thats what the article was talking about a bit. That although learning those tribal languages many not be the most efficient practice, there are people with passion who want to learn. And through making a dictionary and making it accessible to people, it went from 5 speakers left of the language to 4900 enrolled members. I think globalization is the best and the worst thing for languages. The best because it allows a teenaged girl who goes to school in Richmond to learn Swedish and be able to use it in a variety of contexts. But it is also the worst because it would logically make more sense for that girl to take a spanish or Chinese to be able to adopt quicker, to a globalizing world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDdvYimn14s 

http://www.haberler.com/rusya-da-emniyet-seridi-isgali-pahaliya-mal-oldu-5295176-haberi/ 

Looking back on what I have been able to do these past few weeks, I am definitely happy with my progress. However, having spent the majority of my time these last few weeks working on writing lengthy sentences and short paragraphs, I felt that I focused too much on writing. Undoubtedly, I had neglected some time that could have been spent working on my reading / listening comprehension and pronunciation; which are aspects of my language learning that I also wanted to focus on.

As a result, I attempted to spend more time on my comprehension and pronunciation during weeks nine and ten. My language partner suggested I watch some videos of people speaking Dari (e.g., news, television shows). Likewise, while watching the videos, she insisted that I also try to listen closely to how the people spoke and took a moment to understand what was being said. This task was a little difficult as my vocabulary was not wide enough to understand everything being said. Nevertheless, I was able to grasp enough pieces of information from what I heard to get close enough to being able to provide a  brief analysis of what was being said. My language partner was also very helpful in assisting me along the way during moments in which I struggled with understanding somethings that were being said.

So this might not be the most positive post due to the large amount of frustration I feel towards Swedish right now. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the class and learning about the language and culture but it is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. We have a midterm scheduled for next Wednesday on everything we have covered up until this point. I made a study guide and barley remember half the terms. I think what I need to start doing is make myself review everything each week. Because I am quite good at cramming and then we take the test, I do well and then I forget everything and with learning a language you can't do that. I think it's also that point in the semester where I am starting to loose steam. When starting the year I was going to get all As and be amazing in all my classes, but its at the point where it's hard to motivate myself to do things. I need to find something inventive and new that will excite me into doing more than the expected work in Swedish.  If I put in more than the required amount of work I will do well. In class this week we had a test on food (which I did't know much of) and discussed the body parts and clothing. Another tid bit I also need to realize is I can't memorize too many words at once. I need to get the basics down and then move forward to the more intricate things. Cause as of now I am expecting myself to know both at the same time, which is extremely difficult and gets be discouraged. I plan to meet with Lousie this weekend to have a little one on one time to fix the areas where I desperately need help. This week has been frustrating, but ill get there.

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

In order to learn new hindi words, I have asked my language partner to send me 10 new vocab words every few days. I then put these words on notecards and walk around campus memorizing the words. Then when I meet up with my language partner, we go over pronunciation of the words to make sure that I am saying them correctly. She then helps me use the words in a sentence. This is the best way I have found for me to learn new words. 

I am unaware as to exactly how many new words I have managed to learn, however, I can definitely see improvement in my Hindi speaking. Not only do I learn from my notecards, but also when I meet my language partner, I ask her how to say things that I find myself saying in my everyday life. I have also been watching Hindi movies and listening to Hindi music to keep my ear used to the language. 

Working on learning Hindi, I have realized how much harder it is than I originally thought. My goals have become more realistic in that I know I will not be a fluent speaker by the end of the semester. However, having taken this class, I have learned how to teach myself the language and I plan to continue to do so even after the semester ends. 

 Reflect on Presentations of classmates. 

The presentations of my fellow classmates were very interesting!! I loved learning about the Swedish coffee/tea time - called "Fika". Although I must admit, it was definitely making me a little hungry! The presentation about Rakshabandan was also very interesting. Although I already knew a little bit about it, it was interesting to hear more details about it. All in all, it is always interesting to learn something new about a different culture. It was nice to see some pictures instead of just talking about it as a change of pace. I love having the opportunity to talk to my fellow classmates about the cultures they are learning about because it helps expand my own personal knowledge about the world. 

Body Language/Linguistic Aspects

A major linguistic difference between English and Hindi is the alphabet. The Hindi language is made up of approximately half the vowels and double the consonants of the English alphabet. The Devanagari script consists of 10 vowels and 40 consonants. In other words the sounds phonetically and otherwise is completely different to that of the English language. It is for this reason that Hindi speakers have a difficult time pronouncing the difference between "photOgraph" and "photOgrapher", for example. However, it is also very difficult for the English speaker to get accustomed to making sounds and hearing sounds that they are not used to ever hearing. While I have been learning how to make the sounds in the Hindi language, I have personally been having a hard time making all of the sounds correctly, and making sure I hear the differences between sounds. My language partner informed me that it is easier for Hindi speakers because they have been learning the differences since they were children. However, with practice, I hope to improve! 

The following link begins to explain some of the differences between english and hindi. 

http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/language/index.pl?read=2206

Sixth Cultural Post: Attitudes about Time in the Target Culture

In the Korean society, work is the most important thing in life. Students intensively work in High School ad College to be able to enter in one of the few "재벌" (Chaebol), which are the conglomerates like Samsung that dominates the country. Adults work overtime most of the time and students study minimum 12 hours a day. This stressful life-style can be embodied by the popular phrase "빨리 빨리" which means "Quick Quick". Every time someone is about to get late or not working fast enough someone would say this phrase. In fact, being late in Korea is extremely disrespectful and late Koreans can be ashamed. For this reasons, the pressure to be on time is always present and it will be extremely rare to see a Korean late to an appointment. 

This culture can be seen in many aspect of the Korean life. For example, restaurants have a call button at each table so that patrons can summon the wait staff at a moment’s notice. Shopping malls are everywhere, including underground walkways, so that customers can buy clothes and shoes while they are on the go. Many stores stay open till 5 or 6 am. Street food is available round the clock, too. 

I decided to teach my friend John the Hebrew body parts and it was quite an experience.  I was not expecting the difficulties of teaching her how to pronounce certain words.   I have become so used to certain sounds that words are beginning to flow and just sound right pronounced a certain way.   The following is my outline for the lesson.  It turned out really well.

Learning Plan for Teaching the Body Parts in Hebrew

• Repeat after me

• Review body parts five times
• Sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" - ""ראש. כתפיים.  ברך.  רג
• Review Body Parts again

Bekir Efendi 1777 yilinda Bahcekapi'da kendi dukkanini acti. Onun sekerleri ve lokumlari kisa zamanda meshur oldu. Bir insan Turkiyeden Ingiltereye bu sekeri getirdi ve ozaman bu sekeri cok unlu ve herkes biliyor bu bir Turkish Delight. Haci Bekir altin ve gumus madalyalar kazandi cunku bu sekerleri cok lezzetli.  

Ismail Hakki Zade onun magazasi 1864te kuruldu. Bu dukkani 84 numarali dukkaninda. Hafiz Mustafa pogaca buldu ve o Avrupa'da 11 adet madalya kazandi. 

Gulluoglu bir aile ve onlar baklava yapiyor. Onlar cok unlu. Bu isi 1800da basladi. Cok ozellikli hammaddeleri kullaniyorlar. Biz de Bosnada baklava var, ama bizim baklavamizi Turkceden dana farkli.