Blogs

This week seems to be a little more frustrating than usual. We are starting to get into grammar more and more. I am terrible at grammar, I can do vocabulary in almost any language easily. But as soon as you start adding grammar my head begins to pound. I keep getting all the forms of the pronouns confused. For vocab writing the word over and over helps me learn how to pronounce and how to spell the word, but that doesn't seem to be working with the pronouns. I am not quite sure how to help drill this into my mind. I am an auditory learner, so maybe if I found something that made a song out of that it could help. We also had our quiz today, it wasn't as good as I would have hoped for but not as terrible as it could have been. Right now I am just feeling very overwhelmed. With so many things to learn both concepts and context, it just seems slightly impossible. I just have to keep reminding myself that, I didn't learn English or Spanish overnight, Swedish isn't going to be any different...IMG_20131002_130337635.jpg

Emily and I met this week and talk about the food in Dhall and went through five more pages of my booklet.   

Words I learned:  

Swedish%20Fika%20Presentation.pptx

One of the things that I have been realizing about Israel's culture since I started this course is how much of Israelis' attitudes and personalities are shaped by their current political situation. Israel has been in a precarious political situation since the creation of the state in 1948. Throughout countless wars, their statehood has been threatened, and they live in a geographical area in which they are constantly surrounded by hostile neighbors of a different religion and hugely different political attitudes.

I have never really thought about how political and military culture could actually shape civilian's personalities. However, I think in Israel, this might honestly be the case. Israelis have to be very defensive. They are constantly defending their religion, their country, their way of life to everyone - to the entire world at some points in time. This creates an atmosphere that is very tense, and one in which people are on high alert all the time. I think this would make me feel rushed, blunt and stressed too. 

So many of the personality attributes that we associate with Israelis - being overly direct, blunt, aggressive, animated, intense, stressed even - these are all things that go hand in hand with people who are on high alert. This is psychologically similar to people with PTSD or people who have been through a traumatic experience. Israelis are constantly in that situation. They are always living and always have lived with a very hyper-sensitive attitude. This alert atmosphere has been passed down over the past few generations and this is what makes Israel, Israel. Right or wrong, I really believe that the hostile nature of the Middle East has affected the basic traits of the people that live in Israel.

Israelis use a ton of body language when they speak. I remember when I went to Israel last summer, I was struck by how vibrant they appeared to be. First of all, there is very little personal space. They are always in your personal bubble and their animated way of speaking is one of the manners in which they intrude on one's personal space. Israelis talk with their hands. They are very direct, blunt and honest people, and they show their feelings. They use their bodies to help convey their feelings. I think it's interesting that in the US, stoicism is usually encouraged. In Israel, this is not the case. Israelis are tough and you don't often encounter them crying or being emotional. But Israelis are emotionally charged. One of their favorite body language expressions that I remember is putting their hands together over their heart and shaking them, almost as if they were pleading for something. This intense expression of "please listen to me" - it is sort of of nice way of asking for attention or begging - could be used in the US. However, it is very common in Israel.

Another thing that Israelis do is appreciate directness. They do not like people who are not direct. I had a conversation with a businessman while I was there about how they don't often trust foreign businesspeople because they try to be so polite and indirect in an effort to please Israelis. He said something to the effect of "we just want people to tell us what they really want in a business deal". I thought that was interesting. I have that general attitude, and I don't know why more people don't. I think I should move to Israel!

To sum it up: Israelis are actually very friendly and relationship-oriented people, but they are punctual and time oriented and this makes them appear pushy to foreigners. They are animated and direct and actually just some of the coolest people to be around, but you just have to see what is underneath their porcupine skin. 

For this week's journal entry, I tried to do some reading in my target language. I know how to "read" Hebrew in that I know the phonetics of the letters - I know what sounds they make, I know what direction I should be reading, all of those things. However, I do not know the meaning of what I am reading, and that obviously makes reading difficult. I figured that for my first reading exercise, I could try reading something that has meaning that can easily be applied. I decided to start with an online Israeli newspaper. I figured a newspaper is a good place to start because I can become familiar with the labels of different paper sections, and by looking at the content of each section, I can guess what the label might mean.

For example: מזג אוויר was the link that lead me to a map of temperatures and weather around the state of Israel. When I plugged this word into google translate, it means "weather". Additionally, דעות was the link that brought me to a picture of Obama shaking hands with Mr. Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister. I guessed that this had something to do with international or political news. When plugged into google translate (sidenote: I admit this is not necessarily the most reliable site), the translation was "opinions". That is a hard one that I never would have guessed. 

I think the online newspaper tool is a really good idea. It provides enough context that you can figure words out. For someone like me, being able to read and pronounce things without knowing meaning provides a perfect background to use an online site like a newspaper. I need to try more of these sites more often!

In the class today we spoke a lot about cultural tendencies, and how that although it my be acceptable to act one way in one country it may be different in another country. We spoke about how in Turkey if you were invited to a dinner party at 6, you wouldn't show up still 7:30. So I decided to do some research into the Swedish culture about that. What I found is that Swedes are very punctual about their time, both in private and professional lives. If you are going to be late, let the person who is waiting let them know you will be last, and make sure to apologize upon arrival. Another interesting thing that I've learned is that Swedish people aren't super huge into the small talk. When answering the phone they will either state their first name, last name, or both. I think people tend to overestimate these little cultural differences. And that's where I assume culture shock comes from. Is when someone is not prepared for all these little difference and they add up quite quickly. 

To help prepare for my cultural project on sports in Afghanistan, I took the time to learn some relevant words.  I have written them in Dari below and translated them into English:

goal   گول   (gol)

victory   فتح   (fath)

defeat   شکست دادن   (shekast dadan)

defend   دفاع کردن از   (defa k)

attack / offense   حمله

player   بازیکن   (baztkan)

soccer / football   فوتبال   (fotbal)

ball   توپ  (top)

cricket   جیرجیرک   (chercherak)   (not entirely sure if this is only applicable to insect or both the insect and sport)

lose   از دست دادن

win  برنده   (borda)

champion   قهرمان   (qaraman)

referee   ریفری   (refri)

rule   قاعده   (qaeda)

bat / racket   دنده   (danda)

basket   تکری   (tokri)

sport   سپورت   (seport)

field   میدان سپورت   (maydan seport)

team   تیم   (tim)

stadium   ورزشگاه

I think the following video is a neat piece of culture from Sweden because it depicts one of Sweden's most famous modern actors, Stellan Skarsgard, being interviewed by two Danish talk-show hosts and yet he responds only in Swedish. This demonstrates not only how closely the two languages are (because they can understand enough of each others' language to process the question and formulate an answer in their native tongue) but it also demonstrates the regional animosity between Denmark and Sweden. I find it funny and interesting that Swedes for the most part can understand/speak Danish and Norwegian (Finnish is a bit more challenges because it sounds so archaic) but choose not to. I know personally that my boyfriend and his sister can understand Danish because they are from so far south in Sweden that they actually fly out of Copenhagen rather than Stockholm and they can answer questions/have conversations with Danish people. You'd think that if you have the ability to communicate with someone in their language, you would! But in the case of Swedes and Danes especially it seems as if there is enough regional animosity (even if it is less political/militarily based and more cultural and even sort of a joke these days) to prevent Swedes to this day from speaking Danish to a Danish native. I do think, however, that it would be neat to know/understand enough Swedish to be able to converse in Danish or Norwegian too!

This week we had our first quiz! It covered the alphabet (more specifically vowels), colors, numbers up to 100, animals, and greetings. I think it really helped me to begin to realize how much easier it is to know speak (mostly to pronounce) another language when you know what the vowels and consonants sound like. Swedish vowels especially were tricky to get down (and it's still a process!) because they have three extra vowels, use the letter y as a vowel only, and quite frankly to my untrained ears I think a lot of their vowels sound the same. And, like in any other language, all the vowels have both short and long sounds! Eek!

In addition to our quiz, we have also started incorporating some grammar into our lessons. It's really hard for my language partner to be able to teach us grammar rules on the spot (nor is she expected to) so it's been a good experience to go out and research/teach myself these rules on my own. Then coming back to my sessions and putting these rules in the context of sentences is making the process make much more sense! On Wednesday, for instance, Louise taught us how to say members of our family. We were then asked to go out on our own and come up with sentences about our family, questions we would want to ask others about their families, and how to introduce our family to others. This experience, I think, is a really comprehensive way to learn vocabulary and grammar at the same time.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s117NuPOI8FW

How did the readings help me shape my language learning process?

In the article about how the brain handles the language I thought that knowing which hemisphere of the brain tends to be more active when right-handed is useful in the way that some tasks, such as categorization, calculation and information sequences are performed more efficiently by the brain.

In the article about how we analyze meaning, It is interesting to realize that we are, as learners, consciously aware of all the facets of an utterance we hear. When we put our attention on them, on grammar or vocabulary for instance, they become easily distinguishable. However we should always put the study of individual facets within a more general structure so that we can actually have a better understanding and processing of the language.

Finally, the article mention that there is no right order to learn a language but the author makes a good point at the end of the article saying that the aim of grammar is to give structure to meaning , hence it is appropriate to learn meaning first and then to structure it.

That is why I asked Alvin, my Korean instructor to teach me basic sentences, like greetings and introductions at first so that I become familiar with the phonology and basic vocabulary; we then planned to go through more analytical and written way of learning.

I have worked on my vocabulary alot and learned many words. Omar and i met twice this week and worked on propositions, conjunctions, and on the endings of the sentences. I practiced the propositions many times and made sentences for them. We practiced making short sentences. So i could use some of the words in sentences as well. We also practiced speaking for few minutes in Urdu. So basically, i have met my with my tutor twice and worked on a grammar a bit, propositions, speakings, short sentences, and as well as practiced my writing.  I am very happy, i see good improvement in my learning Urdu. My language partner is a great help.

The article on autonomy learning didn't really tell me anything new, but rather covered topics I was already aware of. You have to be very conscious of how you learn best so that you are able to do activities that will help you succeed in learning the best. The section on cognitive learning was the section which I use most. I'm big into repetition, note taking, and translation. I tend to get nervous when trying to pronounce a word for the first time so I will ask Louise to repeat it a few times before I even attempt it. I think that also is a self -esteem issue as well, that I assume I am saying it terribly wrong. I need to be okay with the fact I won't be perfect at it but hey, im trying. I agree with the concept that one must be motivated in order to succeed but I think thatch the beauty of self learning, that you are so interested in a certain subject that you will be willing to learn it on your own. You are learning something you enjoy opposed to something you could careless about. I think teaching ones self a new thing whether it be skill or language is a test to their personality, and it might be harder for some than others but it something that everyone, given the right subject can accomplish.

This week went decently well for learning purposes. We just had a quiz earlier today that covered the basics of what we have been talking about (alphabet, numbers, colors, and a few animals and basic phrases). For me remembering the word and how to spell it, really isn't that hard at all it more of the pronunciation and that is where Louise really comes in handy. So my strategies are basically to memorize the word and how to spell it, then with Louise and Molly just try to verbally repeat it or make up little rhymes in which I can get it down. I think that strategy will be the most effective for myself. Next week we plan on introducing a little bit of grammar so that we are able to speak more and also family members and potentially body parts.  I also have a friend at another University taking basic Swedish, so we plan to look over his tests and work and try to incorporate some of those ideas into our class.

alfabetet3.jpg

(Here is a picture of the Swedish alphabet. The most difficult things are the vowels, but ill eventually get there)

By this point in the semester, I felt a lot more comfortable with my language learning. Having a few weeks to sharpen my skills was definitely what I need to get back on track. Truly, I felt that I had worked, at the very least, back to the point I was at when I finished SDLC 111 in December 2012.

During these two weeks my work focused heavily around medium-length sentences. My language partner would tell me sentences, after which I: wrote the sentences, said them and then translated them back into English. This task was rather effective as it incorporated the following skills: listening comprehension, writing and pronunciation. While I did feel more confident in my abilities heading into weeks three and four, I still had some trouble with certain aspects of the task my language partner had assigned. For instance, I noticed that my pronunciation, when working with new words, was  a little sub par and could use improvement. Also, it occasionally took several attempts to feel really comfortable with my work. Likewise, I also had some trouble with properly writing all of the sentences that I had heard. Hopefully, as I continue working into weeks five and six, I may be able to write and type short paragraphs a lot more proficiently than I had in weeks three and four; of course, achieving this will require some extra practice.  

In exploring the role of sports in Afghanistan, I thought it would be best to start my exploration and research with learning more about the national sport of Afghanistan, buzkashi (بزکشی), which translates to "goat grabbing." The sport has a long history that dates as far back to the time of Genghis Khan. Buzkashi is a game that pits two teams of ten players - all riding on horseback - against one another battling for a carcass (usually, it is either a calf or goat) that must then be returned to a designated scoring area. The sport is very unique, and, besides polo, it is difficult to find anything else to compare it to.

The sport is tremendously difficult for both the players and horses. The players have to be strong due to the physicality of the sport, while also being excellent horseman. Likewise, the horses undergo extensive training; for instance, horses are trained to wait in the event that riders falls off of it. As a result, due to the nature of the game, it may take years for an individual to properly train his horse and himself for the sport. 

Some vocabulary related to the sport are listed below:

horse لسپ

horseman اسب سوار

experience تجربه

carcass لاشه

goat بز

calf گوساله

To get a better understanding of the game, spend some time taking a look at the links below:

Buzkashi Video

History of Buzkashi

More History about the Sport

The linguistic aspect of Swedish that interests me most is also linked to culture! Sweden has a very egalitarian culture. Very few people live too far below or above the average and there seems to be a lot of emphasis put on gender equality. For instance, in Sweden both new moms and new dads get time off from work so that women do not feel like they can't go back to work after having children. I was reading an article recently about a new trend in Swedish grammar that I thought related to this cultural phenomenon! In Swedish if you want to say "he" you say "han" and if you want to say "she" you say "hon". Simple enough! Well, if you want to say he/she you could use the general "man" almost like in English when a speaker could say "one really ought to do..." or you could say "han eller hon". Recently, however, a new trend has erupted in Swedish culture where people are saying a new pronoun "hen" to mean the gender neutral version of "man" or "one" because a lot of Swedes think saying "man" is discriminatory. I asked my language partner about this trend and she said that typically Swedes will only say "hen" sarcastically or in a funny way. I do wonder, however, if it will start to get more serious usage.

After reading the articles by Crystal on how the brain handles language and how we use symbols to communicate with one another, I found the texts very relevant to what I have been learning so far this semester about the Swedish language. I particularly find it interesting to compare English with Swedish when I feel as if something is fundamentally different about the two languages. The same can be done for Spanish. Because I took Spanish all through high school I immediately recognized gendered nouns in the Swedish I was learning. In English we have no set genders for objects. In Spanish and Swedish, however, the nouns are gendered. In Swedish you could say "en stol" to mean a chair and "ett skrivbord" to mean a desk. It was helpful that I took Spanish so that I could recognize this pattern in Swedish.

Additionally, I find that Swedish is a cool language because words build off one another. If you know the word for hotel, street, and back, you can come up with the word in Swedish that means a back-alley hotel (bakgatshotell). I also think it's really neat that in Swedish rather than saying my maternal grandmother, there is a specific word for that person. Your mormor is your mom's mom and your farmor is your dad's mom. This is just another example where Swedish is very clear.

Second Cultural Post:  Target Language's Writing System

Historically, Koreans used the Hanja which were characters borrowed from the Chinese alphabet. At the time however, only people from wealthy families were educated and were able to use the writing system. The system was too complex to learn for peasants and other Koreans who could not afford to go to school. To address this issue, the emperor of the time King Sejong decided to create a new, simple writing system called Hangul. Each of the letters in Hangul is a shape that is based on the configuration of the articulators in the making of the sound. Although this is more then the original version of Hangul, there has been changes made since Hangul was first created.Even if there are some different dialects depending on the regions you are, they are all based on this system. The system was very efficient and in a very short period of time the illiteracy rate of Korea fell drastically, in fact at the time the emperor said that the system was so easy to learn that "a wise man could master it in on day and an illiterate in a week". Hangul is part of the altaic languages and is unrelated to Chinese and similar but distinct from Japanese.