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My goals for the next two weeks are learning how to introduce my family members, asking for time, and be able to lead a simple conversation with my language partner. I will use the dictionary to learn family members and their professions. For this goal, I will record a video with pictures of my family and I will talk about each one.

I currently learned the numbers in Hebrew, so I need to learn how to tell the time (they use the numbers and "quarter-past, half past, etc.). I will also watch videos of simple conversations in Hebrew and use computer programs to find information on this topic. I will record a video with my language partner where I will introduce myself, ask about the time, and carry out a small conversation.

To evaluate my progress, I will rely on my language partner to help me evaluate my success.

Sindhi Language is tied back to Indian culture. India is one of the most diverse countries in the world. It is a sophisticated, modern, industrial leader that is home to many primitive tribes and millions of poor people. Religion and language separate people because every state in India has its own culture, own language and won food. Like any distinct culture with a rich history, India has many nonverbal traits that it can call its own. In order to fully understand the scope and depth of any culture’s nonverbal communication you need to study the people and languages of the country. Body language in Indian culture can affect the relationships we create with each other. Here are few examples of body language that are tied to Indian culture:

• Public displays of affection are not appropriate. In India, like in Western cultures you will not find a man and women kissing in public.
• Movement of your head when you’re talking is normal.
• At a household of any Indian, people will eat food with their hands rather than utensils.
• Removing your shoes when entering a home is a sign of respect because many Indians are religious.

So far, I have learned Turkish alphabet, I can say that I pronounce Turkish words very well (according to my language partner). Also, my language partner said that I do not have an accent and it was very motivating for me. I had a trouble pronouncing some letters, but I practiced a lot until I finally learned how to pronounce them correctly. I also learned numbers and some colors. I think I am quite comfortable with greetings/farewells. I had to memorize which greetings are formal and which are informal so that when speaking to someone who is older than me I would not make a mistake of using informal language.

I am still watching the Turkish Soap opera "Dudaktan kalbe" as well as listening to Turkish songs. I think it is still very early to try to understand the soap opera without the subtitles, so I will still stick to subtitles. I found some really great singers and I listen to Turkish songs in my room, in the gym...

My goal for the next two weeks is to first learn about family. I also want to be able to lead a basic conversation with my language partner. I want to start working on my grammar, for example the first tense I want to learn is present continuous. This will be very helpful in making simple sentences. I will use my Turkish dictionary to learn the words as well as other resources that are available to me. I will also use the websites I found for building my vocabulary and the YouTube video I found that explains Turkish grammar very well. I also want to be able to learn to tell the time, as it is one of the crucial components of a language. I would be very embarrassed if somebody knew I was taking Turkish and was not able to tell the time in Turkish. Therefore, I want to learn how to tell the time as well. I do not know if I will be able to accomplish all of these goals in the next two weeks, but I consider myself very ambitious and am planning to do my best to achieve those goals. Also, my language partner is a great help as she helps me with all the difficulties I encounter during the learning process.

I am also planning to record myself and later on listen to myself to hear where I make mistakes, I will also talk to my language partner in Turkish and ask her if I am making any progress. I am planning to play some games to memorize the vocabulary I need to accomplish these goals, such as flash cards or online language games. I will evaluate my success by memorizing the vocabulary and practicing both vocabulary and grammar with my language partner. Also, I believe that my language partner will be the best choice to evaluate my progress and success. 

So far, I am very happy with my progress, and I hope I will have such a good experience in the following weeks as well.

Within the Iranian culture, there is a custom called 'taroof" that is a form of civility grounded in self-deference and social rank - essentially it's an interplay of propriety that is done through verbal and non verbal communication. It has been incorporated in many different interactions such as business, dinner invitations, or inviting someone over. One example that would be incredibly out of place in an American context takes place in a grocery store. The cashier will tell the customer that they don't have to pay as they customer has already honored by their presence. Meanwhile the customer insists on paying and ultimately pays for their groceries. In an American context, this would not make sense unless the cashier and customer really knew each other and it was understood as a joke... however I don't think it's meant to be taken as a joke in Iranian culture... although I could be wrong. 

A very common display of taroof is when guests have come for dinner. The host will offer food, drink, and comfort in abundance to the guest. The guest will return the taroof as well, declining all of it initially, only to accept it in the end.

This reminds me of Hojam's story about the woman who stayed with her family on her visit from Turkey. When the woman was asked if she wanted to go to DC, she declined, however Hojam knew that she actually meant yes. Had Hojam's husband been the one who interacted with the woman, the DC trip would not have happened. 

                I found these readings on how we process and analyze language to be particularly interesting. I suppose that when we’re really studying a language in depth (whether it’s our native language or something new) it’s helpful to understand the most fundamental processes. The chapter “How the Brain Handles Language” reminded me of my AP Psychology class in high school. I remember learning about the relationship between Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, and language disabilities then. I also thought the section about the neurological processes involved in tongue slips was very interesting. It’s a situation that seems so random, but is actually very formulaic—and when I was reflecting back on the times that I’d recently made tongue slips, that pattern was pretty clear to me. The chapter discussing semantics was interesting too. I enjoyed the notion of the naturalist approach vs. the conventionalist approach. I certainly think that there are words that sound like what they are (not just onomatopoetic words)—shampoo, tub, and windshield are all ones that come to mind, but those could just be my own personal associations J

                I thought the discussion of monosemic words and collocations were particularly applicable to our study of new languages. Monosemic words are so helpful in learning new languages, since they only have one use! Since collocations are groups of lexemes working together they allow us to understand language by prediction (such as what words go together). Additionally, because these collocations are understood by everyone in a given language (and are not made by personal association), they can be relied upon. I think they’re helpful building blocks of phrases to master!

                Cross-cultural communication is extremely important and inevitable in today’s age of globalization. One will likely have to interact with members of another culture at some point, whether this is in a business, school, or travel setting. I studied this topic in depth in one of my Leadership Studies courses (Leadership in International Contexts) by looking at Hofstede’s analysis of the different cultural dimensions (in addition to the other dimensions laid out in the readings here). The cultural dimensions of learning a language are usually not based on the actual words of the language but on all of the other types of communication that go along with it. Thus, it’s important to be cognizant of all forms of cross-cultural communication we’re presenting, and to be understanding, patient, and open when experiencing a new culture. These were lessons that I was told during my study abroad orientation and ones that we emphasized as international orientation advisors for exchange students back at Richmond.

                Living and studying in Italy made me very aware of some of these differences. Italian culture is much more polychronic and external than American culture. On any given morning, when I would leave my apartment for the bus stop at the same time every day, sometimes the bus would come within 5 minutes and sometimes it would take 40 minutes. Time is not to be rushed. People linger over meals and enjoy each other’s company. Relaxation and enjoying life are emphasized. Additionally, a lot of things are viewed as beyond one’s control. I often really enjoyed this approach to life. It was much less stressful and invited me to live in the present moment fully. However, it could also be extremely frustrating, such as when I got up early and walked 40 minutes to my teaching internship only to find the school closed for an obscure holiday/strike/students just decided not to show up that no one had thought to notify me of ahead of time. I had to take an internship seminar along with actually completing an internship, and these cultural differences were ones we discussed frequently. On the opposite side of the coin from Italy in terms of these dimensions, I traveled to Austria and Germany. These countries are more monochromic than the US, and much more so than Italy. This was thrown into sharp relief in a funny way when I was traveling with my family by train to southern Austria from Florence. We had four trains canceled in the same day within Italy due to delays and a variety of other circumstances, but as soon as we crossed the Austrian border everything was a model of efficiency! Other cultural dimensions play a part too. I had a German friend at Richmond who I wasn’t sure was that friendly at first—she was very aloof and after we became closer she was extremely direct. Fortunately another American friend who had spent significant time in Germany informed me that those trait manifestations were just cultural differences. I think that cultural differences are one of the most important things to keep in mind when learning a new language, but also the most interesting.

From what I have been exposed to thus far, I would say that the Persian culture is collectivist, monochronic, and indirect. I do not know how the internal/external aspect works right now. 

Collectivist makes sense with the culture's foundation of loyalty towards family and it's honor. Nepotism is often practiced when dealing with business negotiations. Interestingly enough, the families tend to be small with one or two children, however extended family is very close. 

In Iran, business etiquette calls for meetings made 4-6 weeks in advance with a week early confirmation. Since punctuality is considered a virtue, monochronic definitely fits this culture. It is however rude to track time whilst in a business meeting or other type of interaction. 

Given the custom of taroof, a system of politeness that calls for superficial self-denial in an effort to appear humble, I would definitely consider the culture to be indirect. For people unaware this is rather confusing, however those that live and function within it understand it clearly... which can be said of anything. 

To fulfill my goals for learning Sindhi this semester I plan to use different methods and resources. Finding resources online for learning Sindhi are very limited since the number of people speaking the language are limited. Another drawback for me is that I plan to learn the language using Devanagiri script, which is very rare as compared to using the Arabic script to learn the language.

I plan to gain most of my information from listening to my language partner speak because he is well versed in the language. I also plan to use YouTube videos made for little kids that are in Sindhi. Another way to learn Sindhi for me is by using pictorial descriptions of objects or scenes so that I can retain it in my memory.

I also used an online English to Sindhi dictionary with audio to listen to vocabulary words with the right pronunciation. 

This week's reading was "Figuring Foreigners Out"

People belonging to different cultures across the globe have different ways of communicating with each other. Be it different languages, body language, gestures, behavior or attitude, it varies from culture to culture.

People from different cultures can be individualistic or collectivistic by nature. Individualistic means they think about themselves and their independence first. Nothing comes before self. Whereas collectivist nature takes the form of thinking and working in a group or as a group as a whole. It can mean the immediate family. The well being of the group as a whole comes to the forefront and is most important.

Nonverbal communication is the main and the root cause of mis understandings and confusions among cross cultures. It can change the entire meaning of what someone is trying to convey.                                            

The point I am going to convey now need not be catagorised to a particular culture but can be more individualistic. Different people conceive time and how to manage time in different ways. Time can be limited and should not be wasted-Monochronic or it can be unlimited-Polychronic.                                  

A persons place in the external world differs from person to person and from culture to culture. Some people believe that success is what you make of it . You can put in the necessary effort and achieve what you want whereas some people believe that effort needs to be combined with good luck.

Another cause for confusion in people of different cultures is direct and indirect means of communication. Some people are to the point and very direct and some people beat around the bush and say things in a very indirect manner.

So to come to the point, if you learn different languages it helps you to bridge the gap across different cultures. This leads to a better understanding of different types of people from varied backgrounds.

today we read farsi and wrote farsi from hearing.  we learned how to say have fun when departing; we were tested on our spelling because we had learned yesterday which letters connect and which don't.  In culture I learned that the meem letter is not written as it is typed.  I learned that hastam and astam have the same meaning and are used interchangeably.  we practiced pronouns: I , you, them we he/she.  we learned question-mark sawolia.  Since there are no vowels in persian, we learned there are accent marks, zabar, zer, and pesh.  

ever heard of the Hawaiian good luck sign?

we Americans don't kiss or hold hands. unless romantic

some american's want you to "look me in the eyes when I am talking to you"

when you are in trouble your parents do this?

This reminds me of a book I had to read for political science by cognitive linguist and professor of linguistics, Dr. George Lakoff.  The title was  Don't Think of an Elephant! Know Your Values and Frame the Debate.

We didn't talk about internal and external locus of control in class because we were concerned with the words that people use and the values associated with them.  It is true we found that there are

http://chalk.richmond.edu/langtech/sdlap/figuringforeignersout.pdf

In sociology class we learned that the same phrase How are you doing in buddhist cultures has a more literal meaning and that inquisitors are actually interested in how you feel and expect an honest answer.  In America, it usually means "hi"

what do I know about Persian culture? There are at least 3 countries that speak Persian: Iran is only one, but...

"Indirect Communication – Iranians tend to have a very indirect communication style and rely
heavily on nonverbal cues and figurative forms of speech. This is a means of saving face
when communicating and maintaining individual honour. This aspect of Iranian culture has
to be carefully considered when doing business, because a direct refusal, for example, can be
interpreted as rude and impolite.

Hospitality – As in many other Middle Eastern countries, hospitality is a key value in Iranian
culture. Showing generosity and displaying welcoming behaviour is used as a way to
measure a person’s reputation and character. It is essential to accept hospitality always when
offered. Otherwise, it can be interpreted as a severe loss of honour for the person you are
doing business with.

                                      Working practices in Iran
• The working week in Iran begins on Saturday and ends on Thursday. Friday is a
Muslim holy day for Iranians which should be respected when scheduling
meetings. Working hours tend to be from 9am to 5pm. Be aware of Muslim
holidays like Ramadan and schedule business meetings around them.
• Iranians have a flexible attitude towards time. Therefore, foreigners should not
expect meetings to always start and end on time; even though Iranians will expect
punctuality from them. Being patient and including some extra time in your
schedule can help business relationships.
• Muslims will pray five times a day. This routine may interrupt business schedules
so consider this when making business appointments with your Iranian colleagues.
o Structure and hierarchy in Iranian companies
• In Iran most companies have a top down hierarchy. Decisions are made by
directors and initiative and input from employees is not always welcomed.
• When addressing an Iranian colleague or client you have just met, it is crucial that
you use the correct title and are formal. The appropriate title for men is “agha”
followed by the last name while women should be addressed with “khanoom” and
the last name. Once the relationship becomes less formal, your Iranian counterpart
will probably call you by your first name.
                                            o Working relationships in Iran
• Personal relationships are very important in Iranian business culture. It is common
to build a close personal relationship before starting to do business.
• Nowadays, an increasing number of women are working at all levels of business in
Iran. Nevertheless, there is still a very traditional understanding of gender roles in
Iran which should be considered when doing business as a woman.
Iranian Business Part 2 - Doing Business in Iran
                                          o Business practices in Iran
• Greetings in Iran are usually initiated with a handshake between men. If a woman
is present, wait until she initiates a handshake. “Salaam 'Alaykum” (peace be upon
you) and the response “Alaykum As-Salaam” (and upon you be peace), or the short
form “Salaam” are common greetings in Iran." 

taken from:

http://www.communicaid.com/access/pdf/library/culture/doing-business-in/Doing%20Business%20in%20Iran.pdf

Figuring foreigners out article:

I think this is a very interesting article to read, and it is not only useful in learning a foreign language, but also will be useful in the future business world, such as cross cultural business management. Culture is a knowledge we can use to interpret our social behavior. It is shared and adaptive. This will definitely be helpful when we try to learn a language. The language can illustrate the complexity of culture's effect on behaviors. Different cultures express their emotions or feelings differently through languages. Like when I try to learn Korean, it is more easier for me to learn than learning English because Korean culture and Chinese culture are very similar in some cultural dimensions. 

We both have high power distance, low individualism. We both donot express our feeling directly through language, and we are more likely to hide our emotions( neutral). In addition, culture values can help us to better understand the meaning of the conversation when we speak a second language, and avoid flaws and misunderstanding during conversations. 

The reading from "Figuring Foreigners out" gives good explanations and examples of Individualist vs. collectivist, monochronic vs polychronic, internal vs external, direct vs. indirect communication, and nonverbal communication. As an individual who lived in three countries and met people from many more, I can only say that the reading is completely right. Most people you meet from the same culture will act very similarly, whether it is about speaking loudly or believing that they can achieve anything they set for. However, there is always one individual that breaks those stereotypes of the culture.

Languages are tools we use to communicate with each other. It is not surprising that each language is strongly related to the culture where it is spoken. However, it is difficult to say whether culture affects language or vice versa. Nevertheless, cultural dimensions are very important when learning a language. Idioms represent one of the most suitable examples were culture and language cross. Idioms are usually based on a historical event, a legend, or a song or movie that is famous in a specific culture. It is rare to find idioms that are shared globally.

Many people find language an culture directly related. That's the reason when immigrants try to reserve their culture in a foreign country, language is one of the most important aspects they reserve. It is no surprise that one would need to immerse into the culture of the target language in order to become fully aware of the language and to be comprehensive when speaking to a native speaker. 

Therefore, it is necessary to learn more than vocabulary and grammar when learning a language. It is important to learn what is acceptable in the culture of the target language, what different gestures are good and which ones are considered disrespectful. After all, language is more than just spoken words; it is every gesture we make in order to communicate.

Days of the week and numbers. Used Devanagari script to write.

SDLAP_learningplan213.docx

To my mind, Turkish is a very interesting language to learn and its culture is really fascinating. Even though my country Bosnia and Herzegovina shares some common characteristics with Turkey, there are still various aspects in which these two countries differ.

As I already wrote a little bit about nonverbal communication in my previous journal entry, here I will write more broadly about body language in Turkey. 

There are several nonverbal communications that are very common in Turkey. For example, when Turkish people want to say "no", they do not necessarily need to say no, but they use body language instead. They click their tongue and accompany this gesture by a quick upwards tilt of the head and raise their eyebrows. This is a very common gesture among Turkish people. I have seen it so many times when I was in Turkey, so at that time I asked my friend the meaning of such gesture, which she explained to me. 

Turks may also express their confusion by using body language. For example, when they are confused they shake their head. This means that they are confused.

What I also found interesting is that it is very common to see two man walking with their arms around each other, and sometimes even holding their hands. This gesture does not indicate anything about their sexuality, but implies that they are close friends.

I also found it interesting that it is normal in Turkish culture to stare at someone. This might be particularly awkward or even scary for foreigners in whose cultures it is rude to stare. However, when I was in Turkey, I did not notice that many people stare at each other. This might be a stereotype.

When your palm is up, and you bring your fingers towards thumb it means that something is good, for example food, new item or even that a woman is attractive.

When it comes to kissing, it is very common to kiss one another on cheeks, regardless of whether it is man to man, woman to woman or man to woman. Kissing implies that they are close friends. For example, close friends kiss each other on cheeks when they meet. If, however, two people are not very close, they might only shake their hands. Man's handshake with a woman is usually very soft. Also, if somebody is very religious then, there would be no hand shaking or kissing. Also, younger people kiss hands of older people to show respect.

Gestures that should be avoided because they are considered rude include:

- OK hand gesture (which means that you are accusing someone of being a homosexual)

- blowing your nose loudly is considered very rude in Turkish culture

- pointing your finger at someone

Assessment of Abilities at Beginning of Learning Process and Goals

The LinguaFolio self-assessment checklist gives a detailed picture of the level of proficiency in Urdu.

Regarding Interpretive Listening skills of language, at the beginning of my studies it is not in my ability to do any of the things listed well, but they are all goals. With listening particularly, I do not want to meet these bench marks by being able to understand a recorded voice on the computer, but a real person with a real accent.

Regarding Interpretive Reading skills of language, at the beginning of my studies it is not in my ability to do any of the things listed well, but they are all goals.

Regarding Interpersonal Communication skills of language, at the beginning of my studies it is not in my ability to do almost any of the things listed well, but they are all goals. I am able to say hello and goodbye in a very basic manner.

Regarding Presentational Writing skills of language, at the beginning of my studies it is not in my ability to do any of the things listed well, for I am wholly unfamiliar with the script, but they are all goals.

Regarding Presentational Speaking skills of language, at the beginning of my studies it is not in my ability to do almost any of the things listed well, but they are all goals. I am generally able to imitate sounds I hear well, but there are some sounds required in speaking Urdu that do not exist in English, and I am not presently able to generate these sounds at this point without much difficulty.

I will not be using Rosetta Stone in my studies of Urdu.  That said, the bookmarked sites on Diigo and BYKI will be very useful as I explore them. I can learn much from these resources. One site in particular will help with interactive memorization of the alphabet's characters. Another site looks very helpful in learning common phrases. All of the sites I have used have been beneficial in their high degree of interactivity. What most of the resources I have looked at so far lack is the real person interaction—the invaluable linguistic interactions with a real human being who speaks the language as their mother tongue. This is why having a language partner is so invaluable for my learning experience.

Turkish, just as almost any other language has formal and informal ways of saying things. For example there is more than one meaning to "you" in Turkish. For example, if you talk to a close friend or relatives you will use informal you "sen", but if you are talking to older people or to someone you want to show respect then you will use formal you which is "siz" in Turkish. This is one of the characteristics of Turkish language.

Turkish language has many respect words that are frequently used. For example, instead of saying "siz" formal for "you" when talking to a teacher, students use "Hocam" which means "my master" or "my teacher." Then "Bey" and "Hanim" are used after the name and they can be used when speaking to people that are unknown to us or just show respect. Bey is used for addressing a male, and Hanim for addressing a female. For example: "Ayse Hanim, gelebilir misin?" which when translated to English means "Ms. Ayse, could you come?"

Informal way of saying goodbye is "Hosça kal" while formal is "Hosça kalin." Formal way of saying "thank you" is "Tesekkür ederim" while informal is "Tesekkürler." When you want to ask someone for his/her name, informal way of asking is "Adin ne?" while formal is "Sizin adiniz ne?" 

When Turkish people meet with their close friends, they usually kiss each other on cheeks, regardless of whether it is man to man, woman to woman or man to woman. It is also a custom to kiss a hand of an older person to show respect. 

English language distinguishes between gender specific pronouns such as "she", "he", "it," however, Turkish language does not. Turkish language has only one pronoun for "she/he/it" and that is "o". This makes Turkish language much easier, however, for me as a beginner this causes a lot of trouble because I never know when somebody is referring to "she, he or it." I know that I will understand it from the context of a sentence once I build vocabulary, but for now, I find it very confusing.

I scored my Korean competency based on the Levels of Competence sheet and the results are as follows: 

Interpretative // Listening - Beginning 2; Reading - Beginning 2

Interpersonal // Speaking - between Beginning 0 & 1

Presentational // Speaking - between Beginning 0 &1; Writing - Beginning 1

As expected, my interpretative skills are more advanced than my interpersonal and presentational skills. My specific learning goals are as follows: 

- Broaden my vocabulary (some choice topics: cooking, vocabulary found in the elementary textbook dialogue I am using)

- Speak more Korean, especially following along with characters in K-dramas to better my enunciation

- Write more Korean, even something as simple as writing song lyrics (since songs tend to be easier to understand than texts and written Korean is more difficult than spoken Korean) 

I will utilize things that are of interest to me as sources of motivation; that is, Korean dramas and K-pop music.