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Reflect on your learning experiences this semester. (a) What insights have you gained about yourself as a language learner and cultural explorer? What did you find difficult? What have you enjoyed? How will you continue your learning? (b) Which readings and learning activities did you find most useful? What would you like to learn more about?

In my first reflection paper, I had expressed that I struggle to embrace the process of learning. The goal that I had set for myself was that I wanted to be comfortable with only knowing small fragments of my target language and its culture in a single semester. This turned out to be a much harder goal than I had anticipated. One of my friends from the class- Emma pointed out in her reflection how not being able to voice complex thoughts in her target language was really frustrating. That is exactly how I felt! Having to start from zero level in ASL was both humbling and intimidating. Often times, there would be so much I would want to say in my head, but I would only have the option of fingerspelling to voice that thought. Looking back, I think I started as an impatient language learner who would get easily discouraged from failures. However, over the course of the semester, the encouragement from my language partner Ms. Kaye Wise started to do wonders for my confidence. I think my rapidly increasing ASL vocabulary helped a lot too. However, that process of adjustment was truly uncomfortable. On the other hand, I really loved learning more about the Deaf culture and its relationship with ASL. As someone who is very passionate about social rights and activism, the issues surrounding Deaf culture really resonated with me. So, when it was time to do a cultural presentation on ASL, I chose to present on the fundamental challenges that the Deaf community is facing in the current socio-political climate. I really enjoyed working on that presentation because it gave me an avenue to advocate for the Deaf community, even though it was only in front of a few people from my class. This experience reaffirmed my love for ASL. I will continue working on ASL using the online resources like: lifeprint.com, signingsavvy.com etc. that I have been frequently using all throughout the semester. As a pre-med, the ethical issues surrounding cochlear implants also struck a chord with me. I am in the process of scheduling shadowing sessions with otolaryngologists / cochlear implant specialists in the Richmond area to further explore my combined interests in medicine and ASL. Finally, I intend to find more in-person ASL opportunities when things get better with COVID-19. Doing language sessions over zoom and not having that outlet to practice the language in-person, has made me feel like I am still  missing a critical part of my ASL language skills concerning body language and facial expressions. So, finding in-person opportunities such as silent dinners and volunteering activities is going to be the next step in my language journey.

In terms of readings and learning activities, I found the 2007 interview When Languages Die most useful. It is one thing to just do readings and try to imagine the gravity of things in your head, but it is an entirely different thing to see it visually and understand why we should care. The words of Dr. Harrison and examples of his field wok were fascinating. Especially, the parts were they showed the challenges of working with old native speakers and trying to weed through the ramblings to make sense of the language, really made me think what a difficult and novel task linguists like Dr. Harrison are doing. In mainstream media, we only see the urgency in saving biological species and historic buildings/ artifacts, which are facing the threat of extinction. This class on dying languages was my first exposure to the extinction of spoken languages and it successfully managed to highlight the extent of loss that comes with losing a language. In addition, I also found the class activities on morphemes really helpful. My previous knowledge of morphemes was limited to prefixes and suffixes. The jamboard activities and problem solving as a group really expanded my understanding of morphemes.

Overall, this class has made me realize that I will forever be fascinated by languages and cultures around the world. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn ASL and also work with this amazing cohort of friends from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Moreover, I have been greatly inspired by the wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm that Dr. Soloway has shared throughout the semester. So, I would like to thank all my friends and especially Dr. Soloway for being a part of my language journey and creating this wonderful class.

This semester I learned so much about the ways we can use language to gain insights about the customs and lifestyles of different cultures around the world. I had so much fun learning about different components of language since I was never taught about linguistics while learning a language in my previous school experiences, and I think it made my language learning more effective and sparked new curiosities for me as a language learner. Having the opportunity to self-direct my language learning helped me learn more about my learning styles and how previous language learning courses did not suit my goals and interests in the most effective way. Through this experience, I didn’t realize how beneficial it was to have a language partner to meet with each week to help me reach my goals. The one-on-one time with a native speaker helped me to gain more confidence as I learned Hangul and Korean grammar and syntax, especially since the alphabet was entirely unfamiliar to me so I really appreciated being able to learn at my own pace. I also enjoyed having an abundance of resources available to us through the Global Studio to enhance our language learning. I honestly wish I would have taken more advantage of the many different resources, but I really benefited most from watching videos to learn Korean pronunciation as well as informational videos about Korean culture and history, and websites such as 90daykorean.com and koreanclass101.com had very informative blog posts, learning guides, and interactive lessons which were extremely helpful outside my weekly meetings with my language partner. I think my biggest challenge this semester was learning correct pronunciation and memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary words, but with time I know these kinds of challenges will lessen in my future language learning experiences. This semester diminished my fears of getting out of my comfort zone to learn languages that seem completely different and more complex than what I’m used to, but the linguistic information I learned during class really gave me the confidence to believe in my language learning abilities and now I’m excited to challenge myself to learn even more! Over the summer, I plan to continue to study Korean in my free time and hopefully maybe next summer I can apply my skills with a trip to South Korea to visit a family friend! 

I also really enjoyed many readings and activities in class that really helped improve my understanding of language and how it connects with culture. One of my favorite readings from this semester was Figuring Foreigners Out because it’s so important to understand the culture of the native speakers for the target language that one is trying to learn. This chapter simplified the different characteristics that cultures may differ on that impact their communication and interactions with others, so understanding the values of that culture are crucial to culturally competent communication with native speakers. I also really enjoyed the Atchinson’s readings about linguistics, in particular the diagram depicting the scope of linguistics and the different disciplines that one can examine through linguistics. The diagram really gave me an idea of the foundational aspects of language to focus on in my language learning and guided me in the order I should focus on certain language goals. For example, I found it helpful to start with the phonetics of Korean as the foundation by learning the alphabet and the sounds, and with that basis I could move on to more complex concepts like morphology and syntax to be able to speak conversationally. Learning the different disciplines made me realize that language is interconnected with so many topics that I’ve been interested in, such as sociology, anthropology, health/medicine, psychology, and of course literature (stylistics), so this really sparked my curiosity of learning more about different cultures and how language shapes these different topics within their society and culture. I also really enjoyed class activities that gave us a look into the culture and communication of other language speakers. I remember the video we watched in class about a tribe that didn’t have many distinct colors in the way we recognize them, but they distinguish by different shades that to our eyes, we couldn’t recognize any difference at all! I just find it so interesting the many different ways we all see the same things in the world and how language shapes and reveals to us our values and way of life. In addition, I enjoyed the morphology activity where we had to try to interpret the meaning of Swahili words by recognizing patterns in the words we were provided. This lesson probably stood out the most to me because I began to understand how language works as a system so we are able to search for patterns to interpret meaning. Through this approach to language learning, I began to really appreciate the structure of language as it made it much easier to try to understand different words and sentences in Korean. Overall, this semester has been such an incredible language learning experience and I’m particularly excited to learn more about morphology so I can identify different grammatical structures in other languages!

Hi everyone! Here's a recap of my semester learning Korean with my language partner Jannette! It's been so much fun and she really helped me learn so much about the Korean language as well as Korean culture! 

Kayla-Podcast-Interview.m4a

Seollal (설날) is known as the Korean Lunar New Year and it is one of the most important holidays in Korean culture. Seollal marks the first day of the Korean lunar calendar which is typically around the end of January and beginning of February each year (90daykorean.com).  Although Seollal is one day long, the day before and after Seollal are recognized as Korean public holidays, so celebration festivities typically last for three days (90daykorean.com). Lunar New Year is celebrated among many countries throughout Asia, but interestingly each one has a different way of celebrating with their own unique customs and traditions (90daykorean.com). For Korean Lunar New Year, families gather from all over Korea at the house of their oldest male relative to pay their respects to both the ancestors and elders (asiasociety.org). Seollal is a a special time for families to come together through activities such as performing ancestral rites, eating traditional foods, playing folk games and traditions such as Sebae (세배) (english.visitkorea.or.kr). Sebae is the most important of the Korean Lunar New Year traditions and is the act of kneeling with one’s hands on the ground to bow deeply to their elders (90daykorean.org). Younger people such as students must bow to the elders and wish them a happy new year, and the elders return the wishes and give money known as “sebaetdon” (세뱃돈) as a gift to the youngers (90daykorean.com). Typically people wear hanbok (한복), which is traditional Korean clothing, while performing Sebae (90daykorean.com).

Charye (차례) is another important tradition of highly structured ritual of ancestral worship during the Korean Lunar New Year (asiasociety.org). Typically female relatives prepare food which is then served by the male relatives as a gift to the ancestors (asiasociety.org). The most important dish that is traditionally eaten during Seollal is tteokguk (떡국), a rice cake soup (90daykorean.org). Traditionally, eating tteokguk signified turning one year older in Korean culture, so in the past it was only eaten on Seollal, but now many Korean restaurants serve it year round (90daykorean.org). The food is set out behind the family’s ancestral tablets, and everyone bows down to the tablets to show respect to the ancestors (90daykorean.com). The final step is a ceremony called “eumbok” (음복) where everyone eats the food and thereby “gains the ancestors’ blessing for the coming year” (asiasociety.org). The prepared foods typically vary by region, but the rules such as placement of the foods are generally similar (asiasociety.org). Charye is a very traditional ritual performed by many Koreans during Seollal, but it is not quite as widespread of a practice today in Korean culture (90daykorean.com). 

There are also many traditional games that families play together during Seollal. One of the most popular games is yunnori (윷놀이) which is played between two teams and requires four special sticks that are curved on one side and flat on the other (90daykorean.com). The game is a race to the finish as teams take turns throwing the sticks in the air, and the way the sticks land determine how far players move around the board (90daykorean.com). Another popular game is called GoStop (also known as Godori - 고도리), which is a card game played by 2-3 people where players bet small amounts of money using Hwatu cards (asiasociety.org). Hwatu (화투) means “Battle of Flowers” and refers to the beautiful floral images painted on the deck of 48 playing cards (asiasociety.org). The deck of Hwatu cards is split into 12 different sets of 4 cards with each deck representing a different month of the year (asiasociety.org). GoStop is played by matching features of the cards in different combinations to score points, and after earning 3 or 7 points (depending on the number of players), the player must decide whether to continue going or to stop the game (asiasociety.org). Playing these traditional games is a fun way that families celebrate Seollal and look forward to the new year ahead.  

Sources:

https://www.90daykorean.com/korean-lunar-new-year/
https://asiasociety.org/korea/seollal-korean-lunar-new-year
https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=941952

                                  Yunnori  윷놀이                                                                                  Hwatu  화투

Throughout the semester, I learned Korean with Rachel, and I learned a lot about myself as a language learner and a cultural explorer. I learned that I am a visual learner for language learning. I looked back at the assignments and the work I did and which one stuck with me the best. I found Quizlet flashcards and watching grammar or entertainment videos the most helpful, while I found worksheets the least helpful. I also learned a lot of different things about my culture throughout the semester. The cultural artifacts helped, but the suggestions that Rachel gave me to explore my cultural background helped me a lot as well. Watching “2 Days and 1 Night” also gave me the chance to learn more about the background of Korean culture and history. I learned about the different superstitions and proverbs that Koreans follow and believe in, which was really interesting and fun to learn about. My favorite proverb was definitely “고생 끝에 낙이 온다” which means at the end of hardship comes happiness. I related to this proverb as this semester was difficult for me, so this proverb stuck with me throughout the semester. My favorite superstition was dreaming of pigs means that you will become wealthy in the future. In Korean culture, pigs are a symbol of wealth and fertility, so if you dreamt of them, it is a sign that you will have wealth in the future. 

Out of everything, I thought that writing was the most difficult. Although I did improve since the beginning of the semester, I still think I need to improve a lot and practice to reach the level I want to reach. Because I had previous knowledge of Korean already, I think it was difficult for me to admit that I did not know something or was not sure about a topic because of the pride I had in Korean. I also found it difficult to write on paper in Korean, so I switched to typing. I know writing on paper helps with writing skills in a new language, so I hope I stop finding writing on paper difficult and uncomfortable in the future. Since I hope to write more fluently outside of diaries, I hope that I can improve my writing a lot more as I continue my Korean language learning journey. 

My favorite part of my language learning experience was the proverbs, superstitions, and watching “2 Days and 1 Night”. As I look at all three of these topics, I enjoyed learning more about Korean culture the most. I found it so interesting how random some proverbs were, but their meaning was so deep and meaningful. I also loved learning about the different superstitions Koreans believe in because as I learned about them, I remembered some that my parents used to tell me. I also loved watching 2 Days 1 Night because it helped me practice and learn in many different areas, such as listening and comprehension, vocabulary, culture and food, and history. I also found the Quizlet assessments on my vocabulary very useful. At the beginning of the semester, I originally did not get assessed on the vocabulary terms I learned from my lessons. However, after a class from SDLC 105, I learned how important it is to assess how much I am retaining the information I learned. So, I included Quizlet tests in my learning agenda, and I noticed a big difference and improvement in my ability to remember and retain the vocabulary I learned. 

Next semester, I need to continue improving my writing skills. I hope that I will move on from writing diaries and summaries on articles and move onto more complex writing. However, I do know that I still need to improve on my grammar more. So I want to learn more about the Korean style of writing in an educational setting. I also hope to continue learning about Korean culture because I feel more connected with my home culture, and I enjoyed learning about it. 

The reading that I found most useful and interesting was “Tribes Revives Language on Verge of Extinction.” “It taught me how fast language evolves and changes every day and that thousands of languages go extinct. I never knew how much effort and time it takes to revive or try to save a dying language. I never realized how important language is in our daily lives until I noticed how much linguists work to try to prevent a language from going extinct. Additionally, out of the learning activities we did in class, I enjoyed learning about phonetics. Learning about phonetics made me realize why I had such difficulty pronouncing some words in English when I first moved to America. It also made me realize that I still have some phonological areas in Korean that I struggle with pronouncing. Learning about phonetics made me realize how important it is in language learning. I also found it fun to do the phonetics practices during class, and I found it so interesting how we all had different ways of writing the IPA because we all pronounce words a little differently. I found phonetics the most interesting but also useful in my language learning journey. 

I will definitely love to continue learning more about Korean culture. I also want to continue improving my writing skills and hope to reach the proficiency level by the time I finish the self-directed learning courses.

Final%20Podcast%20SDLAP.m4a

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gaGigaiA-Nrl6gBclK7U8QUXPZEV33zG/view

Hi everyone!

For my final presentation, I got permission from Michael to do mine a bit differently- it is fully in Bahasa Indonesia rather than English. In addition, I presented it in front of my language partner (Farida) and several other native Indonesian speakers (I was so nervous!). I also answered a few questions from the audience towards the end. Unfortunately, we had some technical issues on Farida’s end, who was hosting the session. She disconnected due to an outage, so I had to wrap up the meeting a bit informally and earlier than expected.

The actual presentation was about "Mental Health of Students in the US." I discuss things such as a typical schedule and assignments that college students receive, and how it affects our stress levels, productivity, etc. I also talk about part-time jobs, extracurriculars, and balancing academics/extracurriculars/work. Finally, I introduce some of the on-campus resources such as the Well-Being Center and CAPS.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LhMBjo24SUYRk-Dd9mr7SUr-qgR--Y3V/view?usp=sharing

For my final cultural artifact, I chose to write about Kampung Inggris Pare. This is the “English Village” in East Java. The purpose of this village is for Indonesian people to learn and immerse themselves in English. Everyone in this village makes an effort to speak English at all times, and most of the buildings here are English “courses.” They are called courses, which actually mean school (they are essentially intensive language schools). I watched a video on one of the many courses offered in this village, which is called Kampung Inggris LC (Language Center).

Even though it is technically a village, it is more akin to a college campus or student complex. Most, if not everyone, who lives in Kampung Inggris Pare is a student. As expected, they are mainly from Indonesia, but there are also students from Malaysia, Thailand, East Timor, and more. These students are typically high school graduates who want to prepare themselves for university or the international workforce by studying English. The main modes of transportation are motorcycles and regular bikes. While many of the buildings are courses, there are still restaurants, food stalls, cafés, various stores, parks, etc. Like I said before, it is very similar to a large college campus! From the video, I also learned that there are various extracurriculars and outside activities offered. Additionally, in school, students are expected to do a lot of difficult things like formal presentations, daily assessments, and more. To my understanding, each individual course has several levels of English classes.

This semester, I am taking an ESL Teaching class, which my language partner, Farida, is coincidentally taking as well. As part of that class, students are expected to get hands-on experience teaching. Farida was able to connect our class to BEC (specifically through her friend, Mr. Fuad, who is a BEC administrator), one of the courses in Kampung Inggris Pare, so I have had personal experience with students there. Actually, BEC was the first course ever offered in Kampung Inggris Pare, and if I remember correctly, Mr. Fuad’s father was the founder and one of the pioneers of Kampung Inggris Pare, which is so amazing to me. The students I taught were in the advanced level, so most of our lessons centered around discussions on various topics in order for them to develop difficult and specific vocabulary (in addition to speaking, listening, pronunciation practice, etc.). Since my job was to teach them English, I unfortunately did not have many opportunities to practice my Bahasa Indonesia with them. However, since our class was mostly discussion based, I learned a lot about Indonesian life and culture from the students. Our topics included housing, empathy, compassion, and goals. From our housing topic, I learned that many of the students in Kampung Inggris Pare live in boarding houses with other students. I especially liked our topic of goals, because I learned a lot about the students’ aspirations. Many of them want to become entrepreneurs and start businesses. Other goals included becoming a teacher, airport worker, and psychologist. Though our discussions, I learned that Indonesian students share a lot of similar interests with American students.

This semester, my language partner, classmates, and I watched SKY Castle (SKY 캐슬), a Korean satirical drama about the cutthroat nature of the Korean education system. It mainly focuses on the wealthy, high class parents’ roles in their children’s education and the lengths the parents go to in order to ensure their children are admitted into the top universities. The name SKY Castle is based on the popular acronym SKY, which is used to refer to the three most prestigious universities in Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. In the drama, SKY Castle is also the name of the neighborhood that the characters live in. It is literally a castle, and each family has a very large property. In order to live in SKY Castle, someone in the family has to have a prestigious profession, such as doctor or law professor. SKY Castle is a more recent drama, having aired in 2018-2019. It is the second highest-rated drama in Korean cable television history. I believe one of the reasons SKY Castle is so popular is that it reflects the emphasis in Korean society for academic perfection. Students study nonstop to achieve perfect scores. A single point deducted from exam could be considered a failure. Unlike many American colleges, some Korean universities do not use a holistic admission process. Therefore, a student’s test score could be the one factor that gets them accepted or rejected into an elite university and ultimately have a “successful” life.

One similarity between the characters who are extremely focused on their children’s education is that they use the people around them for their personal gain. For example, some of the housewives put on an act and pretend to be nice to each other, but they only do so in order to hear each other’s tips for their children’s success. They will even harm others in order to secure their children’s and family’s success. One of the most intriguing characters to me was the private tutor that the main character hired to get her daughter admitted into Seoul National University Medical School. The tutor’s fees were so expensive that the wealthy family still had to ask their extended family for money. In return, the tutor guaranteed that she could get the daughter admitted. However, like the housewives, his tutor would use any means necessary to get her accepted.

One common belief among these characters and Korean society is that the children’s success is the parent’s success. I see this mindset even among some of my Korean American friends. However, it becomes dangerous when the children think of it on the flipside: if I fail to achieve academic or professional success, it means that my parents have failed. This is certainly not the case, ever.

I believe one of the morals of SKY Castle is that there are so many more important things to life than which university one attends. It may sound silly, but many people in Korean society are so focused on this one goal. The important things in life that SKY Castle highlighted are family, friends, and helping others. It is not the richest, smartest, or most powerful people who are necessarily the most successful or happy. It is those who value their family and friends and help others without expecting anything in return who are truly happy and fulfilled.

SKY%20Castle.jpg

Việt Nam’s [vîət nāːm] governmental structure is a one party system. Since the fall of Sài Gòn [sàj ɣɔ̀n] and Democratic south to the Communist North in 1975, the country has been officially unified under a unitary Marxist-Leninist socialist regime. The current ceremonial leader of Việt Nam is President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc [ŋwiəŋ˨˩˦ swəŋ˧˧ fuk˧˥]. He was recently elected earlier this month to take over from the last president, Nguyễn Phú Trọng [ŋwiəŋ˨˩˦ fu˧˥ tʂawŋ˨˩˨], in recognition of his efficient policies regarding COVID-19 handling. However, as the position of parliament president is a largely ceremonial one, the real power of the state will remain in the hands of the general-secretary of the Communist Party which has been held by former president Nguyễn Phú Trọng since 2011. 

After the war in 1975, Việt Nam suffered tremendous loss in infrastructure and manpower. The economy struggled with inefficient production, imbalanced trade, high inflation, rising debts, and poorly managed supply and goods distributions. In 1986, a decade after the seizure of Sài Gòn and unification of the North and South, Việt Nam implemented an economic reform known as Đổi Mới [ɗo᷉i mə̌ːi] which translates to Renovation or Innovation to transform the former pure command economy to a socialist-oriented market economy. Unlike a strict command economy in which the government has complete central control over production, investment, prices, and incomes, the new socialist-oriented market would allow for some private ownership and market exchange between private and state-owned enterprises.

The Đổi Mới policies prioritized the production and distribution of necessities such as rice and sugar. It also restructured the country’s bureaucracy system in effort to move away from the inefficient centralized economic system and imposed policies that allowed more leeway for independent economic decision-making on a regional and local level. The biggest change brought by the reform was the gradual expansion of economic freedom for merchants and capitalists that allowed the country to make a concerted effort to increase production. 

The result of this economic reform is telling. Việt Nam experienced a miraculous economics transformation in the 1990s with average annual GDP growth of 4.4 percent. For comparison, the United State’s average annual GDP growth rate at the time was around 2%. A practice that was unique to Việt Nam during this growth period was the government’s effort to allocate tax revenue towards developing infrastructure and increasing investment in welfare for areas with high levels of poverty. As a result there was a sharp decrease in poverty level across the country and quality of life greatly improved. 

Since then, however, due to the government’s lack of experience in running a mixed market economy, there are a number of structural challenges that prevent Việt Nam from achieving higher growth. As a result, structural problems such as income inequality, environmental pollution, and negative social effects are serious consequences of such a poorly managed institution. Additionally, despite the government’s effort to reduce the national poverty rate, the rising income inequality as well as lack of support for rural development means that absolute poverty is rampant in mountainous and central coast provinces. 

My partner and I have been wrapping up our semester by going over the extensive list of vocabulary that we have accumulated since we first began studying two whole semesters ago. I am amazed to say that over the last three semesters, we have made an Anki deck of Vietnamese vocabulary with over 430 entries.

In addition to that, we have also been talking about my future plans during the drill sessions. It was something similar to that of an interview session. 

 I am graduating in the next couple of weeks and I fully plan on continuing my study of Vietnamese. I am currently making my way through the Duolingo and Mango Languages courses as a way to supplement my learning and improve my grammar. I have also been interviewing for jobs that would put my Vietnamese language skills to use and have been successful in finding a couple positions in the community that I live in.

We also talked about Logan’s future plans. He is currently towards a degree in Economics with a concentration in Accounting. As a graduating Economics major, I gave him some pointers, although I had a lot of trouble with economics-related vocabulary so most of our conversations regarding this topic was done in Viet-Lish. The drills for these past sessions were very interview-like and I greatly enjoyed it despite being quite bad at articulating the words. However, thanks to that, I was able to pick up another couple of vocabulary words for the Anki Deck:

• Kinh tế học [kɨn˧˧ te˧˥ hawk˨˩˨] : Economics
• Chính sách tài khóa [ʨɨn˧˥ ʂat˧˥ taːj˨˩ kʰwaː˧˥] : Fiscal Policies
• Kế toán [ke˧˥ twaːŋ˧˥] : Accouting
• Tổng sản phẩm trong nước [təwŋ˨˩˦ ʂaːŋ˨˩˦ fəm˨˩˦ tʂawŋ˧˧ nɨək˧˥] : Gross Domestic Products
• Chính phủ [ʨɨn˧˥ fu˨˩˦] : Government

It was during one of the sessions that we found there are different Vietnamese words for the various meanings of the word “Economy”

• Economy as in sparing or careful usage is Dành Dụm [jan˨˩ jum˨˩˨]
• Economy as in the wealth and resources of a country or region is Nền Kinh Tế [nəːŋ˨˩ kɨn˧˧ te˧˥]
• Economy as in cheap is Hà Tiện [haː˨˩ tiəŋ˨˩˨]
  • Apparently this word has a heavy negative connotation and should only be used in extremely informal occasions and not to refer to someone of a higher status as it can be seen as disrespectful.

Something else that we also talked extensively about is how I will continue my learning from now on. I plan to continue consuming Vietnamese media to keep up with my exposure to the language. Logan also recommended that I try to keep in touch with him or someone else my age to keep the conversations going since it might be difficult or awkward to practice with my parents. I have also considered the possibility of even teaching or helping someone else learn Vietnamese as a means of practice. Afterall, teaching is a form of learning and I believe it can help me further internalize the language on a level higher beyond memorization and repetition. 

Korean Mythology is a very interesting aspect of Korean culture. Although there are many similarities to neighboring cultures, Korean mythology is its own area that is frequently explored in media. There are heavy ties with Korean religion and its thoughts on gender roles and the afterlife so I thought it would be an interesting topic to delve into. This presentation goes into more depth than my previous look into Korean ghosts and I hope it will be interesting to you as well.

Box Link to Presentation

My favorite readings of the semester include Tribe Revives Language on Verge of Extinction and “Family Tree of Language Has Roots in Anatolia, Biologists Say”. I found the conversations and reading about dying languages extremely interesting after learning the number of languages across the globe and the number of languages losing more and more speakers each day. The intervention of linguistics and language speakers to rescue dying language is extremely interesting as they take inventory of the sounds and vocabulary of the target language. Independently of SDLC 105, I learned about the intervention by native Hawaiians to save their language from extinction, an effort that began in the 1990s. Their mission was/is to recategorize the language as a symbol of national pride and create/maintain Hawaiian language schools. Their efforts give me hope for the preservation of the Hawaiian languages and other languages at risk of going extinct. Additionally, I enjoyed the readings and conversations surrounding the origins of language. The history of language has always been a very interesting subject as it seems extraordinary that a multitude of different languages can come from the same source. I have also always enjoyed identifying cognates between languages and the subject of language origins seems to feed into that idea.

I mentioned this in my language learning podcast, but circumlocution and word processing were my two biggest challenges this semester. It’s a really strange experience to have well-developed skills in one language while operating at a beginner’s level in another language. As opposed to my previous experiences with learning my first language (English) and my second language (Spanish), I have a greater understanding of linguistics and a greater expectation for my language production. When I was first learning English and, sometimes Spanish, as well, I was still developing as a person and, therefore, all of my cognitive abilities were operating on the same level, including my language production and comprehension abilities. Sometimes, when I spoke, I felt like my thoughts developed much more quickly than the Slovak words that I could think and produce verbally. It became frustrating to know that I could produce complex sentences in English while I could only produce basic sentences in Slovak. In response to this frustration, I remind myself of my progress in my target language and compare it with my attempt to learn Danish, a language that I can barely remember even though I lived in Denmark for 6 months!

Despite my frustrations with my circumlocution and word processing abilities, I definitely feel a lot more confident with my pronunciation abilities in Slovak as compared to my abilities in Spanish or Danish. I think the emphasis on properly learning the phonetic inventory and then reinforcing it throughout the semester helped in ensuring proper pronunciation. With Spanish, after the first two or three years, my teachers seemed to correct us less and less on pronunciation and did not put much wait in reviewing the phonetic inventory. Essentially, I could get away with speaking in Spanish with a Midwest/Chicagoan phonetic inventory.

Lastly, this semester reinforced my preferred methods of learning: visually and through action. One of the most helpful strategies was either drawing out (freehand or on the computer) charts of grammatical concepts and lists of related vocabulary words. The practice of making these guides helped in actually looking over the information and understanding it while I made a resource for future review. In the end, I created two different PowerPoints: one separating vocabulary into separate categories and another mapping out grammatical concepts. They do not include everything covered this semester, but they became helpful resources as I reviewed the concepts and vocabulary while putting the new information into the most digestible form for my own learning strengths.

Ultimately, I am very grateful for this opportunity to learn Slovak from a native Slovak speaker and learn more about my ancestral roots. I am hopeful that I can continue to learn more of my target language through watching Slovak media, practicing on Mango, and referring back to my notes from this semester.

Hello everyone,

I cannot believe that we have reached the end of the semester! My language sessions this semester consisted of me, my friend Nibras and our language partner Ms. Kaye Wise. Our podcast serves as a trip down the memory lane where we discuss our triumphs, our failures, and our future plans of continuing ASL learning. We also talk about the upcoming ASL class this fall, which Ms. Kaye Wise will be co-teaching with our another ASL language partner- Ms. Reba Poole. What an exciting time to be an ASL learner at U of R!

Nibras and I have LOVED working with Ms. Wise.  We also greatly benefitted from Ms. Poole’s lived experiences as a Deaf person and as an ASL instructor. Nibras and I went into ASL not knowing much about it and have managed to develop an incredible love for the language, and a strong passion for Deaf rights advocacy. We hope that shines through in this podcast! Enjoy!

https://richmond.box.com/s/gauupior92mlpczyzar5zc1pyqm2hvj4

Unlike other spoken languages in SDLC, the American Sign Language (ASL) does not have its separate cultural components like foods, festivals, cultural practices etc. ASL seems to be influenced by both the Deaf culture and the American culture. So, when it was time to prepare a presentation distinct to ASL, I wanted to do it justice by touching on issues that are exclusive to the Deaf community. In this presentation titled “The Politics of Deaf Identity”, we have tried digging deeper into some of the biggest challenges that deaf communities face today. They are relevant, thought-provoking,and raise a question about what hearing people can do to help the Deaf communities navigate these challenges. We hope you like it!

**This was a combined presentation with my friend Nibras, who has also been taking ASL alongside me this semester.**

https://richmond.box.com/s/g1fcf6yiskpc7j93rz2jvj2jj55bgp5y

During my thirty-six hours in Bratislava, my friends and I visited Hrad Devín (Castle Devín), a castle on the edge of the city known for its important role throughout Slovak history. It also serves as an important monument to Slavic identity for Slovaks and Czechs. Hrad Devín is even featured on Slovak stamps and out of circulation coins. The castle is now considered a ruin and visitors must buy a ~five-euro ticket to enter the grounds. The ticket provides visitors access to views of the border between Slovakia and Austria and the convergence of the Danube River and the Morava River. Due to its location overlooking the river and elevated structure, it would become an important fortress and military base.  In my opinion, the views from Hrad Devín rival the views from atop the Eiffel Tower and the views across the Danube River at the Pest side of Budapest. The natural beauty of the view is something to behold.

Hrad Devín also holds a centuries-old role in European, Slavic, and Slovak history. Scholars believe that the first major settlement in the area dated to 5^th century B.C. The castle was originally named Dowina, derived from the word “girl” in the proto-Slavic language. Written records of the castle first appeared in 894 while under the control of the Great Moravian State. After the fall of Great Moravia, the Hungarians came in possession of the castle. It changed ownership multiple times but one of the castle’s most noteworthy owner is the Báthory Family of Hungary. They owned numerous castles throughout Slovakia with an infamous member of their family, Elizabeth Báthory, occupying much of her time in these castles. Elizabeth would eventually become notorious for torturing and killing 600 Slovak young women. In 1809, the Napoleonic Army blew up the castle, leaving it in its current state as ruins.

It would also become an important part of the Cold War and Soviet control over Slovakia. From 1948 to 1989, the Soviets patrolled the Iron Curtain separating Slovakia and other Soviet states from Western European countries. Part of the Iron Curtain ran along Hrad Devín’s grounds fence in an attempt to keep Slovaks under Soviet control and Western Europeans outside of Soviet territory. This fence was composed of barbed wire and charged to electrocute anyone looking to escape. The Iron Curtain fell in 1989 after the Velvet Revolution. Today, the Gate of Freedom Memorial honors the Slovaks and Czechs murdered while trying to cross from Soviet territory into free territory. The names of these victims are carved into a stone plaque. Due to the violence surrounding the Iron Curtain and its restriction in the freedom of Slovaks, the monument is a white gate riddled with bullets and broken iron bars to symbolize the eventual independence of Slavic states from the USSR. Visitors can walk the path of Soviet soldiers guarding the Iron Curtain. Additionally, along the path lining the river, there is artist Daniel Brunovský’s “The Heart of Europe” (2009), a sculptural heart made of barbed wire from the Iron Curtain. Brunovský created the sculpture to honor the 20^th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, the successful uprising of Czechs and Slovaks against Soviet rule. However, the original version of Brunovský’s sculpture was created in 1989 to sit at Devín, later destroyed by flooding in 2002.

The grounds hold a mishmash of buildings, chapels and more spanning from the 4^th century to the 18^thcentury. Some of these structures include a monument dating to the Roman period, a 4^th century tomb, a 9^thcentury Great Moravian church, and a 15^th century Gothic Garay palace attached to a 16^th century Renaissance palace. The best views are seen from the Virgin (Maiden) Tower, a 13^th century guard tower (renovated in the 15^th century) connected to the rest of the castle by a bridge. Its name is inspired by tales of beautiful virgins jumping to their death off of the tower. This summary of Hrad Devín’s historical and cultural significance is extremely basic. It is barely scratching the surface of this castle’s complex history and importance in solidifying Slovak identity.

*all pictures are my own unless otherwise stated*

View of the Rivers from Devín Castle; The Danube River is the body of water with the boat on it, curving into the distance. The Morava River is the body of water in the lower right corner of the image.

View of the Hrad Devín Ruins 

Part of Gate of Freedom Memorial, Plaque commemorating the

victims of Soviet violence

Gate of Freedom Memorial

*not my picture

Daniel Brunovský’s

“The Heart of Europe” (2009)

https://www.slovakia.com/castles/devin-castle/

https://slovakia.travel/en/devin-castle

https://medievalheritage.eu/en/main-page/heritage/slovakia/devin-castle/

http://monuments-remembrance.eu/en/panstwa/slowacja-2/55-the-gate-of-freedom

https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20034558/barbed-wire-heart-of-europe-is-unveiled.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elizabeth-Bathory  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wnpCmgZqpGkdzcsX0q8ja_cdmBl1TUPI/view?usp=sharing

The March first movement is a holiday celebrated in Korea to pay respects to the people who lost their lives during the protests on March 1^st, 1919. Back then, Korea was under Japanese colonization and there was a protest movement calling f nor independence from Japan. Thousands of students and civilians in Seoul protested in the city to show displays of resistance from Japan. During this holiday, people visit the Seodamun Prison History Hall to remember and pay respects to the people who fought for Korea’s independence and democracy. Furthermore, people go through spring season tours in Gwangyang and other villages to enjoy food and experience parades. Furthermore, many Koreans go to theme parks to enjoy and spend time with their family. Lastly, a lot of people go to Ski resorts to enjoy the last chance to ski before winter ends. The March 1^st movement is like Memorial Day in America. Jenna and I also learned fifteen vocab words related to the March 1^st movement. It was interesting to compare the March 1^st movement to holidays in America.

The blog that I read and learned about the March first movement was this link: https://blog.trazy.com/march-1st-movement-korea/

March 1^st movement is also known as Samil Jeol and is a public holiday celebrated in South Korea. On March 1^st, 1919 there was turning point in Korean history. There was a nationwide civil protest and an independence movement against the Japanese colonization of Korea. This led to the establishment of the provisional government of the Republic of Korea. In 1919, the Paris Peace conference caused many patriots of Korea believed in self-determination and independence from japan. Korean students studying in Tokyo demanded freedom from Japan.

The March 1^st movement is a very popular holiday in Korea and many Koreans take it seriously. It is a moment in history that changed Korea forever. It is similar to Memorial Day in America.

Last week, Jenna and I talked about Korean technology. South Korea is one of the best global innovation leaders. Samsung is one of the most popular companies in Korea and the company started in 1938. Now, Samsung is one of the most popular and successful companies in Korea. In 2018 alone, Samsung produced 15 percent of the nation’s GDP. Korean technology is very advanced and it’s crazy to think less than a century ago, Korea was a third-world country owned by Japan. This week, Jenna and I also went over my cultural presentation. I finished most of it and presented it to her. She said everything was really well made but told me to add sources for each picture I got and to add a design to the presentation to make it stand out more. Last week, we also did the podcast recording together. It was fun to talk about what I had learned so far this semester with Jenna. We talked about the political system I learned last month and the different historical events and holidays I learned earlier this semester. This week, Jenna and I met one last time. We talked about everything I have learned with her over the last four semesters with her. I am so proud of what Jenna and I have accomplished in the last few semesters. I have learned a lot about reading and writing in Korean. I accomplished my long-term goal of passing the COM2 exam last semester. Jenna was able to efficiently teach me the Korean language and Korean culture. Over the past few semesters with her, I have definitely learned a lot. I will continue to practice reading and writing in Korean in the future. I have read many articles in the last few semesters and I am excited to have had this journey with Jenna. I have watched many videos about Korean in Korean that has helped my skills in the Korean language. I am also happy to have learned so many vocabulary words with Jenna over the past semesters. It has definitely helped me expand my Korean speaking skills. One of the first goals in Korean SDLAP was to get better at speaking with my grandma in Korean. I am so proud to have been able to learn the Korean language and I have seen improvements in the conversations with my grandmother. I will preserve the Korean language as long as I live and uphold the traditions I was taught. I thank Professor Soloway for allowing me to embark on this journey with Jenna.