The article "How Immersion Helps to Learn a Language" cites how language immersion can allow adults to process a new language with native proficiency. I always agreed with the sentiment that language immersion is the easiest to learn and improve one's ability in any language. For example, my grasp of Dari is significantly better when I visit family members in Europe since in such instances the only language being spoken is Dari. Therefore, to interact with my family I have to rely on my ability to speak Dari. Usually, when I return home from Europe I notice that my Dari abilities tend to regress because I am not speaking or hearing the language as often. However, I never read into any scientific studies backing language immersion until reading this article. Sindya N. Bhanoo, the article's writer, notes a study that used electroencephalography--a test to measure brain processing--to determine that those who learn a language through immersion use the brain patterns of a native speaker; these brain patterns are not present in those who learn a language in a formal setting. Considering the outcome of the study, I feel more confident in belief that language immersion is the best method for me to learn a language.
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The article "A Picture of Language" discussed an aspect of language learning that I had never heard about before. Kitty Burns Florey, the article's author, discusses what is now a relatively archaic method of language learning--diagramming. Diagramming was introduced S.W. Clark to make it easier to understand the structure of language; as opposed to parsing, the method used at the time which Clark found too tedious. Through my reading of the article, I could not see the effectiveness of using diagramming. The concept seems very outdated, as the author suggests, and I believe there are better methods understanding the structure of a language. However, some do claim that diagramming creates a visual interpretation of language, which adds a greater dimension to knowledge of a language. Although, my experience with diagramming is non-existent, and I cannot personally attest to any added benefits.
The article in the Times about Immersion versus formal class training was very insightful. I would have liked if it went into more detail about the game and the sample size, as well as a few other details that may have been significant, but the article did peak my interest. I have always heard that immersion is the best way to learn a language because you learn more than just grammar. I have found that friends who go abroad come back with a stronger sense of the culture and sound much more natural when speaking the language of the country.
For this reason, I have decided that I would like to go abroad to South Korea sometime before I graduate so that I can learn Korean in the most organic setting. I know enough that I would be able to add to my foundation, which I believe is another important factor when considering immersion as a teaching tool. Additionally, I would like to learn more about Korean culture beyond what is seen on screen, which is my primary source of instruction.
It was quite interesting to read that they believe immersion may one day be a useful tool in helping those with brain injuries. That was certainly something they could have elaborated on, but it seems probable and quite useful. I went on and looked up information about this topic, and I found an interesting website that touched upon it more in depth.
Check it out if you're interested!
This powerpoint includes slides of the details of Korean Weddings. It is important to study because of the Korean Confucianism way of life. Weddings are the most celebrate Confucian ceremony in Korea and they are filled with many traditions. I discussed eligibility, dating, engagement, wedding ceremony, reception ceremony, and overall traditions. I also discussed each topic through a traditional and modern lens to compare them. The sources are at the end of the powerpoint.
I used several Korean words including:
Gyeolhonsig= Weddings
Hangug-eo yugyo= Korean Confucianism
Seon=Arranged Marriage
Gyeolhon jungmaein OR chungmae= matchmakers
Kung-hap= matchmaker's tool to read astrological signs
Yonae=Love marriage
Yakhon= Engagement
Hahm=box of gifts
Noraebang=Song room/kareoke
Shinbu=Bride
Shinlang=Groom
Peh bek=Ceremony/Reception after wedding
Daechu=jujubes (fruit)
Bride's Outfit includes= hanbuk, korum, maedup, jokduri, yonji konji
Groom's Outfit includes= Sangbok, turumagi, paji, mokwha, samo
Koo Soo Sang= Noodle Banquet
Jung Jong= Korean toast with white rice wine
Kook Soo= Noodle
Dok/Yak=rice cake dessert
In reflection of the following article, "A Picture of Language," I learned a lot about the teaching and learning of grammar, a component of language learning that I generally leave behind. From my experiences with Hebrew, English, Arabic, and Spanish, I've found that I am strongly apt to picking up languages and communicating successfully with native speakers. However, grammar has never been a strong point. This article has emphasized the difficulties of the method of parsing, which offers practical skills in breaking down sentences to understand tenses, parts of speech, and the number and function of conjugations. While I agree that this is tedious and not supportive of flowing speech when working on learning a new language, I think it is necessary to spend a short amount of time breaking down how sentences work in the new language. For example, one of the students I work with as a language partner, has focused the main part of the semester on learning vocabulary, and is not going back and learning about sentence structures and conjugation. Now that he is done so, he has a better understanding for the progression of words within a sentence. I think that the use of diagrams, while I have never seen it applied, would support me in grammar learning because I am definitely a visual learner. I was surprised to find at the end of the article that so many of the people the author had interviewed are in agreement.
The article on Sociocultural Factors was incredibly insightful. There were several aspects of culture shock that I had never heard of before - particularly anomie. The term was new for most of us in the class, but we identified the term in context of our own experiences as second-language learners. The concept of feeling alienated because of the identity crisis that is stirred through being between two cultures and becoming familiar with one while distancing from the other is a very complex emotion. It was interesting, especially because I have friends who are mixed race and have described a similar feeling for their experiences. In fact, my friend who is half Japanese and half White has said that in Japan, she is perceived to be extremely American, but in America, she is undoubtedly not white. This seems to be indicative of the dichotomy between the two identities.
I hope that when I go to an Asian country when studying abroad, I will be able to minimize the anomie that I experience. Although it is a part of assimilating into a new culture, I think it is more effective to fully embrace the culture and I will make an effort to do that. For example, I can be a picky eater, but when I went to Italy, my brother told me "When in Rome..." and I understood that I should experience the country as a native does in order to fully understand and appreciate my trip. I will try to do that when I go abroad eventually.
The Culture Shock video that was created by people on this very campus was an interesting perspective. I haven't really met too many international students, and our interactions have been limited. However, the people that I do meet seem to be incredibly interesting and intelligent, with a completely unique background and perspective. The language barrier proves to be the biggest reason why a friendship is not formed as readily and easily as it is for people who speak English as their first language. That being said, I have several cousins that speak English as a second language and I know their hardships, therefore, I put more effort into getting to know international students here. It was odd to hear of their perspectives of the university, because it seemed so different from my own experience. It was valuable to see what they thought were important parts of their college experience, as well as what they think is puzzling, like the expression, "what's up?". I've heard that is incredibly controversial in its application before, and so I have started to make a conscious effort to make sure that I follow through in a conversation when that is said.
In terms of academics, it was surprising to hear that the learning and teaching styles are so different in other countries. I've never thought of it that way, and I always attributed the international students' quietness to their shyness and own demeanor, but it seems that there are definitely other influences to consider. I can't imagine going to a country where raising your hand and being involved in class isn't encouraged - I think I would have a very hard time with that style of teaching and learning. As an American, I am very expressive and like to share my opinion, therefore, learning in a setting where it is based on rote memorization would be stifling.
All in all, I am interested in getting to know more international students, particularly because they seem to have such interesting ideas and perspectives, as shown in this video.
After practicing speaking with my instructor I began to grasp the basics of expressing liking for something in Persian. The most difficult aspect for English speakers is the addition of the particle 'ra'. Placed before a verb, the particle marks the use of the accusative case.
An example sentence is ‘I like warm weather.’ The sentence would read as Man hawal e garm ra hosh daram. Hawal means ‘weather’ and garm means ‘warm’.
With Modern Hebrew, I have continued to practice and review the basic conjugation of various weak verbs. I now have command over several common verbs and their infinitive, imperative and aorist conjugations. The aorist conjugation is often translated as the English simple present. Below is a list of most of the simple verbs I have learned to conjugate thus far. A few verbs among the list are to get dressed, to talk, to agree, to hurry and to dial.
Below I have attached a video I made highlighting some of the body parts in Dari:
The cultural projects varied greatly by depth, seriousness, and topicality. I was particularly drawn to the ones about Israel because I have a trip planned after this semester (just two weeks from now!) and I was very interested to learn about their culture, and in particular, the Israeli Defense Force. It is such a different country based on so many different ideals and representations, and it was great to learn a little about its defining characteristics.
I also enjoyed the project about music that Caarn presented. He seemed personally connected to it because he listens to that genre, and it must have been a really interesting topic to research because it is so relavent. Music is also one of the things that I think are very universal in that anyone can enjoy another culture's music, despite language and cultural differences. Additionally, everyone perceives music differently which makes it particularly striking as a topic of study because what one person hears can be vastly different from another. So while I may have learn very ethnic sounding music, Caarn may have picked up on the similiarities that the music had to contemporary American hip-hop. This dichotomy is quite complex and definitely something that MLC 105 touched upon. After learning about anomie, I was able to identify it through hearing about the other languages and also when I studied my own topic.
We all seemed to have a similar experience of learning more about something that seems simple enough on the surface, like smoking hookah, but then upon further research, learning about so many more aspects of it, like the social norms attached to it.
The cultural projects were interesting and insightful.
One particular sentence stood out to me in H.D. Brown’s chapter on Sociocultural Factors – “no society exists without a culture.” While this sentence seems obvious and unextraordinary, it has some powerful implications. The fact every society has a culture that is unique and individualistic means that there are millions of different ways to view the world. Our perceptions of the world are therefore subjective to our origins, and can cause us to view other existing perceptions as strange, incorrect, illogical, and even wrong. We then oversimplify such perceptions and create generalizations about them in order to organize our worldview. This process happens to just about everyone, but it carries an inherent danger for it leads to the thing nearly all societies have a love-hate relationship with – stereotypes.
Due to stereotypes, most people believe there are certain Dos and Don’ts for each culture. There are certain norms which must be abided by and certain attitudes and behaviors deemed acceptable or unacceptable. Now what does all of this have to do with language learning?
H.D. Brown provides the answer, “a language is a part of a culture, and a culture is a part of a language” (189). Language is thus the most visible expression of culture. If we want to immerse ourselves into learning a language, we must understand the roots and causes of its construction. We must re-orientate are way of thinking, feeling, and of course communicating. Such reorientation cannot occur without acquiring a new identity associated with the new language; a process Brown calls acculturation. Acculturation is not an easy process, because it puts us through an emotional roller coaster that includes amazement and adoration, culture shock, and feelings of uncertainty or dissatisfaction. We must learn to decipher the truth evident within stereotypes and to see through their exaggerations and prejudices.
Even once we begin to “master” the new language, we find it difficult to fully define our new identity. How do we find a balance between the culture we were born and raised in and the culture we want to fully understand and immerse ourselves into?
Over the course of my language learning journeys, I have come to understand the fact that learning a language involves so much more than grammar, pronunciation, and syntax. On the contrary, language learning involves learning a new way of life. I believe the more willing we are to fully commit ourselves to the process, the more rewarding we will find it in the end.
So since I’ve been talking about Portuguese and Brazil over the course of the semester, I figured I might as well end talking about the two :). Here are some funny stereotypes I encountered and had to overcome about Brazilians while learning their language…
http://thegoodblood.blogspot.com/2010/10/cartoons-of-things-that-people-ask-you.html
http://haters-gonna-hate-me.deviantart.com/art/Brazilian-Stereotype-245758091
http://blog.polyanadeoliveira.com/2011/06/yes-i-am-no-i-dont.html
During this past week, I met with my language partner twice (as usual) and my focus this week was learning about how to tell time and how to utilize health-related vocabulary. Since the topic of health is quite broad, I focused on learning vocabulary for body parts and common diseases. To accomplish this, my language partner and I reviewed those vocabulary expressions and I then did a listening and reading activity on the GLOSS Foreign Language Center's website. The activity was called "Your Health: Learning How to Deal with Health-Related Problems." I was able to recognize the phrases in the audio segment well, but reading the passage related to health took me a really long time, so it was a bit disheartening...however, it did remind me, once again, that language learning is a process. It took me a long time to recognize visually the new words for health, so on my own time, I made flashcards for those words.
I also attempted to listen/watch a video segment related to health that showed a healthcare provider in the process of diagnosing a patient in a clinic in India. The video segment was produced by the Hindi-Urdu Flagship Program at the University of Texas, and it was from the website "Hindi-Urdu Language for Health" (also created by the University of Texas). Listening to the healthcare provider's diagnosis was really difficult because it was not meant for those who are learners -- she would use a different dialect (as would the patient), and it was a struggle for me to understand ALL of what they were saying. However, I did recognize key expressions and the new phrases that I learned, so that was definitely a positive experience for me. Here is the website for Hindi-Urdu Health, in case anyone is interested: http://www.hindiurduhealth.org/
The readings on "Sociocultural Factors" provided some unique insights that I had never previously considered. I found the section about stereotypes particularly interesting. The section highlighted how often we do stereotype those who come from different backgrounds and cultures than ourselves. While Francois Lierres's article regarding do's and don't's for his fellow Frenchman traveling to the United States is entertaining, it is also interesting to see how a culture is stereotyped by those alien to it.
Moreover, the concept of second culture acquisition was something I had never thought of before. Essentially, the concept claims that an individual learning a second language begins to develop a second identity; this is referred to as acculturation. The challenging of an individual's previous cultural identity by a newly-forming identity can foster issues, especially abroad. Culture shock can be even more stressful for those who experience acculturation.
Language competence and cultural competence are two concepts which are inextricably linked. One simply cannot function without the other. In other words, you must be able to interact effectively with people of different cultures in order to adequately acquire a comprehensive understanding of their language. Cultural competency first requires that I understand my own world views and beliefs. I must then obtain knowledge about the culture I’m learning about and simultaneously avoid stereotypes and other negative images which might prevent me from fully grasping the culture. Of course, there may genuinely be aspects of the culture that run counter to my own personal values and/or beliefs. Furthermore, there may be aspects of the culture which make absolutely no sense to me, because they are completely absent from my way of life.
Overcoming obstacles such as these are essential components to acquiring cultural competence. Brazil for instance has a completely different mentality on race relations than what the U.S. has. The United States operates primarily on binary systems of race relations. For example, there are obvious distinctions between those who are “black” and those who are “white.” In America, if you look black, you are black. This means of classification emerged from our nation’s history of the “one-drop rule,” whereby individuals with any amount of African ancestry were considered black.
Brazil’s distinctions on race are not as clear-cut. Brazilians also classify people according to what they look like, but they use a supremely larger number of racial categories. According to the website Psychology Today, one study in the Brazilian northeast conducted by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) – the entity responsible for the census – asked people what color they were, and received 134 different answers!
My mindset of being a black woman in the U.S. therefore had little bearing in Brazil. In Brazil, I was classified in numerous categories including morena/mulatta (brown), negra (black), preta (brown-black), Afro-Brasileira (Afro-Brazilian), pardo (mixed race), and even branca (white) at one point! For in the words of one Brazilian friend, “the perception that you have money as an American ‘whitens’ your skin.” The entire situation was completely foreign to me. In America, you are forced into clear-cut racial lines. In Brazil, these racial lines are dynamic and constantly blur depending on perceptions, economics, and status.
Cultural competence is therefore imperative to understanding the target language and people. It requires patience, understanding, and a willingness to temporarily see the world through different pairs of eyes.
Reference:
I had a batty teacher in ninth grade who was infamous in the school for being brilliant, but absolutely crazy. She graduated from a very respectable Ivy League school and had her doctorate, which was hard to come by in my large public school. She was an odd grader, an interesting dresser, and an unconventional teacher.
Part of her curriculum for our freshman year was to learn grammar. She told us that we didn't really know grammar, and that we never were taught it correctly in grade school. So she made it her personal mission to make sure we knew our grammar by the time we left her classroom. She tried different methods, and I remember diagramming was one of them. In fact, I was surprised to see that it was something that she hadn't invented, because it seemed so outrageous. The class reacted in a pretty unanimous way - the diagramming seemed silly and superfluous, and if anything, a distraction. There are of course merits to unconventional and outside-the-box teaching, but this just seemed like it was not one of them.
It seemed contrived, and quite frankly, took away from the productivity of the class, because we spent more time learning how to construct the picture than we did learning the content. Perhaps if it is implemented at a younger age in the curriculum, it could be a more feasible way of teaching grammar and sentence structure. However, it is a different way of teaching within a system that already exists and rejects it, and therefore, is difficult to adapt to and fully appreciate.
I think this type of teaching method may be very valuable for ESL learners or young children, but it must be kept in mind that it is a method, not the solution. A teacher should experiment with other types of teaching to see which is most well-received, as each student is an individual learner. Ultimately, it sounds like a great idea, but may be a gimmick for most.
The opinion blog on the New York Times website, "A Picture of Language," emphasized grammar in a new light to me. I never heard of parsing before, but it sounds like a frustrating task to help one learn a language. Grammar in Korea is not very strong. It often feels like I'm just plugging words into any order. It is much less complex than the English language. I can understand how diagramming may help some people that prefer learning visually. I do not personally think I could benefit from it, but that is difficult to know until I try it myself. I'm surprised at how successful the book ended up being in this time period. I can't remember how I learned proper grammar as a child, but I know it took many years of practice. The simplification of the Korean language does not require such careful study to break down sentences into these diagrams. I think the best method of learning grammar is to stick to learning the rules and applying them rather than drawing diagrams.
In the "Sociocultural Factors," article, many relevant topics were discussed in terms of culture and "fitting in." I found the most amusing topic to be the idea of anomie. This feeling of social uncertainty or dissatisfaction is said to be heightened at the time when a person is close to mastering a language. One would assume that a person may like they fit in more because they understand the language, but it is quite the opposite. A person has an identity confusion when they don't know which language and culture is their dominant background anymore. I was intrigued by the four stages of culture acquisition as well. When I studied abroad in Argentina for only 6 weeks, I felt culture shock in such a short time in comparison to my 3 and a half months in Madrid. When I studied in Madrid, I never felt culture shock. I think the excitement and euphoria stage lasted the entire time I was there. I'm not sure why this occurred, but I just felt more at home in Madrid. My korean language learning is still at the beginning, but I look forward to my trip there to see how my culture acquisition plays out.
H.D. Brown’s chapter on “Communicative Competence” is a wonderful reminder that learning a language must occur on many fronts. He defines communicative competence as “that aspect of our competence that enables us to convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within specific contexts” (223). While it is important to obtain grammatical competence and knowledge of syntactic structures; this is not sufficient in and of itself. It is necessary to have the pragmatic contexts of discourse, because the meaning of a sentence varies depending on how it is said and the context it is said in. As Brown states, “it is not what you say that counts but how you say it” (237). This simple truth tells us that language is largely dependent on interaction between participants. Having cognitive and academic language proficiency is all well and dandy, but basic interpersonal communicative skills are most pertinent to the “real world.”
Focusing on the social and functional role of language is therefore a key aspect of language learning. Most language learning classrooms attempt to emphasize this aspect of language by having interactive components to textbooks and curriculum. For instance, almost anyone who has learned a language in a classroom has done an activity such as introductions, exchanging personal information, giving commands, apologizing and thanking, identifying and describing people, asking for information, etc.
In my opinion however, one truly acquires interpersonal language skills simply by interacting and speaking with native speakers of the language he/she is trying to learn. There are so many subtleties to language that cannot be taught (i.e. non-verbal communication, gender effects, artifacts, etc.). Instead, they must be experienced. In fact, I believe I learn language best through experience first. I prefer to learn by interacting with a native speaker one-on-one. While these interactions have often been extremely awkward in the beginning of my language learning journey, they usually turn out to be worthwhile in the end. As numerous Brazilians told me while I was struggling to acquire Portuguese, it doesn’t matter how many mistakes you make because in the end tudo bom (everything is alright).
Want to know more about the subtleties to Brazilian Portuguese?!?! Check out this cute video below.
This week I have been working on doing research for my cultural project.
In addition, I have been trying to identify famous celebrities and political figures that show up in the news a lot. This has been extremely helpful in understanding the news with the upcoming election year.
Also, having done some research on the perceptions of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews at the start of the Israeli state, I am interested in possible stereotypes that still exist. The following political cartoon sheds light on this-
The guy driving in the car is asking the woman how to get to "askenazi"... there are stereotypes in that he is driving, she is walking, she seems to have been shopping at the street markets, while he is just lost in the poorer area of the neighborhood.
I've also downloaded the free Hebrew dictionary application for Apple. The app is great not only for translation use as a language partner, but great for learning some vocabulary that I do not regularly use in everyday Hebrew speaking. It also provides a quiz that tests your knowledge and recent new words you've learned, which has been great for repetition and review of their use and meaning.
Week 8
This week our plan is to learn how to tell time. I learned this a little bit for my second artifact when saying the time to go to lunch. Time is interesting because the Korean language has 2 different ways to say numbers depending on what you are counting. The hours use one number system and minutes uses the other number system. I learned this through a youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSnqli_Md2s. The instructor's accent was a little difficult to understand. I also found a different PDF online to help me learn visually. http://images.passva91.multiply.multiplycontent.com/attachment/0/R6ooZgoKCBkAAFPaK1I1/Lesson%2012%20Telling%20Time.pdf?key=passva91:journal:7&nmid=80949331
I found both resources equally helpful.
At this point in the semester, I am realizing the difficulty is memorizing so many topics. It is more complicated than I thought it would be. I am learning a lot, but I also forget some of the words I learned at the beginning of the semester. My greatest accomplishment thus far is understanding the culture more. I learned a lot about life in Korea and priorities of the people that live in Korea. There is a lot of research that goes behind language learning especially when I am not simply following one text book or using one learning resource. The variety of resources all help me in different ways. Videos help my pronunciation, but reading articles helps me learn the culture and reason why people say things in certain ways.
I am attaching the lesson I created for a friend in a photo on my page. It was very effective because my friend learned how to say numbers 1 through 10 in less than 5 minutes. First, I went through the numbers and helped her pronunciate each word. Then I gave her a worksheet I made that you can see on my page.
Week 9
This week the goal was to learn numbers and dates. There are two different counting systems that are used depending on the situation. One is known as pure korean and the other is known as sino-Korean because it is based on Chinese numerals. As I wrote in the discussion post, time uses both counting systems, one for hours and one for minutes. I practiced numbers by a few online activity sites I found. I learned about the counting systems on this website: http://www.learn-korean.net/learn-korean-classes-viewarticle-16.html.
I also discovered Chisanbop, a Korean counting game. It is known as finger math and helps with addition. The instructions can be found at this website: http://www.ehow.com/how_4861020_finger-math-basic-addition-counting.html. There was also flashcards on the Before You Know It application on my computer. Numbers are important to learn also because of the culture of Korea's heavy reliance on comparing ages. I find it hard to keep from mixing up the two counting systems.
Week 10
Food is an essential part of many conversations in Korea. I worked food into my second artifact conversation with my mom to reflect this. It is the most common thing to plan one's day around in Korea. If you go to a friend's house, one of the first things people do is make sure everyone is well fed. I decided to incorporate food into my cultural presentation because of how often I find food coming up in my research. Every festival also revolves around a certain meal or type of food. A rice cake soup is served at many festivals. Korea is also known for their barbecue which is the basis of many traditional restaurants. Bulgogi is a thinly sliced grilled beef that is a popular menu item. There is also gimbap which is served as a snack or quick meal. I thought the concept was interesting because it is basically like Japanese sushi but not considered a meal. Gimbap is seasoned riced with fried egg, julienned carrots, julienned ham, seasoned ground beef or fish cakes, pickled radish, seasoned spinach, and cucumber. It seems like a very interesting combination. The most shocking food I learned about was how restaurants will serve live octopus while it is still moving. The culture of eating at Korean was something I researched as well. The eldest male is always served first and no one should pick up their chopsticks until everyone is served. Drinking etiquette is also interesting. Each diner is supposed to face away from the eldest male and cover his or her mouth when drinking alcohol. The first drink should also never be refused when the host offers it. I am going to research more about restaurant behavior before I go to Korea to make sure I don't seem rude.
Week 11
The personal goal I have for this week is transportation. I wanted to understand how transportation works before I travel in the area. We will be taking planes to travel throughout Korea and probably walking a lot so I thought it would be smart to learn about directions. I started by researching what popular types of transportation are in Korea before looking up the vocabulary. There is an extensive network of railroads, highways, bus routes, ferry services, and air routes. There is also a subway system in Seoul and the other 5 large cities. I also watched this video to learn more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt9-dWqyjxA. I found another website that has "pre-made" flashcards. It's called flash card exchange and had an entire list of Korean transportation vocabulary. After studying this for a while, I concentrated more on giving and following directions. I found a website with an interactive game to learn left/right, up/down, etc. http://genkienglish.net/speakkorean/koreanleftandright.htm This was good for hearing and identifying the word. I think is a good way to learn so I know I am pronouncing the words correctly before trying to read them on my own.
