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Learning the history of a language gives you an interesting aspect on language in general. Language is always changing and being influenced by other languages. I think a language's history can show us how one language is similar to others and how it is different. This ability to make a connection between languages broadens our learning experience in a very unique way. It gives us a chance to explore even more than we thought by looking at how our target language originated. Over the years, Korean has been influenced by Chinese and Japanese. I can see that there are many similar words. Just from the similarity of words, I am encouraged to explore if the words mean the same in the other language, whether it is used the same way. In this way, language learning offers variety and an opportunity to explore other languages in the context of your target language. 

I think that learning about a language's history also puts things in perspective. Seeing how, over time, the Korean language has transformed helps me to get a better understanding of the language, it's grammar and vocabulary. Culture  can heavily influence language. The more modern Korean used today is a good example. Times change and there are many phrases and words used by the Korean youth that weren't used before. 

There is also the influence of English. Since English is a language that has, in a way, crept into many other languages, Korean is no exception. There are many English words that have been adjusted to fit the Korean language. Such as

컴퓨터, which is computer in Korean. In romanized letters, 컴퓨터 is keom-pyu-teo. It's a Korean take on an English word.

I'd also like to reflect upon my progress so far. I think I've done a good job keeping up with my learning goals and activities. I've been practicing reading by reading newspapers and that's helped me to increase my speed which I'm happy about because I used to be extremely slow at reading. I think I need to work more on memorizing voabulary, so that's what I will be doing more of in the second half of the semester. Other than that, I think I've been progressing at a good pace.

Language of Politics:

Learning vocab through political marketing

In recent weeks I have made learning adjectives in both Modern Hebrew and Farsi a top priority. Grasping basic sentence structure and knowing key verbs can be used to hold basic conversation. However, without having an arsenal of nouns and adjectives at hand, sentences become dull and often meaningless. No matter how many opinions you hold, you may find yourself stuck in a world of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. “Tea is bad.” “My car is good” “I like rain, rain is good.”

Luckily, to learn Modern Hebrew one needs to look no further than official political party titles.

Here are a few Israeli political parties with names that also function as a useful word to keep in one’s vocab arsenal.

Likud=consolidation (useful for making speeches!)

HaAvoda=The Work  (work=avoda)

Hadash=New (Founded 1977)

Gil=age (not as in old age, but more as in ‘a generation’)

I tried to do some reading in my language with my language assistant and to my surprise he praised my pronunciation. I have reviewed the alphabet several times and I am very familiar with every letter with the Turkish alphabet, therefore it was not a difficult task to read the words but difficult to guess the pronunciation on words that I did not know of. I learned around 8 new words, house, father, mother, job, businessman, professor, student, university. I think it is realistic for me to be able to read simple texts without complex words by the end of the year with an ability to understand the context of the text. I have learned that reading in Turkish is not difficult, but understanding the meaning is rather difficult in longer readings, compared to shorter reading where it is easier to understand. From reading I highlighted words that I did not know and looked up after, if I keep up m readings I believe that I will accumulate a significant amount of vocabulary.

In reading Cultural Competence, I realized that I often think of learning a language in terms of the phonetics and the semantics and grammar instead of learning communicative abilities in various contexts. If we think about it, from a young age we learn to communicate with others - that is the point of speech - to get an idea across (demonstrative), to command (imperative), to express desire in something, or share a part of our identity. A young child will first point to something he wants and say only the part of the word he knows, for example, "ju" for juice. I say this to emphasize Grice's 4 maxims of language learning: I ought to approach language learning as learning to say only as much as necessary for understanding, to say only was it true, and to say only was is relevant in truthfulness. Honestly, I have to admit sometimes I don't do this in English - I meander my way to the point I am trying to make. (for example I could have made that sentence - "I don't express myself concisely").

I also found it interesting that to understand a language, we need to know more than just the words and their meanings, we need to know the context around them. A very good example is where the American teacher says, "Would you like to read?" and the Russian student says: "No, I would not." There are underlying cultural rules that govern our conversations and structure our idioms. For example, a non-native English speaker (and even perhaps someone of an older generation) would not understand the sentence - "Yeah, so my coach got angry at me when I scored a touchdown and then tebowed." They would think, what is this word? Tebowing is to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different. It refers to the famous Broncos quarterback who drops to a knee and prays after every touchdown, while on national television, breaking an indirect norm not to show religious activities at a sports event. Thus, to understand tebowing, you have to know not only the word and its meaning, but the importance of sports, especially football, and the social norms surrounding sports events in America to understand the context. This is the power of the illocutionary force (or intended meaning) of words and phrases in a language.

In India, henna is an artistic representation of traditional culture. "Mehndi"is the traditional art of henna painting, while henna is the plant whose oil dyes skin, hair, leather or wool. There are two types: either black henna or natural henna. 

Henna is usually used in various festivals and celebrations. In India, people have used henna to dye their hair since 400 AD. They also use it in wedding celebrations; a woman prepares herself for her husband by marking her hands with henna and letting them ruminate over night before the wedding day. In this fashion, henna represents the love between a wife and a husband, and the length of the stain represents the enduring length of their love. Women usually apply it to their hands and feet, but men can also wear henna to very auspicious gatherings such as a battle victory. However, at any occasion, henna is a symbol for fertility. Literally the word henna means "to become queen." As an art form, it represents the cultural traditions of marriage and celebration in India.

Learning goals for culture project:

• Learn how to do henna
• Practice doing henna
• Tell a story with henna using henna storying
• Learn words in Kannada for the story

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I plan to do my culture project on food. It seems like one of the most universal things in a culture and I think it would be useful to know about korean food for several different reasons. I would be able to bond with my parents over it, who are both chefs, and it would also be one of the most basic things if and when I go to Korea myself. I have grown up eating Korean food but haven't known the names and the ingredients in Korean. In fact, many Korean foods my parents cook, my brothers and I have made little nicknames for that we identify in English. For example, my mom makes a really great  fish soup, and we call it fishy-chiggae, and chiggae means soup in Korean. Obviously, that wouldn't fly in Korea if I were to order it in a restaurant.

In terms of my goals, I would love to be able to identify not only the name of the dish, but the ingredients in Korean. This would also be a good way to learn about the culture in terms of where each dish is most prominent, originated from, and if there are different variations depending on location and socio-economic factors. For example, in America, there are different types of hot dogs depending on where you go, and also things like iced tea (assumed to be sweet in the South, but usually unsweetened in the North). 

As a food enthusiast, I can see that I will be enjoying this project! I will take pictures when I go home for spring break of the different dishes my mom and dad make and will be sure to upload them to whet your palates!

Swedish is a northern Germanic language that has English's standard alphabet with the addition of three vowels: å, ä, och ö, creating a 29 letter alphabet. Swedish grammar is similar to English in that verbs only have one conjugation in the present tense and only change to indicate past and future tenses. This makes Swedish easier to learn than language such as Spanish and French that require several conjugations for each verb in the present tense. Swedish is spoken by approximately 10 million people in Sweden and by the Swedish minority in Finland. Swedish is recognized as the official language of Sweden, but also protects the status of five minority languages: Finnish, all Sami dialects, Torne Valley Finnish (Meänkieli), Romani and Yiddish.

Based on this knowledge about the origins of Swedish, and the similarities it has with French and English, it focuses my attention on acquiring vocabulary because the structure is similar to English and there are many relationships to be drawn allowing for easier acquisition of the language. Since the grammar is also rather simple and does not require many conjugations like French or Spanish, I will not be focusing much attention of grammar in my studies.

As a language learner, previously having studied French, Spanish, and Norwegian, I realize that part of what I enjoy most is being able to communicate with native speakers of the language and having a more profound connection through my language access. I enjoy speaking the most and understanding cultural norms and language that are unique to that culture, I use media and film sources in order to compliment my language learning and find this a very useful way in expanding my language knowledge. What I have disliked the most about learning any language has been the heavy emphasis on grammar and the minute attention that it requires at times. I understand that it is important in order to write and understand linguistic structure, and surprisingly enough reveal cultural characteristic reflected in linguistic formulations. Taking into consideration my previous experiences, I find that I am an oral and visual learner. I enjoy very much repeating sounds and words and strive to imitate accents, fluctuations and tones, this is the funnest part and what I enjoy most about learning new languages. Furthermore, I learn visually, I have to see the words that I am speaking in order to make connections between the spelling and pronunciation. A combination of both works best for me. This type of learning style would be best complemented by a combination of media materials such as film, tv shows, short clips, and extensive reading that would be practiced with my language partner. A possible opportunity to expand my learning activities is to consider utilizing news reports that are televised in Sweden as a way of integrating new vocabulary and synthesizing information in a quick and effective manner.

I focused on learning more about a current debate in Sweden surrounding a recent proposal to implement a 40% mandatory quota for women in the board of directors of businesses. This proposal was made by the Social Democrats and has been a highly debated topic since Norway's recent adoption of this same law. In order to understand the diversity of opinions and arguments for the quota system I have followed media coverage in several news sources and listened to interviews with top representatives of political parties, feminist groups, and the Swedish organization for enterprises. The following are some of the articles I have read:

Interview with a female representative from the Organization of Swedish Enterprises

http://www.newsmill.se/artikel/2011/09/23/lika-inte-s-rskilda-r-ttigheter-arkelsten
Interview
http://www.expressen.se/debatt/kvotering-fungerar---se-bara-pa-norge/
http://www.dn.se/nyheter/valet-2010/norsk-kvotering-gav-hojd-kompetens
http://www.svd.se/naringsliv/karriar/ratar-norges-modell_2051167.svd

Through reading of these articles and discussing the topic further with my language partner I have also expanded my vocabulary in the areas of argumentation and related vocabulary.

jämställdhet: gender equality

särbehandling

rättigheter

måltavla: target

särskildt: particular

likabehandling: equal treatment

kvotering: quota

bolagstyrelse: Board of directors

egenskapar: personal skills

målriktaded: goal driven

undersökning: research study

motsatset: the counter

jämfor med: compare with

talesperson: representative

Based on the number of words I have learned I believe that my reading goal is very realistic and that I will be be able toe expand my vocabulary to a significant extent. I am able to follow the arguments, the logic, and formulate my own opinions using the vocabulary used in the articles.

GULLAH CULTURE

What is Gullah?

The Gullah people are located on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia.  They are communities of people who are the descendants of enslaved Africans.  Before the Civil War, the Gullah were more autonomous than other American slaves, because many slave owners preferred to move inland as a result of the extreme heat and mosquitos of the swampy Atlantic coastline.  After slavery, the Gullah people were able to buy their own land, and they remained relatively isolated since there were few connections to the mainland (bridges weren’t built until the 1950s).  The isolation of the Gullah enabled their West African roots to thrive, and they now have a unique culture that is directly linked to West Africa

Gullah Traditions

The Gullah have their own unique blend of crafts, cuisine, and culture.  For example, they make sweetgrass baskets, quilt, and knit fishing nets. Folklore, stories and songs have also been handed down over the years.  There is a wide-known annual Gullah Festival held in Beaufort, South Carolina in May. This is just one of the events held throughout the year to celebrate Gullah traditions.

Gullah Language

In South Carolina, this group of African-Americans and the language they speak are referred to as Gullah (Gul-luh). In Georgia, they are called Geechee (Gee-chee).  Gullah the language was developed among Africans as a way to communicate with people from other tribes and Europeans. It has a unique simplicity in that it is written the way it sounds.  For years (until the 1930s), people thought it was poor English.  People who speak Gullah sound like people who speak Krio, one of the common languages spoken among the people from Sierra Leone, West Africa.

What are the Gullah people like?

• Direct communicators
• Loud talkers
• Affectionate
• Collectivist – family is extremely important
• Time – who needs it?!

Now...

With the incoming of development on the Gullah islands are fears of assimilation.  Younger generations are steadily selling their ancestral lands to development contracters and are encouraging increased tourism.  Older members of the Gullah community therefore fear that their traditions and language are becoming endangered.

Due to my unique situation of not taking MLC 110 simultaneously with MLC 105, I do not have a specific language whose history I need to learn.  As a result, I teamed up with Jack Hodil, a fellow classmate who is also not taking MLC 110, and did some research on the history of language in general. 

There has been extensive study and research on the emergence of individual languages, but interestingly enough there has not been as much study on the history of language in and of itself.  Nevertheless, it is widely known that most of the currently existing 5,000 languages of the world (about a third of them are in Africa) are in linguistic families descending from one common language ancestor.  Experts say many of these “original languages” were spoken as little as a few thousand years ago.  The Indo-European language family is currently the most widespread of these language groups as it is spoken by more than half of the world’s population (includes Hindi, Persian, English, Norwegian, etc.).  Another important linguistic group is the Semitic language group (and no, it’s not strictly referring to the Jewish religious/ethnic group…).  

An extremely important concept to keep in mind when studying the origins of language is the fact that languages have continuously infiltrated each other since the beginning of time, whether it be through conquest, empire, trade, religion, or technology.  So, there is essentially no such thing as a “pure” or uninfluenced language.  Modern English for example, occupies a middle position within the western European family of language with about half of its vocabulary being Germanic and half Romance in origin.

Thus, linguistic evolution is defined by a “survival of the fittest” process.  An ongoing struggle between languages occurs as they all seek to exert their influence.  Words travel/survive throughout time and the world according to their usefulness.  The word “aspirin” for example was coined in 1899 by a German inventor.  Today, it is a commonplace international word used in the medical realm.  The fluidity of language often troubles traditionalists who want to build barriers against the natural changes of languages.  France has somehow become the archetype of this image in recent years.    

In any case, the evolution of language is a long and lengthy ordeal.  Still, it deserves careful inspection, because it can teach us a lot about the cultural nuances evident within our target languages.

References:

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab13

http://walkinthewords.blogspot.com/2010/07/illustrated-language-tree.html

This week, I met with my language partner, who helped me study new vocabulary related to family and kinship, hobbies, and home life.  I learned the construction of "to have X hobby" and how to say "I like X" (a particulary hobby).  My language partner would say the word aloud, and I would try to write it/spell it on paper or on a dry-erase board.  This activity really made me realize how important it is to keep reviewing "basic" elements of Hindi, like the alphabet!  There were unfortunately some tricky, less-common letters that I had forgetten how to write.  Luckily, however, this review helped a lot.  The kinship expressions were a lot more detailed than I realized, because in Hindi, there are many different words related to family, like "father's older brother" vs "father's younger brother."  I learned the main expressions for common family members.

With regard to writing practice, I wrote about 10-12 sentences relating to family and hobbies (introducing myself and my family).  I tried to use the present progressive and present habitual (imperfect) tense, since those two tenses are the ones I have been studying.  I also learned how to ask Sanya (my language partner) questions about her own family (examples: "What is your sister's name?"  "How many sisters and brothers do you have?", etc).  I recorded these questions, but I felt as though I didn't know how to transition between questions -- this is something I am going to work on and then re-record sometime this week.

For listening, I listened to the "My family" audio lesson on the GLOSS website (such a good resource! Here is the URL: http://gloss.dliflc.edu/Default.aspx) and did the related online comprehension activities, and then also did the "The Meeting" audio lesson + activities for more of a focus on culture + grammar (tenses).

For reading and vocab practice, my LP and I have just started to transition into studying food vocabulary (common fruits, vegetables, and restaurant dishes in India -- as well as how to order in a restaurant in India), and she also had a menu for me to read and sound out the words and then match them to the vocab I had just learned regarding food.

I have been realizing that I haven't been focusing on reading as much as conversational speaking and vocabulary, so I will be doing more reading over break and in the weeks to come.

Response to reading “Communicative Competence:"

I really enjoyed reading "Communicative Competence" because of the current tasks I am working on in my study of the Hindi language.  The very first point, in which the author wrote: "Recent trends have put less emphasis on structural and cognitive characteristics of communication and more on the myriad social, cultural, and pragmatic implications of what it means to communicate in a second language," made me think of the last few weeks in my study of Hindi.  Initially, at the beginning of the semester, I focused a great deal of my time and attention on learning the introductory grammar and "structural" characteristics of Hindi.  Since I know Punjabi, I (erroneously) assumed that beyond the structure and some vocabulary differences (differences in sound), the two languages, would, for the most part, be quite similar. I was wrong.  Yes, the two languages are similar, but the interpersonal meanings and interpersonal context of Hindi is quite different from Punjabi.  For instance, in the article, when the author discussed the different types of competence (Grammatical, Discourse, Sociolinguistic, and Strategic), I found it very interesting to think of one of my weak points in Hindi -- sociolinguistic competence.  It is difficult for me to be sensitive to dialect and to be "natural" in speaking Hindi.  When I was working on my artifact and recording a conversation with my Language Partner last night (in which I asked her questions about her identity), I kept feeling as though my questions/conversation were so abrupt because I didn't know how to end one question, ask an unrelated question, have her know that I am listening, and finally end the conversation.  In the text, this is referred to as topic nomination, turn-taking, and topic shifting.  Since my goals for this semester were primarily functional in nature, I never really thought about spending time in studying topic nomination, turn-taking, topic shifting, etc.  For instance, with regard to gender, I don't really know what body language or nonverbal signs a female or male should have while asking a question to someone or introducing him/herself to others.

Thus, by looking back at my artifact with my LP and at the text, I am realizing that sociolinguistic competence and the non-structural aspects of language are just as important in communicating with locals as grammar and vocabulary are. 

Modern Hebrew language is affected by many various cultural influences. Most Israeli's speak not only Hebrew, but also English, and Arabic. This is because of the significant influence that America has on Israel's politics, and the neighboring Arabic speaking countries. The Hebrew language incorporates many militaristic phrases and words because of the warlike nature of the Israeli people. Body language is much like that which can be found in America. One difference between American culture and Israeli culture is the assertiveness of Israelis. For instance, waiting for your turn in line is not usually done in Israel. It is not viewed as rude to "cut" in line, and in fact waiting for your place in line causes those around you to be viewed as naive.

Learning a language also includes understanding the culture surrounding the language. This helps to understand when it is appropriate to use certain forms, tones, and words in specific contexts. For instance speaking informally when addressing ones superiors ( a teacher or project overseer for example), can be viewed as disrespectful. There are factors of each culture that are necessary for the language learner to understand in order for them to effectively understand what to say and when to say it.

The Hebrew writing system is one of the most ancient written languages in the world. The earliest known writing in Hebrew can be traced back to the 11th century BC. Hebrew began to be replaced by Aramaic around 586 BC, and by 70 AD the use of the Hebrew language had nearly ceased. The revival of the Hebrew language began in the 19th century. The Hebrew writing system is called "Abjad." Hebrew is read from right to left, and numerous letters have a final form that differs from the original. My learning goals do not involve reading and writing, however it will be important for me to recognize letters and learn to pronounce them in order to improve my pronunciation of various words.

My culture presentation is composed of a series of music videos. I wanted to focus on a relatable aspect of the culture. My first link is:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cHLSWmVnTE

This video shows what an ideal Punjab male citizen was thought to be. I know this song through my grandfather. It shows a more traditional Punjab. 

My second link is:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulcmRmFqoH0

This was to show a more modern and westernized view in music. Along with the western influences in synths and instruments I noticed that the women modern Punjabi music videos are often dressed as they are in English pop videos. I should say that they dress skimpily. I used these videos to arrive at the conclusion that the more modern the music and the culture gets it seems to have more and more western influence. 

The Punjabi writing system in India is Gurmukhi and in Pakistan Shahmukhi is the chosen writing style which mimics Arabic.

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region. For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language. Punjabi can be subdivided into two varieties, known as Eastern Punjabi and Western Punjabi.

There are an estimated 88 million native speakers of the Punjabi language, which makes it the 10th most widely spoken language in the world. According to the 2008 Census of Pakistan, there are 76,335,300 native Punjabi speakers in Pakistan and according to an Indian census, there are 29,102,477 Punjabi speakers in India.

The Punjabi language has many different dialects, spoken in the different sub-regions of greater Punjab. Since the Partition of Punjab in 1947, Punjabi spoken in the two countries has deviated from each other, with Indians relying more heavily on Sanskrit vocabulary through Hindi. Majha is the textbook dialect of Punjabi.

I had more information however my PowerPoint was deleted, I have tried to retrieve it however I think it is permanently deleted.

I found a children's book in Punjabi. Although my vocab is pretty limited I found myself sounding out most of the words in the book. I think that my lesson plan of learning how to write is realistic. I guess the sobering thing was that I had a tough time sounding most of the words out. I felt as though I would be further along than I am. 

I think putting more focus on the alphabet and the pronunciation will be better in the long run. As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, the beginning is the most important time in a language. If you don't get a solid foundation in the beginning it is incredibly hard to move to an advanced level without an immense amount of difficulty. I think the path that I am on will eventually reward me. I need to put a bit more emphasis on vocab and making sure I can understand what I am reading (pronunciation can only get you so far).

I have also started to listen to more Punjabi music. I feel like I am learning considerably faster. I have picked up most of my vocabulary this way due to time constraints with other classes.