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First, I'll take you through how I learned two other languages in my life (aside from English). French was a strict, everyday in high school sort of thing, some kids in school took Spanish, I did French. It wasn't something that I could say helped me to become fluent, but it definitely opened my eyes to a whole range of possibilities as to where I could take the language. What really made me a lot more fluent in the language was being able to speak to my dad, friends overseas and relatives in French. In addition, I used the power of the internet to find every single Claude Francois song out there and memorized all of the lyrics! Music was the biggest contributor for sure to my learning abilities!
Arabic is a similar story except there was no formal schooling associated with it. Arabic has been spoken around me since I was born, and finally around my freshman year in college I started being able to respond back to people when they spoke to me. It obviously helped spending three months in Lebanon on vacation, but on top of that, I still listen to Arabic music every day, and already can start translating some songs on my own.
With Turkish it will be a little bit more difficult. Having lived with my roommate, Yigit, for more than a year now, I now a few words and pronunciations, but I still believe that I will need a little bit of formal teaching in order to get the ball rolling.
The goal is to go to Istanbul with a good background in Turkish and use my time there to perfect an accent. However, for now, I will continue on the "social" track and speak as often as possible in order to gain more and more vocabulary. To be quite honest, that is the one thing that I try the hardest to learn through experience - vocabulary. You can know every rule of grammar, but if you forget the word for wolf and think it's a Kurd, you might be in big trouble!
Anyways, I think I'm going to pick up the language pretty quickly, but I will need to practice every day and listen to Turkish music (maNga, Hayko Cepkin, Mor ve Otesi, etc.) everyday in order to start to be able to pick up words and phrases.
I've studied a few different languages over the years, and I've learned in time what works best for me in order for words' meanings and sentence constructions to stick. I started french in eighth grade and continued with it until the end of high school, and I studied german for three years in college and then arabic for a semester. The two online questionnaires told me that I was Music Learner, on the one hand, and a Physical and Visual learner by the other. And I would agree with these results. I listen to music constantly and I seek out music from other languages, especially the ones I study. I believe it helps my pronunciation, as well as repeats common phrases and word usages, which pop into my mind later when I'm trying to think of the correct way to express something.
I've also known for a very long time that I'm a visual learner when it comes to learning words. If I see something written out once, I will always remember how to spell it, and I need to see foreign words written out in order to remember them. That's because I recall words by seeing them in my mind, and if I only hear a word and am not familiar with how a word would be spelled, my brain invents its own way to write it, which creates problems later when I try to write.
Alternately, studying grammar first in a textbook is helpful to me to learn how sentences should be constructed, but grammar becomes second nature to me only when I've heard it spoken a lot. Once I know how the language would look written out, listening to it spoken or in music helps me put words in context and learn how they should be used.
The first things I need to understand are the alphabet and the pronunciation of words. I generally learn vocabulary best in lists. I don't necessarily need or want pictures with them since I make my own pictures in my head. Also I've learned it's helpful to learn vocabulary as words that all relate to each other, like foods or household objects. Once I have the basics, I could research the basic grammatical constructions of sentences, since I remember that Turkish placement of words in sentences is very different from English. Then I could understand simple texts, write basic sentences, and learn context by watching tv and kids' cartoons, or by listening to podcasts or music while I run.
I did not grow up in a foreign country and my parents are not fluent in any other language besides English. I have only been out of the United States once in my life and that was when I studied abroad in Australia, a country whose customs and culture are similar to those we practice in America; needless to say my linguistics were not challenged. I have studied different languages throughout my high school and college years, but it is safe to say that I am far from fluent in any language other than English. In high school, I studied Spanish for four straight years. To this day, I can remember some grammar and I can count to 100, but I would embarrass myself if I had to hold a conversation with someone who spoke only Spanish. The same goes for Italian. When I started as a freshman at the University of Richmond, I knew that I wanted to take a language that was new and different and that no one in my family had ever taken. I chose Italian. For one whole year, five days a week, one hour and fifteen minutes a day, I learned all I possibly could about the Italian language. From grammar and numbers to verb tenses and sentence formation, my professor did her very best to make sure the Italian language was embedded in our brains. Unfortunately, although I am more comfortable with my Italian-speaking abilities than I am with my Spanish-speaking abilities, I would need a lot more practice before I could converse with someone in Italian without making any mistakes.
For me, learning a new language is a lot fun. I enjoy being able to see the differences between languages and hear the different accents individuals have developed based on where they live. Over the weekend I completed two multiple intelligence tests and upon reviewing the results, I realized that they were extremely accurate and I began to think about and analyze my learning styles; something that I would have probably never done if it was not for taking these tests. Both tests revealed that I am both a social and solitary learner. At first, I did not see how this was possible seeing as how the terms are polar opposites. However, as I thought about the learning styles that I have used over the years, especially since I started attending the University of Richmond, I realized that I am in fact both a social and solitary learner. I prefer to communicate with fellow students when it comes to completing assignments or discussing a lecture. In addition, I have found that it is easier for me to learn material when I am listening to someone teach it to me, as opposed to reading it in a textbook. In the classroom, I enjoy when professors use examples and demonstrations in order to ensure that students understand what they are learning. I have found that I comprehend things much better when there is a video or model to illustrate what I have just read or been taught. Similarly, I enjoy taking classes in which professors communicate with and include their students in what they are teaching, rather than simply lecturing for 50 minutes to an hour.
Although I prefer to learn in groups, I have also found that I when it comes to studying and doing work, I prefer to be alone. When I study for a test, I need to be in a room that is completely quiet and where there are no distractions. Because I am easily distracted, I prefer to sit myself in the far corner of the library, with no computer or cell phone so that I am not sidetracked. I can safely say that when I work independently, I “get the job done”. I consider myself to be very self-disciplined which is why I believe that I will not have many problems teaching myself a completely new language. I have no experience when it comes to speaking Hebrew. In fact, I know very little about Jewish culture and traditions. But I am anxious to learn all that I can. It would be impossible for me to expect to be fluent in Hebrew by the end of the semester. Although that would be extraordinary, it is also very impracticable. That being the case, by the end of the semester, I would like to be able to hold short, simple conversations in Hebrew and possibly be able to write short phrases. I want to be able to pronounce and write most of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet, as well as learn up to 5 new vocabulary words a week. I would love to be able to read simple texts and phrases that are common among the Hebrew language. All in all, I know that learning a completely new language is going to be tough and at times I am going to feel frustrated. Right now, I do not know if my goals are too ambitious, but I always think it is better to set the bar high and simply see what happens.
My first experience learning a foreign language was taking a Spanish class with some other children when I was about five. Even though I learned nothing beyond counting, colors, and a few other basic words, the things I learned stayed with me. I remember the class consisted of a lot of repetition; each time we met we would review the words we had learned before. I believe this is the main reason I remember what I learned then.
After traveling to Mexico when I was fourteen, I began to realize the value of being multilingual, and I have become increasingly interested in learning languages after subsequent trips to Brazil, Spain, and France. I was homeschooled, so I did not take languages in a classroom during high school. I instead used the Rosetta Stone program for learning Spanish; I felt it was a natural way to learn a language but did not give me a strong basis for conversation. It did, however, help in some areas, such as verb tenses, once I got to Spanish at the college level.
The results of my Learning Styles Inventory were not surprising to me. The area I scored the highest in was Solitary, with 17, and the lowest was Aural, with 5. Undoubtedly because of my experiences as a homeschooled student, I have always learned best when I am working by myself. Since I began attending college I have had to work to develop my ability to learn from classroom lectures. Especially with my Spanish classes, I have found it difficult to remember material unless I see it in writing. Learning straight from a textbook continues to be my most productive way of mastering material. My Multiple Intelligence Inventory confirmed this; my two highest scores were 35 in Intrapersonal, meaning I learn best by working alone and with self-paced instruction, and 34 in Linguistic, meaning I learn best by saying, hearing, and seeing words. For these reasons, I am hopeful the SDLAP will work well for me. However, the downside to being a Solitary learner is that I struggle with being confident in expressing myself orally. I am hoping practice with my language learning partner will be helpful in overcoming my weakness in this area. Overall, I hope that SDLAP will be a good way of using my strengths to learn a language while taking the opportunity to improve in areas in which I am not as comfortable.
There is no correct way to go about teaching yourself a language, as the point of this class demonstrates. There are though, correct ways to best teach an individual. As I found out the hard way in high school, learning French from a book in a classroom full of kids I wanted to talk to the whole time, was not the best choice for me. The problem I now face myself with is trying to find the best way that I can learn a new language without wasting my time like I did in high school. I have no experience in Turkish language except for two words, both of which I should not say, and a slight knowledge of how the Turkish use inflection when speaking. I have many Turkish friends who have helped me understand their culture (at least bits and pieces), and I know a bit from my own research. The language though, sounds very intimidating to me, and sometimes I wonder how the hell I am going to do this (but alas my GPA can't get much lower than it already is). But because I love the Turkish and wish to visit there I will stick with it.
Now to discuss the tricky stuff. How do I go about teaching myself Turkish?! Well I took the two quizzes and they came out more or less the same. My highest score was in the visual/spatial department, which doesn't surprise me. The suggestions they gave me to best help me learn are exactly what I was going to do anyways, which is to use lots of pictures and colors (rosetta stone anyone?). My next highest scores were Music and Interpersonal, the former being less helpfull than the latter seeing as I don't think I have much music at my disposal. I will see if I can get ahold of some Turkish music. Knowing that I am Interpersonal, I will try to work with others that speak Turkish, which is great because I am always looking for an excuse to skip class and go hang out with my Turkish friends ;)
The other suggestions for learning seem like they will not help as much, but I will try to develop more ideas to help my quest. Perhaps getting some movies might help. Oh, and one thing I know I will struggle with is grammer. I was terrible at it in french, and honestly not so good at it in English. Hopefully I will figure something out to help me with that. My goals for myself I am not quite sure of yet, but I want to at least be able to hold a simple conversation. If I progress to doing more than that, then I want to specialize in travel, and especially places in Turkey (Historical buildings, etc.). I really just want to learn as much as I can, but let me stop before I overshoot my goals.
In high school, I studied Latin for four years and Spanish for two years. I really enjoyed using the Latin books to translate various works from Latin to English and vise versa. It really helped me to learn the grammar and the definitions of various vocab words. In Spanish, I liked actually learning how to speak another language, partially using the teacher, the book, and the various supplements, like videos.
I think that while I am learning Swahili, I will be using all of these methods to try to master the language. I have books that Professor Kapanga recommended to us, which have an online audio component, and the books in the International Center. There are some videos both online and in the International Center that are available for me to use. Plus, I have friends who speak Swahili, so I will be able to have their help as well. Some of these friends live in Tanzania, and some are studying here in the States. I'm hoping that I'll be able to become fluent in Swahili, eventually, and I think that is a reasonable ambition because I have all of the resources to do it.
The results of the Learning Styles Inventory test showed that I prefer to work alone and use self-study. Well, it’s a good thing I enrolled in this class then. The test also showed that I am visuallearning and prefer using pictures and spatial understanding. When I begin teaching myself Farsi I
will attempt to incorporate the visual style of learning.
The Multiple Intelligence Inventory confirmed that I am an intrapersonal learner and a visual learning. However, I think that main benefit from this test is that itshowed I was a logical learner; I learn best from categorizing and
classifying.
I feel as though these two tests have helped me begin my language journey on the right foot.The first step to learning anything is figuring out the best way to go
about it.
Greece and Turkey have been fighting against each other for many years. Greece was captured and ruled by the Ottoman Empire and in 1821 they started a war for their indpendence. After four hundred years of slavery the Greeks managed to become free after defeating the Ottomans. But still this was not the only conflict between the Greeks and the Turks. Some events are the Greco-Turkish war in 1897, the Balkan Wars in 1912, the First World War in 1914 and the Greco-Turkish war in 1919.
Even though the Greeks and the Turks had many conflicts with each other they did manage to live in harmony for many years. In Cyprus Greeks and Turks lived together and they were called Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots. They managed to live in harmony for years but on the 20th of July 1974 this relationship changed and they hated each other. On this day the Turks invaded Cyprus and captured half of it. They captured the North side and now it is called Northern Cyprus because it is ruled by Turks.
The reason why the relationship between Greeks and Turks was ruined because of this invasion is because Greeks are similar to Cypriots and in the past these two countries wanted to unite and become one. After the independence of Cyprus, Greece was always by their side and also the other way around. This is why Greece picked to help out the Cypriots instead of the Turks and this is why this relationship between them changed forever after 1974.
Back then this conflict caused many problems but now things are getting much better and for years politicians try to find a solution and arrange a treaty between Cyprus and Turkey. Many things have changed since then, like the borders for Cypriots were open to visit their old homes that were captured and observe them and other things they have not seen since that day. A treaty has still not been found but it is something that will be going on for years. The reason is because in order for Turkey to become a member of the E.U. they will have to arrange a treaty which Greeks and Cypriots would be satisfied with. Hopefully in the future there will be peace among Cypriots, Greeks and Turks.
http://www.business-with-turkey.com/tourist-guide/turkey_football.shtml
The movie starts with a beautiful countryside, the shot is very wide after several seconds you notice a car driving through a winding road. I found this scene very funny and interesting the people inside the car were talking about their destination which is not revealed to the viewers. They are describing to the the village and arguing how to get there. As a viewer you get the feeling that these people are city people and they are fascinated by the beauty of this countryside. In the middle of the road they find the boy who was waiting for them to get show them the place they are staying at. This movie is very long and simple, it is not the kind of movie where actions happens fast and plot line movies very quickly. Wind will carry us is very slow going and simple but at the same time has many details. We don't find what the visitors are doing and what is the purpose of their trip. Slowly we learn that they came to document a death ritual of an old woman. They find the deathly ill woman has not died yet and so they settle in and wait. This movie is focused on one man who struggles in the understanding of the ways to live a life. In this movie you see the relationship between villagers and how each one of them are dependent on each other and the traveler is fascinated by how the villager take care of each other. This visit changes the main guy and he wants to live the life. At the end of the movie the old woman dies and the reporter and other villages were surprised by her death and the funeral was not what we were expecting them. This movie is basically about city people getting to know the villagers, their way of living and how the friendship is build up between the villagers and the city travelers.
i really liked this movie and will defiantly recommended "the Wins will carry us". Even though this movie is very long and slow moving but each detailed is captured and it is very beautiful.
In the MLC 105, I did not just learn and understand about the culture of the language that I was learning but also the two other languages that other students were studying. This was very fun and enjoyable of sharing different elements of cultures that each of us learned. The reading that we were assigned also made me think how much the world talks and discusses about the different subjects and issues of the various cultures.
At the end of this course, I am able to look at the different cultures, explore the unique tradition, national clothe or even their food and think how these factors shape the culture as a whole.
This course also helped me to see that I am able to do self direct studying and I can follow the daily practices, learning about new culture and get better in writing and reading Farsi. I am able to plan the different tasks and actually to go trough with them and finish them. I have had a great experience and learned many different ways of understanding the culture and learning its language.
The mosque named as Blue Mosque because blue tiles were used to cover the building, most of the these tiles have been deteched by earthquakes.
The words Chahar Shanber mean Wednesday and Suri means red. On the eve of last Wednesday bonfires are lit in public places which represents a hope toward enightenment and happiness throughout the coming year. Traditionally, it is believed that the spirits of the ancestors are visiting the living on the last day of the year. Many children run through the streets wrapped in shrouds banging on pots and pans with spoons, which is known as Gashog-Zani to beat out the last unlucky Wednesday of the year, while knocking on the door and asking for treats. It is very similar to American Halloween.
In this celebration there are gathering, with prayers, feasts and communal consumption of ritually blessed food.
Spring housecleaning and the dancing and welcoming souls over the bonfire is still carried out by today's Iranians. In Islamic tradition Wednesday represents a bad omen day with unpleasant consequences Therefore, the festival is celebrated on Tuesday night to make sure all bad spirits are chased away and Wednesday will pass happily.
Kiarostami was born in, the capital of Iran, Tehran. He stated his career by creating advertisements for Iranian television.His first production was a short film The Bread and Alley about school boys confronting an angry dog. After that many other films followed such as The Experience, The Traveler, Report and many more. Abbas Kiarostami has unique style , unlike many other directors who create extravagant scenes in the large scale production his movies are very simple but at the same time they are very complex too, and often they are mix of fiction and documentary elements. His explanation for this is that "We can never get close to the truth except through lying".
As a director he has received a worldwide acclaim for his work and has won at least seventy awards during his career. The Ben Gibson, the director of the London Film School described Abbas Kiarostami by saying this "Very few people have the creative and intellectual clarity to invent cinema from its most basic elements, from the ground up". I really enjoyed Wind will carry us and will exploring and watching his other works.
