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This week I had my first meetings with my Korean language partner, Jannette! We started off assessing my background in Korean -- which was none, complete beginner here! So then we discussed my previous language learning experiences and what I felt worked well and what I would like to work on this semester, which we also touched on in class this week. This week was very helpful as I learned new strategies to approach language learning that I had never considered before but would be super helpful, such as listening to the language through music or YouTube videos so I can be able to slow down and learn how words are pronounced. I also enjoyed learning about the different programs and resources that the Global Studio provides to help us improve our language skills, such as EdPuzzle, SCOLA interactive video lessons and other online programs targeted towards learning Korean, so I definitely plan on utilizing these in my learning with my language partner. As I’m continuing to work on my language plan, I shared with Jannette how my primary goal is to be able to have casual conversations in Korean so I can be more involved with my group of friends on campus who have a Korean background. Since I spend most of my time with them, I really would like to more fully understand their culture without them always having to explain things to me. In the next coming weeks, I hope to learn the basics such as the alphabet and key phrases used in conversation. I was so interested in class when we watched the TEDTalk about the key to learning multiple languages, and I never considered how there are words in our native language that give us access to thousands of words in different languages and language families. I always heard of cognates when learning Spanish, but never considered that they could apply to other languages, so as I start out learning Korean I also plan to incorporate learning collocations and trying to identify the most common words used in conversations in English so that I can learn to say them in Korean.

I also had a group meeting with Jannette and Eden, so that was very exciting and I feel like that will benefit me to be able to speak with other students who are also learning Korean. Hopefully that will take away some of my anxieties and need for perfectionism in pronouncing words correctly. We also discussed some of the activities we will incorporate to learn more about Korean culture, such as watching and listening to Korean dramas and videos about the history of Korea, as well as learning about Korean cultural artifacts and even possibly learning to cook traditional Korean dishes! I think this is a really great aspect of SDLC compared to my prior language learning experiences since we mainly were “taught” the culture through textbooks rather than trying activities to immerse ourselves in the cultural norms and practices of the target language. Overall, in terms of progress in learning actual Korean language, I learned to say hello in casual conversation and learned about how you add an ending when talking to someone older and respected. I honestly felt weird trying to mimic the sounds Jannette was making to teach me how to pronounce hello; it reminded me of comments in class feeling like an American trying to speak Korean. I finally started to understand what Dr. Marsh-Soloway meant when he told me I would have to make sounds that I’m not used to making in English! This week made me realize how much I’m going to have to practice by actually speaking to really learn the language, which was what the TEDTalk also touched on. However, I feel like my excitement with the things I’ve been learning in class have helped ease my nerves about learning Korean -- I feel up to the challenge and am looking forward to finalizing my goals for this semester!

What stood out most to me in the text was the functional relationship between the brain’s left and right hemispheres. In particular, it was really interesting how whether someone is left-handed or right-handed can impact which hemisphere is dominant for language (173). For example, in right-handed people the left hemisphere is dominant for language, whereas the right hemisphere is dominant for processes such as emotional expression and recognition (174).Since I honestly didn’t understand what it meant by dominant for “language” because there are many cognitive processes involved in language processing, such as being able to communicate through writing or speech, interpreting meaning of language, hearing speech and seeing visual cues for communication, etc. so I don’t necessarily know what they mean by language. I also found the theory of cerebral localization to be interesting, as some parts of the brain have been found to be related to specific behavioral abilities that are necessary for language processing and communication (174). For example, parts of the parietal and temporal lobes play important roles in the production and comprehension of speech (175). However, I disagree with this idea since similarly there is no hemisphere of the brain that is more important than the other to process language and other information; it’s a matter of both of the hemispheres working together that really enhances one’s cognitive abilities (174).

In thinking of the meaning of words, I never realized that there were different perspectives on the relationship between words and things. After learning about the naturalist and conventionalist views, I realized I resonate more with the conventionalist as I always wondered how and why certain words became our point of reference for certain things. Like how did we come up with naming different fruits what they were? What about an apple makes it an apple? I also found it very insightful in class when we discussed the importance of not trying to automatically associate words that we learn in our target language with what we call the things in our native language; in other words trying to translate everything back to what feels natural to us (188). I think that is so important to keep in mind because it truly limits our scope of how we view the world and we noticeably get trapped in an ethnocentric way of thinking our culture is more relevant and important than the beautifully diverse cultures in the world that we can learn so much from. It was also interesting to think of words in more simplified ways with various forms as I learned about lexemes; for example “walk” is a lexeme, which is the most basic form that changes form when different roots are added to it, such as “walks,” “walking,” “walked,” etc. (193). Now that I have this new knowledge, I think it would be very helpful to start learning lexemes and collocations in Korean, so then I can gradually learn about different root endings to help expand my vocabulary in conversations. Sense relations of words was also an interesting concept to me, because I feel like we identify relationships of words without actually knowing it; for example synonymy when words have similar meanings; inclusion when a word is a kind of a different word; antonymy when a word is the opposite of another word; and incompatibility as lexemes are grouped together in categories (195-197). I think this will also be a helpful strategy as I learn vocabulary in Korean so that I can think of the different sense relationships between the vocabulary relevant for me to achieve my language tasks that I’m outlining for my learning plan.

Before meeting with my language tutor this week, I only knew two Slovak words, ahoy and

dobry den (Ahoy is used as an informal hello and dobry den is used as a formal hello). I knew

next to nothing about the Slovak language and that terrified me. I was even caught by

surprise when I signed on to my first italki tutoring session and my tutor, Adriana, said ako

sa mas? (how are you?). I just stared back at her as I desperately tried to translate the

phrase but, eventually, I understood her question through context clues. This first moment in

my tutoring session perfectly encapsulates my experiences in Slovak thus far. I am always

on my toes due to the one-on-one attention and the completely new conventions of the

Slovak language. However, cognates and critical thinking (like using context clues) has

massively helped me to understand certain words or phrases without the help of my tutor.

There are moments in my tutoring sessions where I feel a little overwhelmed by all of the information. The pronunciations really require me to reposition my lips and tongue in order to make these new (at least to me) sounds. The English language shares a few commonalities with Slovak, but pronunciation is definitely not one of them. However, my tutor is really helpful in instructing me to properly sound out any challenging words and we continue to work on the proper sounds of each letter in the alphabet. Adriana always makes sure that I am reading my lessons aloud with the proper pronunciation and intonation. I am especially grateful for her help with pronunciation and her focus on the Slovak alphabet because an understandable Slovak accent is one of my biggest goals for this semester.

We also focused on basic verb conjugation and common vocabulary. However, Adriana’s approach to learning verbs and vocabulary is much different than my other language experiences. My language education in Spanish and Danish were much more formal because my teachers typically introduced grammar through long lectures and introduced vocabulary through study guides and flash cards. In contrast, Adriana focuses on faster pace learning with short introductions to verb conjugation or new vocabulary. After each lesson, I focus on reviewing the content by forming different sentences/discussions and practicing pronunciation.

I also really enjoy working with Adriana because she also mentions the more culturally relevant/acceptable words or phrases used in Slovak. I remember talking to one of my dad’s friends in Spanish who quickly admonished me for my constant use of Spanglish. These were phrases and words presented to me as the “right” way to speak Spanish. However, in actual conversation, I soon found out that these words and phrases marked me as an outsider, a foreign Spanish speaker. One example of Adriana’s help in gaining cultural competence is when she first introduced the word prosím as please or excuse me. However, she also added that Slovaks answer the phone with the word prosím. This a piece of cultural knowledge that I would not have learned if not for the cultural expertise of Adriana.

Despite only having a week of Slovak tutoring, I know how restricted I felt as a Spanish and Danish learner. My teachers never emphasized individual attention, individual goals or cultural competency. I am excited to continue my tutoring sessions with Adriana and excited to continue working on my Slovak pronunciation and comprehension. In the next few weeks, I want to focus on consuming different types of Slovak entertainment and news in order to find some kind of music or television program that I can regularly watch.

The two chapters from How Language Works reminded me of the objective and scientific nature of linguistics. Often, language appears messy and abstract with polysemic words, fluctuations in formality and obscure idioms. There are so many parts of language that feel uncontrollable and random. However, the study of linguistics attempts to tame the abstract concept of language through categorization, established linguistic formulas and neurological studies. I find it both strange and liberating in observing the systematic nature of linguistics when the same elements (words, sentences, syntax, etc.) of this field make up the great novels of William Faulkner and Maya Angelou. It is fascinating to see that their complex language can be broken down so precisely and scientifically by linguistic scholars.

The Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area were emphasized as especially important for speech production and comprehension. Any damage to these areas of the brain may impair someone’s ability to produce or understand speech. It’s incredible to think that these small parts of matter can determine a person’s ability to understand and communicate with others. When I speak in my first language of English, these biological processes happen quickly and seamlessly. However, every time I start to learn a new language, my brain’s speech and comprehension abilities seem to chug along at a snail-like pace. In these moments, I truly realize the incredible processing power of the human brain and its capacity to complete multi-step processes in seconds.

Language cannot be considered a purely biological phenomenon when considering the influence of individual cultures and histories on language. The processing and production of words may belong to a more biological process, but linguistic nuisances such as intonation, body language and pronunciation likely are created outside of the neurological processing of one individual. The cultural and social context/environment surrounding a person likely influences the content being processed by the brain.

During the past two weeks I met with my language partner, Somyung. In our first meeting we set some rules and expectations we want to follow during our lessons. We decided to meet every morning on saturday and a rule we set was to speak only in Korean. I also told her the area I wanted to improve my korean this semester which was writing. We discussed some of our plans to improve my skills such as writing diaries every week. Also, my language partner will be providing me with some prompts to write about during our lesson. We will also be watching XX which are short videos in Korean to try to improve my vocabulary for my writing. My end goal for learning Korean is to be able to write essays or educational paragraphs in Korean. I really feel relieved and excited at the steps we are taking to get to my end goal. Usually, Korean tutors would overburden students with a workload of essays to write to improve their skills. However, I am more engaged in my learning since we are taking small steps and moving along with how I progress. 

Today, I met with my language partner in the morning. We went over my homework, the diary I wrote for this week, and fixed my grammar mistakes. I noticed that I would write my diary in a way I would speak. So I would leave out a lot of 을 behind words. I also made a mistake where I was saying I went to eat food. So “I went” is 갔다 but I misspelled it as 같다 which means “same”. My language partner noticed how my diary was written like the schedule of my day. She advised me to try writing more of how I felt about an event or activity because my writing felt very choppy. This is my first time writing anything in korean other than the alphabet or text messages. I have a lot of areas to improve in. Next, we watched a short video of XX episode 1 and I heard familiar vocabulary in this episode. By the end of the semester I want to be able to know some vocabulary other than the commonly understood words. The last assignment we did today was writing a page that answers a prompt Somyung prepared for me. The prompt asked to write about my favorite and least favorite food from the cafeteria. I had difficulty starting this prompt because I didn’t really know how to start. So I started by saying which school and I went and introduced the cafeteria we had here. While I was writing I noticed that I had some difficulty spelling out some vocabulary like 풍경 which means scenery. I became aware of the difference of knowing the vocabulary word from speaking to actually trying to write it and spell it out. My language partner let me look it up but later I want to make sure I reduce the amount of times I look up how to spell words.

This past week, I focused on completing two main tasks, which were to write diaries about my day and listening to radio stations. While writing my diaries, I wanted to figure out what I struggled with the most. I realized that I hesitate when I write in Korean because I forgot the basics of Korean. I did not remember how to differentiate double vowels and vowels when writing. Many double vowels and vowels sound similar, which is what makes writing in Korean difficult for me. I set a specific time every day to write my diary about how my day went. Having a set time in the day was an effective way for me to remember to write. For writing diaries, I want to continue to use this strategy as I continue my Korean learning journey this semester. Having a set time allows me to create a daily routine, which could keep me on track, and I will rarely miss a day if I continue to be consistent. When I realized that I still lacked the basic grammar rules, it hurt my pride because I thought I had confidence in the basic rules. However, it seems that since I did not have the chance to write in Korean a lot, I get confused between the vowels. After learning from this experience, I included improving my grammar in my language learning plan. I asked my language partner, Rachel, to help me find some worksheets on the grammar topics I struggle with. Before we meet up again, we both agreed to find different worksheets on the specific part of grammar that I am struggling with, and we will pick the best one together. However, if we fail to find one that is right for me, she offered to make me a worksheet herself, and she will correct my mistakes and help me understand the differences. Since I am also an audial learner, I will watch youtube videos if the worksheets do not help me understand the rules. However, I want to try the worksheets out first because I do think that doing task-oriented activities is crucial in building a strong foundation for language learning. 

Aside from writing diaries, I also listened to two different radio stations. I listened to at least one episode from Kang Han Na’s Volume Up Radio and Din Din’s Music High Radio. The first couple of minutes, I had a difficult time trying to focus. Rachel suggested that I find video recording uploads of the radio on youtube, and I found out that the broadcasting company uploads them on youtube. Having something to watch as I listen will help me stay focused more, and I will continue to listen to radio stations through this method. When making my language learning lesson plan, I asked my parents for show or drama recommendations to watch. They recommended different variety shows, such as Running Man, Radio Star, How Do You Play, 2 Days 1 Night, and many more. Although I enjoyed watching all of the shows that my parents recommended to me, I wanted to choose a television show that exposes me to different areas of South Korea, varieties of Korean cuisine, learn about the Korean historical and famous landmarks, and many more. Out of the shows I watched, I found that 2 Days 1 Night provides everything I mentioned. Rachel and I decided to watch this show together, and we will discuss it together in Korean while we are watching, and after as well. Since Rachel and I are roommates, we also discussed having a future karaoke session in our dorm room. We both loved going to karaoke before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and I think this will be a fun opportunity for both of us to do something we love together and make it part of our language learning journey.

Before reading “How the Brain Handles Language,” I always thought that producing and comprehending a language was a simple process in our brains that gradually developed as we grew and became more fluent in the language. However, this reading taught me how complex the process of producing and comprehending speech was. I learned that Wernicke's area and Broca’s area are the most important parts of the brain for speech production and comprehension. In the production of speech, Wernicke's area generates the utterance structure, and the structure gets sent to the Broca’s area for encoding. For comprehension, the signal gets transferred into Wernicke's area and becomes interpreted. I did not find any claims problematic. However, I wish that the author explained why it is not as likely that the right hemisphere is not always dominant in left-handed people while the left hemisphere is dominant for most right-handed people. 

I do not think that language is a purely biological phenomenon because we mainly learn language through interactions with other people. Without interaction with other people, we would not have the ability to communicate with others. As babies, we imitate the sounds we hear from our parents and our surroundings. However, I think that the biological features we were born with give us the ability to learn and acquire the language as we continue to hear it daily. 

Generally, I process meaning through context clues. I think about the general topic of what I am reading or hearing, and I utilize other words in the sentence and try to figure out what it could mean. After reading the collocations section, it inspired me to use collocations when I am learning Korean. Through collocations, I can learn the restrictions on which lexemes go together, which can help me sound more natural when speaking and writing. Since one of my main goals this semester is to expand my vocabulary and sound more fluent, I feel that learning collocations can help me advance in my Korean language abilities.

The article that I read was from: https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-do-korean-eat-for-breakfast-3970112

For my cultural posts, I decided to investigate breakfast in Korea and how it differs from traditional American breakfast. In America, we know common breakfasts are light and not too much food. Examples of this include pancakes, cereal, oatmeal, etc. After doing research, Korean breakfast is totally different.

In Korean, breakfast is “Ah-Chim.” Very different from Western cultured breakfast, Ah-Chim contains a lot of food similar to lunch and dinner. This includes soups, stews, rice, meat, and banchan. Traditional Korean meals are based on the main entrée with many sides called “banchan.” There are hundreds of different banchan in Korean culture that can supplement main foods like meat and rice. For Korean breakfast, I found the most common meals include soups and rice for breakfast. I never knew that Korean breakfast was basically the same as lunch and dinner. I thought there would be breakfast Korean foods, but Korean breakfast foods include many dishes eaten at other times of the day. The article I read also stated that around 20 percent of Korean people don’t eat breakfast. Furthermore, Korean breakfast is also sold on the streets. Some popular Street Food Breakfasts in Korea include breakfast sandwiches, sweetbreads, and rice cakes. These are very popular with tourists and taste very good in my experience!

In the picture above, there are three main parts to this traditional Korean breakfast. Firstly, the main entrée contains two parts: the rice and the fish/eggs. The second part of the meal above is soup/broth. This soup contains cucumbers and tofu. The last part of the meal is the three sides of the banchan. The first bowl contains pickled cucumbers seasoned with spicy sauce. The second bowl contains pickled yellow radish. And the third bowl contains the very popular Kimchi, which is fermented cabbage.

Korean food is very important to Korean culture. There are many different traditional meals and banchan that are pertinent to different Korean holidays such as New Year’s Day. There are also a lot of Korean meals and snacks sold in different street vendors. There are a lot of yummy snacks and meals you can get quickly from street vendors. Some of the most popular snacks include fried tofu and mandu.

In conclusion, I have learned a lot about Korean food and snacks, specifically Korean breakfast. Korean breakfast is a lot different from American breakfast and shows how different even the most common aspects of life can be from culture to culture. Although my parents grew up in Korea, they eat American breakfast foods. I know that when I was young, my dad used to eat soup and rice during the morning but living in America has assimilated him to eat cereal and toast. I hope I can continue to learn more about Korean food culture and begin to memorize some of the words in Korean for different meals and banchan. Another thing I learned from reading a couple of articles about Korean food is that many comfort foods in Korea are spicy.

I was born and raised in Nepal where formal school education begins by the age of three. Majority of such early education is focused on teaching Nepali and English to students concurrently. Once students learn the alphabets, syntax, and grammar for both languages at a beginner level, most of the upper level education is offered only in Nepali and developing English proficiency becomes more of a choice than a need for students. Over time, my Nepali improved while my English remained at the beginner level because I never used it. I have no recollection of learning basic English or Nepali as I learnt it when I was really young. However, I do remember learning Hindi through a lot of cartoons and movies all throughout elementary school. This was mostly because Nepal just had a few news channels and most of the entertainment channels on our cable were Indian. When I grew up and moved to the United States five years ago, I began working on expanding my knowledge of the English language and have ultimately become fluent in it now.

Looking back at my language journey, I do not recall being a language learner in a formal setting, but I have a lot of experience as an independent learner. I think the most enjoyable aspect of learning both English and Hindi was associating that learning experience to a serious purpose. In elementary school, that purpose was to be able watch cartoons in Hindi and in the US, it was solely for survival- to get hired for a job, to get into college for undergrad, and to succeed in this liberal arts education system. The more time I devoted to learning the language, the better I became at it and it helped me fulfill those aforementioned goals. In addition, I loved how my understanding of the world and various cultures expanded as I learned other languages. It allowed me to compare and contrast how societal norms, values, and human behaviors vary across the world. I am also the kind of person that derives their energy from social interactions. Through my use of Hindi and English on the internet, I was also able to connect to a global audience from a small village in Nepal and it helped me grow immensely, both on a personal and professional level. On the other hand, I really disliked the feeling of being unsuccessful and/or imperfect during the learning process. I am a perfectionist and I get easily discouraged when something takes a long time to master. The biggest milestone in my language journey was convincing myself that it is not possible to know everything about any language- not even my native language. Language is constantly evolving and the best I can do is just persevere and keep  working on my language skills without expecting complete mastery. This realization has made me a much more patient and effective learner. Another thing that I really disliked while learning English was how my accent was very prominent and that really discouraged me. My insecurities stem from a few experiences where people were either dismissive or verbally abusive just because I spoke with an accent. Over time, I have begun to realize that those few people do not represent everyone and it is possible to meet people who are more interested in me and my thoughts than my accent.

Based on all my language learning experiences, I am the kind of learner that gets really motivated by a purpose. For ASL, my learning motive is that I want to be able to interact with patients that rely on ASL as their only method of communication. I want to be able to guide them and advocate for them on clinical settings, which are often known to be overwhelming. Next, I am also the kind of learner that thrives on autonomy regarding the pace and structure of the learning process. However, I do appreciate a little bit of push from the instructor every once in a while because I tend to obsess over small details and lose sight of the bigger picture. Regarding learning styles, I believe I learn the best when I get to practice with someone else. I like to link new words to the exact conversations they came up in, so that it is easier to remember the words and their meaning. In addition to human interactions, I also learn really well through visual media- it could be videos, movies, pictures, or even vivid descriptions that allow me to form mental images. Finally, I love activities that are collaborative and call for personal opinions as well as a lot of critical thinking. Connecting the language to human experiences and stories is absolutely essential for me. Based on the FIRE model, I think I am an evaluative learner. Going forward, I am thinking of trying out more commonly used methods by language learners such as flashcards and language apps. I have never used those before. So, I am interested to see whether they will make my learning process more effective. I am also hoping to find a volunteering site in Richmond where I will be able to put my language skills to use. ASL is unlike any other languages that I have learnt before. By taking ASL in a formal setting with clear goals and a designated language partner, I am venturing into a new method of language learning this semester and am really excited to see how it turns out.

Throughout my sixteen years as a student, I attempted to learn three different languages with each attempt getting a little less successful. I grew up in a mono-lingual household with English as my first language. My parents can speak a little French and Spanish, but the native languages of my immigrant ancestors were lost in the early twentieth century. I acquired English with relatively little difficulty, but I did require extra assistance in learning to read and pronounce English proficiently. My elementary school teachers resolved these issues by working with me individually, something that I still view as a valuable learning strategy.

At about ten years old, I began to learn the very basics of Spanish such as colors, greetings and the days of the week. I continued to study Spanish throughout middle school and high school; eventually, I received a seal of biliteracy in Spanish and English from the State of Illinois. To me, the award represents my most tangible accomplishment in my ten years of studying Spanish. Despite this award, I still felt disappointed in my Spanish speaking and listening abilities. My ten years of study left me with mediocre pronunciation skills and huge anxiety around speaking in Spanish. I enjoyed reading and writing in Spanish but speaking and listening always left me feeling uneasy and lacking confidence.

My third major experience with a new language happened during my semester abroad in Copenhagen. I took a beginners’ course in Danish at my study abroad institute. I really enjoyed attempting to learn Danish especially due to all the new pronunciations. Danish letters and words make completely different noises compared to English. Additionally, I liked compiling a list of Danish cognates that helped ease my anxiety around this completely new language. However, I did not enjoy my professor’s teaching methods as she focused mainly on memorization and recitation. During every class, we had to stand up and read aloud from our booklets. It reminded me a lot of a schoolhouse environment such as Little House on the Prairie. During these exercises, I always imagined myself behind a wooden desk, dressed in a bonnet and staring at a blackboard. Recitation and memorization become very useful while I study, but I really do not like to use these two strategies when first introduced to a new concept. These strategies stray away from comprehension and focus on quantity of knowledge accumulated. Ultimately, I classify this language experience as unsuccessful due to my lack of comprehension.

With my past experiences in mind, I want to focus on comprehension and confidence. My language goals will focus on producing language verbally and listening effectively, something that I have only accomplished in English. My strategy for accomplishing these goals relies on my visual learning style. I plan to use flashcards to learn necessary vocabulary and take organized and visually appealing notes. Additionally, in my past language learning experiences, I benefitted from speaking aloud to myself in order to explain and learn culture, grammar concepts, and important historical events. Additionally, I am a huge perfectionist in most things which causes me a lot of unnecessary anxiety. Even in learning to play instruments, like the flute or the piano, I would become frustrated with mistakes and could never play through the imperfections. I always stopped right after making a mistake and refused to play the entire song until I could master the botched notes. I really want to push myself to speak through potential mistakes or slip ups. My solution for chipping away at this perfectionism is to practice speaking by myself regularly and journaling about potential frustrations.    

   I have always been fascinated by the concept of language—how it originated, how it evolved, how it spread around the globe, and how it is has been adapted by a plethora of people from different cultural, ethnic, and social roots to form unique sounds, dialects, and practices that help convey complex thoughts and emotions. As of today, I consider myself to be a bilingual speaker of my native tongue Bengali along with English as my secondary language which I began learning during elementary school in Bangladesh. Aside from my formal education in these two languages, I have also had exposure to Hindi due to close geographical proximity and cultural ties to our neighboring country India and a brief stint in learning Arabic alphabets and phrases as part of my Islamic upbringing.

   While learning a new language may seem challenging, with the correct mindset and strategies it can be an enjoyable experience. Three aspects that I recall enjoying were the social dynamics, objective based tasks, and open lines of communication. Firstly, as a small classroom community of about 25 students in each section, we had close ties to one another and therefore most of our education was centered around peer interactions such as writing a letter to your friend, sharing a personal story in small groups, or putting together an entire classroom play! These interactions helped us to not just understand new words or grammar but also their practical applications and the subtle nuances which make every spoken tongue unique. Secondly, our courses were taught in a very organized and structured manner. Each new concept or challenge was part of the big picture we were trying to piece together. This brought a sense of objectivity and rationality to our lessons—we not only learned the lesson but also the ‘why’ behind learning it. Having a set objective that we were striving to achieve always added a sense of clarity and direction to our process. Finally, we were always receiving immediate feedback on our work and sometimes the teachers would set time aside to personally talk to students one-on-one to further discuss any discrepancies or challenges they were experiencing. As students, we were always encouraged to ask questions in class and share any concerns or new ideas that might help us learn better. This emphasis on communicating ensured that we were all on the same page going forwards and no one ever felt left behind. However, there were certain aspects of my education that I disliked. I recall when learning Arabic, my instructor placed a great emphasis on proper grammar and sentence structure, which I found to be detrimental to my overall learning experience. The primary goal of any language is to get your ideas across and as long as you can do that, I believe that you are an effective communicator regardless of whether what you said is ‘grammatically incorrect.’ When learning a foreign language, the aim should be to build basic conversational skills instead of technical proficiency. I would find myself knowing all the words yet feel discouraged to try and put them in a sentence because my grammar was not up to the instructor’s expectations. Learning a new language is an iterative process which does not happen overnight. It requires patience, consistency, feedback, and support which is why I ultimately left my Arabic instructor and decided to focus on improving the languages which I already spoke ‘properly’.

   Based on the FIRE model and surveys, I am primarily an auditory learner with a strong emphasis on rationality and strengths in nature, self, and social intelligences. While I may primarily have an inclination towards auditory learning, both visual and tactile learning make up 30% each of my learning style suggesting that a well-rounded holistic approach is what works best for me. My friends and family would describe as a rational being. I particularly enjoy thinking through open-ended questions in a systematic cause-and-effect manner and have dynamic interests across multiple disciplines. I enjoy learning but also place a great emphasis on autonomy and freedom to pursue what interests me in ways I find most effective rather than through a rigid one-size-fits-all approach which is why I am so excited to be taking this self-directed learning course and honing the skills necessary to be an efficient autonomous learner. Language learning activities that suit my learning style are one’s that incorporate speaking and listening as opposed to just reading, have an element of nature, involve writing down thoughts in a journal, reflecting on those thoughts later, and finally working in teams to achieve a shared common goal. However, given that the language I am trying to learn is ASL where there will be limited auditory interactions between myself and the instructor, I think that my overall learning process can be improved by expanding into a more interactive, visual, and real-world application-based approach that would push me out of my comfort zone and help me accomplish my end goal for the semester.

In my earlier years of learning Spanish in middle and high school, I really enjoyed learning the basics through engaging activities. We learned the alphabet through songs, watched lots of videos about Spanish culture, and there were a lot of project-based assessments to evaluate our knowledge as well as to learn new things. For example, I really enjoyed a party we had where everyone had to contribute something that related to Spanish culture, so I created a traditional Spanish dish to share with the class. Once I got the basics down, I thought it was helpful to learn with the teacher giving lessons on topics such as grammar, which were reinforced through working in our textbook and with practice worksheets. I also find it helpful to review answers after trying it on my own and not being penalized for making mistakes or not understanding a concept during the learning process. Honestly, learning to speak the language correctly by practicing to pronounce the words correctly was more anxiety-ridden for me, but I think because in a class setting I’m afraid of making mistakes. At times I would find it challenging in my more intermediate level courses of Spanish as the instructor would typically only speak in Spanish to the class, so a lot of times I struggled to understand exactly what they were saying, but I do think it helped me to get better at using context clues to understand and improve my language skills. 

As I reviewed the FIRE model, I’ve realized that I’m a combination of each of the different types of learning styles. I think I most resonate with Factual and Rational kinds of thinking. When I’m learning something new, it’s often helpful for me to start with a concrete concept and progressively build upon what I’ve been learning to more advanced concepts (factual), or to start with the big picture and then apply it to useful life applications (rational). I don’t enjoy my learning to be fast-paced, and I feel more insightful in my thinking as I prefer to have time to reflect on what I learned to make sure I have fully understood the topic. Although I prefer memorization of facts at times (simply because I’m good at it and can do so fairly quickly), I admit I often do not gain much from this method of learning and learn much more in collaboration with others and by being challenged to think of creative solutions to a problem. I learn best when my learning is organized, meaning I am given a clear outline in the beginning of what to learn, a plan of how we will accomplish those goals, and a guideline for when I should be proficient in a particular learning objective, so I’m really excited to be creating my own learning plan for studying Korean! Overall, I just appreciate learning practical information and skills that are valuable and applicable to my everyday life. For the most part, I don’t want to waste time learning things that aren’t useful to me, but I would if I were truly interested in a particular topic. I believe the language learning activities that would best suit my learning style would be the use of apps and technology or workbooks/worksheets to learn basic concepts such as the alphabet, memorizing vocabulary, grammar rules, writing etc. I also enjoy learning through videos and practicing one-on-one or in small groups to improve my pronunciation and speaking/listening skills. I think a goal for me to expand my learning activities this semester could be to get out of my comfort zone with my language learning and speak more often especially in group settings since I tend to avoid that at times due to not feeling confident in my language abilities. 

This week, Jenna and I met up on zoom and talked about what we should work on for the last semester of senior year. My main goal in SDLC was to pass the COM2 exam. But because I passed last semester, Jenna and I decided on focusing on the history of Korean culture. In the past, Jenna and I practiced reading and writing in Korean. But now I want to learn more about Korean history and understand more about the culture and traditions of Korea. Jenna and I decided on looking in depth about the different traditions in Korea. Specifically, the different cultural holidays that are celebrated in Korea. Furthermore, I talked to Jenna about how I want to focus on the different politics in Korea. I know that Korean history is very rich and in depth. I want to learn all about the history of Korea, and I hope to focus on that this semester with Jenna. The first week with Jenna was just an introductory lesson and the basics of what my goals are for the semester. Some of the resources Jenna and I decided to use for the semester included YouTube videos and articles provided to me by Jenna. I think the strategies we decided upon were very simple yet effective. I think that learning about Korean history will be very fun and interesting. I am very excited to embark on this journey in learning about Korean history and politics. The second week, Jenna and I got together on Zoom and learned basic vocabulary on Korean history and holidays. 고구려, 백제, 신라 are some of the words that Jenna taught me. One of the study methods Jenna and I decided on learning 15 vocab words every week. Some of the vocab words we will focus on involving the tradition that we will be learning about that week. This week, we focused on the Lunar New Year in Korea. The Lunar New Year is usually celebrated in late January or early February. Common traditions for the Lunar New Year are to pay respects to your elders and celebrate the new year with a traditional rice cake soup dish called tteokguk (떡국). Teeokguk is a Korean rice cake dish that is meant to refresh your soul and give you a fresh start to the year. Another common Korean tradition for Lunar new year is to visit the beach to watch the sunrise of the new year. Korean culture is based on luck and respect to your elders. Luck is a big part of the new year and most of the things they do to celebrate it is based on good luck and fortune. A cool thing about Korean culture is that they celebrate both the Solar new year on January 1^st, just like America. But they also celebrate the Lunar New Year in late January or early February. I hope to learn more about Korean culture next week with Jenna and will learn 15 new words regarding the Lunar New Year.

I have learned that I learned best when discussing and talking about what I’m learning with friends and family. I realized that I retain information pretty well after conversing with someone. I found that learning vocab is pretty hard without using it frequently. I enjoyed learning more cultural aspects of Korean. I want to continue my learning by watching K-drama and listening to more Korean music. I thought the videos were really helpful. One video that I recall is the video where the native American tribe cannot distinguish different shades of color due to linguistics.

I am realizing how much I am able to practice Korean with my family! During the car ride from Virginia to Ohio, I was able to play some Korean word games with my family. One of the games we played was a game where there is an established topic such as food and each person has to say a Korean word associated with that topic. Another game that we played was the translation game. It’s pretty simple. A person says a word in Korean and the other people have to say that word in English. The first person to translate the word gets a point. My brother and I played against each other and I destroyed him. I was decently surprised because before this semester he was definitely better than me in Korean and had a wider range of vocabulary. It looks like studying Korean this semester really paid off! We eventually took a break from driving at stopped at the NOVA/D.C. Area and went to this Korean BBQ restaurant called Honey Pig at Centreville. Man, it was good. Their pork belly tasted really tender and juicy. They also had this oily dipping sauce that was really good with the beef. I ate until I was very satisfied. Once back home, my brother and I started watching this show called Start-up. It’s a show on Netflix that is on air right now and is pretty popular in Korea and on an international scale. Also, our family was able to sing some nostalgic Korean hymns in the evening. Even though, I really did not like Korean hymns when I was younger, singing them now brings back memories of when I lived in Korea. I also was able to meet up with Somyung and Tommy over zoom for our language partner meeting. We practiced speaking in Korean and she told me that she really has not a lot to do while on campus. She said that she really wants to go home. Tommy seems to be fine on campus, he told me that he is watching this show called “Show Me the Money”. Apparently, it is a Korean reality tv show that introduces upcoming rappers in a competitive setting. The show has popular celebrities as judges kind of like the Voice. Tommy talked about this one upcoming rapper that is also Christian. We also reviewed our semester together and kind of recapped what we learned. Samsung also asked Tommy and me for feedback on the things we did. I told her that only speaking in Korean was really uncomfortable at first but it proved to be really fruitful as I could tell that my communicative skills improved a lot. Tommy told her that he thought the historical and cultural lessons were really helpful to him. He said that it helped him contextualize some of the things he was learning, but also made learning Korean more personal and fun. We also discussed other Korean Dramas that we should watch. Tommy suggested Extracurricular and Itaewon Class.

During these weeks, I have been practicing Korean a little than usual just because work from other classes is becoming more intense. However, I am kind of glad that I can learn Korean through enjoyable mediums such as watching Korean dramas and listening to Korean music. I started binging on a Korean drama show called Reply 1988. However, the outcome of the show has really disappointed me. Like most Korean dramas, Reply 1988 has lots of romantic components. The main character Dosak, is a teenage girl that lives in the same neighborhood as her group of friends who are all guys. Two of the guys that are in her friend group eventually develop a crush on her, but sadly the guy that I was rooting for Jungwhan does not get the girl. Besides that, the show helps to visualize what life was like in South Korea during the late 80s and early 90s as a highschooler. This is cool because my mother was born in Korea in 1974 so it is like seeing the environment where she grew up. It was interesting to see how competitive academics were in Korea even around fifty years ago. The drama also highlights income inequality among Korean families. This show helped me feel gratitude towards my mom as she decided to immigrate our whole family to America for better opportunities for me and my brother. During one of our weekly sessions, Somyung and I talked about the plot developments in Reply 1988. I told her about my disappointment and anger at the directors of the show because they played my boy, Jungwhan. She understood my opinion but did not have the strong feelings I did. Tommy also told me that his mom also grew up during the late 80s and early 90s in Korea. In fact, Reply 1988 is Tommy’s mom’s favorite show because she gets very nostalgic when watching it. Apparently, Reply 1988 is a part of the Reply series. The Reply series seems to focus on a decade and includes real historical events that happened during that span of time. This is a very cool concept and so maybe I will check out the other Reply shows during my winter break to maintain my Korean listening skills. Tommy and Somyung and I talked about our plans for winter break because it was drawing near. They both reminded me that they are going to be on campus for Thanksgiving break. I also called my mother over the phone to practice speaking in Korean. We just caught up on our lives, and she told me that she is excited to see me again. She also told me that it has been getting really cold in Ohio. I am not excited about that. I also got to go to my Korean friend’s house this week and eat some Korean food. Ephraim’s mom is a pretty good cook. She made us some Kimchi stew with ramen in it. She also made some Bulgogi which reminds me of my mom’s cooking. I still think my mother is a better cook!

For this cultural presentation, I will be talking about Korean Barbeque. In Korea, they label Korean Barbeque as 고기구이 or gogi-gu-i which translates to meat roast. Korean Barbeque is the type of cuisine where various meats are grilled and eaten with Korean side dishes and vegetables. In restaurants, the grills are prepared on gas or charcoal grills built into the dining table itself. Yet, people also grill using electric grills at their homes. One type of meat that is grilled in Korean Barbeque is 불고기 or Bulgogi. Bulgogi is made from thinly sliced marinated beef sirloin or tenderloin. Bulgogi is typically marinated in soy sauce. Another popular type of meat that is grilled in Korean BBQ is 갈비 or Galbi. Galbi is made from marinated beef short ribs also usually marinated using soy sauce. However, the most popular type of meat that is grilled during a Korean BBQ is 삼겹살 or Samgyeopsal. Samgyeopsal is pork belly. In popular culture, it is also called the “Korean bacon” as the taste of pork belly draws similarities with American bacon. Personally, I think Samgyeopsal is the best meat served in Korean BBQ just because the meat is very tender and fatty. Korean Barbeque is served with white rice and traditional side dishes such as kimchi. Korean Barbeque is also generally served with leafy green vegetables such as lettuce. Additionally, there is a sauce that is associated with Korean BBQ called 쌈장 or ssamjang. Ssamjang is a thick, spicy paste that is made of doenjang, gochujang, sesame oil, onion, garlic, green onions, and optionally brown sugar. Koreans typically eat meats, vegetables, and rice altogether. The general way to eat Korean BBQ is to get a leaf of lettuce and put some white rice on it. Then, you take a piece of meat and dip it in the ssamjang sauce, and put it on top of the rice that is on your lettuce leaf. Then you can choose to put additional side dishes such as kimchi on top of your meat. When I was younger, I would never eat Korean BBQ the usual way. I avoided eating vegetables because I thought it tasted like cardboard compared to juicy meat. Not to mention, I thought eating the vegetables would just waste space in my stomach for the meat. Yet, I now realize the lettuce adds a crunchy texture and a fresh aftertaste when eaten with the meat. Although Korean BBQ is a food event, there are significant cultural values during the feast. When Korean BBQ is eaten among people who vary in age, the youngest is obliged to grill the meat for the seniors. This also applies when pouring drinks. Korean BBQ creates an atmosphere where friends or family can gather together to eat amazing food. Lots of people eat Korean BBQ on special occasions. Whether it is to celebrate one’s success or to celebrate a minor holiday, Korean BBQ is very flexible. In fact, my family ate Korean BBQ instead of the traditional American food for this thanksgiving.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DEGHnWM_D3hfeEamYxIg9Tf9Bg_AbQR5/view?usp=sharing

For this cultural presentation, I will be talking about Taekwondo. Taekwondo or 태권도 is a type of Martial Arts that originated in Korea. Taekwondo is still very popular todays is has been developing for over 5000 years and still is relevant in many people’s lives. Taekwondo, under the leadership of the World Taekwondo Federation, has grown into an international art and sport that is practiced in over 190 countries worldwide. In fact, Taekwondo is an official sport of the Olympics. In the United States alone, there are more than 5 million practitioners of Taekwondo. The rapid growth and expansion of Taekwondo have allowed the exposure of Korean culture toward other countries. Practitioners of Taekwondo wear uniforms that are called dobok(도복). Doboks come in various colors, though white or black are the most common. Like Karate, Taekwondo also have belts to indicate ranks. The junior section of ranks includes belts that range in color from white (the lowest rank) to red or brown(the highest). The senior section of ranks consists of only black belts but with varying degrees. The first degree of black belt would be the owest and typically 9 would be the highest rank of black belt. In Korean, dan or 단 is used to indicate the rank of the black belt. So for example, 1단 would indicate the first degree of black belt. Although many people see Taekwono’s utility only to self-defense, Taekwondo applies to everyday life. We can see this when we observe the word Taekwondo. Tae means "foot," or "to step on". Kwon means "fist," or "fight". Do mean the "way" or "discipline." The culmination of the three words explain the philosophy of Taekwondo. Taekwondo means "the right way of using all parts of the body to stop fights and help to build a better and more peaceful world." Let alone, Taekwondo can be characterized by unity: the unity of body, mind, and life, and the unity of the pose. Taekwondo emphasizes form or 품새 because one of the main pursuits of Taekwondo is to make your mind peaceful and synchronize your mind with your movements, and to extend this harmony to life and society. Taekwondo seeks to allow the principle of physical movements, the principle of mind training, and the principle of life become one and the same. I actually remember when I used to live in Korea, my mom enrolled us in a Taekwondo academy. I remember going to Taekwondo tournaments, being late to classes, and being disciplined for it, and the fun games we used to play after classes. Taekwondo helped to teach me discipline. It helped foster mentor relationships that caused me to grow physically and mentally. That’s how I understand why many parents enroll their children in Taekwondo. Taekwondo not only teaches self-defense but it teaches you discipline that leads to confidence. Taekwondo also helps develop one’s purpose and guides one to a community of other people also trying to better themselves. It’s no wonder celebrities such as Joe Rogan and  Arnold Arnold Schwarzenegger practice Taekwondo.

Since I am learning ASL, doing a podcast was very difficult since I can't speak English to communicate with my partner. Nevertheless, here is a clip of my partner Reba and I during a session and practicing some ASL! (Please excuse my overuse of "uh huh" and "ok" especially during the mid-section!)

https://richmond.box.com/s/ld7xwmbeg814q2jaxy6f6racvyt335mo ;