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For this cultural post, I want to talk about the history conveyed by the famous TV series, the "Reply" series as we recently watched "Reply 1994" together. 

South Korea in 1988, 1997, and 1994 was very different than it is now, and the show acts as a guide to many of South Korea’s recent historical triumphs and tragedies.

By interspersing important moments into the lives of the characters of each “Reply” series, the production team is able to make seemingly remote events seem very much alive and relatable. The oldest series so far, “Reply 1988” is still relatively recent in the sense of history, but feels very removed thanks to the fast-paced world that we live in.

But the first two episodes, while hilarity-inducing thanks to the late 1980’s fashions and VHS tapes, don’t feel so old. The anticipation of the 1988 Olympics feels very much alive and high school life isn’t so different, even if the teenagers have to do without being glued to their smartphones.

Similarly, the political and financial struggles of South Korea are also portrayed in ways that are relatable, and yes, informative. The political reality of the day — the first time that South Korea had a true democratically elected leader since the 1960’s– is alluded to multiple times by characters commenting on college-age Sung Bo Ra going to protests.

Thanks to captivating storytelling, someone who has no knowledge of this period in South Korean history is drawn into the period tvN series’ world as if it is current. The previous series, “Reply 1997” and “Reply 1994” similarly bring to light events that are both familiar and historical to South Korean audiences (and likely unknown to many international fans of the series).

In “Reply 1994,” one of South Korea’s most disheartening years was brought to light. While the country is now one of the wealthiest in the world, South Korea was wartorn in the 50’s, and only intense pushes for progress have helped the country get to where it is today. But in “1994,” the feelings of South Korean dismay following the International Monetary Fund (IFC) crises and the collapse of Sampoong Department Store were brought to the surface, evoking sympathy and renewed concern for the events that occurred nearly a decade before the show in 2013. (Alternatively, the show also renewed interest in South Korea’s 1994 success in soccer with their Red Devils taking to the streets of Seoul).

If “1988” is showing an exuberant country dealing with modernization and democracy and “1994” focused on the changing world of modern-day South Korea, “1997,” the first series which aired in 2012, was the most familiar to many viewers but at the same time still introduced “retro” elements of K-pop, video games, cell phones, and many of the popular fashion brands of the day interspersed with historical events.

As each series presents its story, it showcases a way of life that is familiar to us but disappeared with the fast-paced world hardly blinking an eye. The obsession with “20 Things 90’s Kids Know”-type lists is alive and well, and “Reply” takes it to a new format, educating the viewers of 2015 about all the things we’ve forgotten about the past few decades.

Melodrama and comedy make “Reply” loveable, but it’s also a way to remind the audience of the struggles and successes that South Korea has faced over the years. These elements of nostalgia that make “Reply” popular enough to warrant not one but three seasons, and hopefully more in the future

For this week’s cultural post, I will write about Yi sun-sin. Yi Sun-Sin, 이순신 in Korean, was a Korean military general that is still talked about to this day. I’ve first discovered him while playing a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena called Mobile Legends. In the game, he is animated into a hero that uses a bow and arrow and sometimes rides a turtle boat. After further reading out him, I realize Mobile Legends does not come close to depicting the hero Yi Sun-sin truly was.

From an early age, Yi Sun-Sin always wanted to become a soldier for the Korean army. When it came time for his first military entrance exam, he impressed the judges with his archery skills but failed to qualify after he broke his leg during the horse riding exam. Yet, after fours passed, we would pass and start his military career.

Throughout his career, Yi was discharged twice after being falsely accused by his jealous military colleagues. During Yi’s time, Japan invaded Korea after a series of long civil wars that had finally ceased after Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified and led the Japanese army. In contrast, Korea had not been at war for hundreds of years. So when rumors of Japan wanting to raid Korea broke out, Many Koreans believed that the Japanese were only bluffing, but Ryu Seong-ryong recognized the threat and moved Yi to naval service to defend the southern part of Korea. Yi rigorously trained his soldiers and commissioned a new ship design called the Turtle Ship. When the Japanese attacked, they completely crushed the Korean army and quickly advanced to Seoul. However, Yi quickly realizing the severity of the situation, organized his small fleet of warships, and launched attacks against the Japanese and caught them off-guard. Yi not only destroyed 43 enemy ships, but he did not lose a single ship of his own and was promoted to become the new Southern Commander of the Korean navy.

Yi’s most well-known battle is the Battle of Myeongnang. Yi knowing the Japanese were stationed at Myeongnang Strait, took his fleet of only 13 ships and sailed directly to them. The reported number of Japanese ships was 133 but Yi hoped his knowledge of the natural current patterns of Myeongnang would help his fleet get an advantage. His plan worked: the reversing tide caught the Japanese by surprise and flung their ships against each other right as destroyed more than 30 Japanese warships. With 13 ships versus 133, he once again drove back Japan with zero losses to his own navy. 

It was joyful learning about a Korean historical figure. Since immigrating to America, I have only learned history in an American classroom. I never have realized that the people I’m learning about in class never looked like me. Thus, it was really cool to read about a Korean navy general that shows the qualities I look up to: Resilience and Integrity. I am definitely looking forward to learning about other Korean historical figures to widen my knowledge of my culture!

I am excited to be learning Korean once again! I was born in South Korea and immigrated to America when I was around eight. Ever since then, my Korean skills have definitely declined every year due to my priority of learning English. I have noticed that my Korean skills have declined dramatically since coming to college. This is due to the fact that I only speak Korean to my mother because she does not speak English. Therefore, I am ecstatic to improve my Korean so I can continue to communicate with my mother, but also use it for when I have a job after graduation.

This week I started my first meeting with my language partners! Our teacher for the group is So Myung Kim, a sophomore who is planning to major in Mathematical Economics from Maryland. She was also born in South Korea but she immigrated around the same age as I did. My other language partner’s name is Tommy Na. He was born in Korea and told us that he didn’t really begin to speak Korean until middle school. Tommy is a junior majoring in Biology and is planning to become a dentist. He said he wants to pass the STAMP test and use his Korean skills in his job after graduation. He also told me that he thinks learning Korean is important to him because it is a part of his cultural identity. 

The three of us discussed what each of us wanted our sessions to look like because we did not want to waste any time during our next session. We discussed our strengths and weakness in Korean and came up with a routine that will help us get better in Korean. We wanted to focus on Korean grammar, Enunciation/speaking in Korean during class, cultural aspects, and reading hard articles like Korean newspapers to practice our comprehension skills. One thing that we stressed was that we would be only speaking Korean during our Sessions. 

Later on, I discussed to them that I was really invested in music and that by the end of the course, I want to be able to compose a Korean song. I told them that I would pick Korean songs to listen to and look up the meanings of the words I did not understand. So Myung then suggested a Korean Christian song that I could listen to a learn the vocabulary from. She also suggested a Korean singing competition that I could watch for fun. I also shared that I want to study abroad at Yonsei University in the spring semester of my junior year because I want to take their Korean language program and learn more about Korean culture. 

We then talked about the requirements of the Self-directed language course. So Myung and Tommy helped clarify what bi-weeklys are, and how I would get to establish my own goals and pace for this semester. Although our session was conducted via Zoom, I learned a lot and was motivated just by talking to people who were also eager to learn Korean!

It has been over five years since I have learned a language “from scratch” and that was because of the middle school requirement. I had chosen French because Latin was not offered, and it was very difficult for me to progress my skills because I relied purely on memorization. Since I am now personally choosing to learn American Sign Language, I hope that I can be able to formulate sentences based on my understand of the meaning of the particular signs.

I am so excited this semester because I am starting to learn ASL! I have not had prior experience with learning this new language, so I am worried but enthusiastic to start this journey. Unfortunately, I still have not met my language partner, Reba, because there were some scheduling conflicts. We finally decided to start sessions on Monday, September 7^th and will meet for an hour twice a week. Hopefully we can meet in person when the school transitions to the green phase, but for now, we are sticking with communicating through Zoom or FaceTime.

We discussed through email and for the first day, we wanted to get a chance to introduce ourselves so we could get to know one another. We also planned to learn just fingerspelling and basic signs the first day. Since ASL is still fairly new to the SDLAP studies, there are three students taking the course with Reba. Reba decided that it would be a great opportunity if all of us could have a session together once or twice a month. I am curious about how those sessions will be planned since the other students have had more experience with ASL. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to getting the chance to talk to other University of Richmond students in sign language.

Since I am also one of the Korean language partners this year, I have been thinking from the perspective of the instructor. I really haven’t thought about how it was like to teach a language. There are just so many different components such as the alphabet, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar structure, and so much more to even start understanding a language. Because I am aware of this, I am also aware of my limitations for this semester. I would absolutely love to be conversational in ASL, but I know that that goal will take multiple years of practice and experience. Therefore, my goal for this semester is to become more aware of Deaf culture, fingerspell at a moderate speed, and to understand basic signs. Furthermore, I would like to learn the grammatical structure ASL uses so that I can start developing simple sentences.

Another thing I am curious about is the multiple sign languages and if/how they are connected. In linguistics, there are cognates that languages will share. I learned a little bit of Korean Sign Language with my friends so that we could interpret a Korean song. Even though there is no universal sign language, I wonder if there are any similar signs that have the same origin.

For our first meeting of the semester, my language study partner and I decided to just do a review of my language ability and create a new learning plan. We both agreed that I have definitely shown improvement in my comprehension of the Vietnamese language. This is likely due to the fact that over the summer, I had the opportunity to be able to work alongside many Vietnamese exchange students as well as the older Vietnamese population in my community. My hometown in Falls Church, Northern Virginia has a dense Vietnamese population that was the result of mass immigration during the Vietnam War era.

As many of the older people in my community generally do not have good grasp of the English language, I suddenly found myself forced into a situation where I must use Vietnamese to communicate with other people. Initially, I found the interactions to be extremely awkward, mostly because of the fact that I normally do not use Vietnamese to interact outside of my home (or in a classroom setting) and I was mixing up or just straight up forget a lot of words – or, more often than not, mix English and Vietnamese. However, the people were genuinely nice about my terrible awkwardness and some even offered to help me practice once they realized that I was trying to relearn the language. Due to the fact that the community is made of Vietnam War refugees, my community is comprised of mostly Southern Vietnamese accent speakers. As time went on, I was more comfortable with my speaking skill and I found most conversations I hold with people tend to flow quite smoothly.

My language partner pointed out that while I will probably need some more practice with speaking, I should not make it a high priority like I did last semester. Instead, he suggested that I focus on other things like critical reading and writing, which I wholeheartedly agreed. While my speaking and listening, skill have greatly improved in the last couple months, my reading skills are still elementary at best (considering that is where I left off anyway) and my writings is full of grammatical and spelling mistakes. So, we agreed that I should focus on improving my reading and writing skills this semester. To do that, I will start by reading middle school level literature and then write short summaries on the readings, which will then be checked for mistakes by my partner. This will help improve not only my basic reading and writing skills, but it will also allow me to articulate meanings in Vietnamese and help improve my critical reading skills.

Finally, we also compiled a list of activities that we could explore to help further develop my skills:

• Listening to music then write summaries & questions --> listening comprehension & writing
• Reading news articles then write summaries & questions --> reading comprehension & writing
• Dictation tests (weekly or monthly) --> listening & writing (spelling & grammar)
• Watching television programs then answer questions --> listening comprehension

There are many reasons an individual may learn American Sign Language (ASL). They may be interested in picking up a new language. They may want to better communicate with a loved one or friend who is hard of hearing or deaf. They may enjoy the deaf culture and hope to integrate into it. They may even be taking it to full a classroom requirement. The reasons why someone learns ASL are vast and cannot be accounted for in this discussion. However, what I plan to discuss within this paper are the vocational opportunities offered to those who are interested in using their ASL skills to work with the deaf or hard of hearing populations.

            There are many vocations one can pursue if they hope to work with deaf or hard of hearing people. These jobs include but are not limited to, speech-language pathologist, employment counselor, social workers, sign language interpreters, audiologists, and many more. Typically, when I think of a job involving ASL, I often envision the position of a sign language interpreter.  These interpreters are present in a vast number of settings and agencies including school systems, governmental institutions,  social services, hospitals, and even in the entertainment industry. One famous example of an interpreter in the entertainment industry is Amber Galloway Gallego. She was able to interpret the lyrics rapped by Twista Clocks,  one of the world’s fastest rappers, in real-time. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl2uLh4Ru0&ab_channel=ABC13Houston).

             So, what is an ASL interpreter? According to the National Association  of the Deaf (NAD), a qualified interpreter is someone who is able to “both receptively and expressively, interpret accurately, effectively, and impartially, using any necessary specialized vocabulary.” It is imperative that the interpreter is able to seamlessly translate information between the parties involved without delay or confusion. Of all fields,  medical facilities, higher education facilities, elementary and high schools were the largest employers of ASL interpreters and as of May 2018, translators and interpreters across all fields earned an average salary of $55,230 following the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. However, depending on an interpreters' level of experience and place of work, the salary will vary.

Prospective interpreters are tested on their expressive and receptive signing, voice to sign skills, and sign to voice skills. Once confident, the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. (RID) has a list of Interpreting Training Programs that one can sign up for depending on what field one wants to pursue. However, one of the most prestigious and valued certifications is the RID certification. In some states, this certification is required in order to provide interpreting services of any kind. Regardless, there are three types of RID certifications – Previously Offered RID Certifications, NAD Certifications, and RID Retired Certifications. Currently, the RID only offers the latter two, but the previously offered RID Certifications are still recognized. Within the NAD Certification, there are three levels of NAD III (Generalist), NAD IV (Advanced), and NAD V (Master). Each certification corresponds to a different level of fluency and translational ability with III being average performance and V being superior performance. Holders of these certifications must also comply with all aspects of the RID’s Certification Maintenance Program which includes the completion of professional development courses.

https://www.nad.org/resources/american-sign-language/interpreting-american-sign-language/

https://study.com/articles/Be_an_American_Sign_Language_Interpreter_Salary_and_Career_Info.html#:~:text=ASL%20interpreters%20typically%20have%20at,along%20with%20sign%20language%20training.'

https://thebestschools.org/careers/jobs-working-deaf-hard-hearing/

https://rid.org/rid-certification-overview/

https://rid.org/about-rid/about-interpreting/become-an-interpreter/

Based on the reading, I think language is both a biological and a cultural phenomenon. On one hand, Figure 16 shows that Wernicke’s area, or the temporal lobe, is the key part of the brain for comprehension, while Broca’s area, or the frontal lobe’s low back, is the key part for speech. Areas around Rolando are also aid speech. On the other hand, the external cultural situation shapes how we use language to engage with the world. For example, since Indonesia has less grammatical structures and cues than English or German, Indonesian speakers need to do more “reading between the lines” to comprehend the meaning. This less direct way of defining the world speaks to the country’s culture, and illuminates the importance of cultural knowledge and context clues in semantics. Since words and lexemes have the clearest meaning when they are surrounded by other words, it is probably best to study words in groups, rather than on their own. Creating sentences may be more effective than compiling a dictionary of alphabetized words (It seems like such a method is helpful as a reference tool, but not for internalizing meaning). These articles reminded me of the need to define my terms whenever writing a paper because each reader may have a unique way of understanding the term. In my geography class, for example, I have been learning about the numerous ways of thinking about the word sustainability. The multiplicity of meanings illuminate how our social situation shapes how we use language to articulate our world views.

One final thought: I know that the right-brain/left-brain contrast is often overstated, and over contrasted, but as a left-handed person who identifies closely with the right brain tendencies listed, and wonder how these might play into my preferred language learning styles.

During the first two weeks of learning Bahasa Indonesian, I have been working on a variety of tasks. So far, I have practiced answering yes or no questions, introducing myself and my friends, and discussing my daily routines. I have also learned vocabulary and cultural insights about public transportation, public places, and food places in Indonesia. During these next two weeks, I hope to be able to introduce myself and have an introductory conversation without looking at my notes and be able to count to twenty.
My language learning has mostly been based on the daily, one-hour zoom meetings with our Indonesian teaching assistant, Farida. As a professional language instructor, she has created a syllabus for me and a fellow student learning Indonesian and has guided us through the basics of Indonesian language and culture. We have grammar-focused classes on Monday and Tuesday, and culture-focused classes on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, we have a less formal language table as well as the opportunity for one-on-one tutoring. As discussed in SDLC 105 this week, speaking practice is key to language development. By meeting with Farida 5-6 times a week, I have the opportunity to use the language with a native speaker. We spend a significant portion of each class working through speaking activities, and I feel like I have made progress, though I need to be actively taking notes so that I can retain the new vocabulary.
This format has held me accountable for making language learning a daily practice, provided ample opportunities for speaking practice and insights on Indonesian culture. During class, I take notes. At the end of the week, I then reorganize these words into a folder reserved exclusively for my Indonesian vocabulary. Another strategy I have to remember vocabulary is to write new words on color-coded sticky notes, which I then hang in my bedroom to practice informally. This week, Farida has also prompted us to start a daily practice of memorizing 5-10 new vocabulary words each day. This daily practice of memorizing new vocabulary words is a manageable habit that will culminate in significant progress and help me achieve long-term goals. By the end of the month, I will have between 150 and 300 new words! Since I am a visual learner, writing these words in sentences and making little doodles beside them has helped me to retain vocabulary. When learning new words, I usually try to limit myself to one part of speech. For example, today I memorized 10 new verbs. I will build on the grammatical structures and vocabulary by also learning about Indonesia’s culture. Today, we studied food places and applied the grammatical skills to actual conversations we would have if ordering food in Indonesia. Learning about the culture is helps to reveal nuances about the language and read between the lines. During these next two weeks, I will evaluate the effectiveness of my notetaking and organization strategies and reframe if necessary. If I find that I am having trouble remembering my new vocabulary words, for example, I may try a new approach, such as saying them aloud 10 times or coming up with a mnemonic device. I will consider how to make the most of my time in class with Farida. For example, I might spend five minutes before class reviewing notes from last week, or maybe it would make more sense to transfer new vocabulary to my nice folder every day instead of once a week.

Jesse Amankwaah
Dr. Marsh-Soloway
30 August 2020

Reflection Paper

As a language learner, I am really enjoying the opportunity to chart my own course in
this journey. Language learning has always been really interesting to me but I always felt so
discouraged because I could not keep up with the pace, but it was not the language learning that
turned me off. Even just learning about the families that language belongs to is amazing to me
because it makes me feel connected to other people that I would think I have no history with.
Our ancestors were closer than I could ever imagine and just thinking about those language
families gives me hope for the future. I now have a basis for exploring the empires and
civilizations that existed before the modern world as we know it. What I dislike about language
learning will always be that there is a learning curve, and a time where you are not sure whether
you are learning or your short term memory is just working well. Trying to adjust to another
language also comes with different phases where you try to translate everything directly from the
language that you already speak. During this process the exchanges are slow and you feel very
silly. You try to memorize key phrases like how to use the bathroom and how to say hello and
see how far you can get with it. Then you need to ask a question, so you learn the grammar
structure of a question, then past and future tenses and vocabulary to help you express yourself.
It has taken me my entire life to understand in what order that I need to learn a language for it to
make sense to me and so even though that process doesn’t seem complex, it has helped me quite

a bit. With this course, I am excited to learn an even better process that is backed up with
pedagogy and practice.

The language learning activities that best suit me are the ones where I watch a video with
subtitles and try to answer questions based on context and the knowledge I have acquired from
that language. I think activities that allow me to get thrown into the fire really help me because I
know that naturally I will want to keep myself safe and in my comfort zone to avoid losing
confidence. Studying abroad helped show me that being thrown in the fire is really the only way
to develop in proficiency once you have passed the elementary level. I also really enjoy activities
that allow me to engage with people that are at my proficiency level so I can get an
understanding of what I should be able to understand after having practiced and asking my peers
what strategies have worked for them. I still have to develop learning strategies that will help me
with a language I have no working knowledge of because there are no cognates to help me out
this time in the context of Malay. I am really looking for this 105 course to break down for me
the building blocks of language and compare it with the way I have studied languages in the past
to theorize what would work best for me.

When I was around 9 years old, I would try to learn languages through Rosetta Stone. My first inspiration for trying to learn a new language was because a close family friend of mine was Italian, and I wanted to learn how to speak with them in Italian. Another language that I tried to self-teach through Rosetta Stone was Spanish. It was amazing, to me, seeing how similar certain words were between the two languages. Though I enjoyed going through the modules on Rosetta Stone and learning new vocabulary, I regrettably didn’t practice speaking the language outside of the program and didn’t take the initiative to watch shows or read books in the languages that I was attempting to learn.

In high school, I took three years of Spanish classes to complete my language requirement. Throughout those three years, I was able to really learn what methods of teaching a language that I benefited from best. When I first began Spanish, I took it in a CP course. I enjoyed the model that my teacher utilized in that we learned Spanish through making up stories. The teacher would often include the names of students and make references to popular culture of the time. Periodically, we would view parodies of current trending songs that were made in Spanish.  We were encouraged to practice speaking to one another in simple sentences using the terminology that we were exposed to. This professor practiced mostly immersion and spoke in Spanish throughout the majority of the class. The following year, I enrolled in Honors Spanish with a different teacher, and the style was different than I had encountered in the previous year. This class focused more on grammar and sentence structure, which I soon found that I struggled with. However, one difference in this teaching style that I particularly enjoyed was how we were exposed to Latin American culture through the literature we reviewed in class.

After taking my Spanish courses, during my senior year, I decided to enroll in a German class online. I was inspired to learn German due to how my school had a foreign exchange student program, and many of my closest peers were from Germany. This was my first experience trying to take an online language course that was mostly self-paced. Each week, we had a session in which we would gain live instruction from the teacher over materials we had learned in the past week. This live session also granted participants the chance to practice speaking the language. I’ve found that I really benefit from repetition and hearing others speak in the language that I am attempting to learn.

If I had the chance to go back to when I first started exploring other languages, I wish that I had taken more of an effort to learn more about the cultures of the languages that I was learning. As someone who is very much a visual and an auditory learner, I would have greatly benefitted from reading books or watching television series that communicated in the language that I was seeking to learn. This realization of how I best learn languages is what makes me excited as I study American Sign Language more this semester. I plan to be intentional with communicating with members of the Deaf community, as well as spend time watching deaf or HOH YouTubers to continue learning more about their culture. I think that engaging with members of the community is especially important, as I’ve learned while self-teaching how some resources online are truly teaching SEE or PSE, rather than ASL.

Jenna and I met for the first time this past week since the semester started. We talked about what we did over the summer and it was great to see her again! We met on zoom due to covid-19 and we went over some basics like what we should target this semester and what my short- and long-term goals were. Firstly, my most important goal for this semester is to pass the COM2 exam before I graduate because I am a senior and do not have the COM2 requirement completed for a graduation requirement. So, Jenna and I worked on a plan to start preparing for the COM2 exam. We targeted my test date to be the end of the semester or right after the semester ends. Jenna and I also talked about what I had struggled with and what I felt confident about going into the semester.

            The most confident part of Korean for me is speaking and listening because I speak with my parents all the time. But the things that I struggle with most are reading and writing. Reading I am better at than writing, but I struggle with both significantly more than listening and speaking. This week, Jenna and I met, and we reviewed some of the key concepts we learned this past semester. Some of the concepts include counting in Korean and some phrases and bachims in Korean. In order to improve my reading and writing, I have to understand what exactly I need to do for practice. I asked Jenna what I could do to improve my reading and writing, and she told me to continue on reading articles online as well as writing summaries of the articles I read every week. For homework, I will be reading one article and writing a summary of it by next week. I am confident in Jenna’s ability to help me reach my goal of passing the COM2 exam and will try my hardest to practice and improve on reading and writing in Korean. I am prepared and kind of happy that we have a set goal and plan for the semester. I know that planning is very important in reaching long-term goals and Jenna and I have created a very straightforward and effective plan to prepare for the COM2 exam. On the side, I will start listening to Korean podcasts as well as watching Korean dramas from Netflix and other TV streaming sites. I hope to become familiar with the different accents of Korean and be able to understand most of what they are saying. Furthermore, I know that most Korean dramas and TV shows contain a lot of Korean words on the screen along with the show in order to facilitate and reiterate what the people are saying. I hope to be able to read and understand the graphics and subtitles fast enough and efficiently by the end of the semester. I am excited to continue this journey and finally reach my goal since I started taking self-directed Korean at the University of Richmond.

For the first class of this semester, my fellow student Valentina, our language partner Jannette and I met for the first time. We decided to hold three meetings including one group meeting and two individual meetings based on our different levels. 

Sino-Korean System:

• 1 – 일 (il)
• 2 – 이 (ee)
• 3 – 삼 (sam)
• 4 – 사 (sa)
• 5 – 오 (oh)
• 6 – 육 (yook)
• 7 – 칠 (chil)
• 8 – 팔 (pal)
• 9 – 구 (gu)
• 10 – 십 (ship)

Native Korean System:

• 1 – 하나 (hana)
• 2 – 둘 (dul)
• 3 – 셋 (set)
• 4 – 넷 (net)
• 5 – 다섯 (daseot)
• 6 – 여섯 (yeoseot)
• 7 – 일곱 (ilgob)
• 8 – 여덟 (yeodeol)
• 9 – 아홉 (ahop)
• 10 – 열 (yeol)

For the individual meeting, I was able to regain the knowledge I learned from last semester-- numbers. There are two sets of numbers in Korean: the native Korean system and the Sino-Korean system. The native numbers are used for numbers of items (1-99) and age, while the Sino-Korean system is based on Chinese numbers and are used for dates, money, addresses, phone numbers, and numbers above 100. For this class, I consolidated my knowledge about recognizing and pronouncing numbers in both systems from 1 to 10. Moreover, I learned how to pronounce 11-100. To form double-digit numbers using Sino-Korean numbers, you just have to combine the number words from 1 to 10. For example:

• 20 – 이십
• 21 – 이십일

To make twenty, we use the words that refer to 2 (이) and 10 (십), and to make 21, we add the word that refers to 1 (일) to 20. The same logic applies to other double-digit numbers in the Sino-Korean number system. 

On the other hand, this logic doesn't apply to the formation of double-digit numbers in the Native Korean system. Similar to English numbers, the Native-Korean number system has specific words for double-digit numbers that end in zero, and these are numbers like 20, 30, 40, and so on.

• 20 – 스물 (seumul)
• 30 – 서른 (seoreun)
• 40 – 마흔 (maheun)
• 50 – 쉰 (swin)
• 60 – 예순 (yesun)
• 70 – 일흔 (ilheun)
• 80 – 여든 (yeodeun)
• 90 – 아흔 (aheun)

Both number systems have specific uses in Korean, and it’s important that the number systems are used appropriately.

Sino Korean numbers are used for the following purposes (the ones that were covered in our class):

• To say the date:
  • 일월 일일 (January 1^st)
• To count the days:
  • 일일, 이일
• To count the years:
  • 일 년, 이 년
• To count the months:
  • 일 개월, 이 개월

Native Korean numbers, on the other hand, are primarily used to count things. In Korean, when you count things, you have to use a specific word to count different nouns. These counting words are called counters.

The most common counter word is

Native Korean numbers, on the other hand, are primarily used to count things. In Korean, when you count things, you have to use a specific word to count different nouns. These counting words are called counters.

The most common counter word is 개 (ge), which we use to count most inanimate objects. However, there are many different counters in Korean. The one that was covered in our class was Age – 살 (sal). 

However, there are also some exceptions where both systems are used at the same time. 

One exception to the rule we covered is telling the time. When we tell the time in Korean, we actually use both Sino-Korean numbers and native-Korean numbers. 시 means ‘hour’, and to indicate what the hour is, we use native-Korean numbers in front of 시. 분 means ‘minute’, and to indicate how many minutes past the hour, we use Sino-Korean numbers in front of 분. For example:

• 1:10 – 한시 십분
• 5:20 – 다섯시 이십분
• 6:40 – 여섯시 사십분
• 10:05 – 열시 오분

Week 1 Reflection

            At this point, I had not yet registered for the class! I was going through the process of applying for a Fulbright in Brazil and was taking a course in the Music Ensemble department on Brazilian Music, but for one reason or another all of the elements had not yet clicked in my brain to point me to wanting to take a Self-Directed Language Study for Portuguese. I believe, in fact, that at this time I was trying to join Japanese 101 to start learning another language, but I quickly saw that even joining a week late that the professor’s teaching style was much more intense than what I was looking for or had anticipated. After attending one class I knew I had to find another solution to fill my spare time and keep up with my pattern of using about three to four languages every week.

My previous experiences as a language learner have always revolved around necessity. I learned different languages because I needed these for communicating with family or to reach a certain requirement academically. I won’t shy away from the fact that I struggled to learn basic Mandarin for years and I still want to learn more about my native language and have much to learn. At this moment, I would like to try to learn a language out of pure interest and see how far that can take me. I do not expect to become a fluent speaker but I think that it will be fun. Although they are not natural languages, programming languages were also fun to pick up and share many similarities as Dr. Marsh-Soloway mentioned. 

Some aspects of language learning I found enjoyable were listening to and watching entertainment in that language. I found most textbook conversations extremely limiting and not at all representative of how most people interacted. The subject of these conversations were often trivial though somewhat necessary to apply the vocabulary of a section. On that note, I did enjoy learning new words and phrases that I could use or see frequently. It gave me a sense of accomplishment that reinforced my memory of that content. 

According to the surveys that I took, I am a visual learner that tends towards the following intelligences: math/logic, self, and language. Using these results, it seems that my approach to learning languages should be like a personal game where I challenge myself with puzzles, use visual aids, and keep track of my progress using a journal. Having that sense of progress and structure will keep me motivated. Since I am a visual learner I can indulge in comics as a medium of learning to a certain extent. In the case of Korean, I can use Naver Webtoons as a source of Korean media to delve into. However, I will still need a direction for formally learning the syntax of Korean and the fundamentals of the language. I plan to explore this more in depth with my language partner.   

The Fire Model seems pretty thorough in exploring interactive thinking so I will go through each number.

1. Rational
2. Rational
3. Rational
4. Rational
5. Insightful
6. Insightful
7. Insightful

According to my results, it seems that my thinking tends towards rational and insightful styles of learning. I am not entirely sure how to interpret this in a way that can be beneficial to my language journey so you are welcome to contribute your insights! 

I believe that I can expand my learning activities by applying what I learned in that language specifically. What I mean by this is that if I learn how to speak in a language, I should speak often in that language to not lose that skill. This sounds trivial but from childhood till now, I have lost almost all my ability to read Mandarin Chinese since I never needed to read it. Everything I looked at was in English so my brain naturally released that accumulated information. But by immersing myself in Korean culture and entertainment, I can always find a way to use it and reinforce what I learned. My main challenge here would be applying speech since I do not have any people that I speak to in Korean yet. I hope that having a language partner to communicate with will encourage me to learn more effectively.

I was first exposed to different languages during preschool, where I would hear english from my school but hear korean at home. Later I was exposed to another language of spanish in highschool. As a language learner I think I mostly enjoyed learning about a new culture that the language brings. I also enjoy experiencing how in the beginning a new language sounds so foreign and you cannot recognize any word. However, as time passes you start recognizing the sound of the language and understand. When I think back I cannot imagine how I felt back when I thought spanish was foreign now that I can pick up phrases that are spoken. It became another part of my identity. 

I think one aspect I disliked about learning a new language was how hard the vocabulary was and how I needed to know a certain level in order to proceed to the next level. When I was learning Spanish in highschool, I did not like how my teacher would just move on to the next topic when I was taking time to digest and make the knowledge my own. Oftentimes, I found myself giving up in mastering the language but to learn enough to be able to complete school work. 

According to one of the surveys, I found out that I am mostly a visual learner. Which means I understand and remember terms by visually seeing through pictures. When I read the list of advice given for visual learners, I was surprised to find how much I was already performing in real life. For example, I usually sit near the front of the classroom to see the board better. I also have thoughts that trail off to an image when I hear specific terms and I avoid distractions during study times. I think in the future I will try some of the other advice given such as using flashcards, drawing pictures to explain new concepts, or color coding my notes. 

On the other survey, I found out that I have strength in music, body movement and social. I think when I am memorizing new words for a language, I should create a song or rhythm so I could keep it permanently in my brain. I think in the future I might use more body language to help me memorize vocabulary in unique gestures. My other strength was social and I tend to love talking to others. I think I should tell a friend what I learned or the words I find interesting to help me practice the language consistently.  

After acknowledging how I learn best, I wanted to use those skills to improve and learn a language. Also, I decided to switch my perspective on how I view learning a language. When I read the articles, I noticed how a lot of people have misconceptions that adults cannot learn a new language. In one of the articles, the phrase “Do not aim for perfection” caught my attention because I did not realize how much I wanted to succeed and have a task perfectly accomplished. I think the most important task is to set a clear goal and find reasons to learn a language. This should be reminded because often it is easily forgotten. Furthermore, I learned that it was easier to learn a language by speaking to someone everyday. I realized that in the past, I always tried to learn spanish and never spoke it out loud with others. Since I have strengths in social, I think I will expand my learning activities by finding someone to talk to in the language I am learning. I will interact with a friend daily to make an environment where I could embrace my mistakes with pronunciations. I might try using mnemonics to memorize words and plan on having short term goals to make sure I feel proud of achieving a step in accomplishing a language. After these readings I really love how my perspective changed for tackling a language with a more positive motive.

When I first moved to America at the age of 10, I had a difficult time learning English. As a native Korean speaker, it was challenging to translate and understand the syntax and grammar. However, I still enjoyed going to school and making small baby steps. I liked talking to my friends even though I could not understand anything, doing group projects, listening to my teachers talk, and just learning how to communicate. I was especially interested in learning more about grammar, different clauses, and structures. When I became fluent in English, I started learning Spanish in high school.  

In high school, we were required to take a language course for two years, so I chose to take Spanish. It did not go as well as I thought, and I did not like it. The structure of the class did not fit my learning style. The teacher had a strong technical background (he was a computer science teacher), so he made the class very technical as well. For example, instead of incorporating visual learning activities and other discussion-based exercises, we would just have to memorize all the vocabularies, different phrases, and conjugations. After, we would get tested on the materials. His teaching style caused me to dislike the class and the language as well. I am still somewhat conversational today. 

Based on my previous experiences, it seems like I was a "Language" learner, meaning I enjoyed talking, reading out loud, and most importantly, writing and journaling. I am motivated by books, records, and anything that creates opportunities for writing. Additionally, I loved writing reflections and summaries, as well as analyses. Furthermore, I seem to be a visual learner as well. I learn by reading or seeing pictures. I like to see what I am learning. I did not really like group discussions because I was not very confident in myself, so I did not encourage myself to speak out and participate. I knew that talking and practicing my English would enhance my skills, but I was afraid to make mistakes. So I disliked the fact that many of my classes forced me to talk in front of others. Like I have already mentioned, I am more of a "Language" learner, so activities that require reading, writing, and speaking would suit my learning style. For example, keeping a journal, reading then explaining or talking it out, and exploring the meaning of words would be some great exercises.

Based on the FIRE model, I seem to be more rational, insightful, and evaluative. I resonate with a lot of the points mentioned in those three columns, especially row 5. I enjoy being following theoretical frameworks and problem-solving. I do not necessarily think I am the best at it, but I have also been practicing case studies, which I enjoy. However, I also appreciate open-ended questions that create opportunities for intellectual discussions in small group settings. I should expand my learning activities by trying to be more factual like being open to having structured, technical, and detailed activities.

In my previous language-learning experiences, I have found that I remember vocabulary very well, but only when written down. I am very much a visual learner, which was confirmed by the Learning Styles quiz I completed today. When I hear something without it being written, it goes in one ear and right out the other. When put in a situation where I am trying to learn something by listening, I attempt to picture the word written in my brain or write it in the air. However, I am really poor at that, which is a challenge for me while conducting online language classes and conversations with Farida. If I didn’t write a word down during the lesson, it will be completely unfamiliar to me the next day. While I was in Italy I was able to practice my learning by listening because I was fully immersed in the language, but I still found myself regularly frustrated by the words that would slip out of my brain day after day.

            Although writing and reading comes much easier to me, the most important aspects of my language use will be listening and speaking. This means that even if I learn the language visually, I have to more-regularly practice my listening and speaking skills. I practiced this with French by reading texts out loud. I also listened to YouTube recordings of Le Petit Prince with the French words displayed on the screen as they were read out loud by a native French speaker. I practiced saying each sentence myself, then listened to the recording and corrected myself, and translated any words I wasn’t familiar with. I found this to be a very effective study technique that I plan to continue with Indonesian. I also plan to use Anki flashcards to increase my Bahasa Indonesia vocabulary and practice saying the words to myself. To translate my visual learning to a listening and speaking vocabulary, I think the best method for me is to combine all three at the same time. I can also do this by using Duolingo, which has an Indonesian language course! I’ve found that Duolingo works best as a supplementary learning device, because it isn’t very good at explaining the grammar rules but offers a lot of opportunity to practice and learn new words. It also practices both reading, writing, and listening for Indonesian, and I’ve already found it useful to supplement Farida’s lessons.

I also discovered from these tests that I am a self-learner, meaning that I prefer to spend time by myself to think things over. This confirms my typical experiences with learning because I usually prefer to review the material by myself between each lessons. Already with learning Bahasa Indonesia, I find that if I do not review the lessons afterwards and rewrite the words I have learned they do not stick in my brain at all. It will be very important for me this semester to practice and review the material on my own, outside of my hours with Farida. I am going to have to practice self-discipline, an aspect of self-directed learning not mentioned in the articles but very important to Learner Autonomy, in my opinion. If I truly want to learn Bahasa Indonesia to an A2 proficiency by the end of this semester, I will have to make myself practice and review the lessons even when I am tired or don’t feel like it. I am unsure of my capacity of self-discipline, but I hope that it will be sufficient and that this course will expand it.

I have been in language classes for seven out of eight semesters of college, so one might assume that language learning is my passion. The truth is that I did not go into college planning to study three different languages. On the contrary, language classes push me out of my comfort zone. I find trying to form new sounds with my mouth in front of other people very intimidating, not to mention the discomfort of not understanding what my peers and instructor were saying. While the languages seem to seek me out rather than the other way around, I have found my language learning experiences meaningful because they help me develop relationships across cultures. I am studying Bahasa Indonesian this semester because I would like to be an English Teaching Assistant there. I think the Self-directed language study will be valuable because I will learn effective pedagogy for my classroom and personal learning. I will probably try to learn more languages in the future: Spanish, because it is widely spoken in the United States, and potentially Latin and Greek if I decide to pursue a Master’s of Divinity after graduation. Given these future language adventures, I will appreciate having the background knowledge of linguistics. 

           My background in art informs my learning style, and the surveys fittingly affirm that I am a visual learner. I know this to be true because I have to write vocabulary down to remember it and enjoy creative projects that allow me to synthesize the knowledge I have learned. In the studio, I am always painting and thinking about different ways to visually represent what I encounter in the world. Because creating supportive learning environments is especially important to me, the integrative thinking method I resonate most with is "Evaluative." This approach is central to my art practice because I look for parallels between the languages I speak and the visual language that I paint with. 

The language classes I have taken in college have created a space that supports the needs of different learners. For example, my German class encouraged students to take the initiative for their own learning by choosing vocabulary words that were relevant to them. During class, we would talk both in pairs, large groups, and online discussion boards. We would also move around the classroom and often write on the whiteboard, which I found helpful since I do not like to sit for long periods. My favorite unit assignment was making a video about what Heimat, or the cozy feeling of home, meant to me. These diverse activities within a single class period helped to make language learning engaging, even though it was difficult at times, and we had to be okay with making mistakes. German Literature was my favorite language class because I got to analyze texts in their original language and learn about the country’s culture through these selections. Even though I still have not been to Germany, these language studies helped inform my interests in other disciplines. 

Studying Italian was a unique experience for me because I was able to learn it in Italy and use my skills to navigate daily life. I was impressed by how quickly I was able to hold a conversation with the natives. The found of forming cross-cultural relationships pushed me to immerse myself in my Italian studies. I found that an effective way for me to practice language learning was to attend church services. I knew what was being said during the service because it was the same format as the ones I attended at home. 

The "12 Secrets to Learning Language" article and my own experience show that continuous speaking practice is the key to learning a language. However, I must acknowledge the reality that I am more of a listener. One-on-one conversations are the most comfortable for me, and fortunately, this is the format I will mainly be using to converse with language partners. Learning Indonesian with Farida six times a week will be the best format for me to develop speaking competency while having the opportunity to learn about her culture in a supportive learning environment. Plus, as someone hoping to teach English in Indonesia, it will be beneficial to have the experience of being taught by someone who was trained in an Indonesian teaching program. I will have the opportunity to apply the learning insights from the surveys to our weekly one-on-one tutoring sessions, where I can propose specific topics for us to talk about and methods for practicing the language. 

In preparation for studying abroad in Italy and applying to be an ETA in Indonesia, I have tried to do informal independent language studies in Italian and Indonesia. However, I had difficulty starting with programs like Duolingo and Mango languages because they do not provide context on the language’s grammar and also do not provide opportunities to apply the language to real conversations. German, which is notorious for its systematic grammar structure, is the first language I learned, so I needed some kind of context for these new languages to make sense. Reflecting on what worked and what did not work in my previous language studies will help me to have a rewarding semester of studying Bahasa Indonesian. Ultimately, I am excited to embark on this new chapter of language learning!

Unitha  Cherry

SDLC: Final Reflection

Dr. Solloway

The biggest insight I gained about myself as a language learner is that I didn’t understand the nuances of language learning but also that I need a better understanding of language in order to retain any real information. Language means so much more to me when I can see all the possibilities that come with the new communication form. That is what motivates me to study other languages, the idea of new friends, experiences and opportunities. It’s that aspect of language that makes it exciting. The biggest difficulties for me came with figuring out how to structure my studies. Anything that was too ridged made it harder for me to connect to the material while at the same time I did not have the basis that I felt I needed to make watching Israeli shows or listening to music to be a productive activity.

 When I think about where I want to be with my Hebrew studies and how the language as a whole play into my future goals, I see myself without a doubt continuing with my instruction. I do however think that I will need to get a formal basis before I am able to further enrich my knowledge on my own. When I looked at my personal studies with Spanish and compared them to Hebrew, I realized I was having issues because in Hebrew I did not have the same foundation. I have been studying Spanish since I was in third grade or so and while that was not always as thorough or detailed as I would have wished I have known how to read, write and sound things out even if I didn’t always completely understand. When it comes to Hebrew, I have none of that foundation. Learning to read and write was extremely difficult and even now is something I still struggle with. Because I don’t have that foundation, I don’t have the liberty of following my language passions. With Spanish watching shows or listening to music is productive for me because it doesn’t just feel like white noise as it does with Hebrew. I think without a doubt I will have to draft a new plan that will, much to my disappointment, include some formal education at least to help me learn to read and write. At the very least I would like to have the skills of a 5^th grader.

My favorite exercises were the ones that looked at how language impacts the brain and all the nuances of it all. I especially loved the articles that looked at languages, especially ones that are disappearing, are vital to culture. I think that especially in my case they are beyond interconnected. While you can have Hebrew without Judaism and vice versa in my personal language and religious journey they are tied together.  I want to learn more about the actual phonetics of Hebrew. I think understand that would not only help me understand how the language forms in the mouth but would also make it easier to connect each of these sounds to their English equivalents. Something I also enjoyed were all of the chances I had to share knowledge about my language and its culture. It was a fun way to learn more outside of important but otherwise monotonous aspects of language learning. Overall I would say that the class set up the foundation I needed to be able to pursue language studies on my own in a way that will be enjoy and most effective for me so for that I must thank Dr.Solloway.

For the last bi-weekly journal post, I would like to challenge myself and read a short Turkish news report about COVID-19. I copy the Turkish news below and translated it into English. During the process of translating, I have learned so many new words and have more understanding about grammar. 

Turkish News about the COVID-19:

Kurumun başkanı 27 Mart'ta yaptığı açıklamada, bir Türk üniversitesinin koronavirüs için doğal bir DNA aşısı geliştirmek için çalışmaya başladığını söyledi.İzmir ilinde Ege Üniversitesi başkanı Necdet Budak, yaptığı açıklamada, COVID-19 için

lisanslı bir aşının henüz mevcut olmadığından, birçok ülkenin konuyla ilgili araştırma başlattığını söyledi.

Sanayi ve Teknoloji Bakanı Mustafa Varank da bir aşıya ihtiyaç olduğunu vurguladı.

26 Mart'ta Varank, COVID-19'a karşı aşı ve ilaç geliştirme projelerini destekleme platformunun bir parçası olarak Ege 
Üniversitesi de dahil olmak üzere çeşitli kurumların destekleneceğini söyledi.

Budak, "Ege Üniversitesi'nde, bakanlığımızın çağrısı üzerine yerli bir DNA aşısı üzerinde çalışmaya başladık." Dedi.

"Rektörlüğümüz altında kurulan ve İlaç Geliştirme ve Farmakokinetik Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi merkezli Aşı

Araştırma ve Geliştirme Grubu, yıllardır birçok üniversitenin katılımıyla çeşitli patojenlere karşı aşı araştırma ve geliştirme çalışmaları yürütmektedir. kurumlar ve sektör ortakları. "

Çalışma grubumuz, bu salgına karşı neler yapılabileceğini tartıştı ve böylece aşı projesini başlattı. "

Virüs için potansiyel bir aşının klinik araştırması ABD'de bu ayın başlarında başladı.

Aşıyı ilk alan kişi mRNA-1273, Seattle'dan 43 yaşındaki Jennifer Haller'dı.

English Translation:

A Turkish university has started to work on developing a native DNA vaccine for coronavirus, the institution's head said on March 27.

In a statement, Necdet Budak, head of Ege University in İzmir province, said that since a licensed vaccine for COVID-19 was not yet available, many countries initiated research on the subject.

Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank also stressed the need for a vaccine, he added.

On March 26, Varank said that as part of a platform to support projects on vaccine and drug development against COVID-19, several institutions, including Ege University, will be supported.


"At Ege University, we have started to work on a native DNA vaccine upon the call of our ministry," Budak said.

"The Vaccine Research and Development Group, which is established under our Rectorate and centered on Research and Application Center of Drug Development and Pharmacokinetics, has been carrying on vaccine research and development studies against various pathogens for years, with the participation of many universities, public institutions, and industry partners."

Our working group, he added, discussed what could be done against this pandemic, and thus initiated the vaccine project."

Clinical trial of a potential vaccine for the virus began in the U.S. earlier this month.

The first person to get the vaccine, mRNA-1273, was 43-year-old Jennifer Haller from Seattle.