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This week, meeting with my language partner was a great time of reviewing the basics of Korean grammar and syntax. I got to say, I am proud of myself for at least remembering the basics of Korean writing. Our meeting began with a comprehensive review of foundational grammar principles. My language partner guided me through a series of exercises designed to reinforce my understanding of the Korean alphabet, word and sentence structure, and basic verb conjugations. This review served as a solid foundation for me to start potentially working on building more complex words and sentences. A large portion of our meeting was dedicated to hands-on writing exercises. I was given words that allowed me to apply the basics of grammar and syntax. From putting together short narratives to writing formal emails, each writing task challenged me to not only demonstrate my understanding of grammar but also to convey my ideas coherently and effectively. I think that this first meeting was a very good refresher for me to continue learning Korean writing.

Despite growing up in Washington, a predominantly white and English speaking state I was surrounded by non-English influences. My grandmother, who I lived with for most of my childhood immigrated to the US from the Philippines and was followed soon by most of her immediate and extended family. This close relationship has meant that I have been raised in a mixed Filipino-American household where Tagalog was often present. Despite this I failed to pick up more than a few phrases and a little profanity. It wasn’t until tenth grade that I enrolled in my first language course, French. I performed pretty well in French, and after one year I continued taking courses in community college during my dual enrollment program. My college French class was a large step up in engagement and teaching as the environment was full of students actively trying to learn French as opposed to the high school population fulfilling their mandatory one year. Unfortunately the Covid pandemic hit and my French courses moved online which incentivized me to rely on google for assistance, and the weekly skype calls with the professor did little to keep my oral skills sharp. Once I got the UR I picked French back up and the 221 course helped jump me back into the study. However as I was taking the 301 and 305 courses I didn’t feel like I was improving very significantly. The classes involved a lot of writing and the limited speaking felt like I was just falling back on repeated phrases and according to my French roommate Henry I still sounded super American when I spoke. 

However, Things turned around during my study abroad at Yonsei in South Korea. Before flying out I spent the summer trying to learn basic phrases and the alphabet which wasn’t great, but it made my arrival a little easier. Arriving in Korea I realized that learning Korean was going to be a necessity in my survival and ability to thrive during my experience abroad. I got regular practice outside of the classroom, and during my classes there was a stronger focus on speaking than in my prior French courses. We would repeat each word and sound that was shown on screen, which was tiring but did the trick as far as making us comfortable speaking. I do regret not making a stronger attempt to have friendships with Koreans who weren’t perfectly fluent in English because it meant that my learning outside the classroom became limited after the first month because I was just regurgitating the same phrases I needed at restaurants, shops and other contact with strangers. After coming back and reflecting on the whole experience I think that I need exposure to new words and uses of the language in order to grow my skills. I definitely find value in classroom learning, but I think that once I get to an upper intermediate level then it requires some further level of immersion. For French I try to get that through setting my phone to French and listening to French videos and reading articles, but I get lazy often and default to English media. Korean shows and movies have been a big help for me, but really only for reminding me of the words I already know and the common conversational phrases. I think I should expand my learning by putting the subtitles in Korean so that I am forced to stretch my knowledge to its limit, and take in new knowledge. In the future I plan to live in Korea, so I’ll take what I learn in this course to help me engage with Korean more, and hopefully be able to achieve fluency. 

            Last weekend, I watched a Korean drama called Welcome to Samdal-ri. It was about a woman who ran a photography company in Seoul, but suddenly had to return back to her hometown in Samdal-ri in Jeju due to her company going out of business. Back in her hometown, she reconnects with all of her family, friends, and her ex-boyfriend whom she tries very hard to avoid due to their nasty breakup years ago. However, she ends up rebuilding a strong bond with her ex-boyfriend which leads to a heartwarming love story between the two.

            I enjoyed watching this drama because it allowed me to explore my interest in the Korean language and culture. It showed a very good representation of how people in the countryside and islands live in Korea as I have been to Busan and Jeju, which are in those environments. However, what really piqued my interest was the Korean language in the drama. Most people only know Korean to be spoken in one dialect. However, there are nine dialects spoken in North and South Korea. The standard dialect spoken is Seoul’s dialect, which most Koreans speak. The drama I watched not only incorporated Seoul’s dialect, but also Jeju’s dialect which is the hardest dialect to speak in the Korean language. I was fascinated to see that the actors who speak Seoul’s dialect spoke Jeju’s dialect so well. The dialects are very different from each other in terms of wording and sound. As someone who is almost fluent in Korean, it was very difficult following along with what the actors were saying. Thankfully with the advancement of technology nowadays, I was able to turn on subtitles to understand everything that was being said in Jeju’s dialect.

            From watching this drama, I realized that there can be more languages than I thought where there are multiple dialects. Before watching the drama, I only knew that Spanish and Chinese had different dialects. I did know that Korean had different dialects, but I only knew of three. This made me question how much I actually know the Korean language since I’ve only been surrounded by Seoul’s dialect my entire life. Also, I personally thought that Jeju’s dialect sounded a lot cooler than Seoul’s dialect. Maybe it’s because I’ve only heard and spoken in that dialect so I’m unamused by it. What’s interesting is that Jeju’s dialect and Seoul’s dialect are so different that some people are starting to consider it as a completely separate language from Korean. I did some research and found that Jeju’s dialect uses certain words that would be said differently in Seoul’s dialect. For example, the words dog, potato, and grass are said completely differently in each dialect. Many people think that the reasoning is due to Jeju’s dialect being influenced by Mongolian as the dialects had some loanwords, which makes sense because Jeju’s dialect has been existing for some time. Also, it could just be due to the isolation of the Jeju people from the mainland since Jeju is an island. Perhaps overtime, the Jeju people slowly started to speak differently from mainland Koreans? Now, I am very eager to learn more about these nine dialects in the Korean language and boost my knowledge of it.

Luke Orris

SDLC 105

Reflection Paper #1

I have previously learned three languages in class and had experiences in a few others at work and while traveling. I took many years of Latin and French growing up and attended a school which was nominally bilingual (with French) during the first years of my life. I began Latin in 3rd grade and continued it to 8th, somehow using only one short textbook for all these years. I began Spanish in 7th grade and through studying abroad and classes in high school and university I have obtained a solid conversational level that probably hovers around the borderline of B1/B2. As a kid I spoke Bahasa with my godmother, who raised me for many years while my parents worked constantly, and I learned maybe 200-300 words of Bulgarian while working in Alaska with several J1 workers. Across my time learning these languages it is clear to me that the manner in which I learned them and my prior interests greatly affected my ability to make gains. 

Connecting language to my interests has been key. History has always been something that I am fascinated by and has offered a lot of material for my learning. During my gap year in 2022, I traveled a lot around North Africa and parts of the Near East. At the Roman sites I visited I could still read a fair amount of the columns and grave markers because I still had some important historical words memorized. Any conversational Latin had long gone but words relating to career accomplishments, conflicts, religion and similar topics remained. 

In Mexico I also focused my learning around history and politics. I found that just having conversations helped me learn the fastest and talking about these topics was a great way to have long interesting talks. Although I came to Mexico with the purpose of learning Spanish, I left with a lot of knowledge about the Revolution, socialism in Mexico, indigenous identity and the legacy of the Spanish conquest.

During my time learning French (and Spanish until university) the memorization and focus upon grammar took all of the novelty out of learning language. I have always been good at memorizing conjugations and implementing them when I use them and class became boring review rather than an exciting learning experience. I hope to avoid this in all of my future language acquisitions. 

I plan to incorporate a lot of conversation into my Portuguese classes. At this point of my Portuguese journey my ability to communicate is greatly restricted by my lack of basic vocabulary, but as the semester goes on I hope to increasingly have academic conversations with my language partner. As the tests I took affirmed, I am primarily a visual and auditory learner so zoom lessons can be quite helpful for me. Although I expect to begin with the basics, I know my background in Spanish will aid me considerably in getting to a conversational level in a short time (even if I am mixing a lot of Spanish into my speech). I also plan to buy some basic books on the history of Portugal’s empire to begin learning more about the history and culture at the height of Portugal’s power. From there I can begin to look at the evolution and differences between various Portuguese-speaking regions like Mozambique, Brazil, Timor, and Portugal itself.

I am taking LAIS 390 concurrently with this SDLC, so I am hoping to gain an accelerated introduction to the Portuguese language, so that I might have a more authentic and interesting experience during my study abroad in either Brazil or Portugal. My language partner will give me opportunities to use the Portuguese that I learn in my class and my studying outside of this will allow me to pick up greater vocabulary. My goal by the end of the semester is to have reached a solid A2 foundation in the language.

Excluding my first language, I studied three languages: English, Spanish, and Japanese. I learned English in elementary school, Spanish in high school, and self-studied Japanese by watching movies. I did not enjoy the overall learning process of each language, but I liked to see how much I improved compared to the past.

When I learned other languages, I enjoyed when I could feel my language skills developing. For instance, when there are announcements in another language I recently learned, I feel satisfied when I understand what they say. There was one time when I fully understood what the subway announcement announced in Japanese when it was my third year of learning the language. Also, I liked it when I could understand Spanish series without subtitles. The most satisfying moment was when I could help someone else with the language I learned. When someone was lost in a subway station in Korea, I could help him in a language that I knew. However, I disliked how I needed to go through pressure to show my development. When I took Spanish as my high school second language, the expectations people had towards me regarding Spanish gave me pressure. When we watched Spanish movies, they expected me to understand and explain to them fully. Also, I was the only senior student taking Spanish 4 class in high school. Thus, there were expectations from other students that I should be better than them as I learned for a longer period of time. 

As a person who knows four languages, I can confidently say that I am a slow but hard-working and ambitious learner. I usually take more time than others to learn one language. As previously mentioned, I was the only student in the Spanish 4 class in high school. The majority of the high school students finished their second language course in their junior year, but I needed an extra year. It took me a longer time than others to be satisfied with my Spanish skills. I not only take more time to learn but also I have high standards and expectations for myself in terms of learning a language. When I start learning a new language, I know that I will take more time and time compared to others, so I try to learn and have the best outcome by the end. 

Based on my past language learning experiences, I learn the best when I utilize it in real life. After learning a phrase from the classes or by myself, I need to either hear what I learned or I need to utilize the phrase with someone else. In that way, I can fully understand when and where to use the phrase. Therefore, I believe I should expand my learning activities by continuously reaching out to people for the language. By continuously speaking, writing, reading, and hearing the language with someone else, I would be able to improve my skills quickly. Especially with native speakers who know the culture, slang, and idioms of the country, I would be able to improve my learning. 

I have only been formally taught three languages in school which includes English, Mandarin, and French in which I have been taught in various ways. When I was put in an ESL class, we mostly learned key expressions and words which was normal for an elementary student to use. This was helpful considering these phrases helped us communicate better in class and expanded our vocabulary since we were attending an English speaking school. This is something I would like to explore when learning Korean since I think it is good to know important key phrases to help in daily activities. This came in handy when I was studying in Korea and had learned simple phrases such as how to order or say thank you which greatly helped when I was with my non-Korean friends.

Learning Mandarin was the same way since what we learned was not difficult since it was being taught to middle school students. But while learning the language, the teacher also made sure it was immersive. For example, some classes would include an activity such as cooking food so we learn more about the culture while also learning new traditions and words. Through these experiences, I am able to still remember some words that I learned from more than eight years ago. I would like to learn Korean in a similar fashion because I am able not only learn by writing down notes but also have a more hands on experience

I would also like to get into the habit of creating a routine. What I had experienced while learning French is that I need to become better in relearning and practicing things such as grammar. While taking the 200 level French class in Richmond, I was able to retain a lot of the lessons learned since we would spend a good amount of time on each topic. By the time I was doing higher level French classes, I never went back to review the grammar which now I struggle with to remember. Therefore, I stick with the key grammar styles that I know and can not really grow into a stronger writer because of that. 

Taking the 400 level grammar class really did humble me considering I forgot all about French grammar and since each day was a different grammar lesson, it was all too quick for me to fully grasp everything. The class was the complete opposite of my freshman course, making me realize that I am someone who needs more time and patience to learn something. So I know going forward when learning Korean is to put more time outside of class to make sure I can remember these lessons.

In conclusion, my language learning experiences have taught me valuable lessons about the methods that work best for me. By including practical language use, hands- on experiences, and constant review sessions, I believe that applying these strategies in the lessons would be the most effective in order to learn korean.

For my cultural artifact, I was interested in finding something related to Korean traditional music. What I found was this instrument called Gayageum, which is known as the national instrument of the country. Gayageum is made out of Paulownia wood in a rectangular shape and typically has 12 strings. To be able to play this instrument, the Gayageum is laid with one side on the ground with the performer seated holding up the other side on their right knee. Usually in performances, the Gayageum instrument would be accompanied by the rhythmic beats of a changgo drum. The performers also wear traditional clothes while playing.

Some brief history of the Gayageum was that it was created by the korean king Gasil around the sixth century. This instrument was modeled after the Chinese zheng, another popular instrument. But unlike zheng which is known for its dragon symbolism, the Gayageum is more modeled after the birds. “The gayageum’s bridges are called anjok (wild goose feet), and its bottom end is likened to the tail feathers of a phoenix,” (KOCIS Center). At the beginning, the Gayageum was usually only played for the court during the Joseon era. But later on, the Gayageum music had shifted into including sanjo. Sanjo is used for folk music which was associated more with the lower class. The other styles are called Pungnu Gayageum which is used for classical music and the other is called Improved Gayageum which is used for modern compositions. Aside from the typical 12 strings, there have recently been Gayageums with 15, 17, 18, and even 25 strings.

While researching more about this instrument, I came across this youtube video titled "Gayageum Sanjo Ensemble," which featured six musicians playing the Gayageum. Alongside them, a single played the changgo drum, which helped add more rhythm to the melody. These people were playing the instrument in a very fast paced rhythm called Hwimori. After researching more about this style, I found out that Gayageum Sanjo is typically a duet with only one person playing the gayageum and another on the drums. 

While watching the video, I was surprised to see just how fast their hand movements were. I really enjoyed the sound that was produced and how the drum acted similarly to the beat. It was interesting to hear this type of sound since it is something that I am not used to compared to my own two cultures. While watching the performance, what I observed was that one hand would be pushing the string which helps make the sound in a vibrato while the other would be plucking for the notes.  

Also, in some live performances, there would be noises made by some of the audience members, which startled me. At first, I thought it was by accident until I kept on hearing it constantly throughout the show. I did not realize that it was something the audience would do to show their appreciation to the stage performers. I thought it was really interesting since it was different to how I was used to when watching traditional performances.

Jeju Island’s Dol Hareubang (돌하르방), can be found everywhere on the island. The name of the statue stems from the Korean word for “stone” (dol) with the Jeju dialect word hareubang, meaning grandfather. Dol hareubangs are weathered stone statues with stoic expressions and robust forms, representing the island’s history, culture, and beliefs. The statues are made with porous basalt volcanic rock of Jeju Island, where they have a round face with bulging eyes, big nose, and a slightly smiling mouth. The statues typically wear a traditional hat, known as a “gat”  They tend to have their hand on their stomach, one higher than the other. If the right hand is raised, it indicates that the figure is a civil official because they hold the brush with the right hand. Meanwhile, if the left hand is raised, it is believed that the figure is a military official, since they hold a bow and spears with the left. 

Their main roles were to be protectors of the fortresses during the dynasties. Because of their appearance, they are called “grandfather” but they are considered to be the guardians of the island, warding off demons and evil spirits. Historically, they were placed at the entrances of Jeju’s three major counties, which were the three main gates, warding off danger and harms, playing their roles as a guardian deity. They were placed outside of the eastern, western, and southern gates of the Jeju City fortress between 1763 and 1765. The Dol Hareubang’s history goes back to the Goryeo Dynasty (918 to 1392) and later gained prominence during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 to 1897). It is believed that the local artisans who created these statues have imbued them with spiritual energies, turning them into protectors of Jeju, explaining the reason why they consider these to be the protectors. 

These statues are also associated with fertility, where couples that hope to start a family often visit these statues, believing that it brings blessings for fertility and safe childbirth. There’s a belief that newly married women can touch different parts of the statue in order to increase their chances of conceiving a desired gender: nose for a boy and ears for a girl. Because of this, you could see many statues having worn down features on the nose and ears compared to the rest of the statues. Therefore, these statues are important during weddings and celebrations. 

In the modern day, these statues have become the main symbol of the island, and different replicas are sold in various sizes. Many locals still believe that the Dol Harebubang will watch over them, ensuring safety and abundance. These statues will be in traditional settings, but also modern locations such as museums, cultural exhibitions, in front of people’s houses, and even common locations such as restaurants or even tangerine fields. There are also parks in Jeju Island where there are wide varieties of statues, attracting not only visitors but also becoming a learning center for children and adults about the history and symbolization. 

https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/svc/whereToGo/locIntrdn/locIntrdnList.do?vcontsId=90845&menuSn=351

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/south-korea/articles/what-are-jeju-islands-dol-hareubang

https://blog.onedaykorea.com/dol-hareubang-jeju-stone-grandfather/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dol_hareubang

Whenever I have embarked on learning a new language, songs have always been helpful. The rhymes, rhythm, and melodies make using the language much easier, especially with regard to pronunciation and intonation (to an extent), so I was delighted to discover the traditional Korean musical storytelling form known as Pansori/판소리. Pansori is a unique musical genre that combines storytelling and singing, accompanied by a single drum, the buk, which is an essential instrument in Korean culture––I’ve been fortunate enough to have taken some classes on buk––making this connection all the more rewarding. The performer, or 'sorikkun', narrates a story through song, employing a wide range of dramatic vocal expressions and gestures for an entertaining performance. Traditionally, Pansori performances could last for several hours, with some stories extending over multiple days. However, modern performances are often condensed to suit contemporary audiences. The repertoire of Pansori traditionally consisted of twelve madang (story cycles), but only five remain today: 'Chunhyangga', 'Simcheongga', 'Heungbuga', 'Jeokbyeokga', and 'Sugungga'. Each of these stories has its own unique characters, plotlines, and moral lessons, often reflecting the societal values and norms of the times. The origins of Pansori date back to the 17th century, during the Joseon Dynasty, and it is believed to have developed from a combination of shamanistic songs, folk music, and the narrative traditions of the Korean peninsula. Initially, Pansori was a form of entertainment among the common folk and was often performed in open marketplaces, village gatherings, and at festive events. Over time, it evolved, incorporating elements of Confucian ideals and classical literature, which allowed it to gain popularity among the aristocratic classes as well––until it became an indelible aspect of Joseon dynasty Korea as perhaps the most popular form of mass entertainment.

My journey into Pansori began with the epic of 'Chunhyangga', one of the five surviving Pansori stories. 'Chunhyangga' narrates the story of the undying love between Seong Chunhyang and Lee Mongryong against the backdrop of the strict social structures of the Joseon Dynasty––and I discovered this while on a trip to Korea where a local group was performing. Although I wasn’t able to see it live on the trip, there are recordings on YouTube that show these performances in high quality. Listening to this, I was fascinated by a world where emotions were conveyed not just through words but through the soulful, sometimes guttural, and often melodic sounds of the human voice––making following the vocabulary an enjoyable task. The story, laden with themes of loyalty, love, and societal norms, was quite easy to get invested in, so if anyone has about 5 minutes to spare, it’s an interesting extant piece of Korean tradition.

Pansori, to me, is more than an artifact; it’s a living, breathing embodiment of Korean heritage; even if quite simple in form, but perhaps the simplicity is what has kept it so abiding. Its proclivity to use rich, emotional language taught me some new vocabulary, as well, hopefully making for more felicitous word choices in my conversations whenever I describe emotions. 

When people talk about popular Korean figures, most people think of the BTS members or Bong Joon-ho or even Yoo Jae-suk. But very few non-Korean people will know about Korea’s greatest military mind. 이순신 (Yi sun-sin), or Admiral Yi, was arguably the greatest military mind that the Korean peninsula had ever seen. He lived during the Joseon dynasty and his naval campaigns mostly took place during the 임진왜란 (Imjin War) where he saw significant victories against the Japanese despite being out-resourced and outnumbered. 

His most famous victory came in the 명량대첩 (Battle of Myeongnyang) where he was outnumbered 13 ships to the Japanese 333. Giving up the Myeongnyang strait to the Japanese would’ve meant that the Japanese empire would have free access to supply resources directly into Joseon for a mainland invasion. Nevertheless, Admiral Yi was able to use the natural environment of the Myeongnyang Strait to his advantage to turn the Japanese fleet around and turn the tide in their favor. In the battle, he lost 0 ships while the Japanese lost 31. This battle is still considered one of the greatest naval achievements in history. In fact, there was a movie made from it, 명량, which at the time of its release was the highest grossing Korean film of all time. Around a fifth of Korea’s population had also viewed the film. 

During his campaign, he created a seven year record of all the battles and strategies inside the 난중일기 (Nanjung Journal) which is now listed as a part of UNESCO’s memory of the world. He also has several memorials, monuments, awards, and towns named after him. What helped him the most in his battles however was his innovative mind not only in using the battlefield to his advantage, but also in creation:

The 거북선 (turtle ship) was a large playmaker in the success of Yi Sun-sin’s campaign. The turtle ship was an early version of the ironclad with iron spikes and plates, resembling the shell of a turtle. This design not only provided protection from enemy attacks but also made the ship difficult to board. It also made it very strong for ramming against the enemy ships. Although not official, the turtle ship can be viewed as a Korean national treasure as it is displayed in various museums. A full complete replica is still yet to be built however as its design is still up to debate and being studied constantly.

I have had the privilege and pleasure to learn multiple languages throughout my life, those being English as a second, language, Hebrew when I was in high school, and Korean when I went to Seoul to study abroad in the Spring of 2023. Each one of these experiences were for different periods of time and using different tools and resources, resulting in contrasting progress in understanding those languages. For example, I learned English both through formal education, from elementary school throughout high school, and popular media such as YouTube videos and movies. Such a thorough learning of the English language, both in formal and colloquial contexts made it possible to be fluent, making it possible to study in the United States as an international student. While learning English growing up, I really liked using terminology I learned through the internet and movies in academic settings or showing my family what I learned. However, I remember struggling a little bit with learning some of the more boring and inconsistent rules of the English language.

A different experience happened much more recently, when I went to South Korea to study abroad for a semester in Yonsei University. While in Korea, I took a basic Korean class, the lowest level possible at Yonsei, made exclusively for foreigners like me. I really enjoyed taking that class since it was the first time I learned a new language from scratch since Hebrew in middle school. Also, the professor did a great job in teaching the basics of reading and writing the alphabet, as well as simple words and phrases. However, my absolute favorite element of learning Korean that semester was whenever I went to the city and saw signs written in Korean and I could read and understand it completely, although most times they were saying simple things like 'coffee' or 'pork belly,' it made me incredibly happy to know I was progressing in being able to understand my new home, at the time. The same satisfaction arose when I spoke to people in Korean, especially to locals, usually doing simple things like introducing myself or ordering food. Oftentimes, these locals would be surprised that I, a foreigner, could speak Korean, even if it was extremely basic. However, even to this day, I really struggle to master the spelling of the few words and phrases that I know, making it really difficult to write or text someone in Korean, especially to those friends I made in Korea.

Looking at the surveys I took, it appears I am a tactile learner, meaning that I learn by touching and doing, rather than by listening or seeing. As such, learning activities that would suit my style include hands-on activities like completing art projects, taking walks, or acting out stories. This last one in particular would be a great technique to practice my understanding of vocabulary words, sentence construction, and storytelling. Furthermore, using the FIRE—Feedback, Individualization, Reflection, and Engagement—model, specifically for my experience in Korean when talking to classmates or other locals, was something that worked particularly well in learning the basics, as well as igniting my interest to keep learning on my own. As my journey in further expanding my horizons when it comes to learning new languages, I will do my best to use all the resources available and link them with my personal learning strengths evidenced in past experiences and recent survey results.

  Every winter break since my freshman year I have been traveling back to Hungary, and Budapest to spend the winter holidays and celebrate Christmas, and New Year with my family. Unfortunately, this year I did not go back, instead, I have been traveling within the US and spent my Christmas and New Year with my host family in Richmond. It was a very nice experience even though it was pretty different from what I am used to. During my winter break, I managed to meet with my community partner over Zoom a few times. Those classes were much less formal than the ones we used to have on campus, however, it was extremely fascinating to see Szonja in Budapest, at home with her family. It was very interesting to hear her speaking with her family members in Hungarian and see their interactions when they accidentally came into the room during our meeting. One of the classes happened to be on Christmas day, and we dedicated it entirely to talking about Hungarian Christmas traditions, celebrations, and Christmas-related vocabulary. 

  We have worked on reading and translating the text which I have attached to this post. It was very interesting to see the similarities between Hungarian and Russian traditions for Christmas. Even though in Russia we celebrate Christmas according to the Orthodox calendar - January 7th, we still share some of the traditions in common. For example, Hungarians also go to church for the evening mass on Christmas Eve, have a big family lunch or dinner, and spend most of the time with family, and friends. I learned from the text that Hungarians have some food specialties as well - walnut and poppy seed bagels. You can find different types of those at the Christmas markets where they are very popular among locals and tourists. It was very interesting to learn about Christmas traditions by translating the text from Hungarian to English. I believe it gives a more objective and clear perspective.

   Last semester I took SDLC 105 and SDLC 110 courses which gave me very valuable experience and opportunity in learning Hungarian as one of the courses at the University of Richmond. This semester I’m enrolled in SDLC 111 which will be simply the continuation of my Hungarian studies with the same community partner - Szonja, an exchange student at the University of Richmond from Hungary. During the winter break, we completed both of the MagyarOK A1-A2 books - grammar book and vocabulary book. This semester we’re planning to use the next level of the series of MagyarOK books A2. They provide harder grammar, vocabulary, and deeper knowledge of the language in general. In some parts it will be a repetition of the topics that have been covered in the A1-A2 book, but with a much more complex and detailed perspective. 

   On top of using the book as the main tool for learning Hungarian, I would like to focus more on speaking and using my knowledge of the language this semester. We have already started watching some shows in Hungarian on Netflix and listening to some of the Hungarian pop songs on Apple Music. We translate some phrases, and sentences as we go on, and after the class, I spend some time memorizing them and using them in day-to-day life. I believe that it is very important to keep working on Hungarian grammar, tenses, and new vocabulary. However, I want to experiment with already existing knowledge and make use of it during my Hungarian classes. Sometimes we start classes with me telling Szonja about my day, classes, and practices in Hungarian which helps me to immediately start thinking in Hungarian and become more proficient in short and easy conversations. 

            When I was young, about 5 years old, I went to Korean school because my parents wanted me to learn how to speak, read, and write the Korean language. Nowadays, many Korean Americans don’t know how to read or write Korean at all, let alone speak it. I guess my parents had the fear that my sister and I would grow to not know the Korean language. Going to Korean school was fun and I enjoyed the couple years I was there for. I was surprised to see that learning the Korean language wasn’t the only thing that I would learn. I also learned the history and culture of Korea, and one of my favorite memories from Korean school was learning to cook Korean food. Korean cuisine might be one of the most delicious foods I eat, but I may be a little biased. I also learned how to speak Korean by actually going to Korea for months at a time when I was younger to visit my relatives. Since my relatives don’t speak English, I would have to only speak Korean and we know practice makes perfect. Lastly, watching Korean tv shows helped me understand Korean trends such as clothing, music, and slang. I’d say watching Korean shows was probably my favorite way of learning Korean.

            I also learned Spanish for 3 years in high school. I think that learning a language in a standardized school is pretty boring because you only learn the linguistics of Spanish. Most of that was also through verbal and auditory learning, which aren’t my preferred ways of learning. However, I was able to learn more about Spanish and culture of Hispanic countries by actually traveling. My close friend group and I decided to travel together once a year after graduating high school and so far, we’ve gone to Cancun, Mexico and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. My friends and I enjoyed Mexico so much that we decided to go back this year, but to Cabos San Lucas, Mexico instead this time to switch up the setting a bit. Traveling to Hispanic countries allowed me to once again try to speak Spanish to native speakers which helps me practice as well as learn the culture of these countries. I got to say, I love Hispanic food especially when it’s authentic. From my experiences, there is a difference in taste of Korean and Hispanic food when it’s actually made in the country. The authenticity makes the food way more delicious somehow someway.

            Looking back at how I learned Korean, I think that it is telltale sign of the type of learner I am. I am mostly a visual and kinesthetic learner that prefers to literally see and manipulate what I am learning about. For instance, cooking Korean food, watching Korean shows, and traveling to Korea are ways I can literally see what I am trying to learn and manipulate material that is related to it. I do fine with verbal and auditory learning as some of the teachers in Korean school primarily used those styles of learning, but I think that visual and kinesthetic learning suit me best. Learning Spanish also showed me that these two styles of learning are best for me because I feel that I learned way much more about Spanish by actually traveling than learning in school like I did with Korean. Being able to visit significant landmarks and eats different kinds of food allowed to understand the Spanish language much more. At the end of the day, I think visual and kinesthetic learning are great, but having a mix of all four learning styles is probably best.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10ES985-ZBrzCprr7OKKKfaSi_6R4jQ08/view?usp=sharing

Here's the link to my discussion with my lovely language partner, Hesti: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uWFTWN0C2vRU1jCDu7agzRHTlVfxatNV/view?usp=sharing

For my first reaction, I took to a personal interest of mine. I decided to look into an artifact that involves a scene from Esports in Korea. Growing up, I played numerous video games, including a very popular MMO, League of Legends. The main body of people who play League of Legends comes from Asian countries like Korea and China mainly. The video shines a light on how the capital of Esports was deemed Seoul, South Korea. This was very surprising to me because I did not know how intensely it is valued in their culture. The video displayed the popularity of computer cafes, which are exactly what they sound. A cafe-type place that is typically small, and in populated areas that homes computers for anyone to come in and use. The culture has shifted towards computer games within the past years as the video displays, the sheer amount of people who play within these cafes. The majority are younger people who range from 16 to 24. They go afterschool to hang out with friends and socialize and have a good time. I really thought it was cool that this was accepted and promoted in Korean culture, whereas in many other countries, including America, the idea that you would go to a store to play a video game would be looked down upon. In Korea, it is not uncommon for younger kids to look up to pro gamers and dream of one day being like them, which is similar to how kids look up to people like Lebron James and Wayne Gretzky, etc. I also did my best to follow the video as best I could, looking for words I recognized. I heard things like “Pro-Gamer,” which sounded similar to what it did in English. One thought that was interesting was that one of the commenters described how Koreans can be heavily invested. One might leave all their studies behind and try to become a pro gamer which in some people's eyes is a bad career choice, as people from America would say. Another key point from the video is that Koreans are blazing the trail and setting a new standard for Esports. While they dominate the Esports scene as far as game performance, they are also changing the stigmatism behind Esports as a whole, which can spread to other countries. I love seeing the cultural shift and differences within the world; it’s been a passion for me, and overlapping between psychology and language studies will be a common theme throughout these journal entries. I also found out that there are actual classes for these games; people pay coaches and teams in order to get better. Although the culture has not shifted to America yet, I have personal experience in the transition as I helped start the LoL Esports team at my local high school, which won 2 years in a row when I was there. I would like to research this more or come back to it in a meeting with my TA in order to discuss further the culture behind video games in Korea and depict the similarities and differences between them. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FV_M6BHXgo&ab_channel=RedBullGaming

My past has been rocky with language learning. I have a hard time in large groups when learning language, and I am definitely a 1 on 1 learner, which is great for the current class I am embarking on. I enjoy being immersed in the language, not only learning the words but also the culture I think it is one thing to be able to speak the language you are learning, but it's another to be able to speak it like you were native. That is a hard task, but I slowly approached it during my study of German; I also took Spanish when I was growing up in middle school, but it did not stick as well. I honestly loved taking German at UR. It was very interactive, and I felt as if it went at a pace that made sense to me. Class sizes here are also smaller than my high school, which made it less daunting of a task. I am a hands-on visual type of learner, and that was justified in my results from both surveys. In the past, I have very much enjoyed learning in a sense of immersion, doing projects, decoding songs, and embracing the culture of that said language. For instance, I live in an Italian household where both my grandparents speak it to each other; over the years, I have never been formally taught it, but I picked up on things and asked questions in order to build a background of knowledge. This was outside the classroom, and I did not have the pressure of grading or making mistakes, so the process was much clearer and enjoyable for me. Taking this into consideration, I aim to discuss with my teacher Isaac about my background and explain the idea behind my madness, I learn the best when there is little pressure and I am just having fun and immersing myself. This may mean doing projects where I learn about a Korean YouTuber or maybe learning a song etc, something that I am passionate about and engaged in. Not being lectured at and forced to read things that I have little interest in which can be a pain for no only me but many others I have talked to. Another note that has to do with my learning style is using visual cues in order to learn; I found this style helpful as I excel at spatial memory. One thing I would like to carry over from my German class at UR is the focus on projects; I enjoy being able to present my work and build towards larger goals. One point I also would like to gear to is the idea of immersion into culture, being able to practice with native speakers other than my TA. I also want to watch esports that are popular in places like Korea, for instance League of Legends, etc. I feel as if taking this approach and keeping in mind my strengths, I can gear my learning to be successful and proactive.