Through this class I have been intrigued by many various elements of East Asian culture and language, though the element I have been most interested in is the ways in which different languages are treated, such as many of the sinitic languages being considered dialects, even though they are mutually unintelligible. I am very interested in politics, and this helped showcase an intersection of cultural identity and political action.

In general the readings were a helpful introduction to what was being specifically mentioned, and then the lecture reinforced the important parts and added emphasis. This was further helped by the class discussions, which allowed me to explain what I thought about the content, as well as recieve other’s interpretations.

Prior to the class I only viewed linguistics as the study of the language, which included things like lexical variation and structure, but this class has shown me how language affects culture, as well as non-verbal features of language that linguistics that can be focused on. This is making me consider various fields of study that I am not primarily associated with and the different areas that are encompassed within them.