I think our class provides many interesting examples of the linguistic differences between English with East Asian languages and among Chinese, Japanese and Korean. For example, in week 10 classes, we learned about the differences in cognitive conception, languages in Eastern and Western visions. In Week 8, we learned about the new gender identities in East Asia. Although the new appearance has a different name in China (City jade men), Japan (herbivore boys), and Korea (Flower handsome men), they all show the change of modern society. We can use the culture to learn about linguistics and we can also use linguistics to show the culture. I am a native Chinese speaker and before our class, I have never realized that there is gender contrast in Chinese. It intrigued me that Chinese, Japanese and Korean all have gender contrast.

The organization of our course is very helpful for me to learn. I finish the reading and do the quiz to check if I miss some important points in reading. During the lecture, we have many pairs or small group activities to discuss what we learned and sometimes I can get some new ideas from other students. In lecture slides, there are many pictures that are very clear to help me to better understand the content. For example, the “Hello Kitty” pictures help me to understand the cuteness in Japan.  Discussion sessions help me to do the assignments by sharing ideas with other students who have the same interest as me in Korean. If I have some questions about the lecture and reading, I can ask other students or Hyunji during the discussion.

Thank you Kaori Idemaru and Hyunji Kim for teaching and helping!