Author Archives: echandl2

EALL Blog Post #3

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So far in this class, the question that has intrigued me the most is how does language affect our perception of certain concepts? It is fascinating from today’s class to consider how people think of the same concept differently, or even from the reading, what they notice first about something or what they are taught by the parents to notice first as they are growing up.

Learning about the different cultural phenomenon such as Herbivore boys and Girl graphs was also particularly interesting, as they were aspects of Japanese society I wasn’t aware of or knowledgeable of. I approached the learning in this course as learning new cultural and linguistical differences and how linguistical differences are used by the speakers of the language to express their different cultural differences. It has taught me to examine the language used and how the language is expected to be used in the languages I am learning (Korean and Japanese) and beginning to notice more of these interesting cultural and linguistical differences while I am learning the language. I have begun to notice odd aspects that I failed to notice before.

East Asian Languages in Eugene

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This photograph was taken at the Uniquely Chengdu Chinese restaurant in downtown Eugene. This particular example is of a sign that is printed in both English and Chinese. This script was written more like handwriting, different from most of the other fonts that went for more of either a computer font or a calligraphy feel. This sign, given it is in both Chinese and English, makes it feel as if the establishment is open both to native Chinese and to English speakers, as well as the type of script and its presentation representing its modernity.

The second image is outside of a hair studio. The shop has the name of the studio as well as some other text is in Chinese, showing that there is both advertising to non-Chinese speakers, but also obvious that it is welcome to Chinese speakers as well. There is also the fact that it is written in simplified characters, meaning that the target audience is also mainland Chinese speakers of Mandarin.

 

For this class, the learning strategy that has been most successful is doing the readings and taking detailed notes, then using the lectures to reinforce/answer any questions I might have had from the readings. I also feel the way the class is presented, with it mainly being a lecture to take notes is, is very helpful for my learning style, as it is easier for me to absorb the information faster. I feel I am learning the most this way. And due to this setup, it makes it easy for clarifying questions to be asked, since I am already familiar with what I know and do not know when I come into class for that day. When it comes to some of the more linguistic elements of the class however, spending a bit of extra time or maybe offering basic additional reading could be helpful as I found some of it confusing at times.

Hello!

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Hello! My name is Elizabeth Chandler, and I am studying Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese at the UofO.

Six year ago, I became fascinated with Japanese culture, followed by Korean, and then Chinese culture, leading me to learn the languages as well. Since then, I have studied the politics, cultures, languages, and societies of the three main EA countries, and want to learn more about how they interact with one another. My major will be International Studies, and I want to work in the US government in relation to diplomacy in Asia, so understanding the topic of the course is both interesting and useful to me.

(This is an image of Tokyo at sunset that I took when I went back to Japan last spring.)

Questions that intrigue me about this course are how  Japanese, Korean, and Chinese languages interact and have interacted with one another relating to loan words, grammatical structures, etc. How to each language mirror and/or represent the unique and individual aspects of Japanese, Korean, and Chinese societies? Another question that may not get answered but still interests me is that how are Korean and Japanese so grammatically similar, and yet are considered to belong to different language families (Japonic and Koreanic. Unless of course you subscribe to the belief in the Altaic language family.)

The teaching methods of this course are pretty straight forward: there is a lecture, assigned readings, and quizzes to test  what you have learned. This approach to learning works for me since it has a two pronged approach to memorizing the material: lectures go over readings, discussions allow one to utilize what they’ve learned, and at home readings allow for one to gather information in a way that makes sense to them and then tests that knowledge through the quizzes. I believe since it conforms to well to my own learning style, it helps me be more prepared in class and be able to absorb and understand the material easier.