Author Archives: lstrobel

Blog #3

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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.

East Asian Writing Systems

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This is a photograph of the sign on the Eugene Chinese Christian Church, on the corner of Patterson and 19th by South Eugene High School. The presence of both Chinese and English show how this church is aimed at ethnic Chinese people, whether they speak a sinitic language or English. Within China under Mao Zedong many traces of organised religion got stamped out, and as a result many religious people would have fled the country so that they could continue to practise their faith. These people would be able to get together again and worship, and the sign shows how they are all welcome.

 

In this class I learn best by using the readings as an introduction and then cementing this knowledge with the lecture. I feel like I learn the most when I am forced to apply the knowledge gained in lecture. This usually occurs as a result of a paper, though these blog posts also require me to reflect on what I have learned and how I learned it. There have been very few times where material in the lecture was confusing, and in those times I was able to rely on the readings and outside sources. Overall I am looking forward to the second half of this class!

Hello

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Self Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Lily. I am a third year transferring from Oregon State University [OSU] in order to study International Studies. Even though I was at OSU for two years prior to transferring I only spent one year on the Corvallis campus, as the second year was spent at the University of Sussex in southern England.

There are many things that I enjoy doing in my free time, one of them being roleplaying. I hope to find a group to play with while at Oregon and to expand my dice collection. East and Southeast Asia is a region full of vastly different governments and political systems, which is my main interest. However, governments are made up of people so if I am going to have in depth knowledge of the region it is important to understand the languages and societies that these people come from.

Course Thoughts

I have always found languages to be interesting and learning more about the various writing systems has already snagged me in. So far the course seems to be doing readings ahead of class time with a lecture to reinforce that which has been learned, which is the method that I have had the most success with in the past and so I am looking forward to continuing to use going forward. Thus far I have not had my mind changed about anything, though it is all fairly simple introductory information. I imagine that if any change needs to be made I can adapt to it relatively quickly, though this depends on what kind of adaptation I would need to make. Overall I am very excited to dive right into this course over the next few months!