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I don't think I could use the word "satisfied" to describe my progress in learning German since I am too impatient and perfectionistic to be okay with where my ability is currently. I hope to be able to spend a bit more time working on it in the future so that I am more comfortable in a casual, conversational setting. But I also recognize that for me to truly get better, I need to be a bit braver in actually speaking the language so that confidence will build over time. I believe that with some patience from a native speaker, I could communicate minimally in short sentences, asking simple questions and be able to get by in certain situations. Some of these situations include introducing myself, talking about work, asking for directions, talking about the weather, ordering food, and speaking formally vs. casually. However, I am a bit anxious about truly understanding what a native speaker might say because of how quickly one speaks in their native language and how my mind strongly associates each word with its spelling rather than its sound. Although I understand the word's meaning, if I struggle to recognize it in its native context to begin with, it significantly slows down the progression of conversation. I want to be able to get to the point where I understand most of what goes on in a casual interaction past the most basic skeletons of small talk. I think I will continue to watch shows either in the German language or with German subtitles to familiarize myself further with words and sentence structure. Yet, I additionally want to work on distancing myself from the written language in order to focus more on understanding based on hearing alone. All that being said, I am thankful for the time I was able to give to the language this semester, though I wish I had been able to give it even more time and want to do just that in the future.

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There are more than enough errors to choose from in describing my growing understanding of German. Because there are still some connecting words that I am not familiar with, I end up subbing in other words in their place. For example, "I am new with German," rather than the more natural "I'm new to learning German." Other errors include the errors of addition or omission, specifically when it comes to definite articles. I think I subconsciously try to avoid using them because I don't feel that I can use them confidently since they vary depending on the gender of the noun. I believe I also think there are covert errors in my responses during conversation such as the wrong placement "You're welcome" instead of "thank you." I think that because some words are spelled the same way in German as they are in English, (only spoken with different emphasis and pronunciation,) it causes me to slip back into English pronunciation. An example of this is the word "elegant" which is spelled the same in German, however, is pronounced "elay-gah-nt." Because I also struggle with the differences in word order, a sentence like "The elephant always hikes in winter" (Der Elefant wandert immer im Winter) can be literally translated in German to be "The elephant hikes always in winter." Meanwhile a sentence like "The owl never hikes in summer" (Die Eule wandert im Sommer nie) literally translates to "The owl hikes in summer, never." This confuses me because it's my natural instinct to write "The owl hikes never in summer" (Die Eule wandert nie im Sommer) because of the first sentence's word order. I believe that this issue originates from my errors in learning English as even now I can mess up word order when I'm speaking. Lastly, a problem that I have run into is that when I can't think of a word in German, my mind begins to substitute the word with the same word in any other language that I am familiar with, like it's flipping through mental folders asking, "where did I put it?" I'm assuming this is because my mind is searching for what is familiar outside of English and is exercising the foreign language muscle in an attempt to work around the lack of knowledge or memory.

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I continued my language learning with Duolingo this week. As far as my experience with being immersed in other cultures, I remember that when I took Spanish in highschool, my teacher (who was not a native Spanish speaker), did her best to create an immersive experience for us. She did this through the playing of music, bringing in of cultural foods, and inviting in people from Hispanic cultures who could speak from personal experience on certain cultural practices or experiences we'd already discussed in class. I believe this was helpful for me because it gave me a closer picture of what life in another country could look like and made it seem not all that crazy to imagine myself there in real life experiencing it all. I think that by experiencing and becoming familiar with even a small piece of another culture aides the language learner in seeing themselves participating as part of that world. It allows them to feel a bit more comfortable and see themselves at home in another place despite the many differences and difficulties they may face in communicating with the people there.

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I ended up talking a bit about this in one of the discussion posts on CampusNet, but I think that out of the five learning styles discussed in Brown chapter 5, my learning style aligns with Right Brain Processing, Field Sensitivity, Reflectivity, and Ambiguity intolerance. I think this can be most easily seen through my language learning in the past weeks, during which I have found visual aides and stories to be the most helpful. While I've continued my language learning on Duolingo, I have been profiting from listening and repeating certain words or phrases so that my pronunciation can get a bit better. In the past, I've been able to do this through the watching of German shows or through listening to children's stories. Furthermore, as far as ambiguity intolerance, I am always quick to find a reason why any errors that I make are wrong because I want to be careful not to create a bad habit and also to better understand how the language works.

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Overall, I am satisfied with the progress that I have made throughout the semester as it relates to comprehension and vocabulary. However, I recognize that I have a very long way to go. I am looking forward to being able to devote additional time to my Spanish studies after the semester though! This class has definitely provided additional motivation in my desire to learn another language.

Ultimately, I am dissatisfied in the categories mentioned in the prompt. To this point, I do not feel as though I have learned enough to hold any sort of conversation outside of basic greetings. The bulk of my studies this semester have been over vocabulary, text books, and a couple of comic books. I have done a poor job of devoting time to intentional listening exercises. Also, my speaking has been pretty much non-existent to this point (unless you count a few attempts at journaling in Spanish). It is my goal to try and initiate a conversation in Spanish prior to the end of the semester to practice what I have learned in live discourse.

I am getting better at recognizing verb forms and tenses, but still have a fair amount of errors in my comprehension and production. Despite these shortcomings, I still feel very motivated to continue learning. Overall, the language is still like a scattered puzzle, but it is exhilarating watching the pieces come together.

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I truly do not think I would ever feel fully satisfied in my knowledge of the Czech language, to be honest, even if I had the opportunities to learn it more regularly and in conversation! I think of it in a similar way to my knowledge of English: I speak it fluently, am familiar with it in every way, but still learn new words and phrases all the time. In terms of my Czech progress over the semester, I have definitely not gotten very far. I can hardly attribute the correct article with its corresponding noun. This aspect of the Czech language has been a hold-up that has stumped me for a large part of the semester, and I believe it has to do with a lack of opportunity to use it conversationally. However, I do think learning Czech will be something I aim to continue past this class as a way of exercising my mind and building an awareness to different cultures/languages.

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I feel that I am satisfied but also not with the skills I have developed in Italian. I feel that on one hand I have learned a lot and the experience of being able to learn the language through this course has been very helpful. However, I also feel that I wish I would’ve been able to learn more. After spending the past weeks of the semester learning the language I can form sentences, tell where I am from, learn where someone else is from, have low level conversations about restaurants, stores, ordering and be able to talk about certain landmarks (church, theater, etc.)

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Given I have been studying Korean, a language I have already been studying for a few years and am already at a high intermediate level, I didn’t expect to see significant progress over the past few months. However this is a good opportunity for me to take stock over my progress over a longer time frame, and consider which areas I would like to continue to improve in and how I might do that going forward.

Discourse features:

Topic markings (은/는):  I think I get these right generally, but I’m sure I miss them or use subject markings instead sometimes when it would be unnatural. Interestingly my previous Korean tutor encouraged me to not worry about these and just pick them up naturally over time, which I think I have.

Subject/object markings (이/가/을/를):  As above.

Sentence endings: I am very comfortable with the different levels of formality in Korean now

Connective words: I think I still don’t use these fully fluently.

Conversation rules:

Deferring to elders: Generally I do this well.

Indirect language: for example not directly disagreeing, but using softer expressions. I think this is an area I still find unnatural. It goes beyond just getting the words right, but is a deeper way of thinking.

Pragmatic conventions:

Adjusting speech level: I feel comfortable with using correct honourifics in the correct context.

Modesty: I have been told I’m very well mannered in Korean

Reflecting on these areas I think my main areas for improvement are in forming more complex sentences with joining words/phrases, and practicing the use of softer/indirect language to get more comfortable with it.

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I feel like in learning Italian getting some of the vocabulary down has not been too hard due to some of my background in knowing Spanish. I have found that many of the words are similar. However, this has often led to mistakes regarding spelling or vocabulary due to me at times blending some of the words. I feel that the biggest contrast between Italian and English is the sentence structure. Italian sometimes “reverses” some phrases in English. For example, in English we say, “the red shirt” but if Italian was translated directly to English it would read “the shirt red”. I believe that this error is due to permutation. Another error I am making is errors regarding substitution with definite and indefinite articles. I am still learning how the words are to be translated and how to find which article goes with which noun. I think this is coming from the idea that all we have in English is “the”, “an” and “a” whereas Italian seems to have more articles.

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Two areas where there is continued difficulty is pronunciation and accent marks. Because accent marks are not used in English, it has been difficult to figure out which words and forms require accents. These accents are also important in pronunciation since they emphasize which sounds are stressed in the word. The other pronunciation issue I have noticed is with words that are spelled similarly in both languages - it is hard to break some of my English habits.

As for errors, I honestly haven’t done enough speaking to accurately assess the types of errors that I may be making. It is my suspicion that I would likely make local errors that could be understood but aren’t grammatically accurate. I know that I also have a tendency to follow English sentence structure more often than I should, especially if I’m not confident in the message I’m trying to convey.

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English v. Czech

-Czech uses gendered nouns that each require their own article beforehand that changes on the gender, but English does not have gendered nouns and the articles are do not change based on that. This difference is the hardest one to master because knowing the gender of the noun relies on nothing by memorization of the nouns, as the noun endings are not always consistent.

-Czech and English actually use a very similar alphabet, except that Czech utilizes different accents and marks above a few letters. Learning which particular mark belongs in which particular place can prove a challenge and requires memorization and familiarity with the sounds those special characters make.

-Czech and English also use a lot of the same sounds, but the letters used to indicate those sounds vary.

-The construction of Czech and English sentences are surprisingly very similar, although there is a bit more flexibility within the Czech language. It is helpful to know and use those variations when possible.

Errors

-I think my biggest holdup is not having someone who speaks Czech to practice conversation with me. At this point I can really only read Czech but an not very adept at carrying a conversation.

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Are you satisfied with your progress in acquiring some of the discourse features, conversation rules, and pragmatic conventions of the language you are learning? Explain.

Describe what you think you can "do," in your language, in these domains.

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This was a hard question to answer given errors are defined as those things we can’t self-correct versus mistakes…! I must make many many errors, but I’m not very aware of them! I would have to get my Korean teacher to point them out to me, but I think she strongly agrees with the philosophy to always encourage and (almost) never to point out mistakes!

Here are a list of common ‘mistakes’ based on contrasts between Korean and English I make which I’m aware of:

Using overly formal language with children. Because most of my learning/usage is with older people, don’t have as much experience with younger children so I default to formal language. This is better than the opposite mistake, speaking informally to adults, but it is still a bit unnatural. As my children get older and I meet more Korean children I’m naturally adapting though, it will just take some time.

Forgetting/getting words mixed up. This happens a lot! Korean is said to have a lot of words compared to other languages (I don’t know why!) Many Korean words have two syllables, especially words of Chinese origin. With vocab I’m not very familiar or I can only vaguely remember I’m likely to get the order of the syllables wrong. I think I will be studying vocab the rest of my life…!

There are certain bits of pronunciation I still struggle with. Often I stumble over Korean’s indirect subject markers. These are very unnatural to an English speaker’s tongue, and especially if speaking quickly my tongue gets twisted.

Also recently I’ve found people misunderstand when I say the Korean word for eight (‘pal’) they think I’m saying four (‘sah’). In my mind and when I say it to myself these are completely different sounds, but for some reason I must be saying eight very wrong…! It still baffles me.

Once a Korean friend said my Korean intonation is off. I still haven’t worked out what he meant by this, even when asking my Korean teacher! I think I haven’t really worked on intonation in Korean so probably speak most things in an odd way.

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Make a list of some of the specific contrasts between your native and target languages that have been or still are difficult for you. Analyze why they are difficult, using the information from this week's reading (Brown Chapter 9).

Think about some of the errors you are making in learning your target language. List as many as you can, being as descriptive as possible. Analyze where those errors came from. If they did not come from your native language, what other sources are possible?

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I’ve taken at least two semesters of three different languages (Spanish, Hebrew, Greek), but only on one occasion do I recall incorporating culture into the curriculum. In my undergraduate Spanish classes, my professor decided to take the entire class to a restaurant called La Puerta Plata. Even though this outing was probably not the most effective, it was at least an attempt to both implement culture and apply what we had learned throughout the semester. In Greek and Hebrew, culture was typically discovered through the historical context of the passages we were studying. However, I don’t think that this is the kind of culture that this question is describing.

Integrating culture will almost certainly be helpful if one truly desires to learn the language of the culture. It should provide a real feel for the way the language sounds and how it is used. It does this in a way that reading the language and even listening to language learning podcasts may not. It should hopefully increase one’s affection for the sights, sounds, and people of the target language community.

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In a foreign language you are taking and learning (or have taken in a classroom/overseas setting), how, if at all, has your teacher or language learning tool incorporated culture learning into the curriculum? Explain.

What advantages does integrating culture and language bring to language learners?

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This week, I continued my language learning with Duolingo. Unfortunately, Duolingo does not incorporate culture into the curriculum. I feel like this would be helpful as it would make me feel more connected to the language and I feel could even explain the "why" behind certain aspects of the language. Integrating culture into languages learners can help language learners feel more connected to the language. It can also help to encourage language learners to keep learning when it is hard. They see that they are not just learning words but learning how others live as far as their means to communication. I feel that including culture will also give language learners a greater love for the nations and evangelism.

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This week I posed these questions to ChatGPT and discussed them. (I have cancelled my trial of the TalkAI as it didn’t feel worth the money).

I discussed with ChatGPT how in South Korean hierarchy is expressed and reinforced through language, as there are different names and different speech forms used for speaking to those of different status and age.

We also talked about how Korean inherently expresses collectivism versus individualism, in Korean even when I’m by myself I will speak about ‘our family’ or ‘our children’. It can even be used in which technically and grammatically to use ‘our’ is incorrect. For example a single child can say ‘our parents’, when grammatically or contextually that makes no sense. I will speak about ‘our wife’ to refer to ‘my wife’. These break the ‘rules’ of grammar, even in Korean, and yet they are culturally appropriate.

In the bigger picture of my language learning project I’ve been thinking about whether a Large Language Model can be a meaningful conversation partner or language teacher. It can certainly teach me things about the language, but can I have the relationship with it that is required? To be an effective teacher it must have a culture it must have a personality and a community. Perhaps part of the reason I’m struggling with using AI as a tool is that it has no personality. Normally the first question I would ask is ‘how have you been?’ But immediately that is a fake question and the answer will be fake At best an AI will be simulating a human conversation partner, taking examples of communication from the internet and imitates those. In one sense as an LLM it is the pure form of language, relying purely on language input, however it misses the context and culture. In order for it to work I also have to pretend it is a human, especially given the lack of non-verbal communication.

So far AI and LLMs seem to be a bit like a textbook or reference book, good for learning some technical points of the language, and perhaps even for speaking practice to an extent, but without the human element and relationship that you get with a real conversation partner or teacher it feels lacking and empty.

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This week I have tried to do a better job of being well-rounded in my L2 learning. I finally got around to watching a few episodes of Bluey in Spanish. It was a pretty fun experiment, but I still struggled to comprehend a lot of what was being said. So, if we were to apply Krashen’s i+1 theory, I’d probably say I was more like an I+2.5. This week, I’ve also incorporated reading short, simple Spanish stories and journaling in Spanish. So, I’ve tried to have a more well-rounded approach and definitely feel as though this will help me improve more quickly. The journaling has been enjoyable and reveals how much I still don’t know, but it also allowed me to look up common phrases that I use often. I’ve tried reciting these phrases for speaking, but know that I still need to find more ways to get creative in my speaking.

The good news is that I still feel very motivated to keep practicing and learning. I went on a mission trip to Denver over Fall Break and one of the other students who went on the trip was from Nicaragua. I had several fun and encouraging conversations with him, which only served to grow my desire to learn.

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As I continue learning Czech on Duolingo, I am still working on learning the Czech noun genders (still). This has definitely been the hardest section and I keep trying to review it until I get the hang of it. I've noticed that my motivation to learn Czech has gone down the more I've worked through this difficult section.

Up to this point, Duolingo has not included any cultural education, but I do have some knowledge of Czech culture prior to starting learning the language from my cousins. My family and I also got to visit them a year ago, and we really had to opportunity to experience Czech culture firsthand. Many people recognized that we (along with my cousins) were not native Czech speakers, so they would sometimes speak in English. But for that week, we were mostly surrounded by the Czech language. We learned a few phrases (we learned how to order food at a restaurant!) and got to experience a church service in Czech. Although I did get to experience some of the culture during our visit, it was not near enough to better aid in the study of the language. It would be useful for platforms like Duolingo to also provide cultural instruction, weaving it into the lesson. Culture is woven into the language and affects the phrases used and the way you would express thoughts, so understanding the culture is very important.

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Of the five learning styles discussed, I would definitely say I lean more towards right brained items. However, I would say that I fall in the middle for nearly all of these items. Unfortunately, don’t have my book in front of me as I write this because I’m on a mission trip in Denver. But as I recall – specifically as it pertains to right/left brained tendencies – I resonated very heavily with right brain on the first half of the list. However, the second half of the list was either middle or entirely flipped for me.

Another thing to add is that of the visual/auditory/kinesthetic learning models, I definitely feel as though I learn best through visualization. For example, on some of the flash cards that I’ve used for Spanish, I’ve tried to add useful images to further ingrain them in my mind. For instance, on my flash card for “to throw” (“lanzar”), I added an image of Trey Lance (a not very good NFL quarterback).

Also, I would say I fall more on the ambiguity tolerant side of the equation. For example, I was reading a comic with my daughter and there were plenty of times where I had to make guesses as to what the book was saying whenever it used words I didn’t recognize. Lastly, I highly recommend reading a comic with your kids. It truly was a wonderful experience for us both to be surprised as we read the story together.

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I think I am more of a Field-Independent learner. I like that Korean grammar is very regular, and so am happy when I can learn a new grammar point via sentence structure. I like my previous Korean tutor’s approach to teaching the structure of a grammar point first before giving and testing me on using it in role-play examples.

I am definitely Left-brain dominant. For example when using the TalkPal app this week I preferred the tasks where I had to listen to and reconstruct a sentence from word-blocks, over another task where I had to match a word like ‘optimization’ (in Korean) to a picture.

I think I have a relatively high ambiguity-tolerance. I don’t mind knowing exactly what is going on. For example I am reading a novel in Korean a few pages each night, but I often don’t understand vocabulary words or even whole sentences. Whereas some people might feel the need to look up each word, I’m happy just to guess the meaning from context, or press on anyway assuming the overall story will become clear even if I miss a detail.

For reflective versus impulsive, I think that I am somewhere in the middle. I do sometimes prepare a phrase in my head before speaking it (reflective), but at the same time in the middle of a conversation I’m happy to go ahead speaking knowing I will make mistakes.

For visual/audio/kinesthetic, I think perhaps I am mostly kinesthetic. I haven’t reflected on this distinction much, but I have noticed that I’m not very good at picking up visual and audio things, so perhaps I am more kinesthetic! I am teaching my children a little bit of Mandarin, and I’ve noticed that whilst I don’t give them audio or visual clues I do get them to act out the meaning of words whilst saying them, so perhaps subconsciously that is my preferred learning style.

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This week I continued my Italian learning with Duolingo. Have been able to pick up more of the sentence structure and conjugation of verbs like “to have”.  I feel that I lean more towards field independence. Often, I can pick out little details in the classroom and become distracted by them. I also relate being right brained because I prefer images when learning and tend to be more spontaneous in my planning and school. As far as ambiguity tolerance, I feel that I am pretty set in the middle. I am strong in what I believe but am also open to hearing new perspectives. I also lean more reflective. Though I do like making spontaneous decision I also make sure those decisions are wise. Finally, I feel that I lean more to being a visual learner. I like to see things drawn out and often colors help too. When doing Duolingo, the ability to see the words is extremely helpful for me.

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This week, I continued my learning on Duolingo and practiced putting together sentences in the form of a fake conversation. I again find that when it comes to spelling and putting together some simple sentences, I am doing relatively well. However, I have quite a long way to go as far as learning grammar and the structure of more complicated sentences. Similar to others, I find it encouraging when I get all the forms of the words in a sentence correct or am able to create sentences on paper from memory with correct spelling and structural placement. I've also found outside encouragement to be helpful and appreciated. Additionally, I find it exciting when I can recognize certain words while listening to a native speaker. I think I struggle with getting discouraged by the slowness of my progress or when I mess up repeatedly on a concept that I'm still trying to understand but feel like I should have mastered by now. That discouragement can kind of reduce my motivation to continue with as much eagerness as I had before. Currently, I am struggling with sentence structure while asking a question in German because the verb can sometimes be the first word in a sentence, which has been really throwing me off.

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Out of the five learning styles discussed in Brown chapter 5 (FID, right/left brain, ambiguity tolerance, reflectivity/impulsivity, visual/auditory/kinesthetic), which side do you think is dominant for you? List some examples in your language learning this week (or in the past) to illustrate.

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What is one factor that associates with your own language learning success?

What is one factor that impedes your own language learning?

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As I continue learning Czech this week, I have found that I am motivated by doing well--getting answers right, putting sentences together in Czech, etc. Some highlights for me this week were listening to Czech songs my cousins (who are missionaries there) suggested and being able to understand a few words and phrases, as well as emailing one of my cousins in Czech! While there were some highlights, though, I find that getting things wrong repeatedly or not understanding a concept can cause me to lose motivation, which happened a few times this week. I ran out of hearts on Duolingo several times this week as I am trying to distinguish between masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns. There's really no difference within the noun to tell the gender, but you have to know the gender of each noun so that you can assign the proper article and correct form of adjectives. It's hard!

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This week, I continued my language learning with Duolingo. I have learned some new words, but for the most part it has been gaining more confidence with what I do know. One factor which helps with my language learning success is external motivation. It is helpful to have people encouraging me, even if that comes in the form of learning a language for a class. This type of external motivation helps to keep me accountable even when it is hard and I feel discouraged. Something that can impede on my language learning is my internal motivation. It can often feel like I am not learning as much as I want to as quick as I want to. This can easily make language learning a discouraging process.

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This week I tried a different AI app for my language learning project. PingoAI which I mentioned previously was very expensive, but I’ve now tried Talkpal. It actually has a free 14 day trial period, so I will try it for the next 14 days and see how I get on. I will try to relate my first experience of TalkPal to this week’s questions too.

For those who might be interested these are links to two recent blog posts doing a deep review of various AI language learning tools which I found very helpful:

https://tomstakesaitools.substack.com/p/ai-powered-language-speaking-practice
https://tomstakesaitools.substack.com/p/part-2-ai-powered-language-speaking

·       What is one factor that associates with your own language learning success?

·       What is one factor that impedes your own language learning?

I was unable to watch the video provided, so I will choose what I guess will be two factors based on the reading instead.

One factor I consider has benefited my language learning success has been confidence, not being afraid to look silly or make mistakes. In general living in another country, especially such a homogeneous country as South Korea you have to have a certain level of self-confidence or not caring what others think of you (hopefully in a good way). For example I walk down the street and am the only foreigner, when I attended civil defence training I was picked out of a crowd of 100+ Korean men to demonstrate CPR, I’m the only non-Korean attending my son’s music recital, I’m the only one not laughing at a joke in my football team because I missed the punchline. If these things bother you then it will be very hard to put yourself in natural Korean environments. Thankfully I’m relatively unphased by these situations and am happy to press on through them, which I think has been a factor helping me pursue language study. In terms of my AI learning, and in general the benefit of an AI language partner, there is no fear of making a mistake at all, so there is great potential there for AI to be a useful tool.

One factor I think which impedes my language learning is opportunity for using Korean. In spite of living in South Korea and in spite of the various scenarios I listed above I don’t actually get to use Korean all that much. Currently all of my studies are in English, 90% of my home life is in English, and 90% of my church work is in English (being at an international church). Roughly 50% of my social life is English, so the main times for using Korean are in day-to-day environments (eg. At the shops) and with my Korean friends (who I don’t see all that often being rather busy), and leisure (reading Korean novels before bed, listening to Korean audiobooks in the car). Based on my experience so far, if I start using AI longer term I think it will be a sort of 10-15 minute/day bonus-practice to keep me from getting rusty, rather than boosting my Korean significantly. That being said, in the TalkPal app I was using today it did have some helpful tools for practicing what to say in certain scenarios. I think going through those drills in regular but small doses will help make my Korean a bit more natural.

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This week, I continued using Duolingo as my main learning tool, though I was able to pick up a book that teaches German to beginners. Although it is rather old and some things in it might be outdated, I believe it might be helpful in getting a better grasp on some of the German grammar. While trying to converse in small sentences such as introductory interactions or simple questions, I have found it difficult to hold all the words in my brain while I try to form the sentence. This means that my progress through the sentence is quite slow and while I know what I want to say, I don't always know how to express it exactly as I want to. A lot of the reason why is because my learning progress takes time and I haven't learned how to yet. For example, I may be able to ask "Where is your sister?" but I would not yet know how to ask "What is your sister doing?" or "Who is she with?" or "What is she like?" and cannot really ask many follow up questions. I've also found that the way I'm being taught to say things is not always the easiest way of saying them and similar to English, there is always more than one way to say something. Although my German friend can correct me on my mistakes, I believe it would be better in the future to take more notes on his comments so that I don't continue to make the same mistakes and form bad habits. Something that I've also struggled with is being shy in my pronunciation because it feels so hilariously bad.

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I feel like I have definitely experienced cognitive blocks in the past and even now in my Greek class. I think for both Greek and my prior study of Spanish the key blocks are from my perceived lack of progress. Occasionally, there are moments where a new idea just clicks into place, but I have often felt as though my progress should be ahead of where it currently rests. Because of this, many study sessions have been half-hearted and ultimately unfruitful. A second aspect of this perceived lack of progress is that I am (probably) overly critical and conscious of any mistakes I make when speaking and translating. In reality, it’s highly likely that the other students in the class are feeling just as overwhelmed and confused about the new topics we are covering. But what’s the remedy to this problem?

Personally, there are two related ideas that would help resolve these problems (for me at least). First, if I find myself unmotivated to learn something new, I would probably be better served to step away from the new item and review some familiar topics. While constant review of “learned” words, concepts, etc., may not be exciting, consistent exposure should help solidify these ideas in my mind and hopefully free up some of the cognitive capabilities for future concepts. Second, if the review doesn’t seem helpful either, I believe I would benefit from an “exciting” task. By this, I mean something that is engaging and entertaining. Perhaps finding a podcast to listen to, a show to watch, or a book to read could reignite my interest in learning the target language.

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I am continuing in learning Czech on Duolingo this week. My goal was to practice for 15 minutes a day Monday through Friday, although this week I only got to practice for three days because I went out of town. It was interesting because I practiced for two days straight, took a break for a couple days without thinking about Czech at all, and then returned to my practice. I was worried that I was going to forget it all, which thankfully I didn't. I found the words and phrases that I had practiced more consistently I remembered, but the newer ones had slipped my mind. I was also trying to remember some of the grammar I had been learning and the accents/special marks for characters! I learned that my memory can be a block in learning a new language, and the best way to overcome that is through consistent practice.

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This week, I continued my learning Italian with Duolingo and a little bit of watching a teaching video. I feel I have found Duolingo is the best method for me to learn. I am able to gain practice speaking, reading and listening. Additionally, the consistent repetition is helping me to retain the information I am learning. While I feel like I have not had any large language learning blocks, I feel like at times it can feel like I am not learning much. In those moments I have to remind myself that language learning is a process and does not come instantly. In moments in the future where I may encounter heftier blocks, I can remind myself to keep pushing through and that by pushing through, growth with occur.

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·       In your experience this week or in the past, have you experienced any cognitive or affective blocks in learning a second language? What could you do (or what could you have done) to overcome those barriers?

·       Please provide specific language learning activities/examples to support your response!

Using Gemini was a very stressful experience. The fact that it continually misinterprets my questions and repeats itself was very stressful and made me want to give up. This is reinforcing in my mind that this is not the right tool. Hopefully when I switch to PingoAI or another similar app (which are designed with fun language learning in mind) I will have better results. It is interesting that in my reading about different AI and app tools many people both praise and criticize the ‘gamified’ learning apps like Duolingo. I haven’t used Duolingo, but in the past I used Memrise for vocab. I definitely enjoyed the gamey feel and I think it really did help my vocab. A year or two ago I switched to Anki because Memrise seemed to stop supporting custom vocab lists. Anki is a lot less gamey and I definitely enjoy it less.

When I compare my experience of Gemini to my usual use of Korean (currently outside of Korea this is limited to the novel I am reading in Korean and the audiobook I am listening to in Korean), those other means are much more enjoyable, and low stress. Because I am engaged by the stories in the respective media it doesn’t really feel like I am studying when I do those things, it is more for pleasure. Reading a Korean book and listening to a Korean audiobook are helping improve my reading and listening skills, but I don’t think they are helping my grammar development, vocabulary and speaking skills, which is what I’m trying to use Gemini for. Hopefully I will have joy when I start using PingoAI next week!

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The theory of L2 learning that is most consistent with my understanding of how languages are learned is the behaviorist theory. I believe that my own experience in learning languages has impacted this view because this is how I had always been taught to learn languages. I had done continuous repetition and memorization.

Linguistic hospitality is a very important subject to cover especially as believers. It is an impactful way to love our brothers and sisters who are from other language groups.  I have been shown linguistic hospitality through the means of my Spanish ministry at church. I attended one of their services one week and they were so welcoming and patient with me. I even was able to take with a couple who I had known from ESL. I felt this was meaningful in multiple ways. I was able to show them that I care about their language and am eager to learn just as they are eager to learn English. I think this is related to “speaking beauty into the chaos” because it can seem like chaos when you are interacting with many different language groups. However, linguistic hospitality can call some of that chaos and make people feel more at home.

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Four of Gardner's eight intelligences stand out to me as necessary for second language acquisition: Linguistic Intelligence (for obvious reasons), Interpersonal (also for obvious reasons), Intrapersonal Intelligence (for knowing how you can equip yourself with the tools you specifically need for second language acquisition), and Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (using your mouth to form new/different sounds and sound combinations).

I tend to underutilize Intrapersonal and Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligences and overuse Linguistic Intelligence. This is why it's important to me to practice speaking Czech aloud as I was studying this week.

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Of the 8 types of intelligence that Gardner describes, the ones that seem most crucial to successful language learning would be linguistic (for obvious reasons), interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Certainly, some of the other types play a role, but these appear to be the most crucial. Interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence are key factors in how we relate to and communicate with others. If we not assertive enough to be willing to speak in our target language (no matter how poorly we may do this), we can be sure that our progress will plateau. So, we must be willing to put ourselves out there interact with others, which is where the interpersonal intelligence comes in. Typically, one of the reasons that someone strives to learn a new language is because they care about people and communicating well with them.

I wouldn’t really say I over-utilize any of these items, however I can certainly improve on many of them. Intrapersonal intelligence is an area where I could definitely improve. So far in this language journey, I haven’t done any speaking in my L2 with someone who is fluent in the language. This is due to a fear of believing that I won’t know any of the words being spoken or how to respond. I am sure that there is a hint of truth in this, but the reality is that my friends who fluently speak my L2 would love nothing more than to assist me. I need to do a better job of striking up conversations and asking questions when uncertainty arises. So, I thinking growing in my intrapersonal intelligence will only help me grow in some of the other types as well, especially interpersonal.

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This week I expanded my research into a number of different AI tutoring options. I have concluded that for whatever reason ChatGPT just can't hold a normal conversation in Korean, even when talking about ordinary topics without requesting that it teach me. I had thought about upgrading ChatGPT, but discovered I can use the updated version for free for a few minutes, and the updated version is no better.

I have tried out the free versions of a few different AIs and language apps with AI features and have decided to try going deeper with PingoAI.

It gives options for different role-play scenarios and even allows you to create your own scenarios. For example I created a scenario to mimic my friday evening football club (the main place I speak Korean in the week as all the other players are Korean), and the conversation was actually quite realistic to how a normal conversation I might have there.

Once again I am discovering that the most important factor is that the conversation is interesting and realistic - perhaps my ultimate conclusion here will be that I just need to go out and talk more Korean to Koreans.

However the reason I might not fully reach taht conclusion is that the app also gives feedback on your conversation, which is what I am looking for (and which ChatGPT and Gemini refused to do). This will hopefully be what makes an AI tutor worthwhile so I can actually learn, correct and improve.

I think I will try and do the pro version of PingoAI for a month and see how that goes next week or the week after.

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This week, I primarily spent time going through my Spanish textbook. It has continued to point out ways that English and Spanish are similar. One thing that I found immensely helpful was that this grammar already introduced some of the forms for past tense words. In my previous studies of Spanish, I don’t ever recall learning past tense – everything was in the present tense. The reason I find this so helpful is that a lot of conversations and stories that we tell rely heavily on the past tense. This book is also helpful in that it encourages you to write out and put together your own Spanish sentences.

I have also started listening to a podcast, but found that it was still a little too advanced for my current L2 level. However, I intend on keeping up with it and seeing if I notice that I pick up on more of what’s being said in the future.

Finally, I was inspired by the Youtube lecture with Chomsky and Krashen and decided to stop by my local library and pick up a couple of comics in Spanish. Hopefully, I”ll be able to take a look at these next week and provide an update. At this point, my goal is to continue to surround myself with as many Spanish resources as I can find in as many mediums as possible.

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This week, I continued my language learning with Duolingo, watching a show and spending some time using an online course to help with my listening and speaking. I think linguistic, interpersonal and intrapersonal strike me as being crucial to my success in second language learning. I think this because I feel it is important to be able to understand how to express myself correctly and interact with others well when they are expressing how they feel. I feel that too much of a concentration of these things could cause me to neglect the other important details when learning a language. To better balanced my learning, I can devote time to learning new sets of vocabulary outside of emotion related vocabulary.

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In your experience this week or in the past, have you experienced any cognitive or affective blocks in learning a second language? What could you do (or what could you have done) to overcome those barriers?

Please provide specific language learning activities/examples to support your response!

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Do any of Gardner's 8 types of intelligence strike you as being crucial to your success in your second language learning?

Are there any intelligences that you underutilize/overutilize?

What steps can you take to better balance or develop these intelligences in your language learning?

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I believe that out of Gardner's 8 types of intelligence, Linguistic Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence, and Intrapersonal Intelligence are the ones that I most identify as being crucial to learning my second language successfully.

I think that I overutilize or focus on Linguistic Intelligence and Interpersonal Intelligence in contrast to Intrapersonal Intelligence and the other types. This week, I especially worked on Interpersonal Intelligence by forming and answering questions in my second language through a conversation format. While this was helpful, in the future I'm sure it would be even more helpful to include the other types of intelligence in my weekly practice sessions so I can have an even more balanced learning environment.

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I've continued my studies of the Czech language this week. Because I'm just starting out, I've only been learning a few words and introductory phrases. For example, I've learned how to introduce myself (Ja jsem Olivia!) and how to let people know I don't speak Czech (Nerozumim cesky--minus the accent marks). I have really enjoyed taking 15 minutes a day to learn this language, especially because I have such a personal connection with it and have had the chance to experience the culture. I did notice a difference between what my family overseas told us to say for "thank you" and what Duolingo told me to use. After researching it, I learned that the one we used was an informal version of the phrase, while Duolingo taught me the more formal one. I've noticed that Duolingo is lacking a very important component to language learning, as speaking the language aloud is vital to grasping it. I realized it halfway through the week and realized that my language learning would be nearly ineffective for me if I didn't start saying the words out loud. Although Duolingo doesn't have an audio option, I've been repeating the phrases aloud or reading the words as I go through the exercises.

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One of the primary ways that I focused on my target language this week was through the study of a new Spanish textbook. This week, I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time as I had hoped I would be able to, and it has certainly played a part in my retention. The goal of my new textbook seems to be to try and minimize the fear that comes with all of the uncertainty surrounding learning a new language. The first chapter is essentially on letting the student know that they probably know significantly more words in their target language than the realize – and it did a fantastic job of proving this to be true. Altogether, this method seems very similar to the idea of subsumption which was discussed in Brown (pg. 83). By connecting these new words and ideas in Spanish to the ones that I already know in English, it should certainly help them be more sticky in my mind. I am still eager to utilize more methods for learning, such as the Bluey method, podcasts, and even flashcards. Until next time, good luck everyone!

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This week I continued my language learning with Duolingo, but I also began watching a show in Italian with English captions. I felt like it was much harder to pick up the language from watching the show versus Duolingo. However, my goal was to achieve more immersion style learning, and I feel that I have achieved that. I plan continue using both of these methods in my language learning. Through Duolingo, I continued to receive repetition on basic introductory phrases. Through the show I was able to pick up a few things regarding vocabulary. Learning through Duolingo supports the Audiolingual Method, but watching the show does not. I am able to have more repetition through learning via Duolingo whereas there is not as much consistent repetition through watching a show.

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I have never been very adept at learning languages. I studied Spanish all four years of high school, but I barely remember the basics and cannot really carry on a conversation. I remember words and phrases here and there, but I was not taught and equipped for speaking that language in day to day life. The language I have chosen to learn is Czech on Duolingo. My cousins are missionaries in the Czech Republic, and my family and I had the opportunity to visit them last fall! I fell in love with the country, the culture, the people, and the language. I think it would be a fun adventure to try to learn some of that language this semester.

The most difficult part about second language acquisition is the constant mental translation the student has to do as they are speaking. When I try to speak in a different language, I think of what I want to say in my first language and then try to translate that into the second language. This process can be frustrating and exhausting sometimes, but it an also be so exciting when you find the right words to express your thoughts.

In terms of teaching methods, I have had experience with all, although I was not familiar with their proper terms until this class.

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I have continued my journey using AI, this week trying a switch to Gemini instead of ChatGPT to see if I could get a more active conversation partner instead of being constantly told “let me know if you are curious about anything”.

Based on the reading I did this week and the webinar (and also based on the fact that neither ChatGPT nor Gemini seem to be very good at formulating and running a lesson) I decided to focus on a Community Language Learning approach, focussing on interesting conversation. We talked about my UK trip and what I’ve been doing on it.

I also asked it to teach me some “four character Chinese phrases” (Korean phrases of four characters, based on Chinese). It could do this quite well, but wasn’t so good at encouraging me to practice using them. Still I could see potential in AI for being a teacher or reference in this sense.

The main benefit I am experiences so far from my attempts to use AI is in simply using the language. If I can find interesting conversation topics, and if the AI doesn’t become too frustratingly repetitive then I think AI can be a good tool for getting me simply using the language more, which I think is my main need, and also seems to be the main suggestion of the readings.

What it doesn’t do well so far is naturally adjust to my level and push me in areas of weakness, or introduce and help me practice new vocabulary/grammar in a natural way like my Korean tutor does so well.

Overall this week was slightly better, but still quite frustrating and therefore not the ideal conversation partner. Having done a little research online I might try and see if I get better results with the ChatGPT paid version next week.

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This week I tried to see how I could use ChatGPT as a language instructor.

My goal is to see if ChatGPT can imitate my Korean language tutor in doing the following: Giving a structured lesson, encouraging and pushing the conversation in such a way as to explore new vocabulary and grammar, being able to identify and correct flaws in my grammar, pronunciation or use of words.

Unfortunately after much trying it proved very hard to get ChatGPT to do any of those things. ChatGPT seemed very reluctant to plan a lesson, or to offer any criticism. It refused to take the lead continuously saying “let’s start learning” without actually providing any starting point or input. It was very frustrating with me basically pleading with it to teach me something, only for it to say again “let’s start learning”. Similarly it was very reluctant to provide any negative feedback.

Perhaps it is a limit of ChatGPT, or perhaps I am not using it correctly, but it seems that it won’t be a good language tutor unfortunately. I think next week I will return to seeing how it works as a conversation partner and see if that can help advance my Korean.

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This week, I continued my language learning focusing on Italian and using Duolingo. Most of my learning this week was very repetitive with vocabulary words and sentence structure. I felt that I have not learned much new information in comparison to last week, but I have become more confident in what I do know. So far, I have learned how to greet people, how to introduce myself, tell where I am from and use basic language to describe a family.

As far as second language teaching methods, I am equally familiar with all of them. I do not know much about each of them but have heard the terms used.

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This past week I continued to work on learning German through Duolingo but additionally began watching a German show with English subtitles. Whenever the characters say a word that sounds interesting, I've practiced pronouncing it. However, when I begin to focus so much on their speech, I tend to lose focus and can't process what is actually going on in the show. Somehow my brain can't quite simultaneously consider both the words and the context yet because it's so occupied with translation and repetition. I also tried listening to kid's fairytales in German to try and gain more familiarity with the words from a kid's learning level since that is basically where I am currently at. I cannot understand much yet, but it has helped me in becoming familiar with certain words and other speech patterns. As far as what I learned this week, I learned that despite all my work on Duolingo and other listening exercises, it will be a long process to get to where I can actually hold my own in a conversational setting. I do believe that the language learning activity through Duolingo supports the Audiolingual method due to its focus on quick, fast-paced "drilling" or repetition.

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Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I would prefer in engaging with my target language. However, my study time this week was primarily used reading my Spanish textbook, a little bit of the comic (it has been fun, but a little more difficult than I anticipated), and practicing vocabulary flash cards. Overall, I do feel like I’m started to gain a little bit of ground, but it has been a fairly slow process. Also, I know that I need to practice my listening and speaking skills more than I have so far, so that will be one of my focuses for next week.

There are several factors that likely impede my language acquisition progress. Bet, the most problematic is anxiety. I wouldn’t characterize myself as overly anxious, but I definitely feel anxious when I’m put in situations where I may need to respond in Spanish (and often try to avoid them). One of the key reasons I feel this way is my awareness of my subpar vocabulary.

The factor that is most likely to contribute to language learning success is internal motivation. This language learning endeavor seems different than my previous attempts because there isn’t simply being done as a school requirement (though it sort of is), but out of a true desire to be able to communicate with individuals in my community. Another factor that aids in my studies is that I have a greater understanding of how to study languages that applying what I have learned in this class and my studies of Hebrew and Greek.

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As I contemplate the difference between first and second language learning, the thing that immediately comes to mind is exposure. I’ve always heard that the best way to learn a language is through immersion—ideally, living in a place where that language is spoken daily. While I can’t say for sure if this is truly the best method, it certainly seems to be a highly effective one, as my experience with my L1 (English) shows.

In my L2 learning, however, this immersive experience has been something I’ve definitely lacked. My study methods have typically involved tools like Duolingo. While this is better than nothing, it often feels too predictable and doesn’t provide the kind of feedback I think is necessary for continued growth. On top of that, the new charging system makes the app nearly useless unless you’re willing to pay for premium.

Because of this, I’ve been looking for other ways to immerse myself more fully in Spanish. A few ideas I have right now include: changing the default language on my phone to Spanish, watching more videos in Spanish with subtitles (something like Bluey since I know it so well and the language shouldn’t be too advanced at first—thanks, kids!), and making a greater effort to interact with my Spanish-speaking friends.

I’m hopeful that these practices will help me create a more immersive and productive learning environment, because I truly believe that the more exposure we have to our target language, the better. ¡Adiós!

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My name is Lillie. I am from Holly Springs, NC and grew up in a household with my parents and three younger brothers. I feel the Lord calling me one day to refugee ministry. For me, this looks like supporting the moms and teenage girls specifically. I would love to mentor young girls and share the truth of Jesus with them. This also looks like helping the moms and girls learn English. I also love traveling, photography and volleyball. I love going on road trips and seeing new places with friends and family. Photography is a large passion of mine that I have been pursing for about seven years. I played volleyball from the middle of elementary school to my junior year of high school, and it is something I still enjoy doing for fun.

From this course, I am seeking to learn more about what it is like to be an English language learner. I am excited to learn effective teaching techniques. I think through this course it will be helpful to someone be in the shoes of someone who is learning a second language. I hope to gain a greater understanding of what it may be like for someone whose first language is not English to come to an English-speaking country. I feel that this is important as it grows our compassion for sisters and brothers who are not from our country. I also feel this course can help me gain more knowledge in the classroom setting. Through learning how English is acquired I feel I will be able to better help my students in ESL classes.

A question I would have regarding second language acquisition would be “Why are some languages simple for some people to master but harder for others?” While I understand a large part of this may be how people’s brains are wired, I am curious as to if there are other factors that contribute.

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1) Tell us about yourself- what are your passions, dreams, hopes?

Hello everyone! My name is Michael, but I actually have always gone by my middle name – Dylan. I'm originally from Jacksonville, Florida, but have lived in North Carolina since January 2021. I have always enjoyed playing and watching sports and games. We have a closet full of board games, but we often don't have time to play them these days because my wife and I are busy caring for our two young children (they're the best). Also, I really enjoy coffee and am always looking for new roasts or ways to brew it.

2) What do you want to accomplish from this course?

I want to gain a greater understanding of what sorts of methods seem to work well for someone looking to learn a new language. I have always been fascinated by language and culture, but I only speak English and haven't been able to travel as much as I would have liked. But, gaining an understanding on the methods, motivational factors, and cultural factors that play a role in SLA seems like a great place to start. While I may not be able to travel much, I can certainly make an effort to learn another language. Specifically, the Raleigh area is incredibly diverse and we don't necessarily have to travel to the nations in order to reach the nations because many of them are already here. One last thing, I think it would be incredible to learn the most widely spoken language in the world: Chinese, Spanish, Arabic. That's a future goal.

3) What questions do you have about second language acquisition?

When learning a second language, are the methods fairly equal no matter the language of study? For instance, if we were to compare someone learning Spanish and someone learning Chinese, would they each benefit the same amount from reading and listening exercises? I assume the answer isn't so simple, and that an English speaker would have a much easier time with something like Spanish due to the familiar alphabet and it being more recognizable in the Western world.

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For the Language Learning Project, I have chosen to work on learning German. I chose this language because of some friends from Germany that I met over the summer. While it is definitely one of the languages that I'm least familiar with, I want to be more familiar with it as well as the culture in Germany so that I'm prepared if I ever end up visiting them.

So far, I've mainly been using Duolingo since it keeps language learning relatively easy and simple by splitting it up into small lessons. However, I've also been keeping in contact with my friends in Germany and have been able to learn some other small things from them along the way. As far as how my experience has been going, I would say that overall, a lot of the words I've learned so far do not seem too far off from English and the sentence structures have been relatively simple. There are a couple things that surprise me every once in a while, but I believe it hasn't proved too difficult yet because I'm just starting out. While Duolingo has aided me in knowing vocabulary and spelling, I would like to practice listening and speaking more regularly with my friends in Germany if possible. We plan to keep in consistent contact and so I'm hoping that will help hone my German skills.

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Describe an example of language learning you've completed this week or last week.

What did you learn? How did you learn the language?

How does the language activity support or contradict a learning theory(ies) you read about this week?

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1) Tell us about yourself- what are your passions, dreams, hopes?

My name is Alex, I live with my family in Busan, South Korea where I serve as staff elder for a small international church.

I have four small children, my passions, dreams and hopes revolve around keeping them alive one day at a time.

I also enjoy coding (another type of language) and I would quite like to make my own computer game one day.

2) What do you want to accomplish from this course?

I have a few reasons for taking this course.

First, I am learning Korean. I have lived in Korea for 6 years, have passed my citizenship exam and have a decent level of functional Korean for day-to-day life, but would still say I am a long way from fluency.

Second, my children are growing up bilingual (English + Korean), and learning Mandarin Chinese on the side. I hope to help them develop good language skills (especially English given they are not growing up in a native English environment)

Third, a decent number of our church members are English teachers, I hope this course will help me relate to them and their day-to-day work.

Fourth, for around half of our church members English is not their mother tongue, I want my teaching and preaching to be relevant to as many of those listening as possible.

Fifth, I teach a couple of hours per week of English to kindergartners on the side for supplementary income. I hope to teach English better myself.

3) What questions do you have about second language acquisition?

1. How can I improve from 'functional' to 'fluent'?

2. What are the best tools/practices for learning a language?

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For the language learner project, I have chosen to learn Italian. There was not a specific reason I chose this language, but it is one that has always interested me. Due to that, I felt like this would be a great time to pursue learning the language. The source that I have been using to learn the language is Duolingo. I broke my learning into periods of six minutes a day for the five weekdays. Towards the start of the week, I feel that learning the language did not seem like much of a challenge. I have studied Spanish before and found many parallels between the two languages. There were many words that were spelled or said similarly so I feel I was able to learn the vocabulary somewhat quickly. However, towards the end of the week the lessons already started feeling harder as there were less parallels that I could begin to draw. Words and spellings became more unfamiliar, and sentence structures began to become harder to grasp. I expect this to continue to be the case as I learn more of the language. Right now, I feel that my learning is primarily reading and writing focused. I am hoping to find some resources where I can begin learning through more speaking and listening. I feel that it is almost more important to be able to speak and listen to a language rather than read or write in that language. Speaking and listening opens more doors for conversations and being able to connect with people. Ultimately, as I am learning this language, I wish to be able to find a future use for it. I do not know anyone from Italy or who speaks Italian, but I hope one day I will be able to put what I have learned at the end of the semester into practice to communicate with others from other parts of the world.

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The language that I decided to focus on throughout the semester is Spanish – using Duolingo this first week. I have previously studied it in both high school and college, but never followed through with it. However, I have a few reasons that I wanted to continue with Spanish. First, I wanted to pick something that I was somewhat familiar with because I am taking Greek 3 at the same time and don’t want to overwhelm myself with too many new things. Second, there are a lot of Spanish speaking people in my community, so it’s practical. Third, I have a friend from Colombia and one from Cuba and they would both love to assist me in this journey. Good luck everyone!

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I have decided to continue with Korean for my language learning project. I want to take my Korean to the ‘next level’ and think this project will give me the opportunity to reflect on a new learning method and evaluate if/how I can push my Korean to the next level with this learning method.

Specifically, I want to see if and how I can use AI to improve my Korean speaking and listening. My speaking and listening are passable, I can hold daily conversations about life, admin, family, travel etc. but often miss things and struggle in deeper more niche topics and in group conversation settings. Most of my work life and home life is in English, so I don’t have loads of opportunity to speak Korean on a daily basis. Most of my speaking and listening improvement has come through 1.5 hours a week with a Korean tutor, who is very good but not cheap. Throughout this project I hope to get a feeler and explore whether and how I can use AI as a Korean tutor or at least conversation partner to improve my speaking and listening longer term.

This week I began by simply trying to have a 30 minute conversation with ChatGPT in Korean. I was amazed that ChatGPT can hold an actual live conversation in Korean (I have used ChatGPT as a sort of internet search engine, idea generator in the past, but only through typing and never had a conversation even in English with it before).

We talked a bit about the weather, the meaning of life and my hobbies. In future weeks I want to explore ChatGPT’s capabilities as a tutor.

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1) Tell us about yourself -what are your passions, dreams, hopes?

My name is Lucy and I am a senior at Judson College. Lordwilling, I will be graduating this upcoming spring with a BA in English. Some of my passions include analyzing and discussing literature, writing my own stories, travelling, playing volleyball, and learning about foreign cultures. I also enjoy having discussions with people about just about anything. As far as my future dreams and hopes, I'm not exactly sure what the Lord has planned but I am currently exploring the idea of teaching English in a foreign country as well as a few other options. Over the summer, I was able to have the chance to interact with people from many cultures around the world and became passionate about helping them hone their English skills in addition to learning another language myself.

2) What do you want to accomplish from this course?

From this course, I am hoping to better gauge what skills I would need to develop and work on to become better prepared to teach English as a career. I never thought I would seriously consider teaching English, but I am hoping that this course could give me some direction on choosing a career path for good. I am also both intrigued and intimidated by the idea of teaching myself a language that is completely unfamiliar to me. I believe it will test me in new ways I have not encountered before and allow me to better understand the struggles of those who are trying to learn English as their second language.

3) What questions do you have about second language acquisition?

I'm actually really curious about which language in the world is the most difficult to learn and why.

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1) Tell us about yourself- what are your passions, dreams, hopes?

My name is Olivia, and I am a senior at Judson College. I'll be graduating this December with a BA in English! Afterwards, I hope to start teaching and am looking at teaching English at a Christian girls' school! I am passionate about quality education that creates lifelong learners and equips students with tools to be independent learners. I also believe that teachers have a wonderful opportunity to build a culture of Christ-centered discipleship in the classroom by being a godly role model who invests in the students.

2) What do you want to accomplish from this course?

I love ESL and have gotten to volunteer with refugee children in elementary school with a local ministry doing ESL and tutoring. I would love to be equipped with tools to be a better tutor for these kids! I would also like to be more prepared as a teacher to better assist any students I may have in the future who are learning English as a second language.

3) What questions do you have about second language acquisition?

As someone who really struggles with learning languages but has a desire to study them, what are some tips for successful language learning?

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What is the second language you're learning?

Why did you choose that language?

Reflect on your second language learning and think about how similar/different it is from learning your first language.

Which second language teaching method from your reading (i.e. communicative, audiolingual, direct, etc) are you most familiar with? Explain your experience with any of the methods.