Blog Post #4 Opinionated Blog Post

In the story, Tan indicates a situation where her friends do not understand her mom's English but Tan herself does. And she even indicates that it happens occasionally. Does that mean her English has been more influenced by her mom? or does that mean it has been more influenced by her peers who are mostly English-Fluent?

Here is my question. which of the two groups do you think it is more influential on your language? Peers or Family?

In my opinion, peers impact your language development than your families by some reasons

First of all, history has revealed the importance of friends/peers more than it did of families. This means that as the world modernized, people became very busy working and lost their free times that they used to have. This phenomenon also spread among students which led them to make more friends in schools and different communities but led them to deviate away from their family relationships.


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/536843218056974677/

This evidential image shows how average high-schoolers mostly spend their time of the day. As seen in this image, the total hour's students stay at their homes are around 4.5 hours excluding sleeping time whereas hours spent at schools are around 6. Most certainly, there are variations among every student: Some might spend more time at schools or some might spend more time at home. However, according to the pie chart above, the majority of the students spend at schools where their peers are waiting for them. And since they spend more time with their peers than family, they are more influenced by the ways their peers use.

Second, the 'ubiquitous world' brought an immense upon language development of students. Ever since the SNS (Social Networking System) was introduced, the communication between people improved. Hence, mostly influencing the teenagers who are most adaptable to 'new technologies'. Through the use of SNS, teenagers or students have spent more time with their friends because they have been able to access with their peers neglecting time, place, or any other conditions. And since time is always constant, it requires a loss of something in order to fulfill the other. As a result, time spent with their families has been sacrificed as an opportunity cost for time spent with their peers
Image result for ubiquitous


http://www.techcastglobal.com/-/the-ubiquitous-broadband-era

After all, this phenomenon will be continuous for the next 10 years and 100 years or even more. As the world develops, people will be more occupied with diverse friends than their families which I see it as an opportunity a 'diversity of language'

Blog Post#3 Significance of my name

My name (Kyuweon Beom) is derived from a Chinese background. Long time ago one of my Chinese ancestors moved into Korea and settled there until my generation. 
One significance about Korean names is that many people share the same family name. For example, many of you might have seen a lot of Koreans with the family name of Kim, Park, Lee and etc. This is because people  with these family names were the most influential and strong force throughout Korea, leading them to make more descendants. On the other hand, my ancestors were not as strong or influential as names above. As a result of this weakness, it is very not common to find a person who has the family 'Beom'. 

and Another significance about my name is that since my ancestors were Chinese, our family always used Chinese letters to express our names and injected a meaning to it. The meaning of my name goes like this
Kyuweon Beom (虎規源)
Beom (虎) : Represents Tiger. (Usually Family names are just a tradition which doesn't include much meaning)

Kyu (規): Meaning 'Laws' or 'Rules'
Weon (源) : Meaning 'Origin'


If each letter is combined, it represents 'Origin of Rules/Laws' representing righteousness and moralism.  
This reflects my identity in 3 different aspects
Personal: When I interact or communicate with people, I have a certain boundary I should never cross which includes inoffensiveness and disrespect. Also, I always keep on aware of things I should be aware of when talking to people. Specifically, I try not to pick on their weaknesses. 
Interactional: Because I am currently a student, son, and a expat of UAE at the same time, there are certain rules and laws I should not break. 

Blog Post #2 Cultural Markers

In this second blog post, I'm going to discuss mainly about 'Culture' and how this significant in this world in terms of communication.

To start off, of many cultural communities, I think I am strongly bonded to the Korean community as well the Christian community. Both communities have cultural markers that people mostly misunderstood. Here are some examples

Korean Community
-We are not innately developed at math
-Not all male Koreans learn how to do taekwondo (the most prominent and traditional martial arts in Korea)
-We do eat Dog Meat & We do not eat Dog Meat <Since this is a very interesting topic, I will discuss it later>

Christian Community
-Not everyone with the Cross on his or her body as a decoration is a Christian (Tattoo, Necklace, etc)
-We do not hate other religious groups

Of these 2 groups which I am associated with, I want to consider myself more of the Korean community because that is where I am mostly dived into.

Now, I want to elaborate the points I made above through knowledge and background I have of the Korean culture.
-We are not innately developed at math:
This would be the most stereotypical marker that people have against not only Koreans but Asia in general. But, to put things straight-forward, we 'Koreans' and 'Asians' weren't born talented at math. It is just that our academic standards and curriculum have shaped us that way; To survive from this savage war, we have adapted ourselves by working hard. So I would say it is not very adequate for other people to it is not fair as this is the consequence of our efforts.
*Also, not every Korean or Asian is a fan of numbers

-Not all Koreans learn how to do Taekwondo:
Despite its accuracy, it is very true that Taekwondo is by far the most popular "sports" among Koreans, particularly parents. But why parents? Does that mean Parents learn how to do Taekwondo? Perhaps, some parents might actually learn Taekwondo. But what I'm trying to point out is different; It is not parents who are the doers, it is the children of those parents. Taekwondo has acquired its popularity for its ornate movements. But more than this has been its consumption of energy, which would definitely attract parents who are willing to make their children exercise. However, the story has changed  for the past 3-5 years as the popularity of internet and games soared significantly. The number of children has decreased but the number of children signed up for game websites has increased.
Therefore, this cultural marker is somewhat true but wrong.

-We do eat Dog meat & We do not eat Dog meat
This marker might be the topic that has been mostly discussed not only around the world but in Korea as well. The reason why I said that Koreans do consume and do not consume Dog meat is because this is apparently the best answer I can provide.

First of all, there are 2 groups with distinct beliefs which these pursue different things. One side being the supporting group of consumption of Dogmeat and other being the opposite. To identify the difference between these groups, the group which supports the consumption of Dog meat is mostly united by people of old age who have been keeping this tradition as a habit. On the other hand, the opposing group is congregated by the younger generation who has been largely influenced by the social media. Due to this, consumption of Dog meat has been one of the most controversial and never-ending debate.  Although this controversy has lasted for years and decades, I predict that this controversy will end in the next 10-20 years the winner being the opposing group.

The reason for this claim is due to an unavoidable phenomenon which reduces the number of people from the supporting group of consumption of Dogmeat: Death. But at the same time, the number of people of the opposing group is vastly increasing day by day which leads to the game to be unfair. Consequently, due to this factor, the controversy will end when the current older generation gets replaced by the newer generation.

Surprisingly, the 'World News' reports that the percentage of consumption among Koreans has decreased from around 20% to 5% of the entire population for the last 10 years and clearly states that the percentage will decrease even by a bigger scale.
*I am one of the opposing people
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Questions to answer:
How is cultural marker important to you and your cultural group?
Cultural marker is important because it is what represents me or the group I am associated with. In most occasions, a cultural marker of a group is something that the group especially values of. So when a cultural marker is misunderstood by others, this could be an offense to the cultural group.

How can understanding cultural markers promote better communication?
If one has a decent amount of knowledge of the cultural marker of the person or people who one is talking to, one can know what things to avoid when addressing, which can be an upside for both sides as it allows them to open their minds. This understanding of cultural markers is mostly visible in advertisements because the marketer or promoter of the advertisement needs to know what kind of characteristics/markers of the target culture he or she needs to employ to bring success in that cultural group.

Blog post#1 Who am I?

04/09/15
Hello, my name is Kyuweon Beom and is a student of Raha who decided to undertake the IB curricular program.  This was a difficult decision for me to choose, but I was able to foresee the benefits I could acquire through this challenge and this was the final kick that led me to shoulder the IB.  I think this is where my attribute intervenes. I have had many occasions where I was given 'challenging tasks'; However, with my nature of optimism, I have triumphed those tasks and  shaped what I am now.  Now, the IB is another untypical mission I have been provided to overcome. Truly, It will most likely be difficult and agonizing, but It will also be rewarding.

My Goal of this year is to achieve the grades I am targeting for; Particularly for English, I am desiring to put my best effort and achieve successful grades in response. This will lead up to a better understanding of the English language, which will not only help me in English class but also in other classes as I read different kinds of text types. Last of all, I would expect myself to update posts every once in 2 days related to what I have learned in those 2 days.

To look at a bigger picture; In other words, to think of my dream in the future, I want to find a job or things that I could really enjoy. This is because, in my opinion, enjoyment doubles up your passion and your doubled up passion leads to be more productive.

For today's blog post, I will be answering questions that were given in English class.
-What roles does language have in your life?
In our life, language has been used in every single moment of our life, ever since we were born.  We all were babies once in our lifetime. Although we weren't able to deliver our through proper words when we  since our biological systems weren't developed enough to meet those functions, our parents understood our wants by observing sign language and baby talk.  Through this example, I could conclude that Language is a communicative system that not only it comprises 'Vocal Sounds', but also 'Sign and Gestures' and moreover 'Written symbols'

Since I answered the question of what languages are, I would want to refer back the question. I believe that language has its role of functioning this world. For example, language is what distinguished the 'Good' and 'Bad'. Without this distinction, life won't be the 'life' we are now experiencing anymore and it will be chaotic. So my point is that Language is like a promise or rule made by people that allowed this world to remain this way.

-Why do you think it is important to study language
This question is probably the easiest question to answer. As I have mentioned before, Language has its role of functioning this world. One function of Language is the connection. Because language has existed, people were able to connect to one another; However, If language had not existed, people could not have shared thoughts and innovated this world. Eventually, Language is what conducted this world to develop and it will do the same in the future too. So, to make this world a better place, the study of language will be the flesh and bone

-Have you ever felt excluded due to language barriers?
Certainly, I have. I want to give a very extraordinary example for this question. To draw out the setting, it happened in a museum when I was back in Indonesia. In the museum, there were few scientists and psychologists who were preparing for an experiment to see a mouse's reaction when targeted by a predator, a gigantic python in this case. When I spotted this horrendous scene, I was yelling at the mouse to flee away from the python. I tried everything to achieve this-orally, and gesturally. However, the mouse could not comprehend my 'language' and was incompetently busy consuming seeds. Then, in a snap of a finger, the mouse was gone in a place where we all can anticipate.  Therefore, through this example, I want to claim that 'language barriers' apply to not only between humans but also among other creatures.