Podcast with Jannette and Grace

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqdlYWqzAOyDsEr64-lPS-jpq0ws?e=iqUPMS

This semester has actually been a real eye-opening experience for me in terms of learning about myself as a language learner and cultural explorer. My overall goal was to be able to gain a sense of fluency but more realistically become more comfortable and confident in my Korean. I think the most important thing I learned was that I was approaching my language learning incorrectly. One of the most helpful things I learned was that not every sound can be imitated from one language to another. This has helped improve my pronunciations tremendously. I had a tendency to translate or sound out new Korean words that I didn’t know while reading through an English phonetic inventory. Even with the Korean alphabet, I would attempt to match words/letters that sounded the same in the English alphabet. Culturally I was able to translate some of the experiences I had abroad into my language learning which was very interesting. I’ve never viewed culture from an angle like that. I’ve realized how big of an impact culture has had on me, especially as a Korean American.

The most difficult part about my language learning experience this semester was probably trying to get rid of the English translation in my head whenever I heard Korean. This is probably my biggest hurdle in gaining fluency as I’m unable to switch my internal monologue automatically. I attempted to learn how to type in Korean this semester but ultimately failed to do so due to just how difficult it was to learn that kind of muscle memory in such a short time.

I will likely continue my learning journey by keeping in contact with my language partner and maybe visiting Korea in the near future.

I think the section on bilinguals was helpful to me. It sort of helped me figure out where I placed in terms of the 3 different classifications. I moved from the US to Korea back to the US at a very early age so my situation is a bit different. My parents also did not know English so they prioritized me and my brothers learning English over Korean.

I’d love to get to learn more about the historical development of the Korean language and the significant changes it had.

This past month we had a focus on Korean history and the gym. We watched a couple different Korean dramas/movies. My favorite one was probably The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure, which recently came out. The film was set during the Joseon Dynasty period so we gained many different cultural aspects from the film although it may not have been historically accurate. I particularly enjoyed the film because Han Hyo-joo was starring. The film was a bit comedic but had some history trivia which Jannette gave a small quiz on to make sure we were listening and understanding.

In addition, me and Jannette began watching Gym Jong Kook. This is basically Jong Kook’s gym vlogs where he works out by himself and at times with other famous celebrities. Our main focus was learning some of the gym lingo. We learned how to properly work out in terms of form and getting that ‘느낌’. One of my favorite words that Jong Kook used a lot was ‘맛있어’ which basically means yummy. He would often say this when he felt the pump going as he was working out. We also focused on the body parts used at the gym which helped me with my presentation.

Another thing we discussed was the pali pali culture in Korea. We realized how apparent this was in literally all aspects of Korea. From the way they walk, to how they write, and even etiquette. This brough us to a sort of origin of the pali pali culture which was during the ‘Miracle of the Han River.’ Where it was all about rapid expansion and growth.

Finally, we wrapped our semester by going on a trip to Northern Virginia with some other SDLC students. We got some KBBQ and reflected on our semester.

One cultural aspect that is embedded into nearly every Korean is the "pali pali" culture. Directly translating to "hurry", the pali pali culture is seen all throughout Korea and its people. Essentially this is Korea's face-paced lifestyle with their constant desire to do everything quickly in order to achieve the greatest success. This desire for swiftness stems all the back to the Miracle of the Han River. This was a period of rapid economic growth for South Korea, where they went from poverty to an emerging country, and finally developed. Speared by Park Chung-hee and his Five-Year plans was this tiger economy that pushed for export-oriented industrialization. President Park would often reward projects and constructions that finished before they were scheduled.

The pali pali culture can even be seen through the infrastructure of Korea. This includes transportation where there are intricate and efficient subway and metro systems with very tight time schedules. Waste management allows for efficiency and cleanliness. And, of course, one of the fastest internet speeds in the world. Another aspect that the pali paliculture influences is delivery. You have food delivery systems through motorcycles and will often see a motorcycle zip through traffic and sidewalks to reach its customers as fast as possible. All these delivery systems are also connected by apps like Kakao or Naver that allow for quick checkout. Even the people themselves are affected by this culture. With faster paced walking and escalator etiquette. Many also prefer to eat very quickly and prefer a quick take-out over dine-in. Quick service is expected even though they receive no tip. Convenience stores have boilers and microwaves along with tables to eat for those looking for a quick bite.

Korea is also known for its quick-changing trends from clothes and even people. One moment a fashion style will be in trend and then the next a whole new look comes in place. There are basically kings of the 'cancel' culture where media has such a huge impact on celebrities and companies. Once word gets out of a scandal of some sort, the people will quickly turn on even the most well-respected celebrities or companies.

This month I attempted to learn texting and typing in Korean. Korea has a huge video game culture. You can literally find a PC방 every block or two. A lot of people communicate through typing rather than a microphone because of just how loud it is in these PC rooms. However, the idea of learning to type as quickly as I type in English was wishful thinking. There was just too much to cover in such a short period of time. Typing is heavily reliant on muscle memory, so it requires loads of repetition. Jannette showed me some typing games but it's not something you want to do be doing every day. I remember learning how to type really quickly because I played a lot of League of Legends where that was the only form of communication with your teammates. I wish I was able to play in Korean gaming servers where I have that enjoyment paired with learning.

Learning how to text was relatively easier as it is pretty convenient. I’ve been texting in Konglish a bit to my parents already but made it a thing to text with my language partner in Korean as much as possible. So whenever I would ask what time we were meeting I’d type ‘우리 몇 시에 만날까’? Texting is a lot easier to learn as the characters are right there and there is also a very convenient autofill tool on the iPhone. Something I realized I was doing poorly was my spacing between words and phrases. I would find myself relying on the autofill to correct it for me. There are certain rules like markers but a lot of other special cases as well which makes it pretty difficult. This problem is evident in my writing as well but even worse as handwriting also plays a factor. I also learned a few tips to make handwriting a lot easier with cursive forms of certain characters.

This month we focused heavily on the cultural aspects of Korean and its use with language. We explored different types of Korean music such as K-pop and rap. Personally, it’s very difficult for me to understand Korean when its sung/rapped because of just how fast paced it is. A lot of the times the words and phrases are slurred together. I usually need the lyrics to be able to follow along and even then, some rapping parts go way too fast. Some of the artists we listened to include Blackpink, Zion T. IU, and many more. One of my favorite ones to listen to was 꺼내 먹어요 (Eat) by Zion T. because its one of the songs I can actually follow along pretty easily. I’ve realized I never really pay attention to the lyrics for even English songs. My music selection is more reliant on the beat which might be why I have trouble following along to Korean songs. For example, I listen to Jay Park but I could never sing any of his songs off the top of my head.

What’s interesting, however, is that when I’m singing or attempting to sing along, I never have trouble with my American accent popping up. It might be because I’m hearing the sound beforehand, but it feels very different from repeating after a normal phrase.

Grace and Jannette are really big K-pop fans so I got to learn a lot of slang terminology used in that field. I learned things like ‘Bias’ which means your most favorite member of a group. ‘Vizhual’ which is pretty straightforward and means the most beautiful member of a group. ‘Lida’ which means leader. ‘Netizen’ which refers to a network of users that writes comments on news and ratings. ‘Sasaeng’ is basically a crazy fan. A lot of it is intuitive.

Where are you now? What can you do? What do you know?

Interpersonal Communication: Intermediate-Mid
Interpretive Listening: Advanced-Mid
Interpretive Reading: Intermediate-High
Presentational Speaking: Intermediate-Low
Presentational Writing: Intermediate-Low

What is your ultimate goal? What is your goal for this semester?
What do you want to be able to do with this language at the end of this semester and in the future?

I want to be able to achieve a level of fluency where I can conversate with ease and not have to think so much before speaking. Confidence is also another aspect I really want to improve on. A lot of the time my American accent comes out when speaking Korean as I think too much about what I am going to say and as a result lose confidence while I am speaking. Vocabulary on specific topics that relate to my everyday lifestyle would also be something I'm looking to pick up. Along with vocabulary, I do want to become more natural by learning slang and jargon especially for my everyday life like the gym or playing videogames. Korean culture and history are also other aspects I want to learn this semester. I also want to be able to text/type in Korean as fast as I text in English.

Learning Objectives:
- Vocabulary, Writing (Texting/Typing), Culture, History
- Tools: Games, Youtube Channels, Kdramas/movies, Quizlet

Week 1:
- Review and access language capabilities

Week 2:
- Form vocabulary picked out from Youtube channels on topics such as dating culture, daily life, and the gym

- Learn new phrases (slang + jargon and common phrases)

Week 3:
- Watch and review historical Kdrama/movie

- +new vocab

So far I have learned most, if not all, conversational aspects. I went to Korea to study abroad and was able to pick up on writing and reading fairly easily. Having a language partner is really useful because I am able to conversate with them comfortably for extended periods of time. Although I was forced to speak Korean during my time abroad it was very basic and limited to short conversational language. The covid restrictions really prevented us from associating with the native students there. Being Korean-American definitely prompted my learning journey, along with the nagging of my Grandmother.

My language partner (Jannette) started off with some basic assessments to sort of gauge my level of Korean along with finding out some of my interests. We spent a bit of time abroad in Korea together, so this was relatively quick. After catching up we decided on a layout of how we were going to meet. We would have two meetings a week. One as a group with Grace to focus on more of a cultural aspect towards language. The other meeting was a one on one with my language partner in order to focus on personal objectives.

We established a learning plan with my objective to achieve a level of fluency where I’m able to get rid of my American accent. Confidence was a key aspect I really wanted to work on as it helps get rid of the American accent that comes out from time to time. Vocabulary on specific topics that relate to my everyday lifestyle was another focus for me. Things like learning slang and jargon especially in regards to the gym or playing videogames. Korea has a huge video game culture. Texting and typing was also another focus I had in mind.

To achieve these learning objectives we planned to use tools such as games, YouTube, K-drama shows and movies, and Quizlet. For Youtube, we decided to follow a very popular influence in Korea known as Kim Jong-Kook. He is in the entertainment industry but works out heavily and created his Youtube account to post his gym exercises.

As a group we decided to go to local Korean restaurant to kick start our SDLC class. We restricted our interactions to as much Korean as possible, from reading the menu to reflecting on our study abroad experience. Thankfully, the waitress and other employees were actually Korean. Having Korean dishes here with my group made me miss my time in Korea. Although the food was a bit disappointing considering they were Korean.

Overall, I’m excited to continue my language learning journey with a great learning partner and group.

I was born in America but went to Korea to live with my grandparents at a very early age. I faintly remembered learning very basic Korean at a daycare center, but I moved back to America for pre-school and basically forgot all I learned. However, as a Korean American I grew up with my parents speaking mostly Korean to me, went to a Korean Church, and basically lived in Korea town. I never received any formal teachings for Korean as my parents’ focus were for me and my brothers to learn English as quickly as possible to help them out. A lot of the Korean I learned was just from mimicking and observing my parents.

Moving onto middle school I decided to take Spanish class as this was the norm. I was told taking Spanish would help me get into a good college, good job, and more. I questioned this concept so many times but went along anyways. My intro class was quite enjoyable as the teacher was very interactive and enthusiastic. She made the class environment just so comfortable and easy going. Things took a turn during my next year of learning Spanish as I was put with a teacher who just didn’t seem to enjoy teaching. We were drilled daily with textbook readings and quizzes. I dreaded going to that class every time. The teacher, who was fired the year after, made me hate learning Spanish and I would finally quit trying after another year in high school. I realized learning language through formal education was not for me. I learned and retained more through my Bolivian best friend, whose house I went to frequently, and friends from my soccer team.

My survey results showed that I am a tactile learner and I completely agree. I learn by being hands-on and doing or being emersed into the subject. My surveys also revealed me as a very factual/logical person. I also agree with this as a lot of my motivation for learning comes with a thought of why this is going to be useful, how can I use this in my life, and how does this even work? The two traits seem a bit different, but I think being a tactical learner really helps unravel the reasoning and logic behind things.

My focus is mostly on writing (typing) and speaking Korean, along with learning the culture, especially in order to achieve fluency. A language learning activity that would suit my style would be to go to the country, but I’ve already done that. Staying in Korea really helped, and my parents were even surprised at how I was a lot more comfortable with my Korean than before. Some activities that might help is just having a conversation. Especially when trying to achieve fluency I think learning how to have a conversation is a lot more important. This would also help a lot with my pronunciation. I think it would also help to be immersed in the Korean culture by doing Korean things like eating kbbq, listening to kpop, watching kdramas, and more.