https://drive.google.com/a/richmond.edu/file/d/0B3n1Y5ZSOg6IcklEQ01Mc0ZGUTg/view?usp=sharing

This is the second semester I study Korean with my learning partner Minkyung. Same as last semester, MInkyung prepared teaching material for each class, and since she knew my level well, she could prepare the learning material that best fit me. However, since there were two new students in the beginner's class, Minkyung had to cover some topics that we already learnt last semester. But this is a also a good way for me to review the words and dialogues. The most important progress that I made this semester is that I mastered the Hangul system and am able to write and read most of the Korean words. In this reflection paper, I am going to first talk about the good things that I really enjoyed during the semester including my favorite learning sources, my good ways of learning the language. Then I will reflect on the problems I met and the limitations of learning plan. 

        My favorite part of this class is that we finally learnt about the Korean alphabet system this semester. This is a big cornerstone in my Korean self learning process since I could be able to read and write most of the Korean words after knowing the Korean Hangul system. In the past, I could only use English words to note the pronunciations and just memorize them again and again. However after knowing the alphabetic system, I can read the vowels and consonants and figure out the pronunciations instead of memorizing each thing. In order to help us study Hangul system better, Minkyung took the learning tools to class so that we could see the structure of Korean characters more clearly. I think learning Hangul in class this semester has been much more effective than watching videos and exploring by myself last semester. Another thing I want to mention is this website of Korean alphabet learning  http://korean.cuk.edu/en/. Although we learnt alphabet in class, the class time is very limited and I need to self study and review the consonants and vowels myself. The above website is a very good resource for Korean beginners. It explains the laws of pronunciations and structures very clearly and I highly recommend it to other self learners.

       However, there are also some difficulties and goals that I did not achieve. First of all, as I mentioned, the class time is very limited and the time for actual practicing is still very limited. Therefore we spent only a little time on each topic instead of digging into it. For example, we only studied the basic etiquette and polite way of saying before and after meals instead of the actual description about food or our preferences. This broad way of learning Korean seems have broaden my knowledge of Korean vocabulary in different fields, yet failed to give me a deep understanding on each of the area.

       In conclusion, through further learning a semester of Korean with Minkung, I have developed a deeper understanding of Korean culture and customs, from people's daily life to the history and development of the country in a wider level. The most proudest thing is again, the master of Hangul system and the improvement in grammars. With the ability of reading and writing most of the words, I feel more confident to talk to more Korean friends, and believe that I am more prepared to go to Korea by myself in the future.

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How to say time, ask for time, and describe my weekday and weekend schedule. 

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When meet strangers in public and how to express "Right" or "Wrong" to others. 

Self Introduction improved based on the previous one in SDLC 111

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The culture presentation I did is about plastic surgery in Korean. I explored the reasons why plastic surgery is so popular in Korea rather than other countries. After doing research, I found that the economic boom is a contributing factor. Also Koreans are materialistic and have very competitive attitude in the society. Korea is a homogeneous country. For generations, it was a highly stratified society with a small ruling class. It was only in the past 30 years or so that an affluent middle class emerged and the quality of life improved for everyone. With newly acquired wealth, westernization and a need to express one's individuality, people sought ways to improve their appearance. It wasn't enough to feel wealthy, and people felt compelled to show it. Health and beauty have always been cherished in Korean society.  Now for once people could actually go out and do something about it.  They could look attractive, look different, and look wealthy. Also, if If you look at the most popular surgeries, they are based on uniformly Caucasian features: creating a visible eyelid, sharpening the nose or chin.  One can argue that these cosmetic procedures now adhere to some Korean aesthetic. While that may be true, this aesthetic was unequivocally born from a western ideal of beauty.

Reference: https://myseoulsecret.com/why-is-plastic-surgery-so-popular-in-korea/

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Some new words of foods, vegetables, and fruits. And a dialogue while eating in friends' home.

This week, we learnt about some basic grammars in Korean, especially the verb to be 이다 in Korean. Unlike English, Korean makes no distinction for the choice of verb to be (am, are, is) between first-person, second-person and third-person subjects. Only a single verb to be 이다 is used. However, there should be different forms of "to be" added after different nouns, which is based on the vowels and consonants in the previous nouns. If the noun ends with a vowel, use 예요 or 야. If the noun ends with a consonant, then use 이에요 or 이야. For example, 버스예요 (It is a bus), 지갑이에요 (It is a wallet). Besides, only 이다 or its modified forms are attached to nouns. Korean adjectives are verb-like and do not require 이다 for sentence construction. The subject of a sentence can also be omitted if it is understood by the context, and verb is always at the end of a Korean sentence. For example, "It is a book" could be written in 책입니다, 책이에요. 책인다, and 책이야. While they are express e same meaning, 책 (book) is the noun in the sentences.

After learning all the vowels and consonants, we practiced reading some Korean words. This week, we learnt the vocabulary of vegetables and fruits. For example, fruit names: 사과 - apple, 포도 - grape, 바나나 - banana, 버찌 - cherry, 키위 - kiwi,배 - pear, 토마토 - tomato, 레몬 - lemon. Vegetable names: 파 - spring onion, 버섯 - mushroom, 고추 - chili pepper,두부 - tofu, 감자 - potato, 부추 - chives, 대파 - leek, 무 - radish. At the beginning, it was really hard for me to combine both vowels and consonants together to come up with the pronunciation, especially when there were two vowels in a letter. I had to look at each vowel and consonant's pronunciation every time. However, as I practiced more, I became more familiar with the consonants and found some rules in the combination of words. There are certain words that follow after each nouns so when I see the first vowel I could guess the pronunciation of the whole. Also some Korean pronunciations are very similar to Chinese pronunciations and meanings, so once I understood the meaning of each letter, it became easier for me to memorize and use the law in other words.

I read an article talking about the reasons why Korean dramas are so addictive. According to the article, about 41 percent of South Korea's population watched the military-themed drama "Descendants of the Sun". In comparison, the sixth season finale of the "The waling dead" drew in 14 million US viewers, which is 4.4 percent of the population. In my opinion, K-dramas made me so addictive because of the following reasons. First of all, the central character is almost always the heroine , not the hero as happens in most TV dramas elsewhere. It is then not surprising that these dramas appeal so strongly to women viewers who make up most of the audience for K-Dramas. Secondly, the actors and actresses are attractive and they act surprisingly good. By now I have come to recognize some of them and delight in trying to remember where I had last seen them . For most of K-drama lovers ,  the heroine and hero must be attractive and good actors, otherwise we switch and try to find something else. In addition, the soundtrack that lingers long after the drama has ended. When the soundtrack plays, I can't help but relive my favorite drama moments. It might have been years since the drama first played on the screen. However, it makes no difference because the moment the soundtrack comes on, you are transported back to another time and place. Finally, in the end of the drama, things always turn out well. No matter how many tribulations the heroine goes through , in the end she emerges triumphant. Although sometimes, the director gives surprising ending and tries to make the story unpredictable. 

Reference: https://www.moviefone.com/2016/06/01/why-korean-dramas-are-some-of-the-most-addicting-tv-series-around/

I taught my Chinese friends the structure and pronunciation of complicated vowels. As I mentioned in journal #4, I first taught them the eight basic vowels ㅏ = a, ㅓ = eo, ㅜ = u,  ㅗ = o, ㅑ = ya, ㅕ = yeo, ㅠ = yu, ㅛ = yo. They did a pretty good job memorizing the basic vowels since these pronunciations are similar to the Chinese alphabetic system. However, it became more challenging when I introduced the complicated vowels: ㅜ + ㅣ = ㅟ = wi.  ㅗ + ㅏ = ㅘ = wa. They could not just memorize the pronunciations like they did for the simple vowels because there could be so many different combinations of vowels. Not only did they need to figure out the pronunciation of each simple vowel in the complicated vowel, but they also needed to know the change of pronunciation when two vowels combine together. Some pronunciations might be eliminated when two vowels combine together and some pronunciations might change to some other similar ones. For example, ㅗ + ㅣ = ㅚ = oe , which sounds like “way”. Therefore, in order to  master the Hangul system, memorization is not enough and we need to watch more TV shows and listen to more Korean dialogues to understand those idiomatic pronunciations.

I read an article which talks about the ten reasons why k-pop is so globally popular. According to the article, the creative use of costumes and color in music videos, the storytelling skills in many songs and music videos, the unique, extravagant, and eye-popping personalities, the truly skilled choreography and trainings, as well as the talented and original concept group are some main reasons for the global popularity of k-pop. Admittedly, not only are K Pop artists talented, incredibly hard working and starred in perfectly executed music videos, they often mix other cultures into their songs. Since most students in many Asian countries are required to learn English from an early age, singers frequently mix in English sayings with their lyrics. Also, Korean companies have the resources, capital, and infrastructure to produce and export K-pop more successfully than other Asian countries.In contrast to American artists, Asian music targeting towards young people is heavily focused on "idols" who are not so much singers. Instead of simply enjoying their music, fans of K-pop indulge in an overdose of their favorite idols. Compared to regular American artists, idols are physically attractive, acting in dramas regardless of actual acting ability, appearing on variety programs, and are actively promoted in other countries around Asia or the world. They also perform weekly at different events at amusement parks, university festivals celebrations, other private events. In sum the well-organized training and promoting system in Korean entertainment companies are crucial to the success of k-pop, and for consumers especially young females, there are tons of more reasons to start liking a K-pop artist than maybe an American artist.

Reference: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/wondering-why-pop-popular-here-are-10-reasons.html ;

In my first artifact, I did a more in-depth self introduction. In SDLC 111, I can only talk about my name, age, and that I am a student. However this time, I added some new words and sentences that we learnt this semester into my self introduction, for example, my hobbies, my family members, my grade and where I live. I am now also able to ask others' where they from, their age and occupations. Since we have covered a lot on grammars and sentence structures, I am now able to combine the verbs and adjectives together to express what I want to say. In terms of my pronunciations, I am now doing a better job in making proper pauses. In the past, I always read the whole sentence without pauses and with the same tone. Now I pay more attention to the places that I should pause and some significant words that I should emphasize. My learning partner said that I am now talking more like a Korean. 

This week, we learnt some more complicated vowels which are based on the vowels that we learnt last week. Most of these letters are called “diphthongs”, which means that there are two vowels in one. Last week, we learnt the four most basic letters: ㅏ = a, ㅓ = eo, ㅜ = u,  ㅗ = o.

There are four more vowels that can be made by adding one extra line to each of the previous vowels. By adding this extra line, a ‘Y’ sound gets added to each vowel: ㅑ = ya, ㅕ = yeo, ㅠ = yu, ㅛ = yo. Two more common vowels are:ㅐ = ae (a combination of ㅏ and ㅣ) and ㅔ = e. Though these two vowels have different structures, they sound identical to one another. They both sound like “eigh” in “weigh”. 

The remaining vowels are all composed of adding two vowels together to make a sound. The pronunciation for each of them is simply the sound of putting the two vowels together. For example: ㅜ + ㅣ = ㅟ = wi.  ㅗ + ㅏ = ㅘ = wa. ㅗ + ㅣ = ㅚ = oe 

In the learning activity, I would like to teach the pronunciation of the above complicated vowels. As I mentioned, I am going to first teach the pronunciations of simple vowels and then introduce the structure of complicated vowels which is basically the combination of two basic vowels. I will then combine the basic vowels in different ways to teach different pronunciations.

We learnt the 10 basic consonants in Korean Hangul system this week. Each hangul is made of initial (consonants), vowels and sometimes finals (also consonants). Due to the shape of certain vowels, they are placed either to the right, or below the initial consonant. The way that I learned was that there are "bright" and "dark" vowel sounds in Korean. 오 & 아 are "bright " and 어 & 우 are "dark".  The "bright" sounds are similar to when the sun is the brightest 오 (sunrise) and it then travels from the east 아. Then the "dark" sounds come in, 어 (going west) and 우 (sunset). When I imagine that with the BRIGHT sounds, my mouth is more open and wide, and with the "dark" sounds, my mouth is narrower and tighter. For example, 아 vs 어, your mouth will be wider for the "bright" sounds and narrower for the "dark" sounds and the same for 오 vs 우. 

   This semester, we will be focusing on the reading and writing of Korean Hangul system. I am very excited because by learning the Hangul system, not only could I be able to write Korean words, but my ability of reading and listening will be greatly improved as well since I will be able to link the pronunciation with the letters.

    We learned the 14 basic consonants this week. Most Korean consonants come in three versions, unaspirated (without a puff of air), aspirated (with a puff of air) and tensed (stressed). Unaspirated consonants exist in English too, but never alone, for example,  the sound of 'p' in "pot" (aspirated) and "spot" (unaspirated).I found it helpful to pronounce a little "m" in front to 'stop' the puff. While Tensing isn't really found in English,  pronouncing the consonant quick and hard could be a good way for tensing consonants. 

    Also, I found a very useful video to self study Korean alphabet: http://korean.cuk.edu/en/. There are many different levels of Korean language learning lectures. Level 1.1, 1.2 are the introduction of consonants and vowels and the pace and structure of the lectures are very good for beginners.

In the past two semesters, I learned Korean food, political, and social culture such as women's status in Korean, Korean military service, Korean housewife culture, etc. This semester, I would like to explore the drama and k-pop culture in Korean. Although these seem to be the entry-level knowledge for Korean culture lovers, I chose to explore the k-drama and k-pop at this stage rather than at the beginning because I want to be able to really understand the lyrics and simple lines rather than reading the English subtitles. After self learning Korean for two semesters, I can now understand most of the simple dialogues and can read simple lines in k-drama. I feel great when I could really understand the Korean singers introducing the songs and emotions in Korean since there is always a translation difference. Therefore my goal for the Korean culture learning this semester is to watch more Korean dramas, concerts, interviews, and TV shows and try to read the Korean subtitles rather than English subtitles. My goal is to explore how and why Korean entertainment companies could make so successful pop songs and dramas and make them popular all over the world. I also would like to explore the synergy and commonalities between k-pop and hip-pop.

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In the last week, we learnt more vocabulary on Korean foods, and the proper sentences that we should say before eating and after eating when we are invited to dinner. Following are the names of Korean food we have learnt:

• 김밥 gim-bap  sushi
• 불고기 bul-go-gi    marinated beef
• 김치 gim-chi         kimchi
• 케익 ke-ik     cake
• 삼겹살 sam-gyeop-sal     sashimi
• 치킨 chi-kin  chicken
• 굴 gul   oyster

Here are the sentences that Koreans normally would say before and after they eat:

1. 잘 먹겠습니다. ( jal meok-ge-sseum-ni-da)

         I am ready to eat

        2.  맛있어요! ( ma-si-sseo-yo!)

        It tastes good!

        3. 잘 먹었습니다. ( jal meo-ge-sseum-ni-da.)

        I am done.

        4. 더 주세요 (deo ju-se-yo)

       I want more

I think the new knowledge we have learnt about dining is very useful since I could hear my Korean friends say these during every meal. Now I could say these to them when we have dinner together. 

I am going to teach everyone how to introduce their family members in Korean.  Here are some basic words for the members of the family and I am going to make them as cards with Korean and English meaning on both sides so that others can practice more efficiently.

I am first going to ask people to try to use the above words in English sentences, and then teach how to use the words form sentences in Korean.


Example:
 

                       I am living with my (sister). 

A few rules in addressing your relatives:

1. When your father has several older brothers, the order is according to their age: the eldest will be keun abeoji (큰아버지), followed by duljje abeoji (둘째 아버지), setjje abeoji (셋째 아버지), etc. The same pattern applies to their wives. The pattern is also used to address you father’s uncles (your grandfather’s siblings) and their spouses, like keun harabeoji (큰할아버지) and keun halmeoni (큰할머니). However, this depends on the family.
2. For the aunts, the keun (큰) and jageun (작은) prefixes are added according to their order in the family: the older one will be keun gomo (큰고모) or keun eemo (큰이모), and the younger one jageun gomo (작은 고모) or jageun eemo (작은 이모), regardless on whether they’re older or younger than your parents.
3. Same goes for your older brothers and sisters, the keun (큰) and jageun (작은) prefixes are added when there are several of them.
4. The oe/weh (외) part is dropped when you’re directly addressing your maternal family members.

Reference:

https://www.koreanclass101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=98

https://thetalkingcupboard.com/2013/05/11/korean-family-and-kinship-terms/