"I'm really glad that you were able to learn a lot of Korean during your time at UR! I also realized how much I had grown through this class, and I was surprised to realize that I had so much more to learn about Korean. Not only the language, but…"
"This is such an interesting topic that I never knew about! I am also very interested in music, but I only looked at mainstream music like K-pop and K-rnb. I think it would be great to learn about traditional Korean art/music, as it also ties deeply…"
"I think it is great that you say your sentences in your head before writing them. I also find that when I type, I rely on technology too much (like autocorrect). However, I agree that it is very helpful when fixing any grammar or spelling mistakes…"
"I think this is very interesting! For the longest time, I thought jjamppong was an authentic Chinese dish. I didn't realize that it was a combination of multiple cultures and that it was quite different from the Chinese version of it. I got to try…"
"I think language loss is a very serious issue, as it means the loss of a culture and a worldview (in addition to the language itself). It is very encouraging to know that this loss can be slowed or reversed! "
"I think Korean is hard because you have the added concept of speaking politely to those of a higher status than you. You need to know who is considered a "higher status", and how to speak to them accordingly. There is a time and place to use certain…"
"I've never watched historical dramas before! Studying old Korean vocabulary is an interesting topic I never thought to explore. I think I should watch some and hopefully I will learn more about Korean history and culture. "
"I also realized that the tense consonants are a sound not present in English. I also agree that practice is very important, as you can train the muscles used for pronouncing these sounds!"
"I liked the examples you use, because they are very common words in the Korean language, yet there is no direct translation on how to speak it in the American language. I realized that it is hard to pronounce some words because I am not used to the…"
"I agree that when understanding a language, both cognitive and sociolinguistic approaches are necessary because language is not just a mental process. it’s also shaped by culture, context, and social interaction. Knowing grammar and vocabulary is…"
"I am also working on honorifics! I think that it is such a complex topic with a lot of deviations and exceptions, which make it hard to fully understand. I also found it interesting that you mentioned that it would be good to look at language from…"
Cultural Post #4: Budae Jjigae and Korea’s Military History
For my final cultural post, I chose to explore budae jjigae (부대찌개), also known as “army stew.” This dish might seem like just another spicy Korean soup at first, but it actually has a deep…
Cultural Post #3: Korea's Doctor Shortage News Video
The video explains that South Korea has fewer doctors per person than many other developed countries. The government recently tried to fix this by increasing the number of spots in medical…
Cultural Post #2: “Into the New World” and the Power of K-pop
For this cultural post, I chose the song “Into the New World” (다시 만난 세계) by Girls’ Generation. Even though it was released in 2007, it’s still one of the most famous and meaningful K-pop…
Cultural Post #1: Sky Castle and the Pressure of Korean Education
One Korean drama that had a big impact on me was Sky Castle. It’s about a group of rich families who live in the same neighborhood, and all of them want their kids to get into top…
Journal #4
For this final journal entry, I combined two things I really enjoy—learning Korean and cooking—by starting a personal cookbook project written entirely in Korean. My goal was to create short recipe pages for popular Korean dishes using…