Emerging Adulthood

For my presentation, I discussed what emerging adulthood looked like in South Korea, and how this period was the same and different from the USA. I wanted to explore this topic more because it is also related to the next steps in the future for me as well. I am interested to see what cultural expectations are in place for both of my cultural identities in hopes to better prepare myself for what to expect. 

I think that overall I reached all of my goals that I made in my initial learning plan and more.

I wanted to learn about the names of countries in Korean, and I was able to do this. I was happy to have learned how to say various countries because I felt that it tied my international and cultural experiences altogether. I was able to describe what countries I got to visit while also speaking in Korean. Furthermore, I reached my goal of how to describe others' personalities. I wanted to be able to talk about people in my life more in depth, and I felt that I got to do so. I also learned about the history of Korea. It is easy to think about the history of the USA because it was part of the curriculum in school in the USA. However, I did not have many opportunities to learn about the history of Korea. Therefore, it was really inspiring for me this semester to be able to learn about what Korea did to gain independence from Japan, such as staging a protest that continues to be celebrated yearly to this day. I also was happy to read short fables in Korean. It was fun reading these short stories and understanding the hidden messages behind them. Stories are fun to read because of their content, but they are also fun because they highlight what is important in a society versus what is not important. What qualities and actions are considered heroic, brave, and noble and what are considered negative. 

Overall, there are so many concepts I got to learn that were not mentioned in my learning journal. I was able to learn new phrases, vocabulary words, and slang that I was able to use with my classmates and family. I am happy with my overall progress in learning Korean. As I am graduating, it is bittersweet to realize that I will no longer be able to learn Korean in a regular and consistent manner in a classroom setting such as at UR. However, I do not plan to stop learning Korean. I hope to continue from what I have learned from all of my teachers and continue to learn more about the language and culture.

Self Assessment

Cultural Post #5:  Reflect upon what you have learned about the culture(s) you have been studying

Every semester that I have taken Korean, I have been able to not only learn more about the language, but also about the culture as well. With multiple Korean teachers with unique perspectives, I felt that being in the SDLC course offered opportunities to grow and be exposed to Korean in a classroom setting, but with the added factor of being able decide what I want to learn about.

I think that as American and Korean values have moments that don’t align, it has been challenging to learn about and accept that. However, I realize with every semester that I have come to understand and be more open to understanding about these moments. Culturally, Korea differs in many values from the USA. I used to be upset by this, but now I have come to be more open to learn about why this is and what these differences say about the two respective countries. I have learned that Korea values community. Korean culture values being together, group effort, and deference for one another. It is kind of a paradox. A society that values inclusivity but also is distinctly known for being one of the more hierarchical societies. Though from an American perspective this can be perceived as unacceptable, I believe it should be understood for what Korean society values. It values community but with respect and honor.

Learning about Korean culture has encouraged me to take an open-minded and ready to listen attitude to learning about other cultures. Though I may see these differences, learning Korean has challenged me to understand why these differences exist. Why does Korea value their elders more than the USA? Why is education a higher household cost in Korea than the USA? These questions help me to further connect with Korean society and embrace it.

Artifact #4:  Document a learning task that you have completed

In this artifact, Heera and I talk about our parents and what personality traits we would use to describe them.

University%20of%20Richmond%202.m4a

Biweekly #6

For our last class, we learned how to ask questions in multiple formats in Korean. For example, with English when we say, “Isn’t the weather nice today?”, we expect a response of “yes, it is hot.” Our questions are phrased to be validated on the spot. However, in Korean, while they also have this version, they also have another version where the question involves a negative word, and it, hence, requires a negative response. For example, in Korean, while the question may include the word “not”, it is not truly being used in the meaning of not. I would best translate it to this following scenario:

“Sally, do you not want to go to the movies?”

“No, I want to go to the movies”

In this conversation, even though not is being used, it is used more to propel the conversation as a “don’t you want to?”

We also watched a few minutes of a tv show that discussed cultural views from various people of different cultural backgrounds. They shared how one thing would be seen as normal in their society is not culturally acceptable in Korea and vice versa.

Cultural Post #4

For my cultural presentation, I plan to discuss how emerging adulthood looks like and what independence means in South Korea vs. USA. It is evident that adulthood is defined differently in various cultures. It is a unique experience where an individual shifts to becoming independent and experiencing a new life shift. As I was researching about individualism, independence, and what emerging adulthood looked like in South Korea, I realized that these are factors that are culturally independent of what is currently occuring in the society. For example, one marker of emerging adulthood is the concept of stability. However, in both South Korea and USA, stability is perceived differently. In the USA, stability is often in terms of financial stability. The individual becomes financially independent of their parents, and they become their own primary providers. This shift is often accompanied by moving out of their parents’ homes and becoming their own person outside of their parents’ house. In South Korea, stability usually refers to finances as well. However, it differs in that stability is seen as if the individual has the resources to provide for their parents. Furthermore, while the individual may move out, they are not independent entities from their parents. Oftentimes, their parents will live with them and the son/ daughter will begin to provide for their parents. This trend was interesting to see because it also sheds light on what the society values. In the USA, society values letting go of your parents’ hands and moving forward. In South Korea, society values the co-dependent relationship between parent and children.

Farmer treasure story

Busker busker song/ common idioms

These past two weeks, we analyzed another Korean folktale. It was about a farmer who had four sons who were uninterested in farming but were eager to make quick money. Therefore, when the farmer was about to pass away, he shared with his sons that he had buried treasure under the grape seed farmland. The sons, hearing this and wanting to strike it rich, picked up their shovels and dug for months across the entire land. However, when they did not find anything, they gave up. When grape season arrived, they saw that the land they were plowing had reaped a whole field of crops. They then realized the true treasure their father had wanted them to find: the value of hard work.

We also, similarly to Baby Shark, also listened to the Spring Blossoms Ending by Busker Busker. However, many of the vocabulary words were redacted, and we had to fill in the blanks. After listening to the song several times, we also learned about other vocabulary words we missed as well as some common idioms. It was cool to learn these idioms because many of them had meanings I did not expect. For example, there is an idiom that roughly translates to someone’s ear being too thin. This means that the individual listens to others’ perspectives too much and is easily swayed by what other people suggest they do. Another translates to your stomach hurting. However, this means that you are jealous. It was fun to learn these because it is one thing to learn what words and phrases mean. It is another to learn the indirect meanings and contexts of idioms.

• Teach someone using the activity you created in Week 9; reflect upon the effectiveness of the activity.

I taught my friend the different names of stores in Korean. I then asked him to try to flip the cards up and see if he could remember the Korean word associated with the card. I think that overall the activity was harder than it seemed. He remembered some stores, but, for the most part, he could only remember a few syllables from the words. I think that it was a challenge because not only were the words multiple syllables, but they also did not have much meaning to him.

I think that in the future, I would make the activity more simple by maybe giving some of the syllables of the word. By having some sort of familiarity to the sounds, it may be possible that the word will be easier to recall and recognize. Overall, the activity was entertaining to administer and watch. However, I do not think it was fully effective for learning. I think that it was too challenging to remember and recall multiple syllable words for a beginner.

• Create a learning activity to teach someone else something you have learned in your language; outline this activity in your learning journal.  

I created an activity where I drew pictures of various stores on flashcards. I then plan to teach someone the various names of these stores. Then I plan to ask them to turn all of the flashcards with the drawings facedown. When they flip a card and see the photo, I will first ask them to say what it is in English. Then I will ask them what it is in Korean.

I initially thought about writing the Korean word, but I thought that a non-Korean speaker would have difficult matching the word to the picture. As the characters do not have any meaning to them, it would not make sense to use them. Therefore, I changed them to pictures instead.

-고있다, -고계시다, -을래요

These past two weeks, we learned how to describe what someone is in the progress of doing- essentially the equivalent of adding -ing to words in English. As South Korea is a hierarchical society, we learned the different structures of how to say what my friend (same age is doing) versus what a grandpa is doing (older age). For people our age, we would say _____ -고있다, while we would say ______-고계시다. The activity would be in the blank.

We also learned how to conjugate the words to fit properly in the blanks. It is interesting because I have noticed that there are always exceptions in every language. There is a universal rule to conjugating these words, but there are exceptions for when there is a special rule that needs to be followed. I noticed this trend also exists in other languages I have studied, such as English and Spanish.

We also learned how to ask people to do an activity, using the ending -을래요? We would attach the conjugated word in the beginning of the word and attach this ending to the end. It is interesting because, to my knowledge, this would only be used for people our age. For people who are older than us, we would not use a question but more of a statement- question. It is a question but it is said as a request that does not end in a question mark. In this way, it is more polite and indirect.

• In your learning journal, reflect upon your progress to date, consider the effectiveness of your learning plan and activities, and discuss what changes--if any--you will make to finish the semester.

I think that I am doing well progress-wise. I think that I like having a learning plan because I have some specific goals that I want to learn personally. These include goals such as learning the names of countries and personality characteristics to describe others. However, I also like being in a classroom setting because I get to learn the topics other students have wanted to learn. Through this, I was able to learn about colors and the history of Korea, as well as read some cool folktales. I think that for activities,

I do agree that my learning plan is heavily dependent on speaking with my mom in Korean. Therefore, I hope to speak Korean with others, such as my Korean speaking friends on campus. I think that this is a change I would like to make because I think speaking to one person may lead to biases. My mom is biased because she knows my dialect and my pronunciation of certain words. However, I want to also elevate my Korean to go beyond these factors.

However, besides this, I am happy with my learning progress. I like that sometimes Heera chooses what we learn. I sometimes choose what we learn. And Seong Hye Teacher also decides what we learn. It is a combined effort and, in this way, I feel that my Korean learning experience is more well-rounded.

Post your third bi-weekly report on your language-learning activities

Colors, opposites, -지만, tiger folktale, countries, 3.1 day

These past two weeks, we learned about how to say colors in Korean. I previously learned about colors, so it was a nice review. However, it was also a challenge because we learned more specific colors that I did not know before. Colors such as light blue (하늘색) and neon (형광). I think that, in general, I know what basic words to use. However, it is a challenge to go a step up from there and use more specific words. We went around the room labelling objects in the room (including Heera’s sweater) with their respective colors.

We also read together a Korean folktale about a woman who was poor, but one day she worked for a whole day and was paid in rice cakes. Eager to take them to her children, she walked home but a tiger kept saying he would eat her if she didn’t give him some. When she gave all of them to him eventually, he ate her and went to her home and disguised himself as the mom to also eat her children. Eventually, the children are saved by God when he sends down a rope, but the tiger dies when he tries to climb the rope but he falls to his death. I thought this was a sad story, but I think it can possibly shed light on what values Koreans like that have developed the heroes’ personalities in this folktale. Traits such as eager to help and protect others and being moral are valued, while trying to take advantage of these efforts is frowned upon.

We also learned about the various names of countries. As I studied abroad last year, I was eager to learn the names of countries to share where I have been. Some countries I have been to include Germany (독일), the UK (영국), and Spain (스페인). I am excited to use these words when describing my adventures and experiences. We also learned about 3.1 day, a day of protest against being under Japanese rule in the 20th century. To this day, it is an important and revered holiday that is celebrated and remembered every year.

• Post your second bi-weekly report on your language-learning activities.
• Baby Shark
• Types of stores
• 으러 가다

These past two weeks, Seong Hye Teacher gave us the lyrics to Baby Shark. However, she left some areas of the song blank. She challenged us to listen closely and fill the blanks in if we could. I thought this was a great challenge because listening and reading comprehension are so different. It is one thing to read the lyrics as you listen to a song, but it is another to actually listen carefully and try to decipher what the word is. It requires a more active stance of learning that reading itself does not offer. I thought this activity was very enjoyable overall.

In addition, we also learned some vocabulary words for what types of stores we are going to. For example, if you wanted to go to a department store, such as Nordstrom, you would say 백화점. If you are going to a bakery, you could say 빵집. If you are going to a flower store, you would say 꽃 가게. I appreciated this activity because while some words were review, a lot of words were also words I never used before. Instead of saying store in Korean, the next time I go somewhere, I could be more specific and shed more light in where I am going.

We also learned how to accompany saying we are going to a store with the words -으러 가다. If we want to say someone is going to go to a certain store, the sentence structure would be: ____ -으러 가다. The words can be changed slightly to match who is doing the going to the store/ whether you want to make it a request.

Korean elder buying food relationships

I think that the dynamic of relationships are interesting in Korea. For example, I recently went to go get Cellar with Seong Hye Teacher and Angella. When we arrived, our teacher insisted that she paid for our meal. Though I insisted back to her that I would pay for her meal because it was her first time, she refused. She explained that as the oldest of us three, it was her duty to take care of us and treat us. I thought this was a novel concept because this relationship dynamic around age does not exist as much in the USA.

I think that as both Korean and American, it is a challenge for me to pick which side to go with. In the USA, it is polite that if a friend buys you a meal, you also reciprocate by buying the next meal. However, I wonder if this dynamic in Korea is not the same way in different age relationships.

Despite this internal conflict, I overall appreciate Seong Hye Teacher’s gestures because it showed us that she wanted to take care of us. I think that this experience taught me more about how to handle social settings in these circumstances. Though my American instincts may feel the urge to insist that I pay, it is also important to respect the other individual’s cultural values. I appreciate my friendship and teacher-student relationship with Seong Hye Teacher, and I want to respect and learn further about the dynamics age brings to a social relationship.

• post an evaluation of your First Artifact conversation.  Evaluate your artifact for accent, cultural appropriateness, and linguistic accuracy.
  • What did you do well?
  • What do you need to improve?
  • How do you plan to make the necessary improvements?

This is a conversation between my mom and I talking about what we usually do over the weekend. My mom shares that she enjoys hiking, while I share that I am usually at the library. I also told her my order when we go to a coffee shop. While I study, I like to have drinks with some caffeine- therefore, I tell my mom that I like to drink iced green teas.

I think that I did well overall explaining what I do on the weekends. I thought my pronunciation improved as I practiced saying the words over the past few weeks. I think that I also have a lot more vocabulary knowledge, such as when I explain I like to drink iced green teas. My mom corrected me, so I tried to repeat after her. I also need to improve my cultural appropriateness. In a setting such as this, it would be more polite to speak to my mom with a formal tone when I am in public.

I plan to make these changes by remembering what the word for iced green tea                                                                                                                                                                               is in the future and further practicing what else I can say when asked what I like to do. I also plan to practice using more formal terms as that is an area that I still struggle to remember to do.

Artifact%20%231.mp3

In this talk with my mom, we discuss what we did over the weekend and what we usually order at a coffee shop.

In this talk, my mom and I talk about which stores to go to.

Artifact%20%232.mp3

In this artifact, I talk with my mom about the countries I've been to while studying abroad.

Artifact%20%233.mp3

Korean differences in society (social interactions SSem mentioned in the workplace)

I was talking to Seong Hye Teacher today, and she said that she will miss the USA a lot when she leaves because the work/ life atmosphere is different from South Korea. When I asked her to explain, she gladly did. She shared that in Korea, there is a larger emphasis on working longer hours. She said that it is not unusual to work twelve hours or more a day compared to the American average of eight or nine hours. Furthermore, she also shared that the dynamics between superiors were different. When a superior asks you for something, it is highly rude to not do as they say.

She also shared that the work/life balance is very different in the USA. She shared that in the USA, she noticed that college students work very hard. This is contrasted in South Korea where college students work hard, but the hardest parts of their academic career (getting into university) is already done. Thus, the cultural norms surrounding college are different between the USA and South Korea.

I think that it is interesting to see what is normal from one country to another. It is interesting because hearing new perspectives that do not align with mine makes me curious about what made it so that our values differ in that way. I want to learn more about these cultural differences, and if the impact of Westernization is potentially changing the cultural norms in countries, such as South Korea.

Post your first bi-weekly report on your language-learning activities

In the first two weeks of Korean, I learned vocabulary words for various personality traits and how to use them in a sentence when describing my "ideal type". I thought this activity was very fun because it not only required me to learn the vocab words, but it also challenged me to use those new words when describing people. 

In one activity, we went around the room describing some people in our lives and what personality trait we associate with them. For me, I shared that my sister is extroverted (활발한), my mom as optimistic (낙천적인), and myself as creative (창의적인). We also learned that, based on the way we say the characteristic, the conjugation at the end changes. For example:

When I say that my sister is extroverted, there are two ways of saying the sentence:

1. Joy is extroverted (조이는 활발해요)

2. Joy is an extroverted person (조이는 활발한 사람이에요)

The adjective could either be accompanied with 해 if it ends in 한, or it could be accompanied with 인 if it ends in 이.

I found that it was difficult for me to go from this step to describing my ideal type. It was challenging to keep up with these changes, but also having to then form sentences was a struggle. However, I enjoyed learning about how to use many of the vocab words. It was a good problem to have.