Over this semester, I believe that I have greatly improved my speaking. I am more comfortable and more confident when speaking than I was before. I contribute this to the change in scenery in my tutoring class as well as the practice I have been doing outside of class in conversations with my boyfriend. I am still not the best and I have a lot more improvement to do, but I am a lot better than I was before. My reading and writing have also somewhat improved as well. In regards to my learning plan, I definitely set my goals too high, but it was good experience to try to complete the tasks I had suggested for myself. I think I have set a good foundation for future language learning.
Tia McArtis's Posts (52)
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In this project I talked about the boom of Korean beauty products and how they made their way to the United States and across the world. The gap between Korean products and American consumers has been bridged by startup companies that are usually headed by young Americans of Korean descent. Also, American brands and stores are selling these products under the term “K-beauty” and are even making their own versions of these products. The appeal is that these products are luxury quality for a low price. This project also talks about the Korean mindset regarding beauty products as well as the use of traditional herbal medicine within them.
Project Link:
Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35408764
https://www.fastcompany.com/3038283/why-korean-skincare-is-booming
http://www.beautypackaging.com/issues/2016-03-01/view_features/korean-cosmetics-setting-the-pace-for-global-beauty
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-south-korea-beauty-is-skin-deep-just-make-sure-to-pierce-the-stubble/2015/05/10/4779f642-f354-11e4-bca5-21b51bbdf93e_story.html?utm_term=.152f8f23ba37
I have learned many things over multiple areas of culture. I have learned about the traditional aspects with traditional music and pansori. I have learned about traditional games that are older versions of games we know and love. I have learned about the more modern concept of beauty and the importance of skincare and makeup. I have even learned about the Korean mindset regarding politics and how Koreans live their everyday lives. I have learned about the past, present, and implications for the future. I feel that my cultural experience with South Korea this semester was very well rounded and interesting.
Over these last few weeks I have been taking more of a realistic approach to Korean learning. I have been watching a Korean news source on YouTube and trying to gather what they were talking about. I couldn’t understand most of it but we have had some conversations about it in class. We talked about the current situation between Trump and North Korea and what this means for South Korea as well as the situation with South Korea’s former president Park Geunhye.
Other things I have learned these past weeks was about hobbies and what we do in our free time. The grammar we learned for this topic pertained to present tense (는 것/기) and if-then statements ((으)면).
I also learned about describing travel plans like where we would want to go and what we would do there. The grammar we learned for this topic pertained to something you are going to do in the future ((으)ㄹ 거예요).
South Korean women and men cherish their beauty products. Korean beauty road shops are on every street in Seoul and carry every kind of makeup up and skincare with every kind of ingredient. The focus of Korean beauty is to correct and repair the skin rather than to cover it with makeup. As a result, makeup is usually very light and natural looking. South Korean women will spend twice as much of their income on skincare and other beauty products while men buy more than men in any other country. The look everyone goes for is bright, clear, soft skin that glows and is very dewy. Many Korean products are geared toward this dewy finish that many Americans would consider oily. The mindset is that plump, dewy skin allows them to look younger and fresher. Korean brands have begun to launch skincare and makeup products specifically for men, providing them with specialty cushion BB creams, brown products, and even military face paint that is less harsh on the skin. Skincare and makeup is a very important concept for Koreans of all ages from children to the elderly.
Mock application essay about my interest in Korean language
사람들은 저한테 왜 한국과 한국 문화를 좋아해 물어볼 때 나는 대답을 찾고 있습니다. 저는 항상 "제가 언어를 좋아해서" 먼저 말합니다. 옛날에 제가 5 년의 스페인어, 3 년의 독일어, 1 년의 중국어를 곻부했습니다. 저는 항상 많이 언어를 말할 수있는 사람들을 매력적이 있고, 그 사람들처럼 되고 싶었습니다. 이 모든 언어와 모든 단어를 기억하고 생각없이 문장이 만들는 것을 어땠습니까? 제가 많이 언어로 할 수 없다면 제가 적어도 하나를 할 수 있기를 좋겠습니다. 제가 "왜 한국어" 물어볼 때, 언어를 독특하게 만드는 작은 것들을 생각합니다. 이름끝에 추가 사랑과 존중의 단어 있고, 다른 단어을 만들기 위해 두 배로 된 단어가 또 있다고, 또는 어떤 단어는 더 귀엽고 엄격하게 소리를 낼 수 있습니다. "편하게 어떤것 하고있다"거나 "잘하고 있다"라고 말할 수 있습니다. 아무도 생각하지 않은 언어의 작은 것들은 제가 항상 생각하는 것들입니다. 언어를 영어와 더 멀리하고 감정이 넣는 단어와 구에 가장 좋아합니다. 그것을 말하는 사람들에게는 더 좋아합니다. 저는 모든 것이 공유하고 있고 식사를 할 때 사람들과 함께하는 것을 좋아합니다. 저는 사람들이 장로들에게 존경심을 표하는 방법과 그방법이 다른 언어가 있어서 좋아합니다. 저는 그들이 메이크업과 스킨 케어 및 패션에 관심이 많아서 저같은 큰 관심을 가지고있는 것을 좋아합니다. 한국인의 삶의 방식은 미국인 들과는 너무나 달라서 저는 이 삶의 방식이 저의 성격과 관심에 더 적합하다는 것을 알게됩니다.
I am often asked why I am so interested in Korean and Korean culture and every time I am asked I struggle to find an answer. I begin by saying that I have always been interested in languages. In my lifetime I have taken five years of Spanish, three years of German and one year of Mandarin Chinese. I have always found people that could speak multiple languages so fascinating and wanted to be just like them. How was it possible to remember all these words in all these languages and be able to put them together in strings of sentences without a thought? If I can’t do it with multiple languages I at least want to be able to do that with one. When I ask myself “why Korean” I think of the little things about the language that make it unique: the terms of endearment and honorifics that are added to names, the fact that there are words that are doubled to make onomatopoeia, or the fact that some words can be altered to make them sound more cute or strict, even the way that you can say you are “comfortably doing something” or you are “doing something well”. The little things of the language that no one really thinks about are the ones that I think about constantly. The things that separate the language further from English and the emotion that can be put into words and phrases is what I find the most interesting. When it comes to the people that speak it, I find even more interest. I love how everything is shared and how everyone likes to be with people when it is time for a meal. I love how people show respect to their elders and the fact there’s a whole different method of speech for it. I love that they care so much about makeup and skincare and fashion which are things I take great interest in as well. The way of life of Koreans is so different from Americans and I find this way of life more suited to my personality and interests.
Over these last two weeks I went back to my roots and used online language learning programs. I also downloaded software on my computer that changed certain words on the current screen into Korean as well as dabbled into Schola. The learning program was not as fun to learn from since it was just dialogue and reading comprehension and I prefer to talk through the lessons. The computer program would have been a good concept except the program I downloaded was translating easy words or words that didn’t need a translation (the, it, etc). Schola was harder than I expected but I got the hang of it.
Other things I learned these past weeks was about shopping and what goods we wanted to buy. The grammar we learned pertaining to this topic were units for nouns like we would use in two pairs of socks or one bunch of bananas.
I also learned about places and we described places we liked, wanted to go to, or had specific meaning for us. The grammar we learned for this topic pertained to alternative suggestions (지 말고) and explanations to why something couldn’t happen (어/아서… 지 못하다).
The game I made to teach someone something I learned was pretty fun and very competitive. There was a lot of shouting but the purpose of the game was received. Playing a game to learn a language (especially using candy as an incentive) really influences people to want to learn. My friends said they will never forget which modifier to use ever again.
Yut Nori (윷놀이) is a traditional Korean game that involves a lot of strategy. It consists of four wooden sticks which are flat on one side and rounded on the other, a game board, and 8 playing tokens. The object of the game is to return all of your tokens back to start and you can take shortcuts if you land on a corner. For a score of Do (one stick flat side up) you move one space, for Gae (two sticks) you move two, for Geol you move three, for Yut you move four and throw again, and for Mo (all rounded side up) you move five spaces and throw again. If you land on a space occupied by an opponent they are forced to return to start. In American terms, it is basically an old version of Sorry and will cause a lot of tension between players.
An activity I can create to teach someone something I learned is a speed guessing game to correctly matching the modifier to the recipient according to formal speech. There will be a sentence that describes an adult/elder receiving something and a younger person/child receiving something with the reception modifier omitted. The players have to guess if it is the formal modifier (께/께서) or the informal modifier (한테/한테서). Points will be given in the form of candy. If someone answers correctly they get the candy, if not then someone else gets to steal. Whoever ends up with the most candy wins.
Over these last two weeks I’ve been trying to have some conversations with people around me outside of the classroom. Lately I have been having conversations with my boyfriend who is Korean. One of our more difficult topics was about family and the occupations family members have. He had to explain some words to me in English but he said I did well for the most part.
Other things I learned in these past weeks was about life as a college student (대학생활) and schedules. It was a little difficult to describe the other classes I was taking in Korean. The grammar we learned pertaining to this topic was the uses of “or” ((이)나) and “besides/outside of” (밖에), and asking if someone should do something ((으)ㄹ 까요).
I also learned something that coincided with my independent study, family introductions. In class we also introduced family members and talked about their ages and occupations. The grammar we learned pertaining to this topic was about sympathizing with something or someone (겠어요).
Based on the previous weeks I already see a lot of improvement. I am a lot more comfortable within my group now so I am not as afraid to speak in Korean as I was before. I am not as intimidated and I can easily talk with my classmates. Because I am more comfortable now, I am more confident in speaking, even if I am wrong, which is what you need to do in order to improve. I think I will be able to easily improve from now on.
Over these two weeks I did some Flipboard article reading. One of the articles that stuck with me was one about the burger that is served in a North Korean airport. Apparently it got a lot of attention after an LA times reporter talked about his experience eating the burger, calling it mysterious yet legendary. I also found a recipe or two I am thinking about trying in the future.
Other things I learned in these two weeks are about school majors, why we chose our majors and what we plan to do in the future. Grammar that we learned along with this topic was a form of polite refusal or rebuttal ((은)ㄴ데/는데요).
I also learned about roommates and introducing them, along with reading exercises about problems someone has with their roommates. Grammar that we learned along with this topic concerned being in the process of doing something (고 있다) and suggesting something ((으)ㄹ 래요).
One of the most popular films that are about pansori is called Seopyeonje (서편제). I watched this film when I was studying abroad in South Korea. It is a 1993 film that tells the story of a “family of traditional Korean pansori singers trying to make a living in the modern world”. It follows the story of Songhwa, her brother Dongho, and their father Yubong, a pansori singer that strictly trains his children to be pansori performers, believing that a truly great pansori artist must suffer. Dongho runs away but Songhwa stays and takes all of the suffering. Eventually Yubong blinds Songhwa so she can experience true suffering. Years later, Dongho finds Songhwa and performs with her once more. This film seemed to give an analogy to a deep part of the Korean mindset: one must suffer to achieve greatness.
Over these two weeks I’ve been doing more listening comprehension exercises so I have been watching Korean television shows. One of the shows I have been enjoying is called “I Can See Your Voice (너의 목소리 보여)”. Some of the contestants on the show ended up being skilled vocalists who do traditional Korean music (국악) and can sing pansori (판소리). I have found pansori very interesting for a while so this has inspired by cultural post and artifacts for this period.
Other things I have learned these weeks were about elders and grandparents. This led to a heavy practice of formal language, which is very difficult to remember to use. This formal language is used not only when speaking to elders, but when speaking of elders as well. Even if they are not present they are spoken about respectively.
Pansori (판소리) is a traditional Korean art that includes a singer accompanied by a drum. The singer is not only singing, but they deliver a story with narratives and gestures. The singer plays multiple characters in a story, so they must be good at changing voices that are full of emotion. It has been selected by UNESCO as an “intangible cultural heritage” that represents the country of Korea. The Pan in pansori means “a place where people gather” and Sori means “song”, meaning that pansori can be songs sung in gatherings.
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1z6hBHCXPf4
동재: 이 시계는 왜 사?
태영: 남자 친구한테 선물할 거야.
동재: 또? 전에도 바지 사 줬잖아.
태영: 그건 바지고, 이건 시계잖아.
동재: 넌 밀당도 몰라? 너무 잘해 주면 안돼. 가끔식 그 남자를 나쁘게 대우해야돼.
태영: 그런데 넌 오늘 여자 친구 안 만나?
동재: 이번 주엔 안 만나려고. 너무 자주 만나면 내가 소중한 걸 모르거든.
태영: 넌 진짜 ‘밀당의 고수’ 구나. 난 그렇게 못 하겠더라.
DJ: Why did you buy this watch?
TY: I’m giving this to my boyfriend as a present.
DJ: Again? You just bought him pants.
TY: Those were pants, this is a watch.
DJ: Don’t you know what push- pull is? You can’t treat him too well. Sometimes you have to treat him poorly.
TY: But are you not meeting your girlfriend today?
DJ: I’m not meeting her this week. If I meet her too often I won’t know how precious she is.
TY: Well aren’t you an expert in push-pull. For me I couldn’t do that.
This dialogue contains a trendy vocab word I learned in 110: 밀당. This word means push and pull which refers to how people push someone away to realize their worth and pull them back before it causes tension. It also uses some grammar that was also taught in 111 (한테) and includes new grammar as well (어/아 야돼/해).
The person I recorded this with said that I did very well in pronunciation and even some of my articulations and tones sounded very Korean. However, I feel that I pronounced some words a little off. I will continue to practice until I become more comfortable with dialogue.
Over these two weeks I mostly did a review of the things I learned in 110, specifically grammar and trendy vocab. Some things I had forgotten so I had to reteach myself.
Other things I learned in these weeks were about describing birthday events and identifying and reading certain dates. The grammar pertaining to this concerned saying from whom/which things are received or to whom they were given, taking formality into consideration (한테, 께, 에서).
I also learned about how to ask for and give phone numbers and answering questions and responding to problem with a certain reason. The grammar that we learned pertains to giving reasons (어/아서) and to express the need to do something (어/아야 되/하다).
My Learning Plan
My goal for this semester is to improve my speaking. Last semester I was not very comfortable speaking amongst my peers, but now that it is the second semester I believe I will be more comfortable since I have been exposed to the process before. My reading and writing are good for my level, so the main focus should be on speaking and conversation skills.
I want to explore the everyday life of Koreans as well as political problems concerning South Korea. I believe group discussions and further research will give me more insight to these topics. Hopefully understanding thee two topics will allow me to better understand the link between them and how they affect each other.
데이리 스킨 케어 루틴
- 첫번째는 더블 클렌징입니다. 화장을 지우고 있으면 제가 The Face Shop 미감수 클렌징 오일과 클렌징 폼을 사용합나다.
- 그 다음에 Skinfood Rice Wash-off Mask를 사용합니다. 이 마스크가 각질 제거와 브라이트닝을 좋습니다.
- 다음에는 토너를 사용합니다. 저는 Cosrx AHA / bha Clarifying Treatment Toner를 사용하고 있습니다. 이 토너가 각질 제거 및 피부 균형 유지에 도움이됩니다.
- 그 다음에 에센스를 사용합니다. Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence는 강력한 젤타이프 에센스 피부를 수복하고 있으니까 좋아합니다.
- 다음에는 시간이 있다면 제가 시트 마스크를 사용할 겁니다. 저는 Tonymoly를 사용하는 것을 좋아한다. 다른 피부 콘디션에 필요한 다른 성분들을 가지고있는 Real Sheet Mask Pack이는 좋습니다.
- 그 다음에 지성피부가 있으면, 피부를 맑게하는 Skinfood Peach Sake Pore Serum을 사용하겠습니다.
- 마지막으로 수분 크림이나 슬리핑팩을 사용합니다. Mizon Black Snail All in One 크림이나 Etude House Moistfull Collagen Sleeping Pack을 사용하겠습니다.
Daily skincare routine
- First step is double cleansing. First I use The Face Shop Rice Water Bright oil-based cleanser to remove makeup and then The Face Shop Rice Water Bright water-based foam cleanser to remove everything else.
- Next I use the Skinfood rice wash off mask. It helps to exfoliate and brighten my skin.
- Then I use a toner. I am currently using the Cosrx Aha/bha Clarifying Treatment Toner which helps with dead skin cell removal and skin balancing.
- Next I use an essence. I like to use the Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence because it is a gel that repairs my skin with powerful ingredients.
- Then if I have time I will put on a sheet mask. I like using the Tonymoly I’m Real Sheet Mask Pack which have different ingredients for different skin needs.
- Next if my skin is really oily, I will use my Skinfood Peach Sake Pore Serum which gets rid of oiliness.
- Finally I will put on a moisturizer or sleeping pack. I will use either the Mizon Black Snail All in One Cream or the Etude House Moistfull Collagen Sleeping Pack.
