April Journal Entry
As my final semester at UR comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on how fruitful my language learning journey has been in both SDLC 105 and 110. Over the course of the semester, I became more and more confident in my Korean, which significantly benefited my relationship with my parents and my international friends from Korea. Even though I do consider myself to be proficient in Korean, I always found it a bit difficult to connect with people on an even deeper level through the means of only speaking in Korean. However, I truly believe that this is something I began to overcome during my language learning journey with David. My vocabulary has increased beyond what I thought was possible in just one semester. Out of all of the strategies we tried to implement, I quickly learned that simply conversing in Korean was the best way for me to pick up new words and learn, as I was being fully immersed in the context of the conversation. I also learned that applying skills is the best way to have them stick, because if I didn’t use new words within a certain period of learning them, I would forget the words. I could still remember if someone else used it, but I found it difficult to recall it on my own. From what I have learned about language, I am realizing how powerful a tool it is to live my day-to-day life. Because I can speak both Korean and English proficiently, I think I oftentimes take for granted my ability to be able to switch back and forth, whether that is me speaking, thinking, or translating/interpreting. Having this skill has allowed me to form so many deeper connections with Korean people that I normally would not see myself getting along with at first. This semester, I especially reflected on how language can really connect people and bring them together, as well as how interconnected culture is tied with language. I grew up being pretty immersed in my culture, so I didn’t realize that it was as important because I always assumed it to be a given. However, I can not imagine being Korean without celebrating traditional holidays, eating traditional foods and dishes, knowing old tales, and more. Throughout this semester, I not only learned a lot about Korean, but I also grew a lot as a person, specifically as a Korean American individual. My key takeaways from SDLC 110 include, but are not limited to: there is no limit to language, hard work pays off, community and support are vital in learning, and more specifically, Korean is a beautiful language. Moving forward, I hope to continue implementing everything I learned in SDLC 105 and 110 into my daily life, and I hope to see more progress as I mature more and grow as a proud Korean American. Overall, I would deem both my fall and spring semesters in SDLC as a successful experience, and I would definitely recommend others to take this course.
As my final semester at UR comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on how fruitful my language learning journey has been in both SDLC 105 and 110. Over the course of the semester, I became more and more confident in my Korean, which significantly benefited my relationship with my parents and my international friends from Korea. Even though I do consider myself to be proficient in Korean, I always found it a bit difficult to connect with people on an even deeper level through the means of only speaking in Korean. However, I truly believe that this is something I began to overcome during my language learning journey with David. My vocabulary has increased beyond what I thought was possible in just one semester. Out of all of the strategies we tried to implement, I quickly learned that simply conversing in Korean was the best way for me to pick up new words and learn, as I was being fully immersed in the context of the conversation. I also learned that applying skills is the best way to have them stick, because if I didn’t use new words within a certain period of learning them, I would forget the words. I could still remember if someone else used it, but I found it difficult to recall it on my own. From what I have learned about language, I am realizing how powerful a tool it is to live my day-to-day life. Because I can speak both Korean and English proficiently, I think I oftentimes take for granted my ability to be able to switch back and forth, whether that is me speaking, thinking, or translating/interpreting. Having this skill has allowed me to form so many deeper connections with Korean people that I normally would not see myself getting along with at first. This semester, I especially reflected on how language can really connect people and bring them together, as well as how interconnected culture is tied with language. I grew up being pretty immersed in my culture, so I didn’t realize that it was as important because I always assumed it to be a given. However, I can not imagine being Korean without celebrating traditional holidays, eating traditional foods and dishes, knowing old tales, and more. Throughout this semester, I not only learned a lot about Korean, but I also grew a lot as a person, specifically as a Korean American individual. My key takeaways from SDLC 110 include, but are not limited to: there is no limit to language, hard work pays off, community and support are vital in learning, and more specifically, Korean is a beautiful language. Moving forward, I hope to continue implementing everything I learned in SDLC 105 and 110 into my daily life, and I hope to see more progress as I mature more and grow as a proud Korean American. Overall, I would deem both my fall and spring semesters in SDLC as a successful experience, and I would definitely recommend others to take this course.
Comments
It's really inspiring to see you connect to your cultural roots through language at UR. It's unfortunate that UR is yet to develop a Korean LLC, yet from having SDLC 105 together, I can see your passion for learning a language. I especially liked your point about realizing how language connects people on a deeper level and how being bilingual allows you to build bridges across cultures. Your honesty about the challenges of retention and the value of conversation-based learning also adds a helpful, personal touch. I do hope the learning continues, I think language plays such an important role in fostering a stronger sense of identity!
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 also the culture. As a Korean American, I feel like I have a distance from Korean culture, but I think spending more time learning cultural artifacts definitely helped.