Reflection Paper 1
Joseph Jeon
Growing up I was put into Korean school which is translated to what was called “Hangul Hakyeo”. These were often hosted by local Korean churches and played the role of a daycare on the weekends for working parents. Here, many Korean-American kids would learn the phonetics and grammar of Korean along with reading, writing, and speaking. These “schools” would also offer extracurricular classes like Taekwondo, chess, soccer, and even cooking. Personally, I have very negative memories of my time in Korean school. As a young boy who just wanted to go outside and play on the weekends, I was sent to another school to learn a language I did not want to learn. Reflecting on this time, I realized that I learned barely any Korean if any during this time. Due to the high stress environment that I created for myself simply by not wanting to be there, it was like my brain refused to cooperate or even try to remember things. Instead, I looked forward to the Taekwondo classes or the soccer games that were held after. (I also looked forward to the Korean snacks which are infinitely better than American snacks!)
Ironically, it was at a different Korean church where I later learned and polished my Korean. This time however, it was not a class. I was simply surrounded by Korean kids and I was forced to learn and use Korean on a weekly basis if I did not want to be castrated by that community. If I wanted friends, I would have to learn Korean. This pressure pushed me to learn as quickly as possible. Along with learning basic Korean grammar, I learned slang and Korean jokes as well since I was learning by interacting with kids my age. Though at the time, I felt lonely and excluded even as I tried my hardest to keep up, looking back, I can see that that effort has produced fruits now.
The absolute best way I have learned Korean has been a mix of watching Korean shows and then using what I learn with my parents. My favorite Korean show is “Running Man.” It’s just a variety TV show where they essentially play games and have missions to complete together. It’s a comedy show that’s extremely easy to watch and has been around for more than a decade so there is plenty of source material. There are also new episodes that come out every week and these episodes are often 1.5 hours long. The members of the show speak fast and think of relevant jokes on their feet. So, when I began watching, I just watched for enjoyment with English subtitles. Eventually, there were recurring phrases and words that I would employ in my own vocabulary and even used them in my everyday conversation with my parents and church members. I would often get positive reinforcement whenever my parents would say, “How do you know that word?” or “It’s been easier to communicate with you lately.” The combination of associating enjoyment in the learning process along with having the opportunity to put it into practice almost immediately gave me by far the most success.
Joseph Jeon
Growing up I was put into Korean school which is translated to what was called “Hangul Hakyeo”. These were often hosted by local Korean churches and played the role of a daycare on the weekends for working parents. Here, many Korean-American kids would learn the phonetics and grammar of Korean along with reading, writing, and speaking. These “schools” would also offer extracurricular classes like Taekwondo, chess, soccer, and even cooking. Personally, I have very negative memories of my time in Korean school. As a young boy who just wanted to go outside and play on the weekends, I was sent to another school to learn a language I did not want to learn. Reflecting on this time, I realized that I learned barely any Korean if any during this time. Due to the high stress environment that I created for myself simply by not wanting to be there, it was like my brain refused to cooperate or even try to remember things. Instead, I looked forward to the Taekwondo classes or the soccer games that were held after. (I also looked forward to the Korean snacks which are infinitely better than American snacks!)
Ironically, it was at a different Korean church where I later learned and polished my Korean. This time however, it was not a class. I was simply surrounded by Korean kids and I was forced to learn and use Korean on a weekly basis if I did not want to be castrated by that community. If I wanted friends, I would have to learn Korean. This pressure pushed me to learn as quickly as possible. Along with learning basic Korean grammar, I learned slang and Korean jokes as well since I was learning by interacting with kids my age. Though at the time, I felt lonely and excluded even as I tried my hardest to keep up, looking back, I can see that that effort has produced fruits now.
The absolute best way I have learned Korean has been a mix of watching Korean shows and then using what I learn with my parents. My favorite Korean show is “Running Man.” It’s just a variety TV show where they essentially play games and have missions to complete together. It’s a comedy show that’s extremely easy to watch and has been around for more than a decade so there is plenty of source material. There are also new episodes that come out every week and these episodes are often 1.5 hours long. The members of the show speak fast and think of relevant jokes on their feet. So, when I began watching, I just watched for enjoyment with English subtitles. Eventually, there were recurring phrases and words that I would employ in my own vocabulary and even used them in my everyday conversation with my parents and church members. I would often get positive reinforcement whenever my parents would say, “How do you know that word?” or “It’s been easier to communicate with you lately.” The combination of associating enjoyment in the learning process along with having the opportunity to put it into practice almost immediately gave me by far the most success.
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