Journal Entry #2
For this assignment, I was asked to write a review on my favorite Korean drama or movie and my thoughts on Korean media and its effect on culture moving forward. This assignment was a little more fun than the last one as it did not have the same weight as the political topics we touched on last time, but it did force me to stretch my writing skills all the same. This time around, it was a topic I was much more familiar with which gave me a lot more vocabulary to work with. Admittedly, writing about a drama is also much more fun than writing about politics so it was a little easier to lean in and really start putting my thoughts to paper. I wrote about a K-drama called "Hospital Playlist," which is a horrible translation from the Korean title, but it is essentially a show that portrays the lives of 5 different doctors in Korea who are trying to balance adulthood with their jobs. It is also known for its medical accuracy and its accurate use of hospital terminology. The show does an incredible job of showing the sacrifices that doctors make in their personal lives for their jobs. I found that I used Google translate a lot less with this assignment. The simpler topic allowed my brain to focus on formulating more complex sentences rather than focusing on learning vocabulary. It seems that my brain can't handle a rigorous attempt at both. I think having assignments focused both on more complex words, and then having a separate assignment more focused on more complex sentence structure and grammar is an excellent way for me to learn. Rather than discouraging myself that I don't know one or the either, diving deep into one of the two seems to be the way for me. I was also asked to discuss the future of Korean culture and media in the world. This was a little more difficult as it's a little more multidimensional than just writing about a show. However, even with this I found it very rewarding to express my thoughts on a more complex topic.
For this assignment, I was asked to write a review on my favorite Korean drama or movie and my thoughts on Korean media and its effect on culture moving forward. This assignment was a little more fun than the last one as it did not have the same weight as the political topics we touched on last time, but it did force me to stretch my writing skills all the same. This time around, it was a topic I was much more familiar with which gave me a lot more vocabulary to work with. Admittedly, writing about a drama is also much more fun than writing about politics so it was a little easier to lean in and really start putting my thoughts to paper. I wrote about a K-drama called "Hospital Playlist," which is a horrible translation from the Korean title, but it is essentially a show that portrays the lives of 5 different doctors in Korea who are trying to balance adulthood with their jobs. It is also known for its medical accuracy and its accurate use of hospital terminology. The show does an incredible job of showing the sacrifices that doctors make in their personal lives for their jobs. I found that I used Google translate a lot less with this assignment. The simpler topic allowed my brain to focus on formulating more complex sentences rather than focusing on learning vocabulary. It seems that my brain can't handle a rigorous attempt at both. I think having assignments focused both on more complex words, and then having a separate assignment more focused on more complex sentence structure and grammar is an excellent way for me to learn. Rather than discouraging myself that I don't know one or the either, diving deep into one of the two seems to be the way for me. I was also asked to discuss the future of Korean culture and media in the world. This was a little more difficult as it's a little more multidimensional than just writing about a show. However, even with this I found it very rewarding to express my thoughts on a more complex topic.
Comments
It’s great that you noticed how focusing on either vocabulary or sentence structure helped you write more confidently — that sounds like a smart strategy. I also love how you tied your personal interest in "Hospital Playlist" to deeper cultural reflections about Korean media’s global impact!
Funny enough, Hospital Playlist is one of my mom's favorite netflix shows. Although I haven't watched it yet, I think its great that this was used as a resource for your Korean learning as there are a lot of day to day interactions and conversations that you were probably able to take away from. I know that the show provides captions but I wonder at what level you would be able to understand the show without the captions and if this would be beneficial at all in the learning process in watching a show.