SDLC 112 - Learning Journal #1
As I come to approach my third semester of Korean learning through SDLC, my goal is to establish more confidence in my language speaking abilities as well as fluency. One goal that I’ve come to set for myself is to hold out sentences in Korean. What I mean by this is that during conversations, I noticed I have a tendency to code switch or go back and forth from English to Korean when I am unable to find a specific word for Korean. I realized that this had been inhibiting my ability to learn Korean and I’ve grown dependent on English which is my native language. Even though it may be embarrassing, I’ve mentally made it a goal to complete sentences or phrases in Korean despite not knowing what to say sometimes, or if my grammar was out of place from time to time.
With my language partner for this semester, David, this has been made especially helpful as he is someone who is far better in Korean than I am. Furthermore, he has been super encouraging and knowledgeable when it comes to bridging the gap with words or appropriate terms that I am not very familiar with. Repeating sentences, communicating back and forth, and having my language partner ask questions was helpful in applying my skills. Sometimes he would ask questions, then I would ask questions, and this repetition of back and forth was very effective in building my confidence in my communication skills.
Reflecting on my emotions, I definitely felt frustrated at times and embarrassed as my level of fluency relative to my English speaking abilities was vastly different. Something I recall that successfully attributed to my learning was constantly revisiting parts that I would frequently mess up on. For example, if I had incorrectly mispronounced a word, David would pause and provide an example of how to say a certain word properly. Drilling these minor errors were crucial in also improving my overall fluency.
As I come to approach my third semester of Korean learning through SDLC, my goal is to establish more confidence in my language speaking abilities as well as fluency. One goal that I’ve come to set for myself is to hold out sentences in Korean. What I mean by this is that during conversations, I noticed I have a tendency to code switch or go back and forth from English to Korean when I am unable to find a specific word for Korean. I realized that this had been inhibiting my ability to learn Korean and I’ve grown dependent on English which is my native language. Even though it may be embarrassing, I’ve mentally made it a goal to complete sentences or phrases in Korean despite not knowing what to say sometimes, or if my grammar was out of place from time to time.
With my language partner for this semester, David, this has been made especially helpful as he is someone who is far better in Korean than I am. Furthermore, he has been super encouraging and knowledgeable when it comes to bridging the gap with words or appropriate terms that I am not very familiar with. Repeating sentences, communicating back and forth, and having my language partner ask questions was helpful in applying my skills. Sometimes he would ask questions, then I would ask questions, and this repetition of back and forth was very effective in building my confidence in my communication skills.
Reflecting on my emotions, I definitely felt frustrated at times and embarrassed as my level of fluency relative to my English speaking abilities was vastly different. Something I recall that successfully attributed to my learning was constantly revisiting parts that I would frequently mess up on. For example, if I had incorrectly mispronounced a word, David would pause and provide an example of how to say a certain word properly. Drilling these minor errors were crucial in also improving my overall fluency.
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