The self-directed language learning was a great experience for me. I was able to learn more about my family’s country, South Korea, and immerse myself into the culture and language. I did not expect to learn so much about the country, thinking that I had the basic knowledge about it. I realized that there was more to learn than what my parents would talk to me about once in awhile. I exposed myself to various social cues and prominent current events (news articles). In addition, I widened my vocabulary and strengthened my writing skills.
As a language learner and cultural explorer, I gained insight on how Korea was different in the ways that people communicated. There were basic set of rules to keep in mind like bowing, knowing honorific terms, and being mindful of the rank of others (as in age, status, experience). Because the content was enjoyable, I was able to keep myself in track of constantly learning new material. Learning was straightforward but actually applying what I learned in real-life settings was hard. I felt awkward and did not feel comfortable talking in Korean to people other than my parents. When I went to Grand Mart and could not find a certain product, I went up to a worker and purposely talked in Korean to practice. Despite feeling out of place when talking to others in Korean, I really enjoyed seeing the progress that I made throughout the semester. I was able to retain so many new words and was up-to-date with the current events in Korea. When I would call my parents, I would talk to them about what was going on in Korea and they were really fond to hear that I knew what was happening. Thus, I feel as though that I made good progress overall.
I will continue learning Korean next semester by taking SDLC 111. This will allow me to practice my Korean continuously until I go to Korea during the summer. I want to be able to talk and read as fluently as possible so that my Grandma is proud of me. Alongside increasing my knowledge of vocabulary words and reading skills, I want to learn anatomical and medical terms. I know that I want to get into the healthcare setting after I graduate so I think that knowing those words in Korean is helpful.
I think that the readings from the first week of class was very helpful because it set of realistic goals for me when thinking about how to structure my learning plan. Learning a new language is easy and going step by step at one’s own pace is the best way to progress. In addition, the “Communicative Competence” readings were useful because it gave detailed information on different characteristics of communication that I did not know about. It shed light on a different perspective on language. During class, I personally enjoyed watching videos because they were very informational in way that I was able to comprehend. Also, some videos, like the one about how language affects how colors are perceived, were very interesting. Overall I learned a lot about language and communication in class and was able to connect the class to my process of learning Korean. Next semester, I would like to go more indepth on the communicative competence in specific settings like schools, restaurants, work, etc. in Korea.
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