The process of learning Korean has been going at a stable pace. I started off by asking my language teacher, Joo Hyunwoo, how my Korean was to see what I needed improvements on. I knew I was able to speak basic conversations with people because that was what I was exposed to at home. However, I did not learn how to speak past dialogues, write, and read in Korean. My language teacher did not exactly know my level and told me to watch a video but the words were too hard for me to understand. Afterwards, I began watching simpler clips to match my level and focused on pinpointing words I did not understand. I would write the words over multiple of times until I was able to recall it and memorized the definitions. I then tried to use the words in sentences to see if I really understood the meaning of the words. I did not want to purely memorize things, but wanted to apply my knowledge. Overall, I was able to learn a lot of new words and new that the self-learning was paying off because my parents noticed that I was using “different” vocabularies.
When connecting Korean to the culture of Korea, I realized the importance of respecting elders in various ways. For example, I did not know that I had to speak in honorific forms with elders. Because I speak to my parents in banmal (informal form of speech), I did not know that I had to speak to all elders, even those I did not know, in honorific forms. In addition, I was not used to bowing to other people while saying anyounghasaeyo (hello). I began enforcing this into my head so when I went to New Grand Mart to get food, I remembered to bow my head to the older woman behind the cashier. Furthermore, I learned about other body language gestures that pertained to the Korean culture. For example, when pouring an alcoholic drink to elders, two hands have to be used to show respect. When drinking the alcohol, I need to move my head to the slide and not make direct eye contact with my elder. I do not know as to why I have to do this, but it is a form of reverence.
To improve my communicative competence (utilizing language in the appropriate setting), I need to learn more about Korean culture and how language is molded to fit the society’s ideals/beliefs. To do so, I need to delve into more information about Korea through searching about it in websites like Google and Naver. I also need to watch videos, whether it is documentaries, interviews, or reality shows. Reality shows would show me how people act and talk in different settings and watching multiple videos would hopefully instill the social cues into my head. Also, I would learn how people talk in general in interviews and documentaries and allow me to get used to the honorific form. I am hoping that improving my communicative competence will help me with social interactions and conversations when I go to Korea in the summer to visit my relatives.
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