This was the first week Vivian and I officially met with Jenna together to work on improving in Korean. We started slowly and mainly focused on reading and writing for the time. For writing, we both know the Korean alphabet and how to put the characters together to form words, but a grammar rule we struggled with was the spacing of words. Jenna had printed out some of the basic rules of spacing with examples for each case the rule was used. I learned how to write when I was younger, but when it came to spacing, I was either told where to but the spaces or was told to “put them after a word” which sounds obvious yet also difficult. It was the first time I was told the direct rules of the language. In the beginning when she was going over it, I thought it was pretty easy, but then I learned of the many exceptions that confused the system. Usually in Korean, the rules of the language are set (such as pronunciation) but in this case, it was fairly flexible. We also talked about how a variety show in Korea had native celebrities take a spacing test and how none of them were perfect. As long as the spacing does not change the meaning of the sentence, spacing is not a high concern in writing. I keep the rules in my computer case and occasionally review it so that I can memorize them.
One thing I disliked when I first learned how to read was to read out loud in a group. I still have that discomfort when reading Korean because I know that that is something I need to work on tremendously but try to avoid it as much as I can. Jenna brought two recent news articles; one on the weather in Korea and the other on the corona virus and its effect on supplies in convenience stores. I liked that she could bring in resources that were relevant and interesting. I do not usually read the news in Korean, so I was unfamiliar with much of the vocabulary. We read the article out loud a couple sentences at a time and reviewed the vocabulary along the way. I realized that I should spend more time outside of school reading in Korean so that my brain would be more comfortable.
I am trying to text my parents more in Korean instead of only them texting in Korean while I reply in English. Some of my family members cannot read English, so as I slowly progress, hopefully the communication between us will become easier. I am also speaking in Korean more frequently with other students at UR. Most of them know more terms in Korean so I always feel comfortable asking them questions. Overall, I think that the lessons are going well because Jenna explains everything in a way we can easily relate to. I like that we can work alongside other students because I do not feel as tense as I was when I went to Korean school.
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