Since the university extended our spring break another week and remote learning has recently began, I have only communicated with my language partner once. Although we were a group in the start of the semester, it was decided that Jenna should meet Vivian and I separately in case of any changes that might conflict with each other’s schedule. Jenna and I decided to use the KakaoTalk app’s video call as a way to communicate and keep in touch during quarantine. In our first meeting back, we discussed our situation and how we were doing. It was kind of nice to talk to another person in Korean that wasn’t a family member. Since teaching through a screen was not the most ideal case, the homework she gave me was to watch a Korean drama. After watching, I would need to write a summary or reflection about the episode. This way, both my listening and writing skills could be put to use. Jenna gave me a few suggestions, but instead of a newer series, I decided to go with a drama called Reply 1997 which came out around eight years ago.
Since I have only stayed home and with an occasional walk, I have been spending much of my time with my family. Both of my parents moved to America in their thirties, so they are much more comfortable communicating in Korean. My siblings on the other hand are comfortable speaking in both English and Korean but prefer communicating in English. I was able to practice speaking since it is the only way my parents can completely understand me. Usually with my siblings, Konglish was the way to go. Recently, my sister and I have gotten competitive with who is “better” in Korean. We tried to make it into a contest with bragging rights as our incentive. It was a point to recognize and correct the other person’s grammar or sentence structure, a point if you could get the vocabulary word correct that the other person didn’t know, another point for being able to write out a difficult word or phrase that my mom would provide for us, and finally another point if we could guess what my dad was saying when he spoke with an unfamiliar dialect. It is disappointing to admit that she won because I unintentionally said the incorrect phrase multiple times, but it was a fun way to keep working on my skills.
When our family got bored, we tried to play “Assa”, a Korean rhythm game. It is supposed to be an icebreaker with a goal that everyone learns each other’s name, but we decided to play it anyways with our Korean names. It’s a game where we have to time what we say with the correct beat as the rhythm speeds up. There were so many games I learned from other Korean friends that ended with all of us laughing. Even in the midst of the covid outbreak, I got to enjoy spending time with my family while progressing in the Korean language.
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