Right now, I'm learning vocabulary in certain categories. I have learned the categories of school, seasons, weekdays, and other basic elementary topics. I am able to practice and improve upon my reading skills and recognize the syllables. After I have learned a sufficient amount of vocabulary words that I can recite, recognize, and translate in my head, I hope to be able to make sentences with the already obtained vocabulary by adding verbs and verb conjugations, subjects, objects, nouns, proper nouns, etc. I hope to be making simple sentences very soon with my vocabulary. My reciprocal goal right now is to become more comfortable being around Korean speakers on campus and not fearing judgment if I want to practice my Korean with them. Even though I know very little korean and mainly just vocab words aside from greetings and simple common phrases like 입니다 which means my name is…, I acknowledge that there is much room for growth. So far, I'm still cooked up with the same tasks I was using initially. by using workbooks, listening to Korean bilingual kid shows with subtitles, and pointing out every day objects that I know that Korean vocabulary for to keep my mind active. So far, I think that they work. when I meet with my language partner we review the vocab words and I am able to recognize and recite them on command. However, I feel stuck sometimes that I will be at this level for a bit until I have a larger Korean vocabulary and I have more confidence in my Korean. I will maintain my current learning strategies, but at this point, I think I am in a stump for building on this language.
At this point in my learning, I do not have any negative feelings toward it like I used to in the beginning of my journey into Korean. Since I have progressed and improved in my reciting, memorization, pronunciation, etc. I feel pride that I have gotten this far in my studying with Korean and for their pride that I am learning a new language connected to my Asian roots. Even though I am majority Chinese, it still feels wholesome to be able to learn part of my Korean heritage through this class and that I'm not the only one on my journey as well. It brings me comfort knowing that I’m not alone and there is no shame in wanting to learn Korean. In my studies I have learned that Korean is dissimilar from English. It is just broken words that make sense together. It reminds of that one “Office” episode where Kevin speaks broken English yet we can still understand his message. So far I have only implemented one learning strategy which is where I practice my reading and speaking by having my partner write it and then I recite the word or phrase that I understand it as. I do not have any goal changes, I choose to remain on my slower pace that I established in my last learning journal.
Comments
It's wonderful to hear about your progress in learning Korean and the positive mindset you've developed throughout your journey. Focusing on vocabulary in specific categories like school, seasons, weekdays, and elementary topics is a structured and effective way to build a foundational understanding of the language.
Your plan to move on to constructing sentences with the acquired vocabulary, incorporating verbs, subjects, objects, and other elements, is a natural progression that will enhance your language skills. It's great that you're actively engaging with various resources, from workbooks to bilingual shows, to reinforce your learning and keep your mind active.