During the spring break, I was able to use Korean so often. I communicate with my family in Korean only, and being back in an environment where I use Korean more often than English helps me practice the language. Back home, I feel very integrated to the Korean culture as I eat Korean food and watch Korean shows with my parents. Furthermore, I have to show Korean manners and etiquettes which is another aspect of cultural integration. I watch a variety of Korean TV programs and movies with my family. I watched a Korean comedy show called Infinity Challenge which is a show that I have been watching since I was a kid with my parents. In this show, they use a lot of slangs and phrases that is popularly used in Korea and listening to it makes me feel more comfortable and natural to use it in my speaking. Koreans come up with new slangs and phrases very frequently and even people who live in Korea have a hard time keeping up with them. Shows like this is a good way to stay updated in continuously growing Korean language. Furthermore, this show includes a large spectrum of cultural things in Korea that I am not familiar with and it is really a good way to further progress in my cultural journey. Because this is a comedy show, I learn a lot of the Korean humor points that are different from American culture.
I was able to catch up with Jimin this week and learned about Korean spelling rules. I get really frustrated with Korean spelling rules because there are so many of them. I can learn it one day and forget it really easily. For example, the combinations of letters “데” and “대” are used in two different ways. What makes it really hard is that it sounds exactly the same but in writing you will have to know which one to use. The first combination is used to describe something that happened in the past and the second combination is used when communicating something that another person said. Also, there are rules for words that are just so confusing because it applies to some words and it changes for another. Writing is definitely the hardest out of listening, writing, and speaking because I do the least of it, especially with correct spelling. Many informal communications in writing such as messaging a friend or posting comments on Youtube is done without following any strict spelling rules and grammar. Koreans like to use a lot of abbreviated terms and sometimes only write the consonants implying the word it is supposed to mean. This is something I really need to get familiar with as well as it is used often in various settings. I practice these rules by writing sentences out and applying the rules, but it is something I need to review regularly so that I don’t forget them. As I continue to practice writing in Korea, I am familiarizing myself to a lot of things and I can feel it becoming more natural as I try to use them even in informal communications.
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