Bi-Weekly Report #5 (111)

[Jeffrey Choi]

For one of the weeks we analyzed poems. We learned a lot of new vocabulary and phrases that are not usually used in English. Since these were poems, direct translation of the Korean words led to nonsense in English. As a result, it was a little difficult to fully grasp what was being presented. It was interesting to learn the beauty of poetry in a different language. Some of the poets that we learned about were those who were living in Korea during Japan's invasion. Through their poems, we got insight into the minds of what some Koreans were feeling and thinking during those difficult times. On another week, we read a brief part from a book. This helped us practice our reading skills. This is something I found a lot more difficult than I expected. It felt like reading a tongue twister every sentence because I was not used to reading and saying Korean that I am not used to saying. This exercise assisted me in learning more words and being able to read a little more efficiently. I think more of this type of practice would be good for me.