An essential part of Korean culture is food. I grew up eating Korean and American food, so the Korean food that I grew up eating will always feel familiar to me. About a year ago, my mom discovered a YouTuber called The Korean Englishman. His name is Josh, and he makes videos about Korean culture. He is fluent in Korean and English, so he is fully immersed in both cultures. His most popular videos highlight Korean food and him and his friends trying crazy Korean food challenges, such as fire noodles (spicy ramen) or a gigantic red bean ice dessert. He is extremely popular among Koreans and people of all cultures. I mentioned him to my friends from Yonsei, and they knew about him.
My favorite video of his features him and his friend Dan, who is also fluent in Korean. In this video, they eat at Kimbab Heaven, a restaurant near Korea University, as they discuss how they became fluent in Korean. They both studied at Korea University as exchange students. I like this video because they give a lot of good information for people who want to learn Korean. I appreciated them sharing their stories of when they first came to Korea and how they managed, even though they knew very little Korean.
I was surprised to learn that they only studied the Korean language for two years: one in London and one in Korea. However, when they returned to London, they studied Korean history, literature, etc. An important quote from this video that I still remember is, “In order to speak good Korean, you need to understand the culture.” I often mention this in my learning journals, having first learned this concept from this video. Even in my early Korean language studies, I have seen how Korean history has influenced how the language is written and spoken.
It was also interesting to learn that Korean food played a big role in their language abilities. This is because they learned about Korean culture through its food. They also became friends with native Korean speakers while eating Korean food. This helped them learn common expressions that are used every day.
I relate with what they were saying about learning a language via studying versus simply living with people who speak that language. I studied Spanish in the classroom for 8 years, but a week in Peru taught me more than a year in the classroom. Language immersion is one of the quickest ways to learn a language. Furthermore, languages are not meant to be learned in isolation. People learn languages in order to use them in the real world and communicate with people in a new way.
I watched this video for the first time about a year ago. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I understood more Korean watching it again now. I still rely on the subtitles, but I am able to pick out a few Korean words here and there that I understand.
Next semester, I will be studying abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. If I get the chance, I definitely want to visit Kimbab Heaven!
Comments
I enjoyed reading your post! My favorite food is Korean food because my hometown is Qingdao, which is really close to Korea. Many Koreans live in Qingdao and there are so many good Korean restaurants, so I grew up with frequently having Korean foods. I will Josh's videos later, his videos sound so fun. I really missed the Korean foods =(
Great post Eden! I really like the quote "In order to speak good Korean, you need to understand the culture." I think this is accurate in regards to every language and culture. I also think it is interesting to see that the Youtuber learned the Korean language through food which is a main part of their culture. Good luck and have fun studying abroad next semester!