My interest in Korean started from the koran dramas and pop songs. However, while getting along with my Korean friends, I found that Korea is more than kpop and barbecue. Their culture of respecting the old, focusing on family relations, as well as advanced technology and political system all make it stand out of countries in East Asia. As the saying goes, "If culture was a house, then language was the key to the front door, to all the rooms inside." I firmly believe that culture reflects people's way of thinking as there are special words in some languages that do not exist in another language. For example, Korean people use different forms and words while taking to peers and elder people, showing the respectiveness to the old in their country.
I really hope that through learning the language of Korean, I could develop a deeper understanding of Korean culture and customs, from people's daily life to the history and development of the country in a wider level. As I know that Chinese culture had had a big influence on Korean culture and language, it would be more interesting for me to compare the similarities and differences between these two cultures, and reflecting on how a culture develops based on the country's geographical location and historical impacts. I hope that after this semester, I could have a command of basic conversations of Korean and I could start talking to my Korean friends in their language. Also as a international business major, I am expecting to go to Korea or doing business with Korean people in the future. I hope that next time, when somebody asks me about Korea, I could introduce the culture and history to them instead of only talking about pop songs and TV dramas.
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