First cultural post (110)

[Carson Watlington]

First Cultural Post: What is your interest in 'your' language and what do you hope to accomplish this semester?My main interest in Korean stems from my general interest studying foreign languages. Korean is almost completely foreign to me, and because of that, I’m really interested in figuring out how the language works. I want to see what parallels exist between Korean and the languages I’ve studied before. Maybe a pattern that exists in Korean can help explain something else in another language.I find the Korean writing system very interesting since it uses an alphabet to put together words, like we do in English. I’m curious to find out how Korean letters interact and influence each other. I wonder if there are instances simpler to how ‘p’ and ‘h’ in English can come together and make an ‘f’ sound. I’m also curious about how Korean’s writing system came to be. Besides that, I’m interested in learning enough Korean that I can keep up a conversation in Korean. I want to visit southeast Asia again, and possibly Korea. If I were to visit Korea, I want to be able to read essential texts, like road signs or menus, and be able to speak with the people there.This semester, I want to establish a strong foundation to build future studies upon. This would include mastering the Korean alphabet, becoming accustomed to the sounds and rhythm of the Korean language, building a basic vocabulary, and learning basic Korean grammar.