As the semester draws to a close, I have been reflecting a lot on my language learning journey thus far. It has been a very interesting and challenging semester to say the least, but I am pretty satisfied with the progress that I made. While I wish that I could have completed my SDLC 105 classes and lessons with Jimin on campus, I was also able to supplement my learning in more unconventional ways at home. I was unable to meet all my goals but considering the circumstances, I think that what I was able to accomplish is acceptable. Although my future self-directed learning in Korean is not yet determined at this point in time due to the uncertainty surrounding the fall semester, I definitely know that I want to continue my language learning in some capacity. Since my summer is currently empty due to cancelled internships and jobs, I plan on spending most of it self-studying Korean to pass the time, as well as to improve my skills. I decided to devote my last journal to outlining what that might look like.
Since high school, I knew that learning from textbooks and workbooks is most ideal when studying language; I did really well when learning French for three years and my one year of Korean at my old university. I also know that it will be difficult to obtain those resources during this time, so I have been trying to think of alternative ways to improve my Korean. I first plan on finishing my old workbook that I found at home since it was incomplete anyways. This will also help me review some easier concepts before moving to more free learning. Another thing I plan on doing is immersing myself into Korean entertainment. In high school, I had a lot of Korean friends, so I would watch a lot of K-dramas and listen to K-pop because we shared similar interests. At Richmond, I actually know very few Koreans so I rarely indulge in those things during the school year. Since I will have so much free time on my hands, I think it would be a good time to become more cultured with Korean media. Not only will it be fun, but I personally believe that there is merit in participating in a variety of different aspects of a culture to better understand the language. I can learn new vocabulary and phrases from watching dramas as well as listening to music. The last and probably most effective thing that I plan on doing is trying to transition into speaking full Korean at home. I currently speak Konglish, a mix of Korean and English, with my family, which means that I use whatever Korean words I know and then use English as a shortcut when I have no idea how to say something in Korean. My mom and grandma are both immigrants from South Korea, so Korean is their first language and they definitely are much better at it than I am. If I am unable to think of certain English words in Korean, I can either just ask them or look it up. This might be burdensome at first but it will eventually become more fluid as I expand my knowledge. Although this summer will be unique and unprecedented, this will be a great opportunity to continue my language learning in a new capacity, and I am really excited to start once I complete my last final!
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