Reading Korean is difficult. of course it's not impossible, but it is frustrating sometimes. Although Japanese uses three different written forms (Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji), it's easier to read than Korean (I'm going to exclude kanji, though). The tricky thing about Hangeul (the written Korean language) is that you have these sort of 'letters' that must be combined in order to make a syllable or something similar to one Japanese character. Since I'm still a beginner, reading quickly is difficult for me. I noticed that I learned to read Japanese quicker than Korean. It takes more time to figure out what you're reading and how the 'letters' are combined to form words. As for comprehension, I can understand some things, but not many. It honestly depends on what sort of text I pick to read. I practiced reading a newspaper and I couldn't understand most of it, but I could get the gist of some things. I think it would be better if I started with children's books or something really simple. I think it also helps to read aloud. Not only does it help with the reading, but it also helps you to practice pronunciation and enunciation, which is always a plus. I'm working on vocabulary as well. I've memorized the lists given to me by my language partner. We've been focusing on simple things like fruits, beverages and words related to hobbies. I've made tons of flashcards and that's been helpful. Do I have realistic goals? I don't see why not. I'm not trying to rush myself; I'm just focusing on pacing myself and repeating the words I've already learned. Memorization definitely requires repetition.
I've finished my first artifact for the semester and I have to say, I'm quite proud. I wrote a card to my Korean friend's mom and I wrote it in Korean. It's not a very long message, but I think it's a decent length. In the card, I introduced myself (the mom and I haven't met yet since she lives in Korea) and just talked about what I liked. I asked her is if she liked strawberries because it had been on of my recent vocabulary terms. It was fun. My learning goals for week 4 and 5 were completed. I learned how to order food in Korean, how to ask which dish was the tastiest and also whether something had beef in it. Week 5, we extended from the restaurant food ordering to money exchange. I learned to count money and to ask how much something was, how to say expensive/cheap, ask if they take cash/check/credit card. So, mission accomplished.
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