I added two new agendas into my learning plan: dialects and idioms/proverbs. In our SDLC 105 class, we discussed different types of dialects in a country, and after this class, I decided to include learning about the different dialects in Korean. My family in Korea are either from the Busan or Gangwondo area, and I remembered that I sometimes do not understand what they say because they have their way of speaking due to regional differences. I decided to include learning about the grammar, phonological trains, and lexis used by the speakers. I had a lot of fun watching videos learning the different dialects as I tried to imitate the way that they speak. I also created a Quizlet with lexis and vocabulary. Using Quizlet, I assessed myself to see how much dialect vocabulary I could remember. As I was learning the different rules of the Busan dialect, I realized how much my parents speak and text with their dialect. My dad always says “밥묵나?” (bap mook na?), which means did you eat? However, in standard Korean, it would be “밥 먹었어?” (bap meok aut eoh?) I found it really fun to expand my vocabulary through dialect and also learn new grammar, and I hope that this could help me understand my parents and my relatives better. I also found talking tips, which were to add an accent emphasis on the first syllable and the common ways to end questions (~나 or ~노)
I also had three different grammar lessons this month. The first one focused on conjugating the verb "to be," which is 이에요 v.s 에요. I learned that 이에요 is used if the last word of the sentence ends in a consonant, and 예요 is used if the last word of the sentence ends in a vowel. The second one was learning the difference between passive and active verbs. The two most common ones were 하다 to 되다 and 대다 to 나다. This lesson connected with the previous lesson from last month where I learned the difference between 되 and 돼, and learning this previous lesson first helped me understand better. The last lesson I learned was the Busan dialect grammar lesson. I learned that Busan dialect uses ㅓ instead of ㅡ, such as 엄식 instead of 음식 (food). I also learned that the first vowel is dropped in compound vowels (도서관 to 도서간).
I also learned idioms and proverbs. At first, I did not include idioms and proverbs in my learning plan. However, my language partner was learning this, and she found it fun and recommended me to add it into my learning plan. I was happy with her recommendation as I had a lot of fun learning about it. Out of the ones that I learned, my favorite idiom was “그림의 떡," which means something you desire but cannot have or afford, and its direct translation is “rice cake in a picture.” My favorite proverb was “뜻이 있는 곳에 길이 있다,” which means “where there’s a will, there’s a way,” and it is used when someone is determined to find a way to achieve their goals. These two idioms and proverbs that I learned really stuck as they resonated with me. I had a lot of fun learning about proverbs and idioms as some of them were funny, and I had no idea such a phrase could have a deep meaning to it. I also continued to watch 2 Days and 1 Night and still am writing my diaries. I also have been reading and writing summaries about articles I find on Naver. I have been using the new grammar rules that I learned in my writing assignments.
Looking back at the past 2-3 months of learning Korean again, I feel happy and disappointed at the same time. I can see myself improving from before I started learning Korean, but it wasn’t at the speed that I thought it would be. However, I realized that I need to be patient and continue to work hard, and know that language is not perfected in a short amount of time. I also feel happy because I get to learn more about my culture and identity as I learn Korean, and I feel proud of myself for trying to improve my native language. I was the most satisfied with the assignments and work I did this month compared to the past. I hope to continue to find new things to learn about while also achieving my main goals of improving my grammar, writing, and vocabulary.
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