Last week, I met up with my language partner, Hannah, and we discussed the goals I wanted to achieve this semester and the areas of Korean on which we want to focus on. We set up a rough schedule of the different topics we’re going to focus on. Since I grew up speaking Korean at home, I already have my foundations set. Given that this is my final semester before graduating, we decided to concentrate on improving my fluency in the professional and job-related aspects.
After graduation, I hope to work in the marketing and analytics industry, so Hannah will assign me business-related articles relevant to the industry to familiarize myself with the industry in Korea. Before our weekly meetings, I will read through the assigned articles, identifying and highlighting words that I am not familiar with. Then, we will delve into the articles, discussing its content to evaluate my comprehension and addressing any unfamiliar words and vocabulary. I have never read or watched any business related news or articles in Korean, so this will definitely challenge me to move forward from the conversational Korean that I am used to. This will help me improve my reading and comprehension skills while also teaching me about the business world of Korea, allowing me to stay connected with what’s happening in the industries in Korea.
Additionally, I will learn about the various positions within the business industry. Korea's hierarchical structure introduces numerous distinct words and positions in Korean that may differ from American companies. Learning about these different positions will help my understanding of Korean company work culture. Looking ahead, I do intend to work in a Korean company for a couple of years in the future, and these lessons will definitely help prepare me for navigating the cultural differences in the workplace.
In addition to delving into business articles, news, and vocabulary, I will explore the intricacies of Korean food and drinking culture, with a particular focus on the tradition of 회식, also known as company dinners. 회식s hold a crucial role in many company cultures in Korea, along with numerous social rules that employees should socially adhere to. Our lessons will consist of going through the various social rules, guiding me on the dos and don'ts when participating in these significant company dinners.
Beyond focusing solely on business etiquette, Hannah suggested that I watch "영국남자" to gain further insights into Korean food culture. "영국남자," also known as Korean Englishman, are YouTubers who produce content in both Korean and English, centering around Korean culture and food. To actually experience some of the food culture in real life, Hannah and I will also learn how to cook some Korean dishes from Paik Jong Won, who is one of the most famous chefs in South Korea.
Finally, I still want to improve my writing and grammar skills, so I will also use 서강한국어 쓰기 1, which is a Sogang Korean Writing Book from Yonsei University’s Beginning Writing Class. The book has numerous college-related sections designed to teach Korean vocabulary related to university life, classes, majors, schools, small talk, and more. These sections will help me learn how to talk about my college life when I go visit my family again this summer in Korea. Last time I visited,I struggled to talk about my college life with them as I did not learn the proper terms. If time allows, we will also explore the entertainment industry of Korea and learn about how the entertainment industry has shifted from TV to youtube video contents, shorts, and reels.
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