Language Learning Journal #2

[Amy Jeon]

This past month, my language partner and I focused on improving my fluency in the business industry aspect. Every week, I read a business related article that my partner assigned to me. Each article had to do something with AI and marketing trends, such as the metaverse era and how the advertising strategies are adapting to that era, Samsung’s Galaxy Ring which is a new smart ring that they are planning on releasing along with a strong focus of Galaxy AI, and LG’s plan to release an XR Headset with rumors about working with Meta. Out of those three articles, common words across the three articles I learned were 인공지능 which means artificial intelligence, 사용자 경험 (user experience), and 예측 분석 (predictive analytics). I also learned a lot of new marketing vocabulary through these phrases, such as 딥러닝 기술을 활용한 마케팅 전략 (marketing strategy utilizing deep learning technology). Within that one phrase, I learned strategy, utilizing, and technology all in one. Out of these three articles, my partner and I talked in depth about the new Samsung Galaxy Ring, which will be unveiled later this week and officially launched in July. Samsung is Korea’s largest South Korean family owned conglomerate and the major contributor to their GDP. My partner and I were amazed at this new idea since not many companies have entered this field of smart fitness rings and how Samsung is able to stay ahead in the industry. Reflecting on these article assignments, I realized that deep diving into the Korean business language was definitely a challenge for me since this was my first time talking about business and the news in Korean. There were many new terms and more higher level words used in the article that made it harder for me to understand. Especially with the first article, it was hard to constantly translate but as I continued with these assignments, I began to recognize the terms slowly and noticed I had to translate less every week. Since this month was very focused on business, my partner assigned me clips and videos to watch of this Korean show called “Marry My Husband.” The show’s main character is a marketing manager of a food company. The other main character also works at the same company, so we were able to see the life of a Korean business worker from both perspectives and analyze how the language changes. On Youtube, we were able to find videos of when he was working in the show and I took notes down of the marketing related words that he used and other phrases that he said to talk about the food business itself. For example, I learned 과장님, which means manager and there are three positions that are under 과장님 which would be 대리 (assistant manager or associate manager), 주임 (associate) , and 사원 (staff, clerk, member, or analyst). There are a lot of other positions that are above the manager (과장님), so I’m excited to figure out how the hierarchical positions affect the work style and language as I continue watching. Throughout the next couple of weeks, my partner and I will continue to focus on the business topic, but learn a lot more about 회식, which is Korean company dinners. 

[Lehan Zhao]

I have been following the drama "Marry My Husband" for the past few months, and I mainly found the social phenomena interesting, such as being bullied in business settings, the gender inequality in the workspace, and the conflict between the wife and the mother-in-law. It is fresh and interesting to see that you have found other aspects of the show helpful in learning Korean! I would pay more attention to the language side than the cultural side in the future.