I feel like I have good grasp on language learning. I speak another language called Kannada (it's a language spoken mainly in the state of Karnataka in Southern India). Actually, this was the very first language I spoke before I started speaking English. I learned this language when I was a child by listening and communicating with my parents who would only speak to me in Kannada. I also studied Japanese for three years in high school, but I had forgotten most of it by the time I signed up for a semester of it at the University of Richmond. In total, I've studied Japanese for three years + a semester. I have some understanding of the Korean language which I am starting to study through SDLAP. I taught myself how to read and write, but I still need a lot of practice to become proficient. I understand certain Korean words and phrases.
I think I'm the type of language learner that learns by listening and repeating to communicate. It's how I learned Kannada and how I've been teaching myself Korean. The things you learn in textbooks might not always help in real life. Practicing speech and pronunciation is best for me. If I want to explore a language, I will start by watching movies and dramas or listening to music in that language because it gives me a better sense of the language than learning solely from a textbook. I think I should expand my learning activities through more listening and speaking exercises.
My first meeting with Brigid, my language partner, was kind of just an introduction meeting. We mostly talked about what I already knew. We practiced a bit of reading since I knew how to read Korean already and we discussed what I wanted to accomplish by the end of the semester. I thought it was nice for us to actually discuss what I wanted to learn and how we would proceed with our coming classes.
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