During the past month, I’ve learned a lot about the Korean language and culture that I’ve never known before. I’ve also practiced and developed my reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Through the Global Studio, I received Korean/English stickers to put on my laptop keyboard, which has helped me type in Korean more often.
For one of our group meetings, my language partner, classmates, and I got Korean food from Choong Man Chicken. We enjoyed soy garlic spring onion and curry snow onion chicken. I have had Korean fried chicken before, but it was still a great cultural experience. Food is a wonderful (and delicious!) way to become more familiar with a country’s culture and language. When I went to Peru, I learned a lot of new vocabulary words and more about what kind of food Peruvians ate through trying different types of Peruvian food. I plan to do the same with the Korean language and culture.
I have also utilized resources from Talk to Me in Korean. I continued to study Korean through its food by watching a Talk to Me in Korean lesson about eating (음식 먹기). This video is part of a lesson on their website entitled “Must-Know Words in Korean,” which I plan on continuing to take. I also listened to a podcast from a lesson in a course called “Short & Useful Korean Phrases for Beginners.” The lesson I took taught me how to use 혹시 + Noun + 예요/이에요? 혹시 translates to “By any chance.” Hence, “혹시 + Noun + 예요/이에요” means “By any chance, is it (noun)?” or “By any chance, are you (noun)?” This is a helpful phrase because it will help me sound more like a native speaker. These lessons remind me that learning a language is not simply memorizing tons of vocabulary words, but truly learning how native speakers talk and even think. This lesson was particularly helpful because it is easy to fit in almost any context.
After listening to a Talk to Me in Korean lesson during my individual meetings, my language partner and I review the content and go over any questions I may have. The Talk to Me in Korean website is particularly helpful because most of the time, under the video/audio portion, there is a written summary of what was taught in the lesson. This is helpful in reviewing the vocabulary and examples.
In addition to building the skills I’ve been working on and expanding my vocabulary, I want to learn more about life in Korea. After graduating in May, I hope to work in Korea. I have wanted to go to Korea for years, but I have still never been there. I plan on reading blogs and watching vlogs of life in Korea. I have also been talking with my friend who moved to Korea a few weeks ago to teach English, so I hope to learn more firsthand experience from her. Moving forward, I think it would be very helpful to focus on learning vocabulary related to daily life, such as ordering food, asking for a location, or using public transportation. These goals also provide me with strong motivation to learn Korean because I hope to live in the country in which it is the predominant language.
Comments
Hey Eden, I also enjoyed the Choong Man Chicken as well. It's awesome that there is such a large variety of Korean Fried Chicken that one usually does not find in American cuisine. Its cool how you want to work in Korea and have an established reason for learning the language. I find that even if I learn the language, there are not many applications until you really immerse yourself in the culture.
Hi Eden! I totally agree about food facilitating new connections to language and culture. Interactions around food both in private and public settings seem to reveal a lot about social cues among family members, and social cues revolving around waiters and other restaurant-goers. It seems like an immersion of sorts that you could potentially seek out in the United States. Despite this potential plan of immersion, it cannot fully replicate the true environment of being in your target language's country. I wish you luck in your plans to work in Korea and beyond! Cheers!