State your learning goals for this week and how you went about accomplishing these goals
My focus this past week was to learn how to read, write, and say the Korean alphabet. Going into this goal, I imagined that it would be rather simple to accomplish. I was wrong. It was easy to understand how to build a sound from individual letters since it’s similar to how the English alphabet works; However, there are certain sounds associated with the Korean alphabet that I have never encountered before, and that’s where challenge of this goal lays. The are some differences between sound units that I can’t distinguish very well, and therefore, can’t imitate very well either. Because of this, I’ve had to work through the alphabet more slowly than I originally anticipated. As of right now, I’m still focusing on simple vowels and consonants, and I will move on to the complex ones. If I keep studying and practicing regularly, I expect to incorporate the rest of the alphabet sometime this coming week.
Along with in class time and class notes, I’ve been using apps to help work towards this week’s goal. I use Duolingo for identifying the letters and for hearing their sound. Memrise is useful for listening and pronunciation because it incorporates clips of native speakers saying particular words and phrases. Between the two, I can track my progress and see what letters, words, and phrases I’ve mastered or need to work on. In addition, having Youngmin repeat words and correct my pronunciation has helped me progress faster and more accurately than I think I could have done completely on my own.
Next week, I will work the complex set of syllables into my study set, and I’ll keep working towards mastery of the simple set.
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