LLJ #2

[Logan Motyka]

My studies have been going amazingly well so far, we are slowly but surely chipping away at my learning goals. One area we have been focusing on is the Hangul alphabet, we have been actively learning and reinforcing the letters and their sounds, and also when those sounds change depending on the location of the letter within the word. Along with this some of the letters have very distinct sounds that are not natural in the English language, Isaac and I have been working on using what we have learned in SDLC 105 in order to form these sounds with the different mechanisms of sound formation. One example is the last letter in the word “water” 물 It is almost a mix between an M and L but we worked on when to adapt it to L vs M and how to form the sound. What has really helped me is thinking about the sound on a mechanical level, actively thinking about putting my tongue to the roof of my mouth, and forming the sound. I also have been pushing my comfort zone and using what I've learned so far to read words (when Isaac and I go shopping at the Korean market) and also I have been using phrases and words with some of my close friends who also speak Korean. While this can be daunting because of my lack of expertise, there is no way to build excellence without a bit of stumbling.  We also have been trying to force me into situations where I need to speak a bit of the language, as a group we all went to Korean Garden (KBBQ) and Isaac had me read the menu and pick from the selection in Korean which was awesome to see how much I have developed in this short period of time. I have been really happy with my progress and my language instructor, Isaac has made learning Korean extremely enjoyable along with the high level of professionalism he brings. One thing we are looking forward to in the coming weeks is mastering my mechanical skills like pronunciation and reading, while this is a large goal we are chipping away at it through our meetings but also our real-life activities. For example, instead of asking Isaac for water in the dining hall in English, he prompts me to practice what I've learned and use my Korean to become more comfortable with speaking. Looking forward we will continue on the current track we are on highlighting the steps of my three-semester plan. What has been working for me is the aspect of immersion which we will keep in full effect, along with this we are planning more trips to real cultural places in which I will be prompted to get out of my comfort zone and speak the language in a naturalistic setting.

[Lehan Zhao]

I felt the same confusion with Hangul alphabet pronunciations in the beginning too. The slight difference between ㄱㄲㅋ, andㅅㅆ kept me struggling for a long while. It's nice to practice with language partners and on your own from time to time to get used to the sounds and ways to pronounce them.