This semester has been incredibly rewarding for me. I initially had no plans to sign up for MLC 105 and 110, but on a whim, I decided I might want to try adding it to my schedule because I wanted to take the opportunity to learn Korean formally. I approached it with a very open mind - I didn't get frustrated with myself when I wasn't able to progress at the speed that I had initially thought I could reach. It turns out Korean is even harder than I thought! I was forced to relearn many things I thought I knew, but I found that there were several words and concepts that I was entirely wrong about because of my incomplete and informal lessons. Although immersion (speaking it at home) is a great way to learn the most important and useful parts of language, it does have a tendency to put other aspects on the back burner, such as grammar and more formal concepts. Consequently, I found myself constantly rethinking things I had become accustomed to as a novice Korean speaker.
I enjoyed learning about some of the concepts that I encountered while learning my language. The concept of anomie was very familiar to me, but I had no idea it was a recognized word until our reading about cultural isolation. I enjoyed reading the various articles about different kinds of learning and case studies pertaining to language. The universality of language is almost paradoxical because they are all different, but somehow, the foundation is very similar for many of them. It was interesting to learn about the cultural aspects of language as well.
Watching the video about exchange students and about the different perceptions in various countries was both enlightening and entertaining. I was able to learn quite a bit about things that I really had no experience with - I had no idea what an exchange student's life was like. It made me reflect on how I will interact when I go abroad eventually. Also, the different gestures and intricacies of other countries were new to me for the most part, so learning about things like crossing your leg over the other is simple, but useful.
As a language learner, I think I learn best when I motivate myself through social pressure. I find that when I am in a situation where I am forced to speak with as much clarity and fluency I can conjure, I usually am able to rise to the occasion. For example, I speak in Korean with one of the language partners just for fun and because I know I would feel embarrassed if I made a silly mistake, I take extra care and spend more time thinking about what I want to say. Through this kind of practice, I have found that my conversations with my parents have become better and better, and even my friend thinks I've improved! Although learning to write and read Korean wasn't a goal of mine, I think I have had the extra benefit of a little improvement for both thanks to sheer exposure.
I've learned the significance of culture and language through my experiences as a self-directed language learner. I really enjoyed this class because I was able to learn about other languages through my peers, as well as through lessons with my language partner.
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