Week 1
The first week of class I spent looking into new resources to use for the Korean language learning. My goal was to try out a few different resources to see what helped the most. I found that youtube was a great resource so that I could listen to native Korean speakers. The Before You Know it application was great for memorizing words also. Diigo is a useful tool for bookmarks, but I probably won't use it as much as the other resources. I often study by making note cards so that is a technique I will most likely use often. I filled out the Language Partner Questionnaire and will look forward to meeting my new partner.
My goal for this week is to start learning basic Korean words that will come in handy no matter what the situation is. I learned that yes and no have several different forms depending on the formality. I will look further into differences in formality as a goal for next week. I'm still getting used to all the resource I have been signing up for. We learned a few interesting tools in class for recording voices. These will come in handy for the artifacts. I have not had a chance to meet with my language partner yet. The Korean language learners have a unique situation where there are two language partners that we could be meeting with. We are trying to find times in everyones' busy schedules that will work out best.
Week 2
I had my first class with my language partner, Joon Kim. We decided to meet Wednesdays and Sundays at 7pm. I started to study the writing system of Korea. It is called Hangul and is made up of 14 consonants and 10 vowels. They combine to make new "characters." I want to memorize the sounds associated with each character soon so that I can pronounce more words. I made note cards to do this. The hardest part is that the sounds do not necessarily reflect a letter in the English alphabet. One character makes a sound between an R and an L making it very difficult for me to pronounce. I'm also having difficulties with all the vowels because many sound similar to me. The note cards are less effective than I thought because I need to hear the sounds of each character and not just read it. I found a lesson on youtube that I watch for additional help. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djB05a4ntQ4
This was much more effective than the note cards. My language partner was also helpful in reiterating the sounds of each character and to practice with.
Week 3
I looked further into the differences of Formality and Informality this week. I learned that there is a huge difference in formality depending on what age a person is. One must ALWAYS be formal with someone that's even just a year older than them. Joon Kim was telling me about the way birthdays work in Korea. It seems confusing, but from what I understand, everyone has their own birthday, but they consider themselves one year older on the Korean New Years. A common way that most words became formal was adding "yo" to the end. The more formal phrases were usually longer or just had additional words added on to the informal phrases. A lot of my learning just came from researching the topic online. I learned several words while doing this which will help me get ahead for next week when we study greetings. Joon Kim also put two textbooks on a USB drive so that I can research more information through that as well. My first language tasks this week were to learn the alphabet and greetings, farewells, and introductions. I continued to use the same methods as last week to learn the alphabet. I practiced writing more also. Each character is written a specific way whereas I would normally just write it the way that seems the quickest. I researched why it was supposed to be done a specific way and learned that it would help later when combining the letters into the characters they can form. Joon taught me many greetings and also helped me figure out what greetings are most commonly used. I hope to learn things that will be most beneficial when traveling in Korea so if no one uses a certain phrase anymore, I would rather focus on other words.
Week 4
This week's goal is to learn more conversation topics that go along with introductions, greetings, and farewells. Small talk can cover a variety of topics so I tried to learn what would be most interesting and useful for when I travel and meet people. I also like to learn things that I can ask my grandma at home. I used the textbooks on the USB for more information and they were really helpful. I just have trouble memorizing all the phrases. I make flashcards often and have to practice so I don't forget it the next week if I move on to a different topic. Flashcards help me evaluate my success because I can test myself until I get it right, but at the same time, I'm afraid of forgetting the information so I want to look into other ways to learn. I found an iPhone app that is similar to flashcards and the BYKI software. It pronounces the words so I think that hearing it helps me learn it easier. Our first artifact is due so I'm making something I can use in real life. I made my grandma a birthday card and sent it to her. In order to do this, I had to learn the formal ways to say Happy Birthday and other things like "I miss you" and "I love you." I researched what common birthday cards would say and found a lot of information. Joon Kim also taught me that it is normal to wish someone a year in good health so I learned how to say and write that as well.
Week 5
I took out a bunch of blank paper and practiced writing letters. I combined consonants and vowels in all the possible combinations. I downloaded an iPhone application where you practice writing by tracing the letters. This helped a little, but it was not as effective as just practicing writing over and over again. My learning goals for week 4 and 5 went well. I learned a lot, but there is always more to learn with the greetings, introductions, and farewells. Some phrases are used less often than others so I tried to narrow my learning to master the most commonly used phrases. My writing has improved greatly in just two weeks. I went from looking at the Korean writing system and thinking it was going to impossible to understand to being able to combine all the consonants and vowels in less than two weeks. I'm proud of this accomplishment. My artifact of a birthday card with a greeting to my Grandma was very appreciated. I am glad she could understand everything I wrote. I am going to continue writting letters to her for the practice and she can help evaluate them.
Week 6
The language tasks for this week are to ask questions about identity and to also talk about your own family. I learned that there are different ways of calling people depending on formality/age. The same person will either be called one of two names depending on if the person speaking is older or younger. It is a form of respect to identify someone correctly. I learned how to say what I am doing or what I already did. The form of the sentence stays the same, but now there are just many verbs and nouns to learn that you can insert into the sentence. I'm learning the words that I would use most like I am going to class, I am hanging out, etc. When someone asks you a question, the response usually involves repeating the question. A question and statement differ by the tone of voice you use. If it is a question being asked then the voice will get higher as opposed to a statement where the voice generally stays the same pitch. I determined that my culture project will be about weddings. I wrote about that in a cultural post.
Week 7
I used this week to review a lot of the things I already learned. It's difficult to remember the things I learned in the beginning so its always good to review. I practiced by reorganizing my notes and rewriting the notes into a more organized form. This is a study technique I often use because when I rewrite things, I tend to learn it faster than just looking at the words. Since my first artifact was a card that I wrote to my grandma for her birthday, I chose to make my second artifact a recording of a conversation between my mom and I. I will post this on the website next. The conversation entails saying hi and asking how each other is doing. We talk about going out to lunch at a korean restaurant and incorporate telling time.
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