During our meeting earlier this month, Vivian and I went over all of the grammar and vocabulary that we had learned over the course of the previous semester and rehearsed a great deal of dialogue that is used on a daily basis. She showed me a YouTube channel called "영국남자 Korean Englishman," which was started by two people named Josh and Ollie. The first thing that we did was watch a video that showed them going to the Korean singer HaHa's barbecue restaurant and having a conversation with him while they were eating. Because Josh and Ollie are both from other countries but have lived in Korea for a significant amount of time, their Korean is highly fluent, and their pronunciation is really good for my listening practice. This is helpful for me because native Korean speakers often have an accent and talk very quickly. During the time that the movie was playing, Vivian prompted me to jot down the phrases that I was able to comprehend as well as the terms that I was unable to grasp but was interested in learning. They discussed the drinking culture in Korea as well as the errors that they had made when they first came in Korea since they did not comprehend the culture. This was the first time I had any exposure to the drinking culture of Korea, and it was at this period that I learnt things like how younger people are expected to pour wine for older people and how it is customary to hold the bottle of wine in such a manner that the label of the soju bottle is covered by the palm of your hand when doing so. In addition, while clinking glasses, the glass held by the younger person should not be higher than the glass held by the elder person, and the younger person should drink with their side to the table rather than their back to it.
In addition to watching films in Korean with Korean subtitles, I also attempted to read and comprehend a Korean news story on the actor Song Joong-ki's second marriage. Together with Vivian, I did some work to dissect each word and make an effort to comprehend the significance of each phrase in light of its grammatical construction. Reading the lines of a television play was much easier for me to do than reading the written words in the news. This is because the lines were written in a more conversational style than the written words in the news, which also had more complicated syntax and vocabulary.
In accordance with the plan that I drafted at the beginning of the semester, Vivian and I intended to study around forty new words from the Topik vocabulary list each week. During our weekly meeting, we would discuss the correct pronunciation and application of each new word that we had learned. The following time we get together, Vivian will explain the meaning of the terms in English, and I will respond in Korean. In addition, I have an assignment to complete outside of class in which I am required to watch the reality program "Single's inferno" and then compose five statements describing how I feel about the show's characters or the storyline.
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