During the next couple of weeks, the main task I was working on was to develop my vocabulary. For each week, Vivian and I planned it out so that we would study a certain subject along with a certain topic. For example, one of our weeks was to study vocabulary with the focus of food and ordering food. Before we started learning more words, I wrote down a list of topics and specific words I wanted to not only learn but to memorize as well. When I was taking Korean lessons in Korea, I had to memorize about 50 words each week, which we were tested by reading. To meet that goal, I challenged myself to learn around 20- 25 new vocabulary words each week. Some words that fell into the food category were 파 (yangpa) Onion, 마늘 (maneul) Garlic, 봄양파 (bomyangpa) Scallion, 당근 (danggeun) Carrot, 무 (mu) Radish. Along with the vocabulary words, we would learn things such as how to order food, restaurant courtesy such as not tipping the waiter, and how to use correct measure words when referring to each item. In addition to using flash cards, I have been using a lot of different apps and texting with my language partner. For example, if one of my vocabulary words was “breakfast” and I am asking her to get breakfast, I would text her in whatever I could in Korean. Instead of saying “breakfast”, I would use “아침식사” instead so I can practice typing and also reading and saying the vocabulary word. I think I learn best through an interactive environment, meaning I want to be exposed to the words as much as I possibly can and use it on a daily basis.
The good thing about separating my learning into different topics each week was how much my language partner and I could cover because of how they relate to each other. In addition to the vocabulary itself, I was also able to learn how to conjugate verb endings with words to describe food such as 쓴 맛 (sseun mat) Bitter taste, 매워요 (maewoyo) Spicy, 두거워요 (dugeowoyo) Hot, 달콤해요 (dalkomhaeyo) Sweet, and 맛있어요 (masisseoyo) Delicious just to name a few. When I would describe a specific food, for example, 떡볶이(tteokbokki), which is a spicy sweet rice cake dish, I would say “떡볶이는 맵다”, which means “tteokbokki is spicy.” In the original form, the word 맵다 has a different ending, but when you conugate it, ‘매’ remains, and ‘ㅂ’ changes to ‘우’ and add ‘어요’ after that. It becomes ‘매워요.’ Verb endings are important to keep in mind especially when speaking to different people. When speaking in a more formal setting, “매워요” should be used instead of the original form.
At the end of each week, Vivian would test me on the vocabulary that I’ve been studying that week by giving me the English word and then I had to say the Korean word and write it. If I could get the word on the first try, then I would move on but if I didn’t get it within two tries, Vivian would also put that word onto next week’s pile so I get an extra week to review and study those words.
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