I enjoy learning languages because it gives me the ability to connect at least two people from various cultures together using a mutual platform that we call language. Being able to successfully acquire a different perspective from your own is incredibly rewarding and leads to becoming a more open-minded and holistic person. I also enjoy being able to partake in a rich cultural experience through language. Delicious food, beautiful, unique traditional cultural practices, history of places in Korea are all immersed and part of the culture, and I have so much to learn through the people whom I will be interacting with.
However, not all parts of language learning are glamorous, and each person may have their own weaknesses when learning a language. The parts I disliked about the language learning experience were being able to consistently find a language partner to practice with who can learn with me along my level. Though my parents are readily available, the conversations I have with them are limited to certain topics and I realize that I have some fundamental foundations that I’m missing as a beginner when I’m learning and using Korean. I also found it difficult to keep myself accountable and practicing often to keep my language skills fresh, especially on a college campus when I’m inundated with information with little time for personal language development. I also don’t enjoy the intensely structured format of most language classes. Though I understand the organized, standardized language learning is difficult to administer, I never felt like I was able to successfully be a natural speaker and language user in Korean and Spanish.
I am predominately a visual learner, followed by tactile and auditory learning. According to the Multiple Intelligences Survey, I have a good sense of self, strong in logic and math, and have solid kinesthetic abilities. Using the FIRE model, I would identify myself as an insightful and rational person and learner. I learn best using logical learning and critical thinking, but I will also provide necessary criticism if it will help progress the goal.
Language learning activities that I found helpful are to keep a log of words and vocabulary that I don’t know and practice saying and writing it down several times to recall from memory instead of just recognition. Another is mnemonic devices to link words that I’m trying to study with wild, imaginative associations to help me remember the words. This will help me as a visual learner. I also understand that watching Korean television shows and news can help with enunciations and intonations in a language in order to sound more like a native than a bumbling beginner. Immediate application and practice of grammar lessons would also be helpful in a guided classroom practice setting, where I can practice with my language partners. I would like to expand my learning activities by asking my classmates and language partners about potential creatives ways to learn. A possible way is practice vocabulary recall by quizzing each other on words outside of class, or spontaneously having a conversation in Korean.
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