I think my progress in learning Korean has been going well. The use of language partners and the sources provided through Diigo have been very helpful. Meeting bi weekly with my language partners and having constant interactions in Korean have been the most helpful in my opinion. I can sense that I am beginning to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to properly interact and speak in the Korean dialect that would be used in an average day.
With the help of Mingkyung, my classmates and I have been learning specific structures of grammar, vocabulary, and rules that are practical and would be used in everyday interactions. I have been using a source provided by Mingkyung called The Cyber University of Korea that has a large variety of lesson plans in the form of YouTube videos. These videos provide the tools to understand specific topics of the Korean language that can be beneficial in learning to become proficient in interpersonal interactions. The educational videos each have a main topic. The videos teach common expressions used in daily interactions, grammatical rules, and vocabulary that relates to that specific topic
I noticed throughout the lessons that Korean culture plays a significant role in how the sentences are structured. The Korean language uses a hierarchy system that heavily influences how everyday interactions will be done. Due to the hierarchy system, one must use formal dialect when speaking to anyone who is older or is in a higher social status. It is very important to follow these cultural rules that are placed in society. If not practiced, it would be looked upon as very rude. It is a strong Korean value and should be respected if anyone is practicing the Korean language. Even if the person one is speaking to is only a few years or a few months older, formal language must be used.
I realized my weaknesses during these past few weeks. I need to improve upon my skills in grammar and vocabulary. I realized that my knowledge of basic Korean words are very minimal and that I need to expand my knowledge on how much I know about Korean dialect. I realized this is what has been hindering me from fully comprehending many Korean interactions, whether it is in a Korean television show or in an actual conversation. I also found difficulty in the spelling of many Korean words because the Korean alphabet has similar sounding vowels. As a result, I get stuck in situations where I do not know which vowel is the correct one. I am also hoping to expand my knowledge on grammatical rules and structures. A lot of what I have been learning with my language partners is new to me, so some aspects of the Korean grammar has been difficult to grasp. I was having trouble applying some grammatical phrases with new words that we learned with my language partners. I thought learning new concepts would be easy because I had a basic foundation in my Korean skills, but I unfortunately found out that it is not.
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