This semester I am learning Korean as my target language. I am native to the United States and only visited Korea once in my entire life. Therefore, I do not have a lot of knowledge in Korean. What I do know about Korean was acquired from listening to my parents talk and watching Korean dramas and music videos. The relationship between Korean culture and Korean language is very important. Unlike America, which is very individualistic, Korea is very collective. They value tradition and working together as a group. A lot of their language is shaped by this culture. An example of this would be when talking to people of higher authority or to an elder. If you do not use a formal language with them it is seen to be extremely disrespectful. As a Korean employee, you are also expected to join company dinners. If you have plans on the same day, you would be expected to cancel the plans in order to join the company dinner. Because of this culture, it is looked down upon if you talk back to an elder or a boss. It is also disrespectful if you make direct eye contact with them during conversations. As a native born American, this became a culture shock for me because you would not do any of those things in the states. In fact, gestures such as looking at an elder or a boss directly in the eye would actually be a sign of respect in America. After my first trip to Korea, it made me realize how much I have yet to learn about the culture and the language. Although I grew up in a Korean household, there are things you absolutely cannot learn unless you go a visit the country yourself.
To become better at my target language I need to be more cautious and aware of my situation. I had a lot of times where elders would think of me as being rude because I did not respond or gesture to them a certain way. One major culture difference I experienced in Korea was in the metro. There is a spot in the subway that is only designated for elders and those that are pregnant. However, I was originally born in New York and anyone is able to sit anywhere regardless of their age, even when it was only supposed to be designated for elders. Therefore, without much thought, I picked the only available seat left since my ride was around one hour long. Once I sat down, two elders came up to me and started yelling at me in Korean. At that time I was not proficient in Korean and had a hard time apologizing to them and explaining that I was not from Korea and that I had made a mistake. Because of this, I think I need to improve my strategic competence in order to get my meaning across. To do this, my language partner assigned me some readings and variety shows to watch.
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