So far in the course I have been struggling a lot. My main issue has been time management in completing required supplementary work, but in the little free time I have I am always doing something related to Korean learning. While I am typing papers I either have Korean music or a Korean television show playing in the background. I am always listening to something in the language to keep it fresh in my mind. In the few minutes before I go to sleep for the night, I go through some articles in Flipboard so that I can practice reading. It is just the documentation of my efforts that have been suffering. Otherwise, I think my language learning is alright. In tutoring I feel I am behind in my group. The other students in my tutoring group are of Korean descent so they are already very familiar with the language. I assume that I am doing well despite not being of Korean descent, but I still get a little irritated with myself when they understand things and I do not. There are many times when I need things explained to me because I do not understand what we are talking about. I am also a little scared to speak during class because I do not want to be wrong or show how less advanced my sentences are. I think not speaking up in class is making me lose more confidence in my speaking than if I were to speak up and be wrong anyway. I know that I have to try, but for some reason I cannot bring myself to talk willingly. Even though these things upset me sometimes, I will not give up.
In regards to understanding the culture and language, we have not been learning very much in regards to culture. Classes now seem more structured, but sometimes we will go on a tangent and discuss about how the dialogue we learn relate to everyday life. We are learning a lot of vocabulary and grammar and are doing many exercises to employ them. We are making our own dialogue and having mini conversations based on the lessons. My only complaint is that I wish there were more culture lessons.
To improve my communicative competence, I believe I just need to have more confidence in myself. If I push myself to speak up more, then it will be easier to correct the things I do wrong or to verify that what I am thinking is correct. I am simply left with a lot of questions with no answers if I do not voice them. . I seem to function better in a one-on-one setting or if I am learning in a large group with many other people, but a small group tends to make me nervous. Maybe I can find a friend who speaks Korean and ask to practice speaking with them so that I am more comfortable with it. My speaking will not get any better if I do not practice, so I just need to force myself to practice.
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