I thought when I started learning Korean I thought as long as I can read and pronounce the alphabet and memorize words that it wouldn’t be that hard. However, I quickly learned that I would need to develop a kind of second brain for Korean. I would need to start learning the language like I was a baby. I thought it was very interesting when we talked about articulatory phonetics. There are some words in different languages that I can’t even pronounce. This is wildly interesting because it makes me think about how other languages came to be. Also, I thought it was very interesting to study grammar. Grammar varies very differently from language to language. At first, I thought it wouldn’t be that hard to wrap my brain around different grammar rules. But while learning Korean I quickly realized the simple switch from English’s subject, verb, object order to Korean’s subject, object, verb order compelled messed with my brain. So it was good to learn how grammar exactly works. I also enjoyed reading and watching how different cultures function differently and American cultures. I will most likely continue studying different cultures rather than their languages. I will expose myself to different media from different cultures and hopefully travel out of the country more often.
I think the most engaging activity we did was when we shared different aspects of the languages we were learning. For example, one time we shared the differences in weird sounds in Korean, French, Spanish, and Oromo. I thought that was the most helpful because it created a more personal connection to what we were learning and helped me remember the concepts better. Also, learning by engaging with classmates and the teacher is always my favorite way of learning. I wish to continue learning about the evolution of languages. I always wondered how languages evolved over time. I would like to understand how and why English spoken in the 1700s changed to what is spoken present day. And in general, I would like to study how other languages transformed over time.
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