SDLC 105 - Blog #1

[Dalila Softic]

Coming from a multi-national family, which speaks 3 languages, I've always considered myself as a fairly good language learner. However, I do find it challenging to achieve fluency in my family's 2 other languages since I don't use them in wide variety of ways like I do English. My use of those languages is almost always conversational so my vocabulary and understanding of grammar is limited. Because of this experience, I believe it was easier for me to pinpoint my weaknesses and areas that need extra attention when I began studying Korean. I agree with one of the articles that Korean was the most fun when I was beginning because everything seemed fresh and exciting. Now that I am in the low-intermediate level I feel less motivated and stuck because it is much harder to go from low-intermediate to high-intermediate than it is to go from low-beginner to high-beginner. There is so much to learn that it is easy to feel overwhelmed. From the FIRE model, I prefer learning in factual way because it is most comfortable for me. However, learning in the Evaluative style might be better for me since it is the most uncomfortable and will push me to speak aloud in Korean (which I find challenging). I enjoy worksheets, quizzes and tests since they keep me in-line and help me set deadlines for myself. I think I could expand my learning activities by also doing reading comprehension activities (read a newspaper and summarize it) and translating text to learn more about the feeling and intent behind Korean sentences.