Fionna Poon
SDLC 105
Final Reflection
In reflecting on my experience with Korean class this semester, there are things that I definitely should have done better and others that should not have been done. Therefore this paper reflects these things. Like I said earlier, SDLC 105 and 110 were supposed to be my easy classes as I finish off my senior year. However this wasn't the case as classes went under way. Learning a language by yourself is really difficult and not exactly an easy task. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. There is not enough time in a day to do everything that I wanted to do this semester. While learning Korean was hard, if I got the chance to go back and choose to not do it again, I would still do it. I don't regret that I took it. The experience was great in building my vocabulary and gaining practice in speaking Korean. It was great to have the experience in learning by myself. This shows me that after I graduate, I don't need to take a formal class in order to continue my learning. I, myself, can learn on my own. Also compared to other classes, I can't really complain about SDLC.
Looking at my first and updated learning plan, they were both definitely too ambitious for just one semester of learning. For example, I wanted to be good at listening and understanding Korean when someone speaks to me and when it's spoken near me. This means that I need to accumulate a ton of vocabulary and phrases on a variety of topics in order to even be considered an amateur. Honestly when I was making the goals though, I didn't really think much about whether I could achieve them this semester. Instead I focused more on goals that I wanted to achieve in general and as time goes on. This of course was a mistake. I should have focused more on goals that were reachable in the next few weeks than in the next 8 months. For me to achieve all my goals, it would take roughly 3-7 years of learning extensively. As a result, I didn't necessarily achieve any of my goals. Most of my goals centered on being fluent or at least proficient in the topic associated with the goal, which is extremely hard to do since I am just learning the topic. Therefore there is no way that I would be as proficient as a Korean speaker, unless I practice 24/7 and only speak and hear in Korean. Accumulating enough interpersonal skills, phrases, and words was definitely a stretch in my opinion with no chance of being achieved this semester or 2 years from now. While I'm a little disappointed that I'm not at the level that I want to be at right now, I realized that I do have big hopes and dreams for what I want to learn in Korean in the future.
In learning this semester, I would have liked to have a formal teacher when it comes to learning Korean grammar and to answer all the questions that I may have. While having a language partner is great and makes it more comfortable and less structured like a classroom, a formal teacher is more equipped in teaching the basics of grammar and sentence structure. This is something that students can't really teach onto others as efficiently. For example, I'm still a little confused as to how you make original sentences. What is the sentence structure?
As assignments started to pile up, I couldn't give Korean as much of my attention as I would have liked to. At some point, it became really difficult to keep up with assignments and everything. As a result, it was difficult finding the motivation to go to meetings with my language partner when I was so overwhelmed with everything else that is going on, like readings, assignments, tests, projects, and lab reports. Based on my experience, I think that motivation is a key component in any self learning of a language. If you're not motivated to learn, you won't and will try to find excuses to not. For me, I was unmotivated but I didn't try to find excuses to skip my meetings. It was more along the lines, I have been so busy with doing homework that I have sacrificed sleep for it. Thus, sometimes it came down to choosing Korean meetings versus catching up on necessary sleep, which is an extremely difficult decision for a college student. Additionally as the semester got closer to the end, my language partner and I found ourselves becoming busy with projects, assignments, tests, and lab reports. Therefore this sort of played a role in missing a meeting here and there. Although we didn't get to meet twice a week as I would have liked, we did try to meet at least once.
In terms of what I learned this semester, I did learn a decent amount of vocabulary and phrases from both my language partner and my Korean friends. But I do wish that I learned just a little bit more, which goes back to the motivation and meetings. I would have liked to learn a few more topics that aren't what beginner speakers would learn normally. For example, I would have liked to learn phrases and vocabulary that are related to travelling. I enjoyed speaking with my friends and surprising some of them when they found out I was learning Korean. Through my Korean learning, I felt like I was able to connect more with my friends and the culture that they are a part of. I got to understand where they come from culturally by researching and learning about their culture as shown from the various presentations and posts that I have done.
Like I said before, I don't regret taking this class. I learned so much when I otherwise wouldn't if I didn't take it. I enjoyed learning about other cultures as well. Both SDLC classes provide a worldly touch to them that is lacking in most classes at the University of Richmond. Not only am I learning about Korean culture, but I get to experience other cultures from the eyes of people learning it. I will most definitely continue learning Korean and hope one day that I get the opportunity to visit Korea and actually test out my skills. As I finish this semester, I look forward to the future and my continuation of Korean.
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