Reflect on your learning experiences this semester.
(a) What insights have you gained about yourself as a language learner and cultural explorer? What did you find difficult? What have you enjoyed? How will you continue your learning?
(b) Which readings and learning activities did you find most useful? What would you like to learn more about?
It has been only one semester, but it feel as though I have been learning Korean for years. Learning how to set my own goals, pace, and how to become a successful language learner has been a dance of trial-and-error, but I feel as though I am finally seeing the light. In the first few weeks of Korean I really struggled with how to study and learn what we went over in class. Each class we would learn new vocabulary and a new part of Korean grammatical structure or syntax. Due to the fact I have never had exposure to a language similar to Korean, I had trouble memorizing the words and characters, and understanding the syntax, use of particles, and honorific terms. I take much longer time to read and write than the others in my class, and each class period I could feel myself falling behind, as everyone else excelled, seemingly effortlessly.
This frustrating for me, as personally I am the type of person who is motivated by my own progress.The mindset that really changed my motivation was taking charge of what I was doing to learn. In previous weeks, I would read over the words and sentences I learned previously and then would attempt to create sentences or speak with that knowledge. After trying different methods I realized that I need to create my own textbook that I could fill out and dissect syntax and grammar in. I began working on my textbook each week and adding my own words that I wanted to learn, alongside the material we covered in class. This was a fun project for me to work on while learning Korean, and I feel as though that through trying to re-explain Korean to myself in my textbook, I have sorted through some of the confusion I first felt while trying to learn Korean. When I read the textbooks provided at Global Studio I found that even though I understood what was explained in the book, I forgot quickly and then had to take time to explain concepts to myself. With my personal textbook, I already wrote in depth notes and clarifications to questions that I know I will have, and this has saved much of my own time. I believe that this act has improved my language learning competence vastly. What I regret most is that I did not utilize this practice earlier.
I found all the lessons that we did in class useful. I think that when doing the worksheets, the best method to learn the lessons is doing the worksheet over and over again. Doing that with Youngmin in the private sessions that I had with her really helped me clarify the confusions I had in class. I would like to learn more about Korean culture. I feel as though watching movies and shows would’ve been the best way to do this. Unfortunately, I didn’t have as much time as I thought I would this semester to get involved in Korean culture, but I am hoping over break I get the opportunity to do so.
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