SDLC 105 Learning Journal #10

[Hongzhen Chen]

Reflecting on my self-learning of Korean this semester,both good and not so good results come out. I have done a good job in keeping myself exposed to the cultural background by watching Korean TV shows and dramas, talking with my Korean friends, reading Korean news, and going to Korean restaurants very often. By doing so, I have gained a great amount of knowledge in Korean food culture, family culture, military service culture, even dating culture. I now have many topics to talk about with my Korean friends and could understand their behaviors and history better. However, one of the biggest disadvantage of self learning is the lack of practice in speaking and writing. Although I could now recognize many Korean vocabularies, I forget how to write certain words from time to time. It is also difficult for me to know if my pronunciation is correct as it is impossible for me to show my records to my Korean friends all the time. Another thing I need to improve for future learning is that I did not learn Korean in a systematic way. Although my learning focus is on Korean food, it greatly varied depending on what I watched and read that day. I think I need to have a specific plan, at least a topic for learning each week next semester so that I could keep track of my learning more effectively.