So far, my language learning has been going well. I have been able to explore topics with more freedom than when I was in Korea because my learning isn’t as regimented. I have also really enjoyed being able to blend resources together for my lessons such as using Naver Webtoons or my poetry books as learning tools. It’s made learning feel more natural and interesting for me. I have really enjoyed learning through tasks. That has allowed me to really focus my language learning on topics of interest and then directly apply my new knowledge. For example, writing my Korean resume was a lengthy process but from it I learned a lot about work related vocabulary and verb endings used exclusively for writing. Along the way, I had to learn how to read job descriptions and find job openings because what good is a resume that is never used? One task can naturally lead to another.
Since Korean is a high context language and Korea is a high context culture, an understanding of both can be very helpful. One example of that would be my presentation from earlier in the semester where I discussed the diversified use of the pronoun “우리” in Korean language and how that term reflects cultural values of inclusiveness and togetherness. Another example of that would be the lack of the use of the pronoun “you” in Korean. Koreans feel that using the pronoun “you” creates distance between the speaker and the listener and can show disrespect. Often you refer to someone by their name or title which shows that you acknowledge them and their status within your relationship. Often, between friends, the word is completely omitted. For example, 밥 먹었어? means “have you eaten?” but it literally translates to “food eaten?” This same pattern persists for a variety of phrases. If a foreigner were to include the pronoun “you” in these phrases, it would show their poor understanding of Korean and Korean culture. Furthermore, if you understand the culture around the grammar points or word choices, it makes them easier to remember. It can be hard to remember that you should use “our” in some instances and “mine” in others but if you consider the Korean cultural aspect around it, it becomes much more obvious on when you should use “our” or “mine” when referring to something.
I think improving my pragmatics would be a huge improvement to my Korean and it would let me sound much more natural. Often, Korean speakers drop particles and condense verb endings to make speaking easier and quicker, however that can cause for a loss of meaning for foreigner listeners. It can be much more difficult to discern between the subject and object of a sentence if particles are missing that denote that. Also, I would like to be able to find ways to reword my sentences so they sound as natural as possible. However, I think that level is many months away from me and I will need to learn the extended, proper, form first before I can imagine using the condensed forms.
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