In the past two weeks we first learned about words for different professions, and how to say what we are aiming to become, and to express this to out peers we learned how to ask for someone’s major and how to tell them our own. I’m currently planning on becoming a computer scientist (컴퓨터 과학자). 전 컴퓨터 과학을 전공하고 있습니다 (I am majoring in computer science). Then, we learned about how to say what the date is. 김수미 교수님 (Prof. Sumi Kim) helped us practice this by asking us what the current day’s date is, what the past day’s date was, what tomorrow’s date would be, and when our birthday is. Along with the saying the date, we also learned how to say which day of the week it is: 월요일 (Monday), 화요일 (Tuesday), 수요일 (Wednesday), 목요일 (Thursday), 금요일 (Friday), 토요일 (Saturday), and also how to say this week (이번 주), last week (지난주), and next week (다음주) which is really useful in my everyday conversations with friends about projects (계획) or exams (시험). 김수미 교수님 (Prof. Sumi Kim) helped us practice these by asking us what we did the previous week, or what our plans are for this week or the next. Almost every time Prof. Kim asked us any question about what we did the previous day, or the past week, or over the weekend, my answer was always 춤 (dance). This was because I spent a lot of time practicing dance for Block Crew. This actually helped my language learning because a lot of my friends in Block Crew speak Korean, so whenever they spoke to each other I could practice my listening skill, started picking up new vocabulary, and even spoke a bit of Korean whenever I could. For example, whenever we’re learning new steps, someone would repeat the step and ask the person teaching “이처럼?” which means “like this?” Other times when someone dances really well someone would say “대박” which can be used to express that something was really good. And in general I got more used to saying and listening to the words 뭐 (what), 언제 (when), 어디 (where), 왜 (why), 어떻게 (how) to the level where they started popping up in my head naturally when I think of saying any of those words to anyone. So, sometimes when my friends call my name I respond with “뭐?” (what?) or “네?” (yeah?). Some of the credit for this habit of mine goes to the k-drama Cheese in the Trap. I’ve been learning a lot of useful words and phrases and getting a good idea of how interactions in colleges in Korea look through this k-drama. I’m currently working on accumulating a list of words and phrases that were used in the show which I thought were really useful.
One of the best parts of these two weeks was a moment when I received a V Live notification (picture attached at the end) on my phone which said that 방탄 소년단 (BTS) is holding a live stream because it was Suga’s birthday. I picked up my phone to see the notification, saw that it meant “Surprise Live! BTS: Min Suga’s birthday was 2 days ago,” and I put my phone down. It was only after a second that I realised that the notification was in Korean, and I was able to read it comfortably and understand what it said without a second thought. Objectively, this isn’t extremely big because there weren’t any diphthongs in the words which would make it harder for me to read it, and there wasn’t any complicated vocabulary used, but to me it definitely served as a testament to the progress that I have made in my language learning journey.
Note: V Live is a South Korean live video streaming service that allows celebrities based in the country to broadcast live videos on the internet and live chat with fans.
Comments