After learning Korean all by myself last semester, it is so nice to have a language partner who can actually teach and guide me during the learning process. I didn’t need to find learning resources bymyseff, but MInkyun would prepare for the teaching material that best fit our needs. It is also great to have two other students who are in the similar level as me so that we can learn from each other and make progress together. Throughout the semester, not only have I studied the daily conversations, the Hangu system, as well as the grammar in class, but I also have I gained more knowledge in Korean culture and political environment through watching Korean videos and articles online. In this reflection paper, I am going to first talk about the good things that I really enjoyed during the semester including my favorite learning sources, my good ways of learning the language, as well as the some amazing moments in the learning process. Then I will reflect on the problems I met and the limitations of learning plan. Finally I will conclude this paper with a summary of my learning results and some advice for my future self-learning either in Korean or other new areas.
My favorite part of this class is definitely having Minkyun as a language partner. She is a very outgoing and accommodating person. Not only did she teach us a lot of knowledge in Korean language, but she also told us many Korean cultural related stories to help us develop a better understanding of the Korean society as a whole. Although I can watch Korean culture videos or articles online, her stories are more vivid and close to life. In order to help us study Hangu system better, she even took the learning tools to class so that we could see the structure of Korean characters more clearly. I think learning Hangu in class this semester has been much more effective than watching videos and exploring by myself last semester. Another thing I want to mention is the YouTube called “Korean Englishman” which I started watching last semester. It is about the daily life and family culture which has clipped garnering hundreds of thousands of views since 2013. I like this video and think this is a great source for Korean learners because Josh, the director of this show is also a Korean learner and he had all the cultural shock and he is trying to present Korean cultural from a foreigner’s perspective, in a way that resonates with us and easier for us to remember. Also the video is very funny, and I can use it as a way to relax while learning so much about Korean culture.
However, there are also some difficulties and goals that I did not achieve. First of all, although have classes twice a week, the time for actual practicing is still very limited. Therefore we spent only a little time on each topic instead of digging into it. For example, we only studied the basic etiquette and polite way of saying before and after meals instead of the actual description about food or our preferences. This broad way of learning Korean seems have broaden my knowledge of Korean vocabulary in different fields, yet failed to give me a deep understanding on each of the area.
In conclusion, through further learning a semester of Korean with language partner, I have developed a deeper understanding of Korean culture and customs, from people's daily life to the history and development of the country in a wider level. After knowing that Chinese culture had had a big influence on Korean culture and language, I did a comparison in the similarities and differences between these two cultures, and reflecting on how a culture develops based on the country's geographical location and historical impacts. Also, I now have a command of basic conversations of Korean and I could start talking to my Korean friends in their language. And one of my proudest things is that when somebody asks me about Korea, I could introduce the culture and history to them instead of only talking about pop songs and TV dramas.
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