SDLC 112: Learning Journal 5

[Azmain Taz]

The tutoring sessions with my language partner helped improve my listening and speaking skills a lot. Therefore, we decided to practice writing in Korean. I wrote a small paragraph about my sister in Korean by myself at first. Writing the paragraph helped me review and apply most of the rules of grammar that I had learnt so far. I had to remember the basic Korean sentence structure which is 'subject + object + verb'. I had to use the proper endings like 'neun', 'eun', 'leul' and 'eul' based on whether the word is the subject or object. I also used past and present tenses, and the vocabulary I have learnt so far. There were also some words which I only knew how to say but did not know the spelling. However, I still wrote the text without any help. After Suyeon read it, she said that I had spelled the words phonetically. I had group the syllables to form words the way I pronounce them. She did not simply tell me the correct spellings but she pronounced the words in a way that helped me deduce the spellings. Also, as she was saying the words I realized that I had been pronouncing the words slightly differently which led me to use the wrong consonants and vowels in some cases. Overall, this task has helped me learn the spelling of some common words that I use frequently, review the grammar and the alphabet. It also made me realize that I should spend more time reading Korean besides listening to it. I realized that it is one way to know the spelling of words besides rote memorization. Moreover, I will also remember them better that way.