This semester my main goal is to be able to hold a 5-10 minute basic, everyday conversation in Korean with minimal hesitation and reduced reliance on English. I know that my understanding of spoken Korean is more than enough to achieve this, however my speaking fluency is what needs to be brough up to speed. I feel optimistic about this semester after all the trial and error and learning experiences of last semester, that I will apply to make my learning more efficient this time around. Last semester I had many different learning goals that included everyday culture, Korean history, writing, reading, and speaking. This semester I will focus most of my efforts on speaking and everyday conversation, while also exploring Korean history for my monthly cultural posts.
I recently met with my language partner and planned our learning strategies for this semester. We agreed to speak in as much Korean as possible. My partner will ease into speaking to me exclusively in Korean. I agreed to interrupt if I ever do not understand anything. Our lessons will be a combination of small, everyday banter. During our first lesson I also tried implementing everyday Korean filler words and slang that my partner said are important for having a more natural conversation. This was encouraging because one thing that I am tying to avoid is to speak in awkward, ‘school textbook’ style Korean.
My partner and I also agreed that it was important for my to build my vocabulary, my understanding of Korean sentence formulation, and to work on these independently throughout the week. During our lessons we make a list of words I should know. I then make some sentences using those words. At the end of our lesson the plan is to have a sheet of vocabulary terms and sentences. Before my next meeting, I then must memorize these words and understand and be able to comfortably repeat our sentence examples.
I think that this is a good starting point for my semester. I am curious to see how my learning plan will evolve in the coming weeks and months.
Comments
Hi Henry! I hope you accomplished your main goal for the semester! We should hang out soon to see if you are able to hold a 5-10 minute basic, everyday conversation in Korean. This sounds like a great start to your language learning journey!