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Suneung, also known as the College Scholastic Ability test, is an exam taken by high school seniors in Korea. It is taken place only once a year, and is comprised of a korean language section, mathematics section, english section, Korean history and social studies section, and another second language/chinese character section. High school students prepare for years in order to take this test, and they do so by studying the materials in school, in cram schools, with private tutors, or just on their own. The suneung is heavily criticized because it is only held once a year- so if a student did not do well on the exam and did not get accepted into the college they wanted to attend, they would have to wait and study for another whole year. Meanwhile, in the U.S., we could take the SAT or the ACT numbers of times during the school year. And there are many people that do not do well even on their second and third tries, so they spend years even after graduating high school to get a good score on the exam. People criticize the exam for being time inefficient for the students that have to retake the exam, which I agree with as well.

The modern standard of beauty in Korea is a very controversial topic within Korea and internationally. The standard of beauty in Korea for women is to have clear and pale skin, with bigger eyes with double eyelids and eye bags, a small and high nose, and having a narrower jaw and chin. The standard of beauty body-wise is to be skinny with with thin and long arms and legs, but with bigger chest and curves. The Korean society judges people based on their looks quite often, and this used to happen even during job interviews, where the interviewee’s looks have a big influence on the interviewer on selecting their new employees. Because so many things are based on people’s looks, they often get plastic surgeries and diet, to the point where people would risk their lives to look just a bit more physically attractive. For example, finding plus-size clothes and darker foundation shades is relatively difficult in Korea. This has been a big, controversial issue in Korea and outside of Korea, and people have been speaking out and against the standard of beauty in Korea. Although things are slowly beginning to change, the change is too slow, and people are still fighting for equality.

Buddhism is a religion that is relatively popular in Korea, specifically with the older generation. It was introduced to Korea from China and Japan, and it has been the religion of Korea during the Joseon era. The movie “Along with the Gods” shows the buddhist aspect of the afterlife, which includes the 49 days of trials and judgement for reincarnation. Although it is a little bit different from the movie, there are five deadly sins of Buddhism, which are ignorance, attachment, aversion, pride, and jealousy. After the trials, they are judged to either be reincarnated or stay in hell. Although a little bit different from traditional Buddhism, Korean Buddhism took ideas of the Mahayana Buddhism, and added their own ideas and concepts of the afterlife. I was inspired to research about Korean Buddhism because my grandma is Buddhist, so I wanted to see what kinds of beliefs her religion held. I was also inspired because of the movie that we watched in class, “Along with the Gods”. The main character dies and goes to the underworld, where he is judged on how he lived his life, with trials based on the different types of sins for 49 days, and he must pass all of those trials within the 49 days in order to reincarnate.

Here is a conversation I had with my mom in Korean. 

Over the break, I went to a traditional Korean tea shop/theater with my friends in northern Virginia. The place is called "Soricha", and the shop offers different kinds of leaf and flower teas, and even unique fruit teas. The interior of the shop is consisted of traditional Korean furnitures and items, so I highly recommend it if you want to experience Korean-style drinks and atmosphere.

This past week was Thanksgiving break! Since I had extra free time, I actually learned more Hindi this week than other weeks. The language is starting to make a little sense to me. I still don't feel competent at all to speak it much, but I am getting to the point of understanding the basic structure of the language enough to really start learning it.

Preparing for the teaching presentation this week really helped me solidify some grammar that I otherwise may have skimmed over. It really does help to teach!

This week I practiced texting in Hindi multiple times. I find texting to be much easier, because the conversation can move much slower and I can plan out my words better. I asked a friend about his Thanksgiving trip and we discussed the weather, likes, and dislikes.

My goals from last week:

• Make a language-learning plan for the next 28 weeks or so until I move to India. (I am working on this in my mind. I watched many videos about Hindi-speaking visitors to India over break, and I am starting to learn what is the most useful "street language" to know.)
• Complete Mango lessons 17-29 (I completed through lesson 19 only. I decided it is better to take my time, rather than rush and absorb less.)
• Sample some new Hindi resources including... (Except for EdX, yes!)

            --- watch two EdX Hindi videos on YouTube

            --- look at two lessons from http://www.learning-hindi.com/

            --- look at two lessons from http://www.mindurhindi.com/

            --- Look more at Hindi Memrise accounts

• Practice communicating in Hindi at least twice with another person  (Yes, with two people!)

My goals for this coming week:

1. Mango lessons as feels appropriate
2. Have at least 5 conversations in Hindi, using online resources as necessary to communicate
3. Engage in my Hindi Memrise account to learn new vocabulary
4. Check out EdX Hindi videos on Youtube

“New Journey to the West” is a very popular Korean variety show. It is a show about the cast of the show going to foreign countries such as China, Vietnam, and Japan. The cast is comprised of Kang Ho Dong, Lee Soo Geun, Eun Jiwon, Ahn Jaehyun, Jo Kyuhyun, Song Mino, and P.O. The concept and the content of the show is so unique and hilarious, so I highly recommend this to anybody looking for a Korean Variety show to watch.

“Mister Sunshine” is a Korean drama that aired from July 7th to September 30th. This drama took time during the Japanese imperialism era in the early 1910s, and this is a great drama because even though the characters were fiction, the drama plot was based on the actual history, and it shows an accurate depiction of the Korean people’s lives during the era. This drama is on Netflix, so it is easier to access!

     [As always, a disclaimer that India is an enormous country with many different languages, cultures, and value systems. I will be writing from the perspective of a visitor to North India, specifically Uttar Pradesh  and Uttarakhand.]

     India is known for its beautiful clothing. From regal kurta for men to elegant saris for women, Indians know how to dress for special occasions!

     Except in modern urban areas, India is also known to be a very conservative country when it comes to clothing. Women must always cover their chests and shoulders, and head coverings are considered polite, although not required. Women also always cover their legs - even in 110F weather you will see women with long pants!

     The traditional dress for women is either a sari or kurta. The sari is simply a long rectangle of fabric that women skillfully wrap around themselves to form a sort of dress. The kurta is essentially a long shirt which has side slits up to the waist. They can be any length from to the ankle to just at the waist. I own two kurtas and I can attest that they are the most comfortable items of clothing I have! Plus, they are a great mix of formal enough for work, but comfortable enough for home. Under the kurta, women usually wear flowy pants, jeans, or my favorite, churidar - leggings with extra fabric at the ankles that bunches up to look like bangles. Women also wear a shawl/scarf called dupatta. Most of the time it is draped over their upper body so that the two ends hang behind them, but it is also useful to protect against pollution, or to cover the head when entering a particularly traditional place.

Kurti with churidar (picture taken from the FBB store website) Note that this is a store in a very urban area, thus the bare shoulders. A woman with this kurti would likely cover up with a scarf.

Beautiful sari (picture from Google)

For the seventh week of class, we watched the second half of “Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds” with english subtitles. She showed us this movie not only because it was such a big hit in Korea and internationally, but also because it showed the perspective of the afterlife by ancient Korean history and Buddhism. After we finished the movie, we wrote a paragraph on the movie, on how we felt after the movie and what was interesting to us, all in Korean. Then, Jimin took a look at them, and helped us fix any grammatical errors we made. For the eighth week, we learned the first half of Korean history, starting from Gojoseon, which was the oldest Kingdom/country in Korean history. Then, we learned about the three large kingdoms, which included Goguryeo, Baekje, and silla. Next, we learned about Goryeo, Joseon, and the key historical characters of Joseon, such as King Sejong, general Lee Soon Shin, etc. We also learned about the important battles, such as Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592. Then, we spent most of our time learning about the Japanese imperialism era, which was from 1910-1945. We learned about the key activists such as Ahn Joong Geun, Kim Goo, and how much they have done for the independence for Korea. Finally, we learned about the Korean War and the politics in South Korea within the past 50 years.  

For the fifth week of class, we went to Grand Mart to eat authentic Korean food. We learned how to order Korean food in Korean, and talked about the food delivery system/culture. In Korea, if you want food delivered to you, they can deliver it to almost wherever you want whatever you want within a short amount of time. Jimin told us that you could literally be in a park and order fried chicken with beer, and the delivery man will find them within 30 minutes. For the sixth week, we watched a Korean movie titled “Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds” with english subtitles. Since the movie was a longer movie, we split it into two weeks and watched it with Jimin to explain to us things we did not understand. In the beginning of class, Jimin gave us a pop quiz on everything we learned so far, which included slangs, proverbs, four word proverbs, and a little bit of commonly made grammar mistakes. After she quizzed us and went over the quiz, we watched the movie with the subtitles.

For the third week of class, we went over the list of proverbs Jimin prepared for us. She told us that Koreans still use proverbs in everyday conversations, and that it was important to know in order to express your thoughts during a conversations. For example, she showed us a few clips of Korean variety shows, in which they quizzed the cast on those proverbs, and how important it was to know those since a lot of people use them everyday. An example of a Korean proverb would be “하늘이 무너져도 솟아날 구멍이 있다”, which directly translates to ‘Even when the sky falls apart, there is a hole to rise up’. This proverb means ‘even when things are bad, it is good to stay positive’. For the fourth week, we went over the list of four word proverbs, which are proverbs that are made up of four chinese characters (Hanza). Each Hanzas have different meanings, so once you put them together, it creates a proverb. For example, 一石二鳥, which mean one stone, two birds, make up the proverb “killing two birds with one stone”.

For the first week of our class, we went over the basics of what we were going to cover for this semester. First, we decided what to learn, and we decided to learn slangs, proverbs, four word proverbs, watching Korean movies with/without subtitles, writing a paragraph on the movie in Korean, learning Korean history, and fixing commonly made mistakes. After planning, we learned a little bit of each topic to see how the classes were going to be. During the second week, we went over the list of slangs that Jimin prepared for us and that we’ll be tested on for the final. She emphasized that slangs are important in the modern Korean society because slangs are used to communicate within the younger generation, and it’s so different from standard Korean. She helped us go through the entire list of commonly used slangs, and we applied them by making up a sentence and conversation with those slangs. A lot of the slangs were abbreviations, so it was easier to figure out. For example, Starbucks in Korean slang would be 스벅, which is ‘su-buck’ when sounded out. For homework, she assigned us to memorize all of the slangs and their definitions.

The past two weeks were a fresh change of pace and we focused on the history of Korea. We went through all of Korea's history and I really appreciated our learning partner for preparing such a large amount of information in a condensed manner so that it wasn't overwhelming. She literally started from the creation of Korea to the present. She presented us with a sheet of paper that presented the kingdom/historical era and keywords that are important to that specific time. She made sure to take more time on major historical events and people that made a large impact in Korea. Learning the history of Korea was depressing. They were constantly being invaded by other countries. There were a few moments of victory, but it was not long lasting. For example, after the end of the Japanese Colonial era, the Korean war soon happened. Once the war was paused and the republic of Korea was born, the Korean people still were not truly free. There was no democracy. Almost every president that Korea has had in office were almost like dictators. I remember my mom telling me how she has no hope in the Korean political system because they are corrupt year after year and it hasn't changed ever since she was younger. 

I taught one of my non-Korean housemates 7 common Korean slang words. I noticed that these words are very common in normal day-to-day conversations, so if my friend were to ever interact with Koreans and use the appropriate slang word, he would be praised. Koreans love it when a non-Korean speaks Korean. I think the lesson was overall effective. I didn't use too many words so he was generally able to recall which word to use in the correct context. There were a couple words where he got confused on which to use. This was because the meaning can be somewhat similar. For example, daebak means "that is crazy!" and jjang means "awesome." I didn't really know how to discern the differences between the two. There is a gut feeling I get that helps me pick which one to use in the correct context. I didn't know how to explain this gut feeling to him. Overall, it was a fun and enjoyable time for both of us. It was great that I was able to have my friend exposed to my culture. 

We watched a korean movie called Along with the Gods for one of the weeks. Thankfully, we watched it with subtitles because I would have had no idea what was being said. This is still an area that I have a lot of trouble with. I find it astounding that some of my non-Korean friends have learned Korean just by watching a lot of Korean entertainment. I think I should watch more Korean programs and movies. The following week we wrote a reflection on what we thought about the movie and reviewed everything we had learned up to this point. I think the lessons so far have been effective. We usually try to recall things we learned from past lessons and that helps reinforce what I learned previously. In previous classes, I noticed that a lot of things that I learned tend to slip away because there isn't continual practice throughout the semester. So, this has been refreshing and encourages me that I am learning and improving in my Korean vocabulary when I get things right.

For the learning activity, I decided on teaching Korean slang to my non-Korean friend. I think this would be an easy and fun topic to learn for someone who doesn't know any Korean. I plan on providing a list of the common slang words and provide the meaning. I would then provide an example of the appropriate use of the word. Since my friend doesn't know any Korean, I plan on saying an English sentence and ask what slang word would I use in this context to test if the lesson actually worked. 

For the past two weeks, we continued our lessons on Korean vocabulary. We specifically went over Korean proverbs and Sa Ja Sung Uh. For the Korean proverbs lesson, we watched a Korean variety show, but with subtitles this time. I think Jimin knew I had a hard time understanding during the previous lesson. However, this time, I tried to pick out words I understood from the hosts and was able to somewhat get an understanding of what they were trying to say. Although it was just a fun variety show, I noticed that there was some worth in learning by watching these variety shows. I was getting real world exposure to the Korean language and I had to practice deciphering what they were saying on the spot. We also went over a list of the proverbs to be used in the show beforehand, so Jimin used the show as a test to see if we would remember what we had just learned. Jimin helped us translate the proverbs and we took turns applying them into the right context. Sa ja sung uh is a one word proverb where each letter has a meaning. I found it interesting how there were a few sa ja sung uhs that were used in the English language such as "kill two birds with one stone".  

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I used 7 very common slang words and applied them in the appropriate context to be used in a conversation. 

1. Daebak (that is crazy!)

2. Jjang (awesome)

3. Hul (no way, oh my gosh)

4. Heck-no-jem (very not fun)

5. Heck-khool-jem (very fun)

6. Ppung-chi-ji-ma (stop messing with me)

6. Chimaek (chicken and beer)

For my next cultural post, I did research on the creation of the Korean language. Koreans did not always have their own language, but used Hanja, which was Chinese. There were many problems because of this. For example, the Chinese characters were too complicated for the common people to learn and understand. Using the language meant you were in the upper class and it was generally used by the educated. Another problem was that since the Chinese script was of foreign origin, Koreans were unable to fully express their Korean cultural thoughts and spoken language. The common people who had complaints had no way of submitting grievances. They were also unable to record agricultural wisdoms that were gained over the years. As a result, King Sejong, the king during the Choson Dynasty (1393 - 1910), created the Korean language called Hangul. It was very easy to learn, so the problems that existed with the common people began to dissipate. It is apparently so accessible that a foreigner can gain a working knowledge of Hangul after one or two hours of intensive studying. It even allowed children who were around 2 or 3 to be able to express themselves which was considered a rare phenomena throughout the world.

For the past two weeks, we focused on Korean vocabulary. This is an area that I am always struggling with because there is always more vocabulary words to know. Since I do not get enough exposure to the Korean language, my knowledge is very limited. We went over Korean slang for one of the weeks. We first watched a Korean variety show without subtitles where the hosts were playing a game. They had to translate the meaning of the slang. To be honest, I had a hard time understanding what the hosts were saying. They were speaking very fast and I didn't understand a lot of the words. Jimin had to pause the video and translate for me most of the time. Jimin gave us a handout of the words that were used in the show and we went over each one. She gave us the meaning and used them in a sentence so that we can understand the appropriate context of when it should be applied. I realized I was getting a bit overwhelmed because there was just so many different common slang terms. It is hard to infer what the words may be saying.

I think I am improving on my Korean based on the first artifact I posted. My knowledge of Korean words is slowly improving. My mom was very impressed that she didn't have to translate a few words for me when I had a conversation with her recently. She noticed that my Korean has been getting better so I think that is a good sign. I think I could definitely improve on using different types of sentence structures. I noticed that I repeat a lot of phrases to introduce a new topic in the conversation.