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As a Chinese student delving into the intricate world of Hangul calligraphy, I find myself in a captivating yet challenging exploration of artistic expression. The elegant strokes and cultural nuances inherent in this form of writing offer a unique lens through which to understand Korean tradition. Here's a more serious take on my journey:

Hangul calligraphy stands as a testament to Korea's artistic heritage. As I gaze upon the carefully crafted characters, I can't help but marvel at the disciplined elegance that defines each stroke. Unlike the complexity of Chinese characters, Hangul appears deceptively simple, yet its artistry lies in the mastery of form and flow.

So, I stumbled upon Hangul calligraphy, thinking, "Hey, Chinese characters are complex enough, let's add a bit of Korean flair to the mix." But seriously, Hangul calligraphy is a visual feast. The characters look like they're doing a waltz on paper, and I'm here, trying not to step on their toes.

My initial impression was one of understated beauty. However, attempting to replicate the characters brought forth a realization—there's a subtlety and precision to Hangul calligraphy that demands a focused and disciplined approach. Each brushstroke carries a weight of cultural significance, requiring an acute attention to detail that I hadn't anticipated.

Hangul calligraphy transcends mere writing; it is a cultural artifact that speaks to the essence of Korean identity. The deliberate choice of words and phrases in calligraphy adds another layer of interpretation, revealing insights into the cultural values and aspirations embedded in the language.

Rooted in Confucian and Buddhist traditions, Hangul calligraphy embodies the virtues of patience and self-cultivation. The meditative quality of crafting each character aligns with the reverence for learning and craftsmanship found in traditional Korean culture. This cultural depth adds layers of significance to each stroke.

Confucian and Buddhist traditions? I can relate—I'm trying to be Zen about this, but my brush has other ideas. The patience required is next level. It's like trying to herd cats—impossible and slightly absurd. And the cultural practices? Scrolls for special occasions? In my world, it's like sending a text but on fancy paper.

Approaching Hangul calligraphy as a Chinese learner, I sense a parallel with my own cultural heritage. The discipline required for calligraphy resonates with the meticulous nature of Chinese brushstroke writing. While the characters may differ, the pursuit of artistic expression and cultural preservation feels like a shared journey.

Hangul calligraphy stands as a testament to the intricate interplay between language, art, and culture in Korea. It is a living tradition that continues to thrive, bridging the gap between the ancient and the modern. My exploration of this artifact has deepened my understanding of the profound ways in which language can be woven into the fabric of a culture, creating a tapestry of beauty and meaning. In future language acquisition efforts, I will carry with me an appreciation for the artistic dimensions of language, seeking to understand not only the words but the soulful strokes that give them life.

            The term Hanbok (한복) refers to traditional Korean clothing. It literally translates as ‘Korean clothing.’ North Koreans prefer the term ‘Joseon Ot’ (조선옷), or Joseon clothes. This refers to the Korean Joseon dynasty, which lasted 500 years from the end of the 14^th century to the beginning of the 20^th century.  

The Hanbok is still worn today by Koreans for formal events and ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, and certain holidays. Most hanboks worn today resemble hanboks worn during the Joseon dynasty by nobility and royalty. Traditionally, commoners wore white hanboks made from cheap, widely available materials such as hemp, linen, and cotton. Today’s hanboks are often colorful and feature ornate patterns.

Women’s hanbok is composed of a top, known as a jeogori (저고리), and a skirt, known as a chima (치마). The outfit is often referred to as chima jeogori (치마저고리). Men’s hanbok is composed of a jeogori with pants, known as baji (바지). Hanboks for women are often more ornate and fancier than their male counterparts.

Gyeongbokgung palace in Seoul was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. Visitors who wear hanboks gain free entry. This creates a more immersive experience for visitors.

Studying the hanbok is impossible without also taking a deep dive into Korean history. The government traditionally enforced a dress code, that stated that the more colorful and ornate hanboks were reserved for nobility and royalty. Today’s hanboks are therefore a deviation from tradition in that sense.

The most significant and drastic change in Korean hanboks occurred during the late 19^th century and early 20^th century. Foreign interests in Korean at the end of 1800s marked the first introduction of western clothing into the country. Japanese colonialism is when a forced shift to western clothing occurred. Japan enforced a policy of erasing Korean culture, and clothing was a significant aspect of this: “After Japan annexed the country in 1910, Koreans experienced a campaign of cultural erasure and material extraction that sought to oppress their heritage in all aspects of daily life, extending to land ownership, language, food and clothing” (One Garment’s Journey Through History - The New York Times (nytimes.com)). The traditional white, commoner hanbok was banned during this period. Gradually, hanboks were phased out of everyday Korean life, which is the norm today.

            As previously stated, Hanboks remain important in Korean culture. The Korean government officially declared October 21^st as Hanbok day. Hanboks have also seen a resurgence in popularity due to being featured in historical kdramas and kpop music videos. Modern takes on the hanbok, featured shorter and more practical styles, have also emerged.

            While the hanbok while likely never return as common, everyday apparel, it is certainly here to stay as a protected, historical cultural item and its influence can still be seen.

I would say that things are going as well as they could be with my language learning. This semester has proven to be difficult for me mentally and emotionally. The whole was to meet with Sara every week, but on average I have met with her biweekly. I will take it! I think that I have learned a lot about myself, Moroccan culture, Sara, and language acquisition in the process. I plan to meet with her at least two more times, maybe three. She is moving to Turkey for a year so her availability may change. 

I think that my third language acquisition on top of keeping up with my second language has changed the most throughout the semester. Early on it felt much easier for me to speak French because I was straight out of France and my Spanish skills were little to none. Now when I speak with Sara, I have to warm up a little bit more. Around halfway into our 30 minute lesson I start to "get it back" (the best way I can describe it). Now that Spanish is on top of my brain, I have to juggle pronouncing words differently. Sometimes I trip up and pronounce all of the letters of a French word when I am not supposed to. This was something I never used to do before learning Spanish. With that being said, not much has changed in my language learning plan, but more so what it takes to learn two languages at the same time. 

Something that has started to change in my conversations with Sara is flipping the narrative. Now I am starting to ask her more questions about herself and her life in Morocco. Readings in class have inspired me to ask her more questions to enhance the experience of intercultural communication. We show each other lots of pictures of things that we enjoy, whether in the US or Morocco. I would say that we are good friends now and know quite a bit about each other. Sara was originally asking me all the questions throughout September and October, but in November our conversations have shifted towards me asking her questions. I like the shift. It's also very good practice for me to form questions based around another culture and using the write terminology to do so. 

For me I think that I could continue expanding my conversations with French speakers beyond Sara in the future. Next semester I intend to do a C-LAC with Dr. Kapanga because I am taking the Francophone novel class for my Luso-Brazilian studies minor. I look forward to expanding my communicative competence with him next semester, also considering that he is from a different African Francophone country. I'm excited to see how my French evolves next to my intermediate Spanish!

I love to talk about writing! I took French 305 my spring semester of Freshman year which was the ultimate opportunity for me to expand my French writing skills. When I was in France I would joke that French is a "fraud" language because I only needed to use three of four tenses to get by. Sometimes I got frustrated with the fact that I learned so much about the language in school, but in reality only use so much of the grammar and writing rules that I have been taught. I use the conditional, future simple, past tense, and present tense the most. When it comes to forming complex sentences, I will use words such as que, qui, oú, and de to connect any idea onto another one. When I was in my senior year of high school and French 221, I found it difficult to use these pronouns and prepositions to form my ideas. Now, I use them all the time both when I write and speak. Word order in French is very weird and different. Not only do I have to consider the gender of the subject, but adjectives tend to go after what I am describing. That threw me off early on, but now I am used to this rule. I am at the point in my French "career" that now I ask questions like "why does it have to be this way?" (in terms of grammatical rules and structures). It just is. 

I prefer to write on paper in the majority of circumstances. To be honest, I wouldn't be upset if we were still required to handwrite essays in school whether in French or English. Writing free hand helps me get a better grasp on learning French and Spanish as well. I have been journaling either before or after my biweekly meetings with Sara. Something that helps me with speaking French is writing in the language before our lessons. It's becoming more difficult for me to speak French because I'm learning Spanish simultaneously. Writing in French comes natural to me now. There are times where I think that I am forgetting French, but then when I sit down to free hand a French journal entry, everything comes out. It's very relieving. 

My number one writing exercise is to free write. I will check my writing with google docs to see what I miss grammatically. This allows me to see which grammatical agreements I hit on the spot and the rules that I miss. Sometimes having a computer telling me what to do can be both overwhelming and less-productive for my learning. 

  The past couple of weeks have been very intense in terms of learning new grammar structures, vocabulary, and new topics. Currently I am working on the last unit from both the MagyarOK grammar book and the MagyarOK language book. This last unit offers new material on topics such as family, home, house (pieces of furniture), expressions used at home, hobbies, and etc. On the other hand, the grammar book covers topics such as present tense vs. future and past tenses, conjugation of personal pronouns, accusative case on complex nouns, continuation of the vowel harmony topics and its complexities, and other new information on possessive endings. Also, both of the books have a lot of audio materials included which seem to be pretty complicated and heavy in terms of vocabulary and all of the materials covered earlier in the book. Even though these couple of weeks have been the most intense and tough so far, I still really enjoyed it.

  In this language journal I want to talk about the construction of past tense in Hungarian language - one of the most useful topics I have learnt this week. Past tense (in Hungarian - ‘múlt idő) is pretty straightforward and an easy to understand concept in Hungarian language (very surprising, right?)... Any verb in Hungarian can be transformed from the present tense to the past tense just by adding the suffix -tam or -tem depending on the vowel harmony. For example, ‘néz’ means ‘to see’, therefore, ‘néztem’ means ‘saw’. Another example, ‘hoz’ means ‘to bring’, and ‘hoztam’ means ‘brought’. You can see that the vowel in the past tense suffix depends on the vowel in the root of the initial verb. It is a completely separate and pretty complicated topic, so I will not go into that. However, what I want to highlight is the fact that there are of course some exceptions because no grammar rule in Hungarian can be that simple and straightforward… 

  The first one is the case when the verb ends with -t. For example, ‘tanít’ means ‘to teach’, and ‘tanítottam’ means ‘taught’. You can see that an extra vowel, the root and the suffix was added, and ‘t’ was doubled. Also, there are certain so-called irregular verbs that have different structure for the past tense. For example, ‘jön’ means ‘to come’, and ‘jöttem’ means ‘came’. I believe that there is no exact explanation on why those verbs are part of the different rule, it just seems that it sounds better like the way they are. 

  I think past tense is one of the most interesting and pretty straightforward topics in Hungarian, that is why I thought sharing it with you might be interesting. 

   During one of the meetings with my community partner we talked about interesting celebrations, traditions, and holidays in our home countries. My community partner told me about Farsang, pronounced ‘Farshang’. 

   Farsang carnival in general marks the end of winter. The celebration is also connected to the destruction of the winter in Hungary - Old Man Winter. There is a lot of fun and food during the day and, in the evening, there is a “huge bonfire as everyone says good-bye to winter and sets their sights on spring. The length of the Farsang period is different each year.  In 2023, Farsang is between 6 January and 21 February. The most important part of Farsang is the “tail of Farsang”, meaning the last 3 days before the start of Lent. This way it includes Sunday, Monday, and Shrove Tuesday, which fall on 19, 20, and 21 February in 2023. Neither of these days are bank holidays, though” (Sarkadi). 

   There are quite a few unique traditions that happen during the period of Farsang. Traditionally Farsang is for merrymaking, courting, and sometimes even weddings. All of the Hungarian folk traditions represent the idea of making winter go away and spring coming sooner. Most of the Hungarians dress up as scary things and make scary noises, as that is “well known to ward off evil - winter is kind of evil as it can kill you with cold and starvation” (Sarkadi). According to the article from which I learnt traditions of Farsang, one of the best-known ones is the ‘Busójárás’ and it takes place at the end of Farsang. “People in fur coats and heavy wooden masks have a parade through the city making noise, lighting a bonfire at night. This tradition, however, is particular only to the region of Mohács, in the Southern part of Hungary, West of the Danube” (Sarkadi). 

   Even though Farsang is dedicated to having fun altogether, it is followed by Lent - a 40-day season religiously known for restraint and meditation. “During Lent, you are not supposed to eat meat, or even cheese or eggs. This is supposed to clean your body and soul, and prepare you for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. As a result, the tail of Farsang is an especially cheerful season, as it is the last opportunity to have fun until Easter. There is a special day emphasizing this contrast between Farsang and Lent: Fat Thursday. This is supposed to be the last Thursday before Lent, dedicated to eating together, especially rich foods and sweets” (Sarkadi). 

   I think Farsang is a very interesting Hungarian national celebration. It captures a lot of traditions, local practices, customs, and other things that Hungarian people keep and preserve so dearly. I hope one day I can see the carnival myself!

Source: https://hungariancitizenship.eu/blog/what-is-farsang-in-hungary/

Surrounded by the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and the Japan Sea, South Korea holds a lot of cultural systems based on its peninsular nature. One of these systems are the Haenyeos - Hae (Sea) + Nyeo (Women), or a group of Korean divers in the area of Jeju Island, south of Korea. These Haenyeos harvest a variety of sea life - ranging from shellfish to seaweed, things that are not as accessible via ferries, nor easily harvestable by machine/automation. Although the occupation is shared by both men and women - over time it has become quite female dominated. There are some historical and scientific reasons for this, but now it is mostly cultural. But these Haenyeos dive without oxygen tanks - they dive for minutes off of just their breath, and they do this for hours (5+) a day. As a result, they are very fit, and many of these Haenyeos are actually very old - some even in their 80s. 

This practice and group of people have recently been listed as a FAO agricultural heritage system - their practice in Korea is almost iconic. They're not wholly relevant, yet many citizens will know of these people, and many Korean dramas also feature Haenyeos. Reading about this was really interesting, and it really shines the light on one of Korea's many subcommunities/subcultures.

I am able to write in Korean… kinda well. According to the people all around me who I text to in Korean, the meaning or message of whatever I’m trying to communicate gets across. However, there are still many spelling mistakes. Most of these are because of characters that sound the same, such as ㅐ vs ㅔ (both sound like ae). Also typing to Korean is hard, especially on a keyboard since I basically don’t know any of the character positions on the QWERTY keyboard. Writing is much easier since I can actually create the words myself. Although, it hasn’t been an issue yet, the sentence structure in Korean differs from English. Of course, the subject, object, and verb of the sentence remains but the ordering of them is different. In English, the basic sentence structure goes subject-verb-object. For example, it would be “I like swimming.” But in Korean, the order goes subject-object-verb. So if the sentence was “나는 수영을 좋아해" (same meaning), the direct translation would be “I swimming like.” But like mentioned above, this hasn’t created any issues for me (yet) in conveying my message or anything of that sort. I’m sure if sentences get more and more complicated though, there may arise an issue of that sort.

Last time I tried to learn Korean by watching 무한도전. But even though I watched several episodes, translated unknown words, and tried to use them in a real life dialogue, it just didn’t work out that well. It was hard to apply many of these words since they barely even fit in an actual dialogue. So instead this time I listened to Korean songs. It’s not like I didn’t before, but this time I actually looked up the lyrics and tried to find out what they meant. Before I would read the lyrics and just follow along without actually understanding them.

I found myself learning a lot more Korean since I would listen to these songs multiple times, often more than once a day, and follow along. Listening to modern songs in Korean also helped a lot since there was a lot of modern slang and terminology in these songs. And of course, with modern songs the lyrics are far more applicable to the real life. Often I would listen to Korean rap and R&B songs over the mainstream Kpop songs. In my opinion, listening to these songs was far more beneficial because 1) they align with my music taste well. So listening to them constantly and trying to follow along wouldn’t become a problem or tiring. 2) the songs generally seem to have more Korean lyrics than mainstream Kpop songs which have an incredible amount of English integrated into them. 3) Songs from these genre contain a lot of slang in Korean. Some of these include contractions, similar to English where two words are combined in a shorter form. But unlike English these words aren’t actually real words and are just used in modern speaking. Although this might seem contradictory to actually learning the language, it helps me understand the language in the context of the real world which allows me to actually understand Korean in the modern world.

Outside of just listening to the songs though, I would try to use these new words in a real life dialogue once again. But as mentioned before, they were far more easy to apply in them than the words from a Korean variety show. Clearly to me, this method was very productive and helped me learn a lot in a surprisingly short amount of time. Part of it was probably because I thoroughly enjoyed what I was learning with. Listening to songs that I’ve never heard before and looking up the lyrics and its meaning was actually an enjoyable process. Not only did I learn more Korean that was useful, but it also showed me new songs that fit me well.

In 2012, Psy became one of the very first Korean artists to gain international viral recognition for “Gangnam Style.” He also holds the title for the first Youtube video to hit 1 billion views back when the video platform was still young. This song has paved the way for more Korean popular culture to become globalized and initiated the term “K-pop.” Psy broke three Guinness world records and rose to international fame at 35. His breakout fame outside of South Korea, where he was already popular, was not just a viral one hit wonder phase. He was a cultural phenomenon that initiated a wave of the globalization of Korean culture to the rest of the world. He had become so famous that there were parodies of him. This wave of Korean pop culture “hallyu” has been in effect since the 1990s but really only made progress this first time. Furthermore, other waves of East Asian influence like Manga and Anime have become popular amount younger generations as well. It has become a cult-like popularity. With the rise of “Hallyu.” One professor at George Mason University in South Korea believes that without him, there would not have been BTS nor BlackPink. A distinctive feature of K-pop bands that have contributed to their growth are their infectious beats, synchronized dance moves, and the eye-catching colors used to create their persona. There are also arguments that had it not been for Psy’s international break out, there would be less popularity surrounding K-dramas, Korean skincare regimens, and Korean tacos and Korean fried chicken.

Not only did Psy’s work break international fame, It also addressed a prevalent issue in South Korea. His “Gangnam Style” addressed a hypocrisy and obsession about presenting oneself through wealth and power. His lyrics and strenuous posturing are undercut by the incongruity of his harshly utilitarian environments: a muddy, neglected-looking riverbank dominated by elevated freeways; a parking garage through which blows a debris-filled windstorm; a public toilet stall. In true Gangnam style, Psy’s character insists on his own magnetism in blind defiance of the void of glamor around him. A similar satire topic is depicted in “Parasite.” A South Korean movie of two families that addressed social critique of rich and poor, “both representative of and imprisoned by its class.” In the film, the poor working class family has a distinct “stench” of labor which is depicted with debt. The poor family tries to overtake the current servers of the rich in a fight for power and money. This same idea of the poor working class against each other is also depicted in Squid games as well. As Forbes puts it, “it[Gangnam Style] is a humorous and ironic commentary on upper-class lifestyle, specifically the lifestyle of those living in the ultra-wealthy Gangnam district of Seoul, Korea.”Gangnam Style

Right now, I'm learning vocabulary in certain categories. I have learned the categories of school, seasons, weekdays, and other basic elementary topics. I am able to practice and improve upon my reading skills and recognize the syllables. After I have learned a sufficient amount of vocabulary words that I can recite, recognize, and translate in my head, I hope to be able to make sentences with the already obtained vocabulary by adding verbs and verb conjugations, subjects, objects, nouns, proper nouns, etc. I hope to be making simple sentences very soon with my vocabulary. My reciprocal goal right now is to become more comfortable being around Korean speakers on campus and not fearing judgment if I want to practice my Korean with them. Even though I know very little korean and mainly just vocab words aside from greetings and simple common phrases like 입니다 which means my name is…, I acknowledge that there is much room for growth. So far, I'm still cooked up with the same tasks I was using initially. by using workbooks,  listening to Korean bilingual kid shows with subtitles, and pointing out every day objects that I know that Korean vocabulary for to keep my mind active. So far, I think that they work. when I meet with my language partner we review the vocab words and I am able to recognize and recite them on command. However, I feel stuck sometimes that I will be at this level for a bit until I have a larger Korean vocabulary and I have more confidence in my Korean. I will maintain my current learning strategies, but at this point, I think I am in a stump for building on this language.

At this point in my learning, I do not have any negative feelings toward it like I used to in the beginning of my journey into Korean. Since I have progressed and improved in my reciting, memorization, pronunciation, etc. I feel pride that I have gotten this far in my studying with Korean and for their pride that I am learning a new language connected to my Asian roots. Even though I am majority Chinese, it still feels wholesome to be able to learn part of my Korean heritage through this class and that I'm not the only one on my journey as well. It brings me comfort knowing that I’m not alone and there is no shame in wanting to learn Korean. In my studies I have learned that Korean is dissimilar from English. It is just broken words that make sense together. It reminds of that one “Office” episode where Kevin speaks broken English yet we can still understand his message. So far I have only implemented one learning strategy which is where I practice my reading and speaking by having my partner write it and then I recite the word or phrase that I understand it as. I do not have any goal changes, I choose to remain on my slower pace that I established in my last learning journal.

During this month I have been continuing my journey in learning more business professional terms and concepts used in Korea. While reading multiple articles that are business related, I have learned a lot of methods that are very different from American companies. Jason provided me with a variety of different articles that were entertaining and on point with the emerging marketing trends. An example includes this article: https://m.blog.naver.com/jeu0312/222730787495 

This specific article is called “디지털 마케팅 트렌드 가치 투자" which means Digital Marketing Trend Value Investment. The first time I read the article, I went through all the vocabulary terms that I am not familiar with. Here is a list of terms for this article that Jason helped me understand and translate:

가치 투자 마켓팅: value invest marketing

유의미: meaningful

염두에 두시고: in your heart, keep it to heart, keep it in your mind

성과: achievement

정의: justice/define

재화: goods/products

각광: spotlighted/highlighted

중시: 중요하게 여기다

OTT 서비스: streaming services

비롯하다: be originated from

상승세:rise

메체: medium/ platforms/ mass media

구축:construct a system

꼽히다:considered

관점: perspective (관람)

테크: technique

공모전: contest

공모작: product that you portray during the contest

출간된: publicate

매각:sale in a business format

창출: created

Then I would read it again with Jason, paragraph by paragraph and work on translating and understanding the article as a whole. I learned these new platforms that are currently trending when it comes to digital marketing. Those platforms are 뮤직 카우, 테사, and 요기페스 where companies use these platforms or promote in similar patterns to reach their audience and make investments. 

Apart from these business articles, I have been continuously watching Korean YouTube videos that are short clips from entertainment channels or famous YouTubers. Topics I enjoy to watch are travel vlogs, mukbangs, recommendation videos, and workout videos. I tend to watch YouTube videos because I feel like it is the easiest way to reach current trends in Korea. I am also able to learn about the trends on specific content within the topics listed above. Relating back to my business skills, I learned a lot of ideas for marketing tactics if my audience were to be Koreans. 

It is interesting to see how I can really learn deeper knowledge and content as my skills are improving. I am able to read and watch more complex videos, although there are numerous terms I am not familiar with. I think I will continue to read more articles, communicate with Jason with more advanced terminologies, and watch entertainment videos to learn more about the trends and casual conversations.

Once there was a time when Korea had no written language for the Korean spoken language. For centuries, the official writing system for Korea was known as 한자 (Hanja). It’s sort of like the Korean version of Chinese characters. But there was a huge downside to having this as the writing system. Back in the day, only high ranking officials or royalties were allowed to learn to read and write 한자. Which means that the commoner, when presented with a piece of text in 한자 had no idea what it said, meaning that notices that were put out for the public were essentially not interpreted for anyone.

Fortunately, a certain great king realized this issue. King Sejong saw that his people people could not interact with any high-ranking officials, causing a problem of communication. Nothing productive could be done within the state. So for a couple years, King Sejong developed a whole new writing system that was entirely phonetic. Characters in 한글 (Hangul) had fixed sounds (some have 2), but they never change when combined with other characters. This made the introduction of 한글 one of the greatest accomplishments throughout the country’s entire history. The language is in fact still used today.

But the way 한글 was first presented to the people is an extremely important relic of the language’s history. The 훈민정음 (Hunminjeongeum), was the historical script/document that was read to King Sejong’s people during the Joseon Dynasty in the 15th century. In this document, is a message to his people that proclaims the invention of a new writing system for the people. He describes that because Joseon is an independent nation from China, a writing system from China does not fit the needs of the Joseon people. His wish was “that all the people may easily learn these letters and that [they] be convenient for daily use”.

But what is the actual significance of this document? Well, as mentioned before, the 훈민정음 promoted literacy for commoners. Because of King Sejong and this document, education about the ordinary folk, brings power to the country by bringing together a cultural unity. The [modern] alphabet system of 14 consonants and 10 vowels still remains one of the simplest and logical writing systems in the world to learn, from people of all backgrounds. 훈민정음 also serves as a symbol of national pride and independence. Its creation signified the Joseon (Korean) people's ability to assert their cultural and linguistic identity, distinct from Chinese influences. In modern South Korea, 한글 날 (Hangul Day) is celebrated annually, highlighting the script's importance and its role in preserving the nation's heritage. This document is of course the first recorded moment in Korea’s history with the use of 한글, which is still used today (with of course many changes). The original, official document is still well preserved at a museum in Korea. In 1962, the 훈민정음 was declared a national treasure by Korea and in 1997, it was registered by UNESCO in its Memory of the World Programme.

For this month I focused on watching Korean shows. The popular Korean show 무한도전 (Infinite Challenge in English), has the people, basically celebrities, on the show do various challenges centered around a theme. The episodes s are largely unscripted, meaning that essentially all the dialogue and talking is casual and on the spot. By watching episodes from this show, I aimed to not just learn Korean speech, but just casual everyday dialogue. Reading articles and books in Korean does help me improve vocabulary, but watching a group of people just casually doing fun challenges shows the actual dialogue in context.

While watching the show, I would come across lots of words that I wouldn’t understand. I would write these words down as I watched the episode, but wouldn’t pause to search up the term. Instead, I would finish the episode so that the flow and momentum wouldn’t be interrupted. And also in case that pausing would make me momentarily forget what was going on before. Once I looked up the terms, I would discuss these words in a real world scenario with my language partner and try to use them as much as possible (if relevant) in actual dialogue in Korean.

The benefits of this was that I learned a lot about Korean culture while watching a lot of these episodes. The topics they touch upon are traditional customs and practices from the Joseon dynasty to to contemporary, modern trends. I've gained more knowledge about the richness of Korean traditions, such as the significance of holidays like 추석 (Chuseok) and 설날 (Seollal) and the intricacies of 한복 (hanbok) attire. Additionally, the show's dialogue certainly helped me learn more vocabulary that’s used in everyday speech. Not only that, but idioms that are used commonly in Korea were also used a lot in the show. Learning these idioms and common phrases helps me learn the nuances of speech in causal dialogue.

However, although I tried to use these new words and phrases in regular dialogue, I found myself struggling to actually apply them in real life. The real life scenarios where I would actually use these words were very limited. The only things I would probably use were (unsurprisingly) the lighthearted insults they used to each other in the show. Despite, not being able to expand my vernacular using the show, what did help a lot was the constant use of actual Korean dialogue. Speaking in Korean with my language partner and other Korean speakers/learners helped me get more comfortable with day-to-day speaking in Korean. Words that I usually would not say in Korean (rather English), would come out naturally in dialogue.

So while the show itself did not help improve my language skills in Korean, it did help me learn a lot about Korean culture. Which influenced me to do more research and learn about Korean culture and history as well as the language itself. Speaking Korean helped me improve a lot so that’s something that I’ll continue doing without a doubt.

When people think of Korean dishes, often the first ones that come to mind are 불고기 (bulgogi), 떡볶이 (tteokbokki), 갈비 (galbi), and of course the well known 김치 (kimchi). However, there are many traditional dishes that most people outside of Korea won’t know. Some of these are 떡국 (tteok-guk) which is a soup with rice cakes. This dish is often served during the Korean New Year since it symbolizes rebirth or a new beginning. Another is 미역국 (miyeok-guk) which is essentially seaweed soup. Traditionally the soup is served with beef or dried fish, which was an extremely rare and expensive food item back in the day. And because of this, it was only served during one’s actual birthday for the mother, as it helped with the recovery process after giving birth. But now it’s consumed all the time.

One dish that is a bit more popular is 부대찌개. When romanized it turns into budae-jjigae which doesn’t really show much value. But the English translation is Army Base Stew. The stew is very simple, and can be created with a variety of ingredients, but what usually goes in nowadays is:

1. Spam (the ham thing)
2. Tofu
3. Kimchi
4. Instant ramen noodles
5. Cheese (althought I believe this is very controversial)

As you can see it’s mixed with a variety of things that someone would usually not mix in a stew (especially the cheese). But there’s actually a reason behind all this. Currently, it’s a beloved Korean dish that is might as well be eaten at least once a month by every Korean in Korea. In reality though, it actually has a very rich but sad history behind the dish:

The dish finds its origins back to the Korean War (1950-1953). During and after this major conflict, the war left the entire peninsula of Korea in a state of devastation. Homes were destroyed, farms were burned, and food was scarce. Because of this, people had to do whatever they could and make do with whatever they found for food. This led to the emergence of 부대찌개. In this scarce environment, the Korean people started to combine all the leftover food that was left behind in US military bases that were set up all throughout the land with Korean basics such as kimchi. The name first half of the word (부대) literally means “military” or “army base”, which reflects the origins of the dish. 

The dish, although made with leftovers, was a symbol of hope and comfort to the Korean war survivors and was a staple from that point onwards. Eventually, it reached a point in time where 부대찌개 has become a dish that everyone can now enjoy. 부대찌개 is not only a reminder of what something as basic as food can do to lift the spirits of the people in trying times, but the resilience of the Korean people. It remains a beloved comfort food, and variations of the dish can be found in Korean restaurants around the world, celebrating its rich history and the ingenuity of the people who created it during a time of need.