This past semester in this course as a language learner has allowed me to discover the lack of depth in my knowledge of my native language. Previous to this class, as a Korean-American, I had believed that I was relatively knowledgeable of my native country having visited Korea a couple times throughout my life here in America, and speaking the language with my parents on a regular basis. But I have come to realize that although I may know enough to get by, I am still on many different aspects a foreigner.
Previous to this class, I had merely spelled as I heard, and in the Korean language that is error-prone. Therefore as a language learner, having the opportunity to take time to learn the language, practice it, and work on the fundamentals of spelling, I have definitely improved. Although a majority of the class was studying the Korean culture, the few that studied other cultures such as Turkish, and Basque, widened my perspective. I had never been greatly interested in learning about different cultures before, perhaps because I had never pursued it, but after being exposed in class, I find them quite interesting. Living in America, it is easy to settle into a bubble and remain in the comforts of the inside. So discovering a culture such as the Basque culture was fascinating.
As a student learning a language and a cultural explorer, I found difficult just the habit to practice what I learned. I found it difficult to get into the habit of self-induced practice. I also discovered that the goals that I had set at the beginning were actually quite harder to achieve than I had initially thought. Outside of the general difficulty of practicing on my own, I enjoyed being able to learn about my language. As a native from Korea, I have family members living out there, and so this class will help me in communicating with them easily. It was enjoyable to learn more about my country. My ultimate goal would be to be able to speak Korean almost as fluently as I am able to speak English. And so I aim to continue to practice with my parents, and perhaps start writing letters or emails to my family in Korea.
The learning activities that I found most useful were the videos that I found on the internet. The video provided information about certain circumstances, but went deeper by providing vocabulary one would use in similar situations. This helped increase my knowledge of Korean vocabulary and has reinforced the appropriate use of grammar. This alongside the practice that I was given by my language partner helped me retain the rules better.
Aside from all of that, I would love to learn about my culture as a culture. I had a couple opportunities to pick a certain aspect of the Korean culture and dive into that, and that definitely helped me discover that I don't really know too much about my own culture. And having multiple students also studying the Korean culture widened the range of aspects of Korea that I was introduced to. So apart from studying the actual language and the rules that I had initially come to class wanting to learn, I leave now with a desire to learn more about Korea as a culture and all of its little details that make Korea how it is today.
