Blogs

The Evolution of K-Pop 

K-Pop is a popular music genre that has become a worldwide phenomenon that transformed the music industry. K-Pop refers to popular music from South Korea, as pop music was mainly a genre from American and British cultures (koreanculture.org). The term “hallyu'' describes this phenomenon as “the Korean wave” -- the surge of South Korean popular culture that has grown and is becoming a major driver of global culture (koreanculture.org). Hallyu refers to many aspects of Korean culture that are popular today in the U.S., such as Korean dramas, cosmetic products, and Korean cuisine among others (vox.com).` While the Korean wave emerged worldwide around the 1980s, K-Pop began in 1992 with the band Seo Taiji and Boys, who were popularized on a broadcasted Korean talent T.V. show (vox.com). This emergence in pop music was possible due to reformation of South Korea’s democratic government in 1987 with the establishment of the Sixth Republic (vox.com). Before 1987, there were only two broadcasting networks in the country and the government had tight control over what Koreans could listen to (vox.com). This liberalization of Korean media in 1987 allowed for the expansion of radio broadcasting networks in the country, and South Koreans “became more regularly exposed to more varieties of music from outside the country, including contemporary American music” (vox.com). However, television remained the dominant centralized form of media; in 1992 99% of Korean households viewed national TV networks, with weekend talent shows gaining the highest amount of views (vox.com). Although Seo Taiji and Boys did not win and actually received the lowest score on the talent show, their debut of the song “I Know” became so popular that for over 15 years it held the longest No.1 song streak in South Korea’s history (vox.com).

The song “I Know” represented the first time that modern American pop music was fused with South Korean culture (vox.com). Seo Taiji and Boys became so popular as they were “innovators who challenged norms around music styles, song topics, fashion, and censorship” and even sang about teen angst and the social pressure to succeed within the rigorous education system in South Korea (vox.com). What makes K-Pop a unique style of music is the performance aspect: these groups have great dancing skills, a polished aesthetic and fashion style, and very catchy songwriting (vox.com). K-Pop began to influence music styles all throughout Asia, particularly in China, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore, as idol bands such as TVXQ, Kara, Big Bang, Girls’ Generation, and 2NE1 gained popularity in the mid-2000s (koreanculture.org). In the United States and many other parts of the world, Psy’s hit “Gangnam Style” garnered millions of views on YouTube and ranked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts and the popular K-Pop boy band BTS followed suit and has gained a global following of dedicated fans (koreanculture.org). Today, there are more than 150 idol groups active in South Korea, the most notable ones being BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, EXO, Red Velvet, SF9, NCT, ITZY, MONSTA X, among others (koreanculture.org). It’s also interesting to note that co-ed groups don’t really exist within K-Pop as boy and girl bands have very distinct styles and discuss different topics in their songs (vox.com). For example, girl groups tend to represent traditional femininity in South Korean culture by their adorable, school girl image and songs centered around love and relationships, while boy bands focus on exquisite choreography and song topics range from teen social pressures and other narrative concepts (vox.com). Overall, K-Pop has revolutionized the global entertainment industry and continues to diffuse South Korean culture throughout the world.

Sources:

http://www.koreanculture.org/korea-information-culture-and-the-arts

https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/16/16915672/what-is-kpop-history-explained

Due to their close proximity, Vietnamese culture and values have been heavily influenced by Chinese culture for centuries. However, that does not mean their cultures and values are at all identical. Growing up, I was exposed to both cultures and values due to the differences in my parents’ heritage. I want to share some similarities that are present in both cultures as well as highlight the differences that exist between them. I just want to place a disclaimer that China and Vietnam are independent countries and their cultures and values are likely to be much deeper and more complex than I know. Also China’s large geographical area most definitely means that not everyone living in the country will uphold the same values.

The most obvious difference between the two cultures is their writing system. The Chinese language uses a logographic writing system that is arguably one of the world’s largest writing systems today. Unlike most languages, the Chinese language does not utilize a fixed alphabet system, instead they use unique characters or a combination of characters to describe concepts and objects. Vietnamese used to have a system of writing that consisted entirely of Chinese characters alongside its reading and meaning. This writing system was later replaced by Chữ Nôm which is a combination of Chinese characters infused with Vietnamese readings and meanings as well as a number of uniquely Vietnamese characters. However, due to the French colonization of Vietnam, it quickly fell out of practice in favor of the Latin alphabet. 

A startling similarity between the cultures is that they are both highly collectivist cultures where people often act in the interests of the entire group and not of themselves. Both Chinese and Vietnamese are heavily family oriented and nationalistic. Loyalty to the state and filial piety are central and desirable natures of both cultures. Additionally, both countries have very high levels of power distance – that is, society for both are plagued by inequalities but it is deemed acceptable. High levels of power distance also implies that power struggles are not typical because subordinate-superior relationships are polarized without any defense against corruption or abuse. 

Another difference between the cultures is their ‘masculinity’. The Chinese have a highly masculine culture while the Vietnamese’s culture is much more feminine. Higher masculinity scores in a culture is an indication that it’s society is driven by competition, achievement, and success measured by accomplishments and recognition. This system of value is deeply rooted in the culture and its people from a young age, and people are highly encouraged to continuously compete against one another while leisure remains heavily frowned upon; in other words, the people in this culture tend to live to work. On the other hand, a feminine culture is more centric on the idea success is measured by quality of life rather than hard work, although that is not discouraged. These people prefer flexibility and inclusivity, and while accomplishments are celebrated, standing out from the crowd is often frowned upon. To sum up, feminine cultures emphasize the importance of working to live instead of viceversa. 

My artifact this month was a video about the largest shopping malls in Indonesia. The video showcased various malls in different parts of Indonesia, through most of them were in the larger cities. All of the malls were grand and unlike the malls I am used to in the US. They all had multiple floors and basements and many big stores that are unique to Indonesia (or Asia in general). While malls mainly reflect the lives in big Indonesian cities, I do believe they are a large part of life there, which is interesting because that might not be the image that someone who is not familiar with Indonesia might think of.

When I visit Indonesia, I always go to Jakarta because that is where most of my family live. In Jakarta, I think it is safe to say that shopping malls are the one of the centers of life. They make up a large part of city life and it is impossible not to pass one when in the city. My language partner, Farida (who is from Surabaya), and I often joke about malls being the only place to go when visiting Jakarta. When I go to Jakarta, we would go to the mall almost everyday to eat, shop, or just walk around. The malls I have been to that were included in the video are: AEON Mall, Grand Indonesia, and Gandaria City. Similar to many malls in Asia (though unlike in the US), these malls usually include larger department stores or even grocery stores that make up a large portion of the space. Back then, my favorite thing to do in the mall was browse the food court. The food courts are so much larger than I am used to and included so many options I was not familiar with. My favorite places were the ones that sold boba and cute desserts. Especially during my first trip there, I was not used to seeing so many types of cuisine in a single food court. Back then, where I lived in the US, most food courts had American food and typical chain restaurants, so there was never a large selection of Asian food. As a result, every time we went to the food courts or a restaurant in the mall in Indonesia, I always wanted to try somewhere different.

On the other hand, I think it is important to also realize the inequalities present in Indonesia, especially Jakarta. Because despite the abundance of these grand shopping malls, there is a very prominent socioeconomic gap in Indonesia. It is very common to pass by people living in undesirable conditions on the street and in impoverished neighborhoods even in Jakarta. The extravagant lifestyles reflected by these shopping malls are in no way reflective of the actual living conditions and lifestyles in Indonesia. Indonesia is a large country made up of thousands of islands, so the lavish picture portrayed by Jakarta does not apply to the majority of Indonesian life and culture.

I’m interested in learning more about traditional Korean art forms because every culture has their own unique style of artistic expression. Through a culture’s art, you can learn so much about their history and way of life. I also think art is so beautiful as it can connect with people of all cultures and communicates a story in a way that is universal -- you don’t have to know how to speak the language to appreciate their diverse culture. What I appreciate most about Korean art is the beautiful visuals from paintings, murals, and drawings. There are so many bright colors and themes of natural landscapes, animals, and people are present throughout traditional folk art. The Korean word that describes these folk art paintings is minhwa (민화), which means “painting of the people” or “popular painting”. I find minhwa particularly interesting as it has an early history dating back as early as the late 14th century and has evolved throughout history which is seen today in contemporary Korean art. There are also many different aspects of traditional Korean art, such as calligraphy, pottery and sculpture, music and performing arts, and literature such as poetry. In terms of linguistic knowledge, learning to read Hangul would be helpful as some of the paintings and calligraphy include characters and I’m interested to learn more about the meaning behind these artworks. I believe my learning tasks to learn the alphabet is a good start to learn how to read Hangul. I will also need to incorporate learning vocabulary related to art in my lessons with my language partner. In the weeks to come, I plan to incorporate learning the Korean words to describe these various art forms, as well as learning words to describe colors, landscapes, animals, and the materials used for these artworks to learn more about traditional Korean art.

Though I never had much exposure to Slovak culture, I did grow up in an area with a large Polish population. Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw. In March, we would have a day off of school in honor of Casimir Pulaski, a Polish-born Revolutionary war hero. One of my favorite Polish traditions was when my mom would buy paczki (filled doughnuts) for Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras). We do not closely observe Lent or other Christian traditions, but my family and I love to eat paczki each year. With the beginning of Lent and the passing of Fat Tuesday, I decided to further investigate Lent and Fat Tuesday in Slovakia.

As of 2017, 63% of Slovakia identified as Roman Catholic and were far more likely to regularly attend church than their largely non-religious, Czech counterparts. With their close adherence to Roman Catholic traditions, Slovaks observe Fašiangy (Winter Carnival), marking the season of celebrations and traditions performed after Traja králi (Three Kings Day) and before Popolcová streda (Ash Wednesday), the beginning of Lent. The term “Fašiangy” originates from ‘vast-shancc’, an old Germanic word, translated to “pouring of the fasting drink” (“Carnival, or Fašiangy, “Vilikovská). Slovaks refer to Lent as pôst or mjasopust (“letting go of a lot of meat”). Fašiangy represents a time of great celebrations, balls, parades, and folkdance events. Due to the dormancy of farming and the exuberance of the season, many young people get married, feasting and celebrating with their village and families for days on end. During Pôst, couples could not get married, feasts could not be hosted, and parties were strictly forbidden.

The final day of Fašiangy, called Tučný utorok, is the equivalent of Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, a day of great gluttony before a long period of piety and fasting. This time of year allowed pagan and early-Christian Slovaks to eat luxury foods as opposed to their typically high-calorie, average meals. To this day, Slovaks eat fánky (pastries filled with curd, jam, or walnuts), šišky (filled donuts), záviny (strudels) and other sweet treats. They drink whiskey, slivovica (liquor made from plums), wine, and beer. However, older generations also enjoyed medovina, alcohol made of fermented honey. Additionally, during Fašiangy, early Christian Slovaks would parade around in animal, ghost-like masks in order to rid their village of evil spirits. Other typical costumes are slameník (strawman), kurina baba (old lady), kostra (skeleton),turoň (ox), koza (goat) or vlk (wolf). The creation of a turoň is especially important as one young man sits on the shoulders of another covered with sheets and an ox head. With a procession of other people, the turoň would carry manure around to each house in order manifest a good harvest for each family. Pochovávanie Basy (burial of the double bass) marks the true end of the celebratory season as “…people dressed as priest, organ-player, gravedigger, the instrument on a hearse, and granny-weepers”. This procession functions as a transition from the jubilee of Fašiangy to the solemn nature of Pôst. 

Overall, Fašiangy represents a culturally rich season and a culmination of pagan, Christian, Slovak, German and other influences. Modern-day Fašiangy is only made possible by the centuries of Christian and Pagan celebration in Slovakia. The detailed nature of this celebration and its long history truly communicates the complexity of Slovak culture, something often overlooked during the observation of Lent by Western Europeans and Americans.

The Slovak version of paczki

A turoň and his entourage

Pochovávanie Basy (burial of the double bass)

https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20092675/carnival-or-fasiangy-symbolises-time-of-merriment-and-feasts.html

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/02/once-the-same-nation-the-czech-republic-and-slovakia-look-very-different-religiously/  

https://www.fcsu.com/fasiangy-shrovetide-prelenten-carnival-time/ ;

During my trip to Bratislava, I remember turning on the television in my Airbnb and flipping through the channels. A program with a lush, mountainous background and dancing people in embroidered dress truly stuck out to me; it was a group of folk performers dancing and singing in the High Tatras. Throughout my short stay in Bratislava, folk culture was continually emphasized with gift shops boasting traditional folk wear and advertisements for different folk performances. Though folk culture is a defining part of Slovak identity and life, this part of Slovak culture was lost over the years of Communist rule. Dance houses (tanečny dom) represent one of the important establishments in the reclamation of Slovak folk culture. Scholar Joseph Feinberg explains that dance houses invite anyone and everyone to learn folk dance with no regard to skill level or ability: “there are only participants and instructors, the latter half whom are there to guide the participants, enabling them to learn the principles of traditional folk dance and to enjoy themselves just as the inhabitants of every Slovak village once did: dancing “for the pleasure of it” (pre vlastné potešenie, to use a phrase common in Slovak folkoloristics)”. Folk culture translates to language through its emphasis on informality and the avoidance of formal institutional structures. The desire to make folk culture available to all and avoid formal institutions indicates a potential for more casual style conversation. Focusing on folk culture calls for the ability to produce imaginative, interactional, and personal functions of language. As folk culture also focuses on personal pleasure and feeling, a person’s ability to command attention and autonomy becomes vital in order to experience folk culture on an individual level. If I want to learn more about Slovak folk culture, I will have to watch videos of performances, read the lyrics of folk songs (in English and in Slovak), read common folktales (also in English and in Slovak), further research the history of folk culture, and acquire vocabulary needed to engage in this type of culture. This type of vocabulary includes names for traditional folk wear, common phrases derived from folk stories, and different terms for learning dance and song.

One topic that interested me about my target culture was the different South Korean dialects. Dialects are known as 사투리 (saturi) in Korean. I do need special vocabulary and linguistic knowledge to engage in this topic because dialects have a different pronunciation, grammar, and a set of vocabulary that is different from the common language. I have not included objectives in my learning plan to engage in the dialect topic, but I will add them in my learning plan now. I hope to research the Gangwon and Gyeongsang dialect because that’s where my dad grew up, and a majority of my family is in that area. There are six main dialects in South Korea: Gyeonggi dialect, Gangwon dialect, Chungcheong dialect, Gyeongsang dialect, Jeolla dialect, and Jeju dialect. 

Gyeonggi dialect is mainly concentrated in Seoul and Incheon, and it’s the standard language you learn when learning Korean. Everyone in Korea understands the Gyeonggi dialect because of how common it is in the media. A unique feature of the Gyeonggi dialect is they change the ㅗ sound to ㅜ. For example, 가고 싶다 (gago sipda) or “I want to go” would be pronounced as 가구 싶다 (gagu sipda). 

Gangwon dialect is spoken in Gangwon which is in the Northeast area of South Korea. One main characteristic of this dialect is the use of various words such as, -나, -노, -고, -가 at the end of a question. For example, when someone with a Gangwon dialect would say 어데 가노 (eode gano) or “where are you going” rather than 어디가 (eodiga). My dad was born in Gangwon-do, so I hope to learn more about this dialect, out of the six. 

Chungcheong dialect is used in many different areas, especially near Seoul. One common way to end a sentence is to end it with 야 (ya). However, in Chungcheong dialect, you change the ending from  야 (ya) to 여 (yeo). 이름이 뭐야 (yileumyi mowya) or “what’s your name” is changed to 이름이 뭐여 (yileumyi mowyeo). 

Gyeongsang dialect is commonly used in the southern region of South Korea. One well-known city who uses this dialect is Busan. One common characteristic is changing interrogative sentences that generally end with -니 change to -나, -냐, -노, -고, or -가.  They also change the ending of interrogative sentences. My dad always texts us “뭐묵냐" which means “what did you eat” when people generally say it as “뭐 먹었니?”

Jeolla dialect is generally spoken in the Southwestern region of Korean. They are known to put more emphasis on vowel sounds than standard Korean. They pronounce the “ㅣ” (yi) as “ㅡ" (eu) and “ㅔ” (e) as “ㅣ" (i). An example would be 아닌데 (anindae) is changed to 아닌디 (anindi) 

Lastly, the Jeju dialect is spoken only on Jeju Island, and it’s one of the hardest dialects to understand because they have their own language. In standard Korean, you welcome someone by saying “어서 오십시오.” However, in Jeju Island, you would say 혼저 옵서 (honjeo opseo).There are different formal and informal endings to a question in Jeju dialect, and there are different names to call your family members as well.  

For this cultural post, I will be writing all about kimbap (김밥)! Kimbap has been one of my favorite foods since I was a child. As I was doing research for this post, I learned so much about kimbap that I had never known before. According to one source, kimbap was created between 1910-1945 during the Japanese occupation in Korea. During this time, Koreans began to eat more Western and Japanese food. Kimbap is a variation of Japanese futomaki, which is a kind of sushi roll with steamed rice and sesame oil. Since sushi is so popular around the world, I often refer to kimbap as “Korean sushi.” I did not previously know that it was actually inspired by a type of sushi. However, one main difference between kimbap and sushi is that most sushi has raw fish, whereas kimbap consists of cooked or preserved ingredients. Ultimately, I hope more people become more familiar with Korean culture and cuisine so that we can stop referring to kimbap as “Korean sushi.” Another belief is that kimbap is a modernized version of bokssam (복쌈), which refers to cooked rice and filling rolled with seaweed.

On their blog, Dom and Hyo have an incredibly informative infographic illustrating the 12 popular styles of kimbap. There were so many varieties of kimbap that I had never known about. The styles of kimbap that I grew up eating include yachae kimbap (야채 김밥), chungmu kimbap (충무김밥), and samgak kimbap (삼각 김밥) (my favorite is spicy tuna, which I consider a luxury!). Gyeran kimbap (계란김밥) is what I make when there is leftover kimbap that I want to eat the next day. Kimbap is meant to be eaten at room temperature, and it should not be left out overnight. In that case, I refrigerate the kimbap and reheat it by dipping it in egg and frying it. The egg acts as a coating and makes the inside of the kimbap soft and edible again.

When I was at home during quarantine, I got to make lots of kimbap (photos included). For anyone interested in making their own kimbap, I encourage you to try it because it is a lot of fun! One tip I have is to season your rice perfectly. The rice should have enough flavor for you to enjoy by itself. If the rice tastes good, every other ingredient will taste good. I have made rolls in which the rice was under-seasoned, and it makes the rest of the roll taste bland. Another thing to note is that making homemade kimbap takes a lot of time and energy, but that is part of the rewarding process. You have to make every component of the kimbap individually, and then roll it all together. The most time-consuming part for me was washing and chopping all of the vegetables. If you include egg in your kimbap, that also has to be cooked in a certain way so that you are able to cut it into long, thin strips. It is also very helpful to have a bamboo mat to use to roll the kimbap or sushi.

Writing this post has made me hungry for kimbap. I hope you will be able to try some soon!

Sources:

https://behgopa.com/2018/08/1.html

https://firstwefeast.com/drink/2015/03/the-surprising-world-of-wartime-food

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimbap

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wVQZC0K1GnoQjJLH4h4LHS1Qj4oE_pVMuJrPP_hX5gs/edit?usp=sharing

For this semester, I have been studying Korean with the help of my language partner, Rachel Kim. We did not know each other very well when we first started. However, that has changed a lot through the conversations we have been having in Korean during our language partner meeting sessions. We have had great conversations about our previous lives before coming to the University of Richmond. It’s actually very pleasant to talk to someone who is of similar age as me in Korea because I am able to talk casually which is something I find myself not doing too frequently as the only people I talk in Korean with is my family in which I am the youngest. It turns out Rachel has a younger sibling who likes to play basketball. During one of our sessions, we actually shared photos of our friends and family and talked about all of the sentiments behind the memories that are attached to them. In fact, I showed pictures that were from ancient times… Before 2010! These photos were from back when I was in Korea and I was a little young fella. I am glad I have a community language partner that I am comfortable with sharing my background! Anyways also during our meetings, we have watched several modern Korean entertainment television shows together, of course virtually. We have seen this TV show called Crash Landing on you which is about a wealthy female CEO from South Korea who somehow landed in North Korea through a paragliding accident caused by a weather storm. The tv show, although saturated with cheesy romance just most K-Dramas, highlights the poverty and the income inequality that is a reality in North Korea. It definitely forced me to question and reflect on my own privilege. It not only showcased the lack of wealth in North Korea but Crash Landing on You also brought attention to the lack of human rights North Korean citizens have. I always did wonder what my life would have been like if I was born in the other Korea… Life would definitely be harsh. In fact, I could not be able to watch Crash Landing on You in North Korea since watching a South Korean could give me several years working in a prison labor camp.  Yet oddly enough, there were no mentions of Kim Jung Un in all of the episodes of Crash Landing on You. My guess is that the writers did not want North Korea to believe that South Korea was somehow mocking their leader or using his name to spread anti-North Korean propaganda. But maybe not including his name suggests that he is irrelevant??? Anyways I enjoyed watching Crash Landing on You as it was the first Korean Drama I have seen in a while. I shall give it a 7.5/10 as a rating. Here are some goals I will set for myself to achieve until the next language learning journal: I want to start listening to Korean music throughout my day. I also want to find new Korean artists to listen to since my playlist is getting kind of stale. Hopefully, I’m able to find some Korean Rock artists. Until then.

I’ve been really happy with the progress I’ve made so far in my language learning! I believe that I nearly have the basics down for the Korean alphabet (also known as Hangul). I started with learning the consonants, then the vowels, and then finally the double consonants and double vowels. Learning the consonants was a lot easier for me as many of the sounds are similar to the sounds of certain letters in English. However, learning the vowels was trickier as I had to make sounds that I am not familiar with in English, particularly the “eu” and “eo” vowel sounds since it’s kinda like having to use the “e” and “u/o” sounds in English combined together in one cohesive form. The best way I can explain it is that I can make the “e” and “u” sounds separately perfectly fine in English, but it creates a new sound having to combine both of those sounds into one. I also thought the double consonants were confusing at first, but then I realized it has a sharper articulation compared to the other consonants. I always feel weird trying to pronounce them because I feel like I’m sounding very aggressive or like shouting as I attempt to really articulate the sounds. For example, when pronouncing the character giyeok (ㄱ) which has a “g” sound, I would pronounce it as “gaaa…” vs the double consonant as “ga!”. After getting these foundations down, my language partner and I have worked on putting together these phonemes to learn how to pronounce them when they are combined together. For example, when I first learned the characters for the consonants, I didn’t know that in Korean you wouldn’t say the alphabet by pronouncing the name of the character, so I wouldn’t say giyeok (ㄱ) to say the “g” sound of the alphabet, but you would combine it with one of the vowel endings. So when saying the alphabet to a native speaker, I would use a vowel ending such as a (ㅏ)  for each consonant sound like this: 가 to make the sound “gah”.

 I still have some work to do with combining phonemes to make different sounds, so after I am proficient in this I will work on making words and then learning to construct sentences! It has honestly been so exciting and fun seeing my progress, and I’m surprised at how much I really know when my language partner assesses me. I tried to use Duolingo at first to accomplish my learning goals, but then I realized that the beginning of the lessons didn’t really have a structure that really made sense. For example, in the alphabet section it incorporated basic random vocabulary words like “girl” and “this”, and that really threw me off as I mainly wanted to just review the vowels and consonants. I’ve found the resources that my language learning partner has shared with me to be most helpful; Jannette sends me websites, videos, and visual diagrams that are relevant to the topic we are learning so I spend most of my time outside lessons utilizing those, along with KoreanClass101.com. I also hope to incorporate other resources such as Mango and to watch YouTube videos more often to help train my ears more to better recognize distinct sounds in Korean. In addition, I hope to integrate more learning about Korean culture in my lessons with my language partner so I can learn something new each week and to apply what I’m learning to make connections between language and culture.

Sound and spelling are different as sound refers to the pronunciation of a word, and spelling refers to the written form that we assign for that sound, which can vary for sounds that are the same depending on the context (Hudson 39). For example, in English the words “read” and “reed” have the same pronunciation although they are spelled differently and have different meanings. The opposite is also true as words that are spelled the same can have different pronunciations and meanings, such as “bass” which can be pronounced as “/beɪs/” for an instrument and “/bæs/” for a type of fish (Macmillan Dictionary). This is very important to keep in mind when learning new vocabulary in Korean because different words with the same pronunciation can have very different meanings in different contexts, so it is important that I learn to ask clarifying questions and understand other words that would be applicable to the context of the vocabulary words I’m learning. I’ve already been learning how similar a lot of sounds are in Korean, so it’s very important to train my ears to hear the distinctions between the sounds and to enunciate them correctly. As I first began my language learning lessons, I realized very quickly that there were many sounds in Korean that don’t exist in English, so I’m constantly learning new ways to use my vocal chords and tongue as well as pay attention to the air flow in my throat to mimic the correct pronunciations. I think the pronunciation of Korean consonants use similar or even the same sounds as most consonants in English, but the Korean vowels is where I struggle most with the new sounds, especially as some different vowels sound very similar to each other (for example, the “ae” and “e” endings for various vowels). I’m learning that constantly speaking and trying to pronounce the vowels and consonants has helped me to learn to say them correctly, and it definitely takes a lot of listening to learn the distinctions between each. I’ve constantly been asking my language learning partner to repeat the pronunciations correctly and ask if I’m pronouncing it correctly. I’ve also found many online audio samples and videos very helpful to learn the pronunciations while looking at the written form of the characters so I can learn these distinctions. 

Source: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/pronunciation/american/bass_1

Learning about language structures has helped me to better plan the kinds of methods I will use to accomplish my learning goals. For example, I’ve been working on learning the alphabet which has focused primarily on learning to say the sounds correctly, which encompasses phonetics (Jean Aitchison 8). I found the diagram to be very helpful in giving me a direction for what aspects to hone in on in my language learning; however, it is important to recognize that focusing solely on each aspect of language structure as “levels” as this can diminish the interrelationship between various facets of language (Crystal 181-182). I think of it as the levels move from the center outwards, each facet of language utilizes the skills from the inner levels beneath it. In other words, my current language learning of the phonetics of Korean will set the foundation for my future learning goals relating to syntax, which involves forming words and phrases (Jean Aitchison 10). It was also really interesting to consider the ways that language is intertwined with other areas of study and the functioning of our lives. Of all the disciplinary approaches to language, I think I have a preference for sociocultural linguistics as I’m really interested in learning about Korean culture and being able to interact with native speakers as I plan to visit Korea one day. So far, I think watching a Korean drama called Sky Castle with my learning group has helped me to apply this approach to language learning as I got to see interactions between native Korean speakers in the context of their cultural norms regarding the competitive nature of their educational system. Once I improve my language skills in Korean, I would love to incorporate stylistics and explore traditional Korean literature, and possibly anthropological linguistics someday as I’m planning to pursue a career in healthcare and have an interest in serving abroad. In addition, to prepare for our upcoming assignment to teach our classmates something in our target language, I plan to utilize applied linguistic methods in my presentation.