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This semester Vivian and I have been watching videos about foreigners living in Korea and I have been watching a lot of Korean variety shows. I find that Koreans often act cute to new acquaintances of their own age or to slightly older people. I noticed that Koreans often act cute to new people their age or slightly older, so I asked Vivian about this and she told me that this phenomenon is called aegyo and is very common in the social culture of young Koreans. So I did some research about Aegyo and I found that Aegyo is a term used in Korean culture to describe a behavior or expression of cuteness, often used by women or girls to show affection or to express their charm. The term is derived from the Korean word "ae" (애), which means "affection" or "love," and "gyo" (교), which means "acting" or "behavior."

Aegyo is a virtue that is highly valued in Korean society since it is considered to be an appealing attribute, particularly in women. It is believed to be a means of demonstrating humor and charm, and it is frequently used in social contexts to communicate affection or to lighten the mood. In Korean culture, the concept of aegyo may be expressed in a variety of ways, such as via the use of high-pitched voices, adorable movements, and humorous emotions. Pouting, blowing kisses, and speaking in a childlike voice are all instances of aegyo that are used often. This conduct is frequently accompanied with overly dramatic facial expressions and body language, such as flicking one's eyelashes or pressing one's finger to one's face. Although in Korean culture aegyo is most commonly associated with ladies and young girls, its practice is not restricted to either gender or any age range. Aegyo is not exclusive to women; men and boys can practice it as well, and it is regarded favorably in people of both sexes. As a form of communication for the intimacy and affection that exists among friends and members of the same family, aegyo can also be employed.

It is unclear where the practice of aegyo first began in Korean culture; nonetheless, it has emerged as an important aspect of contemporary Korean society, notably in the field of entertainment. It is common practice for Korean superstars, both male and female, to make use of aegyo as a promotional technique in order to attract a following among their devoted followers. In spite of the fact that aegyo is widely considered to be a desirable and lovable feature in Korean culture, it has been critiqued for being responsible for the perpetuation of gender stereotypes as well as the promotion of infantilization. Some opponents contend that the emphasis on cuteness and childish conduct can be damaging to women and promote the cultural expectations that women should be submissive and dependent. They say this is because the focus on cuteness and childlike behavior reinforces the idea that women should act like children.

However, supporters of aegyo claim that it is a harmless and amusing way to express oneself, and that it may be empowering for women to embrace the more charming and playful part of themselves. They further contend that aegyo is not exclusive to women, and that males may participate in aegyo without being seen as weak or subservient even though it is traditionally associated with women.

I will first come up with an interesting question for research purpose. I would conduct literature review on Hangul, identifying gaps or expectations previous research has pointed out. One thing I personally strongly interested in is how honorifics are used in daily contexts. In many East Asian languages, honorics are so important that they reflect large part of the culture itself. Elements that impact the usages include relationship between speakers, social hierarchy and the context. Phonetics would help a lot in the research. For example, different pronounciation of a word in Hangul would reflect different meanings. The same idea is employed in morphology.

Podcast Interview

I am still writing daily journals. However, now I am writing much longer paragraphs including more details about the weather, what I ate, and activities I did. Also, I have learned a lot more conjunctions and transitional words. This has helped me advance my writing and connect sentences. Right now I am heavily emphasizing learning vocab. After I memorized the large amounts of vocab in each category, I am now writing example sentences for each word. I am basically creating my own dictionary. This has helped me solidify the vocab in my brain. Also, creating a self-dictionary allows me to go back and see what words I can use in my writing and speaking. On top of this, writing my own example sentences helps because I apply the words in ways that I would already use them. Also, I am speaking as much Korean as I can to my parents and they have been correcting my grammar and also teaching me some new words which have been helpful to my overall knowledge. I hope to practice my speaking skill as much as I practice my writing skills. Also, I hope to keep watching more Korean media so I can be exposed to the language more and more. Also, I hope to be able to read more complex writing than just the simple stories I have been reading. My language partner has continued to help me correct my writing and help me find relevant vocabulary, and she has given learning strategies that have helped me retain the vocabulary I have learned and expand my vocabulary and grammar. I have been using a quizlet a lot to help me memorize vocab. Also, I have been using textbooks to help me find vocabulary. The textbook has organized vocab into categories so it has helped me pick relevant vocabulary. One strategy I use is when I am writing my daily journals I keep my self-made dictionary open. Every time I want to add more complex sentences or feel like I could use more advanced vocabulary I look over my whole dictionary. This is helpful because my self-made dictionary consists of words I know and not words I don’t. Also, I organized the dictionary into categories so it is very easy to find words. Another strategy I use is to remind myself of Korean particles. A few weeks ago I often found myself misusing Korean particles, so now every now and then I will watch a youtube video or read an explanation online of particles and grammar rules that I have already learned. This helps me not forget how to use Korean particles and strengthens my knowledge of their use every day. I started this a couple of weeks ago and had to remind myself every few days. However, now I only have to look it up only once a week. The self-made dictionary and my daily journals are the best representation of the accumulation of my Korean knowledge. I will build upon my Korean skills by continuing to add more Korean words and more advanced words and I will continue to write in my journal every day and write a little bit more each time and use more descriptive words. For my strategies, I will continue to learn vocab by topics. These words I will have to either find online, in a textbook, or from native speakers. I usually learn new grammar rules from my reading so I will continue nothing new grammar rules and use them in my daily journals.

I would like to study the different dialects of Korean and I would like to study how Korean evolved over the years. Even though Korea is a much smaller country compared to America Korea contains many different dialects. The dialect changes greatly from the northern part of Korea (Seoul) to the southern part (Busan). Also, I would like to study Jeju’s dialect, an island south of Korea. Jeju’s dialect is so different it shouldn’t even be labeled as a dialect. Most native Korean speakers can’t understand the language spoken there and often need a translator. I would also like to study how Korean changed over the years. Similar to how there is old English and modern English, in Korean, there are traditional Korean and modern Korean spoken today. Native speakers have to think a little bit more when reading traditional Korean. I would want to study how Korean changed throughout the years into what it is today.

If I was given a research grant, I would definitely study the points of emphasis in Korean. Growing up, I would always hear a sort of soft palatal, or even glottal sound used whenever someone wanted to emphasize something. For instance, the ㅎ character is essentially just the letter H in English, however, in Korean, I often heard a fricative sound in their soft palate area, as well as holding the sound longer for emphasis. In English, and I would surmise in most other languages, holding parts of a word longer (particularly vowel sounds), is used to show this emphasis. I’m curious about the genesis of this, perhaps a glottal/soft palatal sound was once used in Korean? Are other East Asian languages like this as well? I’ve asked my parents this, as this is most definitely a “Korean-Korean” thing, used primarily by older speakers–– it’s not too common that you’ll hear this among young speakers. Additionally, the confluence of Confucianism in Korean is quite piquing to me, perhaps I can start there and go onward to see its impacts on prosody. From what I understand, Confucianism shaped King Sejong’s perception of how language should be expressed, symbols representing different parts of the mouth, and though this arrangement may not be an exactly ‘scientific’ way of finding why Koreans emphasize with their throats, I would certainly love to look more closely at this proclivity. 

Discussion Post #10

David Kim

30262888

david.kim123@richmond.edu

If I received a research grant to conduct a linguistic study of my target language and culture, I will investigate how the creation of Hangul impacted and changed people’s lives. I would get started on why and how Hangul was created. Hangul is the official writing system of South Korea. It was created in the mid-15th century by King Sejong. Chinese characters were used as the writing system, but they were difficult for most Koreans. The use of Chinese characters caused a separation between educated and illiterate people. King Sejong realized the need for a new writing system that could help bridge that gap and created Hangul. However, the initial reaction to Hangul was mixed. Some people embraced the new writing system and others were resistant to change. The scholars were skeptical of Hangul because they had put time and effort into learning and using Chinese characters. Over time, Hangul gained acceptance among the Korean people. Hangul made it possible for more people to learn to read and write, and it helped to create a more equitable society in Korea. I will investigate more about the different reactions to Hangul among people in Korea during that time. Also, I want to know more about how they learned Hangul and how it changed their lives in detailed stories.

The sign for a language being extinct is no longer spoken or used by any groups for communication purposes. However, the article explores deeper than that. When a language dies, a way of thinking and communicating also perishes. The loss of a language marks the loss of the cultural identity and heritage of the community. In many communities seeking to revitalize their languages such as Native Americans, the biggest problem is that younger generations are no longer interested in it and see no need to learn it. Therefore, they came up with the development of a language immersion program and the creation of language learning materials. Linguists preserve a language by documenting it, studying its grammar and vocabulary. They usually work closely with the local communities to promote usage of the language. Reviving a dead language can be unrealistic because of limited conditions for using and lack of background knowledge. People are still striving to bring them back to life in order to learn more about a culture and its history. For example, Hebrew was revived into a modern language in the 19^th century. Various organizations are working with communities to document their languages and creating learning materials these days.

I was recently watching a Korean drama centered around chaebols, and thought it would be an interesting topic to write about. In Google's terms, a chaebol is a “large family-owned business conglomerate”. As we live in a free market capitalist economy, large family-owned business conglomerates aren’t uncommon, but in Korea it is a topic worthy of writing on as it is a big part of their economy, and it has had a large effect on the living culture in Korea.

As seen in the image on the left, Korea (before the split) up to the 1960s was an undeveloped country, in relevance to the western and european powers. It was mostly an agrarian feudalistic society, and it was still recovering from the colonization of Japan.

In the span of less than a 100  years, the country has managed to become one of the leading economies in the world, maintaining an average rate of 5.45% growth in GDP in the recent 30 years. For reference, a good rate is between 2.5% to 3.5%, which is where the United States has been on average over the past 30 years.

So how did Korea manage to boom in development? It’d be a long paper, but one of the main reasons is its use of large business conglomerates and their international export potential as part of their strategy.

Post Korean War, the government tried to implement different strategies to improve the economy, and there were various policies that allowed businesses more freedom, focusing on production for international demand and exports, through credits and loans. As companies found sudden growth, in the 1970s 10 Chaebols accounted for 30% of the economy’s growth. As time progressed, these Chaebols were used as the vanguard of Korea’s economy, and were allowed state incentives like tax breaks and cheap financing. Because of these lax policies and favorable conditions, these bigger companies were able to monopolize the domestic industry, expand internationally, and the government would see growth in GDP. These a

re very recognizable companies, companies like Samsung, LG, Kia, and Hyundai. Today, chaebols account for a whopping 80% of Korea’s GDP, and just 10 of these conglomerates account for 60%. And while this cycle works to some degree (I’m not an economist), it has caused social issues in modern Korea.

To begin with, chaebols were designed to be family-owned businesses. While this may work for small businesses, in larger corporations it is paramount that executive positions are filled with competent people. The structure of chaebols is not only out-dated and arguably ineffective, it has also caused nepotism to be more prominent. Even though these large companies account for 80% of the country’s GDP, they only account for a whopping ~10% of jobs domestically. Also, in east Asian countries, people often stick to their companies for life - creating a strong sense of loyalty and pride in their company. So this mix of exclusivity and prestige, along with the fact that workers at smaller/medium size companies make only ~60% of what chaebol workers make, has driven these chaebols to such a high degree in Korea. These jobs are seen as the best of the best, but it has also caused income inequality and issues with the youth.

Because these companies are so selective, it is seen that students/graduates must have a perfect resume to be a part of the competition for chaebol jobs. But this isn’t just mediocrely so–this sense of competition has gone rampant in the youth of Korea. Parents push their kids even from an early age to ensure that their children don’t fall “behind”, but when everyone does this, it becomes a ruthless cycle of workload and burden. On average, a Korean student attends 3 cram schools at a time, and even ~70% of elementary students attend a cram school. These cram schools are conducted mostly after school, and when students finally finish these cram schools at night, they still have to do their homework and study for their normal classes. This is all to ensure their children can get into college, but more so SKY (Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University). These colleges are the ivy league of Korea, and the competition has gotten so farce that there have been numerous Korean Dramas centered around this (Sky castle, Penthouse). It doesn’t help that their version of the SAT is only taken once, and so people often say that this one test dictates their life.

While there is so much more that could be written about, this is a small snippet of the issues caused directly/indirectly by chaebols. This rampant competition and burden has caused mental health issues in students, skyrocketing suicide rates as well. A recent study found that the suicide rate for South Korean students was 12.7 per 100,000 students, whereas the rate for United States students is 2.4 per 100,000 students. And as Korea is a well-developed country, we know that this isn’t due to just medical or poor conditions.

Languages become extinct for many reasons, but the most usual reasons include dropping the usage of native languages, low population, or historical contributions. As the world develops and globalization, political repression, colonialism, technological development, and immigration happen, people tend to drop their native language, leading to a distinction. There could be external or internal factors that affect the spoken language. By connecting the family tree and seeing the similarities between the languages and analyzing the structure and vocabulary, linguists can help preserve a language. Linguists can also seek external help by gaining knowledge of historical backgrounds. Like so, ‘dead’ language can be brought back to life if there are enough written documentations, histories, or stories that connect the vocabulary terms, sounds, and grammars. Linguists can also look at the family trees of similar languages or languages that the distinct language is rooted from. However, this would be difficult if there isn’t enough documentation or those who have enough knowledge about the language aren’t present.

During this past month, I have been diving deeper into developing knowledge for the final project. Vivian and I reviewed the topics that would produce ideas for Korean culture. She had recommended a lot of good sources that informed the history, societal issues, and influences of foreign countries. 

A super helpful video that goes over the history of Korea was produced by an entertainment channel called “Infinite Challenge.” This channel is one of my favorite entertainment shows that I grew up watching with my brother. Through collaborating with rappers, the show members had to make hip-hop music that held significant figures and important historical happenings. One of the videos Vivian and I watched was talking about the Independence Movement Day and the activists who we should never forget. The first activist during 삼일절 was a young lady named Gwan Soon Yoo. Even at a young age, she wasn’t afraid to voice her opinion. Another activist, Dong Joo Yoon, who was a Korean poet who was born in China, wrote multiple poems expressing the yearning for Korea’s liberation. It was interesting to see these poets that were in Chinese characters, which have been significantly simplified compared to Korean characters nowadays. Finally, the teacher in the video talked about the most famous two figures, Kim Goo and Yoon Bong Kil. Kim Goo had created the Korean Patriotic Organization and was even physical towards the Japanese soldiers. Yoon Bong Kil left to Shanghai, also where Japan took over, and threw a lunch box shaped bomb towards the Japanese soldiers. In a short and concise way, these entertainment shows provide impactful information to casual viewers. 

It made more sense how the Korean language had been influenced in a significant way by the Japanese and Chinese. These poems and letters written by these activists are the foundation of how Korean has been developed. These historical videos are very encouraging and makes me proud to be a Korean. It is very helpful in learning as they are very informative and entertaining at the same time. 

Another great show that she recommended is called “The Glory.” I will be creating the final presentation for this Netflix show. This show contains and portrays the social hierarchy and the characteristics of high school bullies, called 일진. Bullying is very common in Korea and has been a topic that has been focused on in current media culture. Although the show expresses the extremes of Korean bullying styles, it still depicts the main characteristics clearly. Not only does this show represent the revenge towards the bullies, it also shows how economic stances take a huge toll on everyone's lifestyles. 

I have noticed huge improvements in my Korean this month. As I am constantly watching videos that are only in Korean, I was able to understand most of the content even without the subtitles. My goal this month is to fully get rid of subtitles unless I come across vocabulary terms that I am not familiar with. 

A language goes extinct when it is either not spoken or used in a community, or if another language is used within the community thus making the original language useless. When a language dies so does its culture and perspective on the world. It is very difficult to revive a dead language; however, linguists will often work with historians, anthropologists, and other professionals to understand the culture and the people that spoke the dead language. This helps linguists decode dead languages by being able to see what meanings they derived from the world and what was most important to them. However, it is often hard to translate the exact meaning because words often have different definitions. Linguists will also work with languages that are endangered. They will document writings and video and audio recordings for future generations to study the language if there are no more fluent speakers left alive.

Efforts are currently underway to document and preserve linguistic diversity around the world, and as someone with a great fascination with linguistics, I’m really hoping that these efforts are actualized eventually. Some of these efforts include the creation of language archives, the development of language revitalization programs, and the use of technology to facilitate language documentation and analysis. Organizations such as the Endangered Languages Project, the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, and the Linguistic Society of America are actively involved in promoting linguistic diversity and language revitalization efforts–– these were just some of the organizations I came across through a perfunctory google search. While I’m not sure a ‘dead’ language can ever be fully brought to life, I do think that it can exist, a dichotomy between living and existing when it comes to languages exists, in my opinion. Even if a language is resurfaced of sorts–– its syntax, phonology, and distinctions able to be recorded, the beauty of language stems from its use, people using and evolving a construct in their everyday lives–– something I don’t think a dead language is capable of having without extraordinary circumstances. Finally, I am interested in this debate on multilingualism and intelligence. Overall, I think I approach this apprehensively since intelligence, despite its ubiquity, is nearly impossible to define, making any influence of language on it that much harder. Its benefits to the brain are unequivocal, but if it does indeed make you smarter, are the world’s most prolific polyglots that much smarter as a result? I’m not sure, but it is something I’m continuing to wrestle with. 

I have covered a plethora of topics with my language partner throughout the course of the semester. A strategy that has been working for us and one we have used thus far is starting our sessions by reviewing what we discussed the class before. Rather than expecting me to memorize the sentences we learn word for word, Genet asks me what I remember learning last class and I respond in Afaan Oromo with the concepts/sentences we learned. The fact that there is no expectation to know the sentences word for word is so helpful to my language learning in the long run because then I don’t merely focus on memorizing before and rather thinking in my target language during it. I have found this strategy also useful because it allows my language partner to catch my mistakes early on whereas without reviewing, the ‘incorrect’ way would be ingrained in my speech making it incredibly difficult to unlearn. Additionally, while the structure of our tasks remained relatively the same, we covered many tasks. I have grown a large word bank through my learning of sentences that narrate my trip home, explain what moment in my life I love, introduce me (where I was born, where my parents are from, my siblings and what they do, my friends, etc), how I spent the holidays, etc. Aside from learning sentences that mirror those topics, Genet and I have also returned to the basics and reviewed numbers, days of the week, and months of the year in Afaan Oromo. A testament to the notion that practice makes perfect, I often forget the Afaan Oromo word for a lot of the days of the week besides the ones I use often (weirdly Monday and Friday). That has been a learning curve because it made me realize that my personal language learning journey can be beneficially supplemented with memorization of some things. In the same vein, I have come to notice that my deliberate use of other resources did diminish once I got in contact with a language partner. Granted of course a lot of that has to do with the amount of time I can allocate to using other resources to increase my knowledge of the language outside of the 3hr/week I meet with her. Nonetheless, my goals moving forward would definitely be to engage in intentional language contact through medians outside of speaking with my partner-watching movie, reading articles, using the book more, etc. Additionally, I want to bring up the possibility of going over some basic grammar rules with my language partner just because this will help me form my own sentences outside of the ones we talk about/practice. I often use the sentences we do practice to notice any conversational grammar patterns but actually understanding these patterns rather than inferring would certainly push my skills further in the direction I hope to be. 

Yes, I have been writing in Korean since I started this learning journey. I typically prefer writing free hand as it helps me comprehend more of what I am actually writing. But lately I have been typing in Korean more as it is probably more useful in the future. My goal was to memorize where all the characters are on the keyboard. I think I am close to getting pretty comfortable typing in Korean. Writing in Korean definitely requires me to think more about the structures and parts of speech. I have specifically focused on 문어체 which is a style of Korean when you write apart from 구어체 which is the style of Korean when we speak. 

Here is an exemplary writing piece that I wrote about myself and the difference between Korea and America. 

나는 미국, 버지니아에서 온 이한나이다. 미국과 한국의 가장 큰 차이점들은 날씨, 음식, 그이고 문화인것 같다. 내가 한국에서 가장 좋아하는 취미는 맛있는 음식점과 카페를 다니는 것이다. 한국 음식점들은 항상 반찬과 서비스를 주는 것이 아주 좋다. 미국에서는 사이드 음식들도 돈을 내고 먹어야 하는데, 한국에서는 한 음식을 시키면 여러 종류의 음식을 맛볼수있어서 좋다. 그리고 한국에서는 팁을 안내고 메뉴판에 쓰여져 있는 가격을 내서 식당에서 먹을 때 돈이 덜 드는 느낌을 받는다. 한국사람들은 카페를 아주 많이 다니는 것 같다. 다니는 곳마다 카페가 정말 많은 것 같다. 그리고 미국에서는 음료를 많이들 가지고 나가는데, 한국은 카페에서 시간을 보내는 것 같다. 요즘에 비오는 날씨를 보고 놀랐다. 나는 이렇게 비가 많이 오는 것을 처음 봤다. 하지만 한국이랑 버지니아 둘다 공기가 젓은 느낌이다. 

This month's meetings follows the same structure as those held the previous month. We watched 영국남자’s video of them having a picnic by the Hangang river with an actor and singer from Canada named Henry. Henry was a former member of the popular K-pop group Super Junior in Korea, but in 2013, he transitioned into a career as a solo artist. Because they are all foreigners living in Korea, they have a lot in common in the video, such as exchanging information about their lives when they first arrived in Korea and the ways in which they have improved their Korean language skills, and they both agreed that making friends with the locals is the best way to improve your ability to communicate in Korean. Vivian also mentioned to me that the Han River flows through Seoul, and because of this, there are wonderful parks and bike routes on both sides of the river. As a result, many people in Seoul like having picnics in the parks that are located along the Han River. In point of fact, not just in their videos but also in many variety programs and plays that I've watched, it's common practice to shoot young people strolling along the Han River and going into convenience stores to buy hot dogs and ramen.

The most recent television series produced by Netflix, titled "The Glory," which depicts the narrative of the victim's retribution after 18 years of enduring humiliation and being forced to abandon school, will be the primary topic of discussion at our meeting this month. The Glory has two seasons: the first season focuses on explaining why the heroine's revenge came about and how the Bullying Five coerced her classmates, the context of the bullying, and all of the preparation she did for final revenge; the second season focuses on the actual revenge of the heroine, unraveling the mystery of the death of a bully that happened at the beginning of the second season, and then the mutual suspicion and suspicion of the bullying gang, revealing the weasel in their group Vivian and I were the first ones to see the episode, and afterward we had a lengthy conversation about the storyline as well as our opinions on bullying in Korean schools. It broke my heart when I read about bullying in schools in reports from China that were published in the press. The news report did not specify the facts and what the teachers and school did to improve the situation, but according to the play, the teacher was on the side of the bully, which was highly frustrating. The news report did not describe the details and what the teachers and school did to improve the situation. "The Glory" is a drama that focuses on many major topics that Korean teenagers are now struggling with, and I believe that it is a thought-provoking drama because of this. The portrayal of bullying in schools is particularly poignant, as it highlights the necessity for more awareness, education, and aid for people who have been mistreated.

On March 10th Netflix released the second season of The Glory, which tells the story of the victim's revenge after 18 years of suffering humiliation and being forced to quit school. Vivian and I both watched the episode first and we discussed a lot about the plot and how we felt about bullying in Korean schools. The first season focuses on explaining why the heroine's revenge came about and how the Bullying Five coerced her classmates and the context of the bullying; The second season focuses on the actual revenge of the heroine, unraveling the mystery of the deaths in the drama, and then the mutual suspicion and suspicion of the bullying gang, revealing the weaknesses of human nature between trust and distrust.

In addition to the core topic of retribution, this drama concentrates on the terrifying school bullying, where the victim is forced to leave the school in disgrace after the instructors form an alliance with the kids and gain greater authority. The drama explores the problems of Moon Dong-eun, one of the major protagonists, who is plagued by memories of being harassed in school. The show illustrates how bullying can have an effect on a person's mental health as well as their relationships with others and how those impacts can remain long after the bullying has ceased.

Statistics indicate that over 70% of pupils in Korea have experienced bullying at school, which is a severe issue. Bullying may have catastrophic repercussions on a person's mental health, including anxiety, sadness, and in severe cases, suicidal thoughts. The portrayal of Dong-eun's experiences with bullying at school in "The Glory" emphasizes how critical it is to confront this problem and offer assistance to individuals who have been bullied.

I also looked at the main reasons why bullying occurs in Korean schools. The high academic pressure that students are subjected to, which can foster a competitive and stressful atmosphere, is one of the key contributing reasons. Competition in other spheres of life, such as sports and extracurricular activities, might develop as a result of the pressure to succeed academically and land a good career. Lack of knowledge and instruction about the problem is another element that fuels bullying in schools. Bullying is a problem that many schools and teachers struggle to address, and there is sometimes a stigma and culture of silence around it. This may make it challenging for children to come forward and ask for assistance, which may make the issue worse.

In addition to bringing attention to the problem of bullying in schools, "The Glory" also conveys a message of hope and fortitude. With the help of their friends and loved ones, Moon Dong-eun and other characters in the series are able to overcome obstacles and accomplish their objectives. In order to counteract the damaging consequences of bullying, the program emphasizes the value of developing solid connections and fostering a sense of community.

I consider "The Glory" to be a thought-provoking drama that focuses on many significant themes that Korean youth are currently dealing with. The depiction of bullying in schools is especially moving, underscoring the need for more awareness, education, and assistance for individuals who have been bullied. The series conveys a message of optimism and support for young people in Korea and emphasizes the significance of fostering a safe and encouraging environment for all pupils by increasing knowledge of this problem and promoting stronger action to avoid it.

I am very excited that I have found a language partner. Her name is Genet, she is so multifaceted in terms of what she does that it is difficult to distinctly say what she does. However, it is clear she is incredibly knowledgeable about linguistics as so much of her research throughout her life in academia has been centered around it. She is a native Afaan Oromo speaker though she does also speak Amharic, which is what we also communicate in as a basic language. As a first task, Genet and I focused on learning the Afaan Oromo alphabet, called qubee. We did this by going through the alphabet and practicing the pronunciation of each letter as well as the pronunciation of the combination of letters, often sounds that are not popular in English or any other language for that matter. In order to contextualize the pronunciation, Genet would give me an example of an Oromo word that begins with that letter and ask me to pronounce it. This strategy of pronouncing words helped significantly more than just pronouncing the letter on its own. While many of the letters were not difficult to pronounce, most likely because of Afaan Oromo’s use of the familiar Latin alphabet, it was quite difficult to pronounce the combination letters that were specific to Oromo. For example, the sound created by the letters ‘dh’ presented quite a challenge for me. However, Genet’s reassurance that native speakers will be able to understand me despite my not-perfect pronunciation of these combo letters calmed the frustrations certainly. Upon securing a language partner I hoped to begin by learning common native-speaker greetings. Although the book I used included these phrases, there was some variation and more specificity when learning this with my language partner. For example, the book evidently presented far more formal greeting phrases. When learning with Genet I was able to hear what native speakers say in response to greeting phrases, and what phrases are common in what context. This for sure increased my confidence in speaking the language because before although I knew greetings in Afaan Oromo I would seldom use it when speaking to any native speakers I interacted with because I wasn’t confident about their applicability to the manner natives interacted with one another. In addition to greetings, we talked about my daily routine through sentences. This was interesting to me because I didn’t expect to dive straight into full-on sentences because in other language learning settings I’ve been in we start off by memorizing various individual words. But according to my language partner and her time tutoring students, she found that language is learned best when it is applicable to the learner's life. A laundry list of different vocabulary words would not be applicable to my life. But my daily routine, something that I do all the time certainly is. Learning how to say what time I usually wake up, what I do (wash face, brush teeth, eat breakfast), where I go (school), what I learn, and who I see throughout my day, all expose me to vocabulary while simountnsosuly being connected to my real life and able to be used in actual conversation-my dad asks me what I did today every time I speak to him on the phone so now I am able to answer in Oromo. This kind of relates to Professor Soloway’s strategy of putting sticky notes around his house that identify things he sees every day in his target language.  

During our meeting earlier this month, Vivian and I went over all of the grammar and vocabulary that we had learned over the course of the previous semester and rehearsed a great deal of dialogue that is used on a daily basis. She showed me a YouTube channel called "영국남자 Korean Englishman," which was started by two people named Josh and Ollie. The first thing that we did was watch a video that showed them going to the Korean singer HaHa's barbecue restaurant and having a conversation with him while they were eating. Because Josh and Ollie are both from other countries but have lived in Korea for a significant amount of time, their Korean is highly fluent, and their pronunciation is really good for my listening practice. This is helpful for me because native Korean speakers often have an accent and talk very quickly. During the time that the movie was playing, Vivian prompted me to jot down the phrases that I was able to comprehend as well as the terms that I was unable to grasp but was interested in learning. They discussed the drinking culture in Korea as well as the errors that they had made when they first came in Korea since they did not comprehend the culture. This was the first time I had any exposure to the drinking culture of Korea, and it was at this period that I learnt things like how younger people are expected to pour wine for older people and how it is customary to hold the bottle of wine in such a manner that the label of the soju bottle is covered by the palm of your hand when doing so. In addition, while clinking glasses, the glass held by the younger person should not be higher than the glass held by the elder person, and the younger person should drink with their side to the table rather than their back to it.

In addition to watching films in Korean with Korean subtitles, I also attempted to read and comprehend a Korean news story on the actor Song Joong-ki's second marriage. Together with Vivian, I did some work to dissect each word and make an effort to comprehend the significance of each phrase in light of its grammatical construction. Reading the lines of a television play was much easier for me to do than reading the written words in the news. This is because the lines were written in a more conversational style than the written words in the news, which also had more complicated syntax and vocabulary. 

In accordance with the plan that I drafted at the beginning of the semester, Vivian and I intended to study around forty new words from the Topik vocabulary list each week. During our weekly meeting, we would discuss the correct pronunciation and application of each new word that we had learned. The following time we get together, Vivian will explain the meaning of the terms in English, and I will respond in Korean. In addition, I have an assignment to complete outside of class in which I am required to watch the reality program "Single's inferno" and then compose five statements describing how I feel about the show's characters or the storyline.