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During the last month of my Korean class I was able to continue with my reading of the book “Magic”. I continued writing my daily gratitude journal in Korean and tried to use different phrases or vocabulary to write my sentences. I find it very interesting how the way English is phrased and used is different from the way the language Korean is phrased. There is a side to the Korean language where it could be more poetic and have deeper meanings to the words and how it is positioned in the sentence. I feel like reading the book in Korean gave me more motivation and really touched me inside.
Also my language partner Vivian and I and also one of her other students, Aliya went to have a cultural experience this month. We went to a Korean restaurant for Yewon Korean Barbeque. We all read the menu in Korean and ordered our meal in the language. I also started a conversation with one of the workers when they came to serve other food. It was a really great experience to meet someone who speaks the language fluently and talk to them about various topics. I had a conversation about the current situation in Korea. South Korea has recently removed the quarantine policy so that it would be a lot easier for people to travel. The worker is planning to visit Korea over the summer because of this change of regulation. But this also means the airplane price is increasing really fast. I am worried that I will not be able to visit my family that often in the future because of the high prices. The men worker who cooked our meat was very kind and started talking about his experience from Busan in his Busan accent. It was really cool to hear different dialects and how people from different locations have different accents.
As my last assignment, I wrote an essay about my plans and goals for the future. In other words, I wrote paragraphs about what I wanted to achieve after I graduate from College and one of those goals is to get a Korean language certificate. I also wrote about the near future of what I will be doing in the summer. I am planning on traveling back to Korea for my brother’s graduation and spending more time with my family there. I think writing my goals in Korean was a lot harder than if I were to write them in english. It took me some time to make sure that I am phrasing my thoughts correctly and spelling all the words correctly.
I would like to thank my language partner Vivian for spending time with me this semester to try to really grow in utilizing the language. I think having support and encouragement from her was very helpful. Looking back I think doing the assignments such as writing research papers and other writing assignments were very challenging. But as I overcame each challenge I was able to grow more as a student.
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In South Korea, May 5th (5/5) is recognized as Children's Day. Children's Day or 어린이날 (eorininal) is a public holiday that celebrates children. 어린이날 consists of the word for children (어린이 | eorini) and the word for day (날 | nal). Although Children's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world, it is an important holiday in South Korea where salaried workers get a day off work and children get a day off from school. Parents often give presents to their children and spend quality time with them. The children go to zoos, museums, and various venues of children-oriented entertainment. Children's Day events are becoming more commercial, becoming important events to increase sales of children's products.
Children's Day was first created by progressive ethnic Korean students, with Korean Independence movement leaders against Japanese colonialism. People from Jinju gathered to promote and improve the social status of children and encourage adults to teach awareness of their deprived sovereignty. The celebration of Children's Day in Korea has taught people about children's fundamental human rights.
Three days after Children’s Day, on May 8th, is Parent's Day. The Korean word for Parent’s Day is 어버이날 (eobeoinal). Like the U.S., this day was originally for Mother’s Day, but since there wasn’t a designated Father’s Day, the two days were combined to make Parent’s Day. However, this is not a national holiday. Traditionally, children give their parents carnations on parent’s day and many convenience stores and shops will have special displays so that children can easily buy flowers or other small gifts for their parents.
There seem to be many variables that cause a language to go extinct, but there seems to also be a common pattern. Tribe Revives Language on Verge of Extinction and When Languages Die by David Harrison both show how the primary cause of language extinction is the decrease of the population which speaks it. With modernization, many populations have converged into common languages, like English, as it has become more effective in terms of communication and overall literature/academics. Many smaller/traditional populations will slowly start assimilating into larger populations, and switch their primary language in the act. Over several generations, a language may be completely lost. We can also see that there are other complications in keeping a language “alive”, such as the fact that many dying languages are only spoken by the older generation. In situations like this, it can be difficulty in hearing, speech, or comprehension that cause complications in keeping a language alive. A linguist can keep a language alive by listing/documenting all the aspects of the language, such that someone can self learn the language without assistance - but this in itself causes its own issues. This would need extensive resources/knowledge to preserve a dying language, and there is already limited knowledge. Also, preserving a language for the sake of relearning is impractical, as at the end of the day it is common practice and immersing in an environment that allows someone to improve upon a language. So even if a language is “alive” - it is not necessarily thriving. In my opinion, when a language is learnt for the sake of reviving it, or generally learnt out of interest rather than culture (secondary vs primary), it is not alive. I think a dead language can revive, but it is almost impossible for it to do so. The language would need a growing population of its speakers, and a consistent interest/culture around it. But if there were such interest/culture revolving around a language, it probably wouldn’t be dead in the first place.
This month I attempted to learn texting and typing in Korean. Korea has a huge video game culture. You can literally find a PC방 every block or two. A lot of people communicate through typing rather than a microphone because of just how loud it is in these PC rooms. However, the idea of learning to type as quickly as I type in English was wishful thinking. There was just too much to cover in such a short period of time. Typing is heavily reliant on muscle memory, so it requires loads of repetition. Jannette showed me some typing games but it's not something you want to do be doing every day. I remember learning how to type really quickly because I played a lot of League of Legends where that was the only form of communication with your teammates. I wish I was able to play in Korean gaming servers where I have that enjoyment paired with learning.
Learning how to text was relatively easier as it is pretty convenient. I’ve been texting in Konglish a bit to my parents already but made it a thing to text with my language partner in Korean as much as possible. So whenever I would ask what time we were meeting I’d type ‘우리 몇 시에 만날까’? Texting is a lot easier to learn as the characters are right there and there is also a very convenient autofill tool on the iPhone. Something I realized I was doing poorly was my spacing between words and phrases. I would find myself relying on the autofill to correct it for me. There are certain rules like markers but a lot of other special cases as well which makes it pretty difficult. This problem is evident in my writing as well but even worse as handwriting also plays a factor. I also learned a few tips to make handwriting a lot easier with cursive forms of certain characters.
For this week, Rachel and I just decided to hold one of our meetings at the local Korean church we both attend called Richmond Central Presbyterian Church. I’ve held previous SDLC meetings at RCPC in the past because it was a good cultural experience, however, for this meeting, I wanted to use this time to practice my Korean in terms of singing. For this year, the church asked me to be one of the praise leaders and the lead female vocalist which I accepted. We mostly sang praise songs in English, but for this week, I asked my pastor if I could sing one song in Korean and he approved. I asked Rachel to help me choose a good Korean praise song and we choose “여호와께 돌아가자" because it was originally sung by a female vocalist, so it seemed very fitting. At first, when I listen to this song, there were so many vocabulary words I did not understand. I knew how to read and sing all of the verses, but I knew only about 30% of what it truly meant. I tried to use context clues to figure the lyrics out on my own, but I noticed it was a lot more difficult since it was a song and not a logical flowing passage. On top of that, I think it was harder for me to understand because it was a Christian song and I did not know a lot of the religious terms in Korean. For instance, the song said “백성" which Rachel later informed me that it meant “the people.” Additionally, I did not know what “여호와" meant and my language partner let me know that it translated to “Jehovah.” It was very frustrating at first because I couldn’t necessarily connect the song to my emotions since I did not understand what the song was trying to say. However, as Rachel helped me to translate each word I did not understand, I started to appreciate the song little by little and I realized that this piece was beautifully written. After about 45 minutes of deciphering and practicing, I finally got to perform this song for a Sunday service and was very proud of the work we did. It made me actually want to sing even more Korean Christian praise songs in the future. Not only did this meeting help me to reach my goal to listen to more Korean arts, but it also helped me to learn more Christian terminologies in Korean. Next time, I hope to try and decipher Christian songs on my own without Rachel by using Google Translate and YouTube. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience, and I hope to continue to be challenged in the future with my Korean skills.
Since I finished watching Uncanny Counter for one of my bi-weekly journal posts, I decided to start a new Korean drama called “Twenty Five Twenty One” with Rachel. “Twenty Five Twenty One” was already trending even before it aired because it had two very famous actors named “Kim Tae Ri” and “Nam Joo Hyuk.” After watching “Our Beloved Summer” for a bi-weekly journal post, I was less hesitant to start another mellow romance drama since I absolutely loved that show. As I have stated previously, I was never a big fan of slow, romantic TV shows called “멜로,” but I can notice that Korean cinematography and their plots have become more complex and sophisticated. Essentially, the show is about two young adults named Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin who develop a strong friendship and explore the premises of love with each other. Na Hee Do is a high school fencing prodigy who aspires to be a national fencing player while Baek Yi Jin is the son of a bankrupt CEO who must now start his life all over again. The setting begins in 1998 and goes on to cover the brutal reality of the Asian financial crisis called the “IMF crisis.” Since I was born in 2000, I never really heard anything about the IMF crisis, however, through this drama, I finally got to understand what happened in the late 90s and what my own parents had to experience. The crisis began when South Korea partnered up with the International Monetary Fund to assist the country in managing its financial systems. The structural provisions increased the flexibility of interest rates, tightened monetary policies, and removed features that would stunt future economic growth. However, this ultimately caused interest rates to rise and an entire restructure of the government which greatly affected the South Korean population and families. The drama goes on to cover how unemployment rates affected the households and there were many protests to end this movement. Learning about this part of history really opened my eyes to South Korea’s culture and my parents’ 20s. In terms of cinematography, the first element I noticed about the drama was the use of film and vintage filters. It made the drama even more real and authentic and I really liked how the director incorporated the traditional yellow fonts as well to make it seem like we were really watching the characters from the 90s lens. All in all, “Twenty Five Twenty One” was not only a great romantic drama, but also a great historical show as well.
This month we focused heavily on the cultural aspects of Korean and its use with language. We explored different types of Korean music such as K-pop and rap. Personally, it’s very difficult for me to understand Korean when its sung/rapped because of just how fast paced it is. A lot of the times the words and phrases are slurred together. I usually need the lyrics to be able to follow along and even then, some rapping parts go way too fast. Some of the artists we listened to include Blackpink, Zion T. IU, and many more. One of my favorite ones to listen to was 꺼내 먹어요 (Eat) by Zion T. because its one of the songs I can actually follow along pretty easily. I’ve realized I never really pay attention to the lyrics for even English songs. My music selection is more reliant on the beat which might be why I have trouble following along to Korean songs. For example, I listen to Jay Park but I could never sing any of his songs off the top of my head.
What’s interesting, however, is that when I’m singing or attempting to sing along, I never have trouble with my American accent popping up. It might be because I’m hearing the sound beforehand, but it feels very different from repeating after a normal phrase.
Grace and Jannette are really big K-pop fans so I got to learn a lot of slang terminology used in that field. I learned things like ‘Bias’ which means your most favorite member of a group. ‘Vizhual’ which is pretty straightforward and means the most beautiful member of a group. ‘Lida’ which means leader. ‘Netizen’ which refers to a network of users that writes comments on news and ratings. ‘Sasaeng’ is basically a crazy fan. A lot of it is intuitive.
For the weekend, Rachel and I decided to finally start on the K-drama called “Our Beloved Summer.” Rachel created a simple worksheet for me to fill out with basic questions as I watched the first episode. The paper consisted of questions such as, “what do you think about the main characters,” and “what are your initial thoughts on the drama,” and she instructed me to answer them in Korean. At first, I was kind of bored of the drama because it was a genre that Koreans called “멜로" which literally translates to “mellow romance.” I chose to watch this show because I wanted to start a truly romantic Korean series for the first time. However, I could tell that this was very different the the “romantic” American shows. The show starts off with two characters, Choi Woong and Kook Yeon Su, who end up featuring in a documentary together during their high school days. Interestingly, this documentary was made to showcase the top-performing student (Kook) in the school and the lowest-ranking student (Choi). They wanted to create a documentary and see how the two interacted with one another. Just this background scene, made me think about how strict and punctual Korea’s education system is. My mother used to tell me that it was true schools would post every single students’ academic ranking to be publicly seen. Therefore, it not only created immense pressure for the top-performing students, but embarrassment and bullying for those who didn’t score as well on the exams. Therefore, when they start off, they are seen fighting and Kook Yeon Su seems to look down on Choi Woong for his poor academic stance. Although the documentary shows them fighting and arguing, in 10 years, the viewers realize that these two actually ended up being in a relationship and they were in love. However, we also realize that these two had a terrible breakup and we do not necessarily get to find out what happened yet. Apart from the storyline, I was more drawn in by the cinematography that this film expressed. It absolutely screamed “summer” with its warm colors, nostalgic scenes, and desaturated color palette. Summer reminds me a lot of youth, living, and life, so it was refreshing to see this portrayed in such a soft, mellow way. Overall, this drama got me to think a lot about relationships, work life, and my 20s. It also helped me to see a shift in Korea’s work culture mindset. Before, academics were everything in Korea. You had to be book smart to get by. However, now, society has shifted more towards wanting a balance and living comfortably (portrayed by Choi). This drama got me somewhat hopeful again because one day I would love to professionally work in South Korea, but I always have this fear that I am not cut out to assimilate into the tiger culture. But, I was excited to see that Korea is slowly, but surely starting to change and emphasize a holistic working experience.
For this week’s cultural post, I decided to watch “놀면뭐하니" which is a highly popular Korean variety show hosted by Korea’s most famous M.C. named Yoo Jae Suk. This show arose after the termination of the most popular Korean variety show of all time called “Infinite Challenge.” Many people did not expect “놀면뭐하니" to be very good since the pressure and expectations were so high, however, this show shocked the Korean viewers when it hit #1 on streaming. I chose to watch one of the episodes that had 2 of the most iconic 90s singers, Lee Hyo-ri and Uhm Jung Hwa pair up with this year's hottest singers named Hwasa and Jesse. Together, they formed a band called “Refund Sisters.” Before, it was unthinkable to see such old icons come together with the recent pop stars. In equivalence, it would almost be seeing Beyonce banding up with Fifth Harmony and performing together as one unit. When I was young, I remember seeing Lee Hyo Ri and absolutely fangirling over her and her dancing skills. She was the greatest icon in Korea’s girl group history and her humor just put her on another level. I didn’t know Uhm Jung Hwa too much since she was more popular before my time, but I remember listening to her song “DISCO” and jamming out to it during karaoke nights with my family. It was not only very cool, but nostalgic to see them come back out on variety shows and dance once again. Just watching these nearly 50-year old women dance to very demanding music and choreography made me grow a lot of respect for both of them. Another reason why I liked Hyo Ri is that she defied Korea’s beauty standards of having to look white and pale and she was always tan and careless. Even on “놀면뭐하니" she once again came out on the show looking very tan, and it made me feel more confident seeing an icon defy traditional Korean beauty standards. After their performance, they actually won #1 in the music charts, and it just once again proved how much of an influence they still have on the Korean public and the viewers. I really enjoyed seeing my old nostalgic performers pair up with some of my new favorite performers and this is something I hope to see often in the future, even outside of variety shows.
My language partner (Jannette) started off with some basic assessments to sort of gauge my level of Korean along with finding out some of my interests. We spent a bit of time abroad in Korea together, so this was relatively quick. After catching up we decided on a layout of how we were going to meet. We would have two meetings a week. One as a group with Grace to focus on more of a cultural aspect towards language. The other meeting was a one on one with my language partner in order to focus on personal objectives.
We established a learning plan with my objective to achieve a level of fluency where I’m able to get rid of my American accent. Confidence was a key aspect I really wanted to work on as it helps get rid of the American accent that comes out from time to time. Vocabulary on specific topics that relate to my everyday lifestyle was another focus for me. Things like learning slang and jargon especially in regards to the gym or playing videogames. Korea has a huge video game culture. Texting and typing was also another focus I had in mind.
To achieve these learning objectives we planned to use tools such as games, YouTube, K-drama shows and movies, and Quizlet. For Youtube, we decided to follow a very popular influence in Korea known as Kim Jong-Kook. He is in the entertainment industry but works out heavily and created his Youtube account to post his gym exercises.
As a group we decided to go to local Korean restaurant to kick start our SDLC class. We restricted our interactions to as much Korean as possible, from reading the menu to reflecting on our study abroad experience. Thankfully, the waitress and other employees were actually Korean. Having Korean dishes here with my group made me miss my time in Korea. Although the food was a bit disappointing considering they were Korean.
Overall, I’m excited to continue my language learning journey with a great learning partner and group.
For the first week of class, Rachel and I met up over Zoom and went over the syllabus together. I was very excited to have her as my new language partner since I felt like Rachel spoke more formal Korean while I was more experienced in conversational Korean. Since we have both taken Korean and have taught Korean over the past few years, we were both pretty familiar with the content and requirements of SDLC. This is my 3rd time taking Korean and for this semester, I took on a pretty heavy academic workload, so I wanted to simply use these class times to read and watch as much cultural content as possible. In Korean I and Korean II, I mostly focused on practicing and speaking Korean and having basic conversations with my language partner, but for this semester, I wanted to listen and observe more of the diction, vocabulary, storyline, and visual aspects used in Korean films and dramas. The main reason is that I’ve always been interested in videography and film my entire life. I still visibly remember when the film “괴물" first premiered in Korea back in 2006 and it was a revolutionary moment for Korean film history because of its use of CGI and digital graphics. I was only 6 years old back then and “괴물" means monster in Korean, so I was way too afraid to properly enjoy the show, but I hope to rewatch it this semester and enjoy it with a fresh perspective. Previously, Korea was not as well known for its movies, but they have truly progressed into a country known for its arts and culture. I’ve always enjoyed Korean TV shows in the past, but I never got too deep into the storyline, motifs, symbolism, e.t.c. I mostly watched it because my favorite actor was in the show, or because my sister always asked me to watch it with her. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed how much Korean filmmaking has progressed. From being a worldwide sensation to becoming internationally recognized even by the Oscars, it made me want to really study and analyze this phenomenon. Therefore, for Spring 2022, my goal is to observe as many Korean artworks (such as films, music videos, poetry) and take a deep dive into how this reflects back onto Korean culture and society as a whole. I will continue to practice my Korean speaking and reading skills with Rachel but make sure to have an emphasis on the Korean Arts when doing so. For the next few weeks, I hope to watch and unpack some famous films and dramas such as “The Uncanny Counter,” “25/21,” “Our Beloved Summer,” “Business Proposal,” and e.t.c. If I have additional time to explore, I would also like to dip my toes into Korean sports as well, more specifically, get to know more about Kim Yeon Kyung, an infamous female volleyball player in South Korea. All in all, I am very thrilled to start this semester and I’m excited to see what I learn.
I decided to watch the Korean drama “Uncanny Counter” on my own time to write for this week’s cultural post. My mother actually recommended me this show and she wanted me to watch it because it was quite different from previous k-dramas she saw in the sense that it was very fictional and CGI-heavy. In the past, Korea’s cinematic capabilities were not as advanced as now, so they did not try to attempt dramas that were heavy with CGI and FX. On the other hand, with the advancement of their digital technologies, they have taken on a challenge to film this show and I absolutely enjoyed the entire plot and its execution. “Uncanny Counter” is essentially a group of people called “Counters” that hunt down evil spirits. Each one of the counters has its own special abilities such as the ability to heal, hear someone’s thoughts, and have strength 3x stronger than an average person. A humorous aspect of the show was that all of these Counters disguised themselves as the owner of a traditional noodle shop and acted like normal people going on with their everyday lives. The first thing that I noticed with this drama is its similarity with “Squid Game” in the sense that all the counters also wore a tracksuit (not green but red). Tracksuits are an infamous symbol in Korea that really sets an individual apart from the mass. It usually means you have no job and are of lower status. On the other hand, it was interesting to see superhuman individuals wear these tracksuits to fight off evil spirits which also made the story a lot more humorous, relatable, and down to earth. In addition to the plot, it was refreshing to see another singer take on a difficult acting role. Kim Se Jeong came out as Do Ha Na who can sense evil spirits from miles away and who also has the ability to read memories. Kim Se Jeong making an entrance in this drama showed a cultural shift and acceptance for singers to make their debut as actors. In the past, the Korean public did not like it when singers or celebrities with other occupations from joining the acting field. The reason is that many did not have good acting skills and people felt that singers did not deserve to be in this cinematic spotlight. However, with the introduction of Se Jeong, a highly popular girl group member, this K-drama goes on to further show that Korea is advancing towards a more diverse set of actors. I was also pleasantly surprised at how competent of an actress Se Jeong was and almost forgot that acting was not her first job. This made me want to see even more idols and Korean singers try out for acting gigs like “Uncanny Counter.”
