Blogs

    This week, we added on to the business terms that we learned about in previous  weeks. For example, we learned about “jeen-haeng sang-hwang,” which means “progress/process report.” This can be used to say “eoul-man-ha jeen-haeng-duet-seo-yo?” which asks “how much progress has been made?” This is important to learn because it is always necessary to track the progress of one’s work, which is how this word is used!

    Other good vocabulary terms to know include “boon-seok hae-seo,” which means to analyze. This term is used in the business world because you are attempting to analyze the trends and patterns of the product of interest. This can also relate to another term that I learned, which is “she-jang jo-sah,” which is “research of the trends of the market.” This directly relates because analyzing and researching the trends are similar concepts and are both important in the business world since one needs to analyze these trends to learn which strategies work and which do not!

    It is exciting to add on to my previous knowledge of business terms as this is one of my main goals for working on my interpersonal communication skills!

This week I learned how to cook 떡볶이 (Tteok-bokki). Stir-fried rice cakes is a popular Korean food made from small-sized garae-tteok called tteokmyeon or commonly tteok-bokki-tteok. My friend and I cooked it in my room with the use of an electric pot. We went to Grand Market to buy the necessary groceries such as rice cakes, fish cakes, sugar, pepper paste (gochujang), green onions, and sesame oil. First, you measure the appropriate amount of water and boil the water. Once the water is boiled, you can add the pepper paste and rice and fish cakes. As the rice and fish cakes get ready, you add sugar and sesame oil for flavor, topped with green onions on top. 

떡볶이 (video)

How to cook 떡볶이 (tteokbokki), a spicy Korean rice cake dish:

First, you measure the appropriate amount of water and boil the water. Once the water is boiled, you can add the pepper paste and rice and fish cakes. As the rice and fish cakes get ready, you add sugar and sesame oil for flavor, topped with green onions on top. (From Bi-Weekly Report #4- Week 9).

This is another set of directions from an online website:

1. Combine water and anchovies in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove anchovies.
2. Combine chile paste, sugar, soy sauce, and corn syrup in a bowl to make the sauce.
3. Add rice cakes and onion to the anchovy water in the saucepan. Add sauce. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spring onion and boil 3 minutes more.

Learning Plan

Farmer treasure story

Busker busker song/ common idioms

These past two weeks, we analyzed another Korean folktale. It was about a farmer who had four sons who were uninterested in farming but were eager to make quick money. Therefore, when the farmer was about to pass away, he shared with his sons that he had buried treasure under the grape seed farmland. The sons, hearing this and wanting to strike it rich, picked up their shovels and dug for months across the entire land. However, when they did not find anything, they gave up. When grape season arrived, they saw that the land they were plowing had reaped a whole field of crops. They then realized the true treasure their father had wanted them to find: the value of hard work.

We also, similarly to Baby Shark, also listened to the Spring Blossoms Ending by Busker Busker. However, many of the vocabulary words were redacted, and we had to fill in the blanks. After listening to the song several times, we also learned about other vocabulary words we missed as well as some common idioms. It was cool to learn these idioms because many of them had meanings I did not expect. For example, there is an idiom that roughly translates to someone’s ear being too thin. This means that the individual listens to others’ perspectives too much and is easily swayed by what other people suggest they do. Another translates to your stomach hurting. However, this means that you are jealous. It was fun to learn these because it is one thing to learn what words and phrases mean. It is another to learn the indirect meanings and contexts of idioms.

• Teach someone using the activity you created in Week 9; reflect upon the effectiveness of the activity.

I taught my friend the different names of stores in Korean. I then asked him to try to flip the cards up and see if he could remember the Korean word associated with the card. I think that overall the activity was harder than it seemed. He remembered some stores, but, for the most part, he could only remember a few syllables from the words. I think that it was a challenge because not only were the words multiple syllables, but they also did not have much meaning to him.

I think that in the future, I would make the activity more simple by maybe giving some of the syllables of the word. By having some sort of familiarity to the sounds, it may be possible that the word will be easier to recall and recognize. Overall, the activity was entertaining to administer and watch. However, I do not think it was fully effective for learning. I think that it was too challenging to remember and recall multiple syllable words for a beginner.

• Create a learning activity to teach someone else something you have learned in your language; outline this activity in your learning journal.  

I created an activity where I drew pictures of various stores on flashcards. I then plan to teach someone the various names of these stores. Then I plan to ask them to turn all of the flashcards with the drawings facedown. When they flip a card and see the photo, I will first ask them to say what it is in English. Then I will ask them what it is in Korean.

I initially thought about writing the Korean word, but I thought that a non-Korean speaker would have difficult matching the word to the picture. As the characters do not have any meaning to them, it would not make sense to use them. Therefore, I changed them to pictures instead.

-고있다, -고계시다, -을래요

These past two weeks, we learned how to describe what someone is in the progress of doing- essentially the equivalent of adding -ing to words in English. As South Korea is a hierarchical society, we learned the different structures of how to say what my friend (same age is doing) versus what a grandpa is doing (older age). For people our age, we would say _____ -고있다, while we would say ______-고계시다. The activity would be in the blank.

We also learned how to conjugate the words to fit properly in the blanks. It is interesting because I have noticed that there are always exceptions in every language. There is a universal rule to conjugating these words, but there are exceptions for when there is a special rule that needs to be followed. I noticed this trend also exists in other languages I have studied, such as English and Spanish.

We also learned how to ask people to do an activity, using the ending -을래요? We would attach the conjugated word in the beginning of the word and attach this ending to the end. It is interesting because, to my knowledge, this would only be used for people our age. For people who are older than us, we would not use a question but more of a statement- question. It is a question but it is said as a request that does not end in a question mark. In this way, it is more polite and indirect.

• In your learning journal, reflect upon your progress to date, consider the effectiveness of your learning plan and activities, and discuss what changes--if any--you will make to finish the semester.

I think that I am doing well progress-wise. I think that I like having a learning plan because I have some specific goals that I want to learn personally. These include goals such as learning the names of countries and personality characteristics to describe others. However, I also like being in a classroom setting because I get to learn the topics other students have wanted to learn. Through this, I was able to learn about colors and the history of Korea, as well as read some cool folktales. I think that for activities,

I do agree that my learning plan is heavily dependent on speaking with my mom in Korean. Therefore, I hope to speak Korean with others, such as my Korean speaking friends on campus. I think that this is a change I would like to make because I think speaking to one person may lead to biases. My mom is biased because she knows my dialect and my pronunciation of certain words. However, I want to also elevate my Korean to go beyond these factors.

However, besides this, I am happy with my learning progress. I like that sometimes Heera chooses what we learn. I sometimes choose what we learn. And Seong Hye Teacher also decides what we learn. It is a combined effort and, in this way, I feel that my Korean learning experience is more well-rounded.

Post your third bi-weekly report on your language-learning activities

Colors, opposites, -지만, tiger folktale, countries, 3.1 day

These past two weeks, we learned about how to say colors in Korean. I previously learned about colors, so it was a nice review. However, it was also a challenge because we learned more specific colors that I did not know before. Colors such as light blue (하늘색) and neon (형광). I think that, in general, I know what basic words to use. However, it is a challenge to go a step up from there and use more specific words. We went around the room labelling objects in the room (including Heera’s sweater) with their respective colors.

We also read together a Korean folktale about a woman who was poor, but one day she worked for a whole day and was paid in rice cakes. Eager to take them to her children, she walked home but a tiger kept saying he would eat her if she didn’t give him some. When she gave all of them to him eventually, he ate her and went to her home and disguised himself as the mom to also eat her children. Eventually, the children are saved by God when he sends down a rope, but the tiger dies when he tries to climb the rope but he falls to his death. I thought this was a sad story, but I think it can possibly shed light on what values Koreans like that have developed the heroes’ personalities in this folktale. Traits such as eager to help and protect others and being moral are valued, while trying to take advantage of these efforts is frowned upon.

We also learned about the various names of countries. As I studied abroad last year, I was eager to learn the names of countries to share where I have been. Some countries I have been to include Germany (독일), the UK (영국), and Spain (스페인). I am excited to use these words when describing my adventures and experiences. We also learned about 3.1 day, a day of protest against being under Japanese rule in the 20th century. To this day, it is an important and revered holiday that is celebrated and remembered every year.

• Post your second bi-weekly report on your language-learning activities.
• Baby Shark
• Types of stores
• 으러 가다

These past two weeks, Seong Hye Teacher gave us the lyrics to Baby Shark. However, she left some areas of the song blank. She challenged us to listen closely and fill the blanks in if we could. I thought this was a great challenge because listening and reading comprehension are so different. It is one thing to read the lyrics as you listen to a song, but it is another to actually listen carefully and try to decipher what the word is. It requires a more active stance of learning that reading itself does not offer. I thought this activity was very enjoyable overall.

In addition, we also learned some vocabulary words for what types of stores we are going to. For example, if you wanted to go to a department store, such as Nordstrom, you would say 백화점. If you are going to a bakery, you could say 빵집. If you are going to a flower store, you would say 꽃 가게. I appreciated this activity because while some words were review, a lot of words were also words I never used before. Instead of saying store in Korean, the next time I go somewhere, I could be more specific and shed more light in where I am going.

We also learned how to accompany saying we are going to a store with the words -으러 가다. If we want to say someone is going to go to a certain store, the sentence structure would be: ____ -으러 가다. The words can be changed slightly to match who is doing the going to the store/ whether you want to make it a request.

Korean elder buying food relationships

I think that the dynamic of relationships are interesting in Korea. For example, I recently went to go get Cellar with Seong Hye Teacher and Angella. When we arrived, our teacher insisted that she paid for our meal. Though I insisted back to her that I would pay for her meal because it was her first time, she refused. She explained that as the oldest of us three, it was her duty to take care of us and treat us. I thought this was a novel concept because this relationship dynamic around age does not exist as much in the USA.

I think that as both Korean and American, it is a challenge for me to pick which side to go with. In the USA, it is polite that if a friend buys you a meal, you also reciprocate by buying the next meal. However, I wonder if this dynamic in Korea is not the same way in different age relationships.

Despite this internal conflict, I overall appreciate Seong Hye Teacher’s gestures because it showed us that she wanted to take care of us. I think that this experience taught me more about how to handle social settings in these circumstances. Though my American instincts may feel the urge to insist that I pay, it is also important to respect the other individual’s cultural values. I appreciate my friendship and teacher-student relationship with Seong Hye Teacher, and I want to respect and learn further about the dynamics age brings to a social relationship.

• post an evaluation of your First Artifact conversation.  Evaluate your artifact for accent, cultural appropriateness, and linguistic accuracy.
  • What did you do well?
  • What do you need to improve?
  • How do you plan to make the necessary improvements?

This is a conversation between my mom and I talking about what we usually do over the weekend. My mom shares that she enjoys hiking, while I share that I am usually at the library. I also told her my order when we go to a coffee shop. While I study, I like to have drinks with some caffeine- therefore, I tell my mom that I like to drink iced green teas.

I think that I did well overall explaining what I do on the weekends. I thought my pronunciation improved as I practiced saying the words over the past few weeks. I think that I also have a lot more vocabulary knowledge, such as when I explain I like to drink iced green teas. My mom corrected me, so I tried to repeat after her. I also need to improve my cultural appropriateness. In a setting such as this, it would be more polite to speak to my mom with a formal tone when I am in public.

I plan to make these changes by remembering what the word for iced green tea                                                                                                                                                                               is in the future and further practicing what else I can say when asked what I like to do. I also plan to practice using more formal terms as that is an area that I still struggle to remember to do.

Artifact%20%231.mp3

In this talk with my mom, we discuss what we did over the weekend and what we usually order at a coffee shop.

Korean differences in society (social interactions SSem mentioned in the workplace)

I was talking to Seong Hye Teacher today, and she said that she will miss the USA a lot when she leaves because the work/ life atmosphere is different from South Korea. When I asked her to explain, she gladly did. She shared that in Korea, there is a larger emphasis on working longer hours. She said that it is not unusual to work twelve hours or more a day compared to the American average of eight or nine hours. Furthermore, she also shared that the dynamics between superiors were different. When a superior asks you for something, it is highly rude to not do as they say.

She also shared that the work/life balance is very different in the USA. She shared that in the USA, she noticed that college students work very hard. This is contrasted in South Korea where college students work hard, but the hardest parts of their academic career (getting into university) is already done. Thus, the cultural norms surrounding college are different between the USA and South Korea.

I think that it is interesting to see what is normal from one country to another. It is interesting because hearing new perspectives that do not align with mine makes me curious about what made it so that our values differ in that way. I want to learn more about these cultural differences, and if the impact of Westernization is potentially changing the cultural norms in countries, such as South Korea.

In this talk, my mom and I talk about which stores to go to.

Artifact%20%232.mp3

In this artifact, I talk with my mom about the countries I've been to while studying abroad.

Artifact%20%233.mp3

During one of our meetings, Merve made Turkish coffee for me. She showed me the process of how to make Turkish coffee and explained to me the differences between Turkish coffee and the coffee we drink in the U.S. For example, Turkish coffee is thicker and is usually served in smaller servings. Turkish coffee is also not filtered like most coffee we drink, so you have to drink the liquid coffee and leave the coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup. Once we were done drinking our coffee, we mixed and flipped our cups over and left them to sit. Merve then read my coffee grounds, which I thought was really cool and interesting. The inside of the cup was stuff that related to my own fortune/future, and the drips on the plate symbolized my family. She told me that whenever she and her friends/family would drink coffee grounds, they would always read their fortunes for each other.

     If I was granted a research funding to study Korean linguistics, I will begin with the korean history because I think the history of a country is in the best position to make influence on its language. For example, only when we started to know about Korean history, we knew that Korean was created based on a lot of language, including Chinese. Although Chinese and Korean are not in the same language family, this still can help people who know Chinese learn Korean efficiently. On the other hand, it makes the language learning more structured and organized. This will lead people to understand Korean better. At the same time, Korean also contains some Japanese words because of the history reasons.  I believe study korean history will help me know more about the language relationship between Korean-Chinese-Japanese.

If I received a research grant to conduct a linguistic study of Korean, I would learn more about its culture, history, society. Culture and language are inseparable. To try to learn a language without understanding the culture, a linguist will only have the ability to apply the basic words and grammar, instead of truly get to know the vivid language.

I cannot deny the truth that learning the culture along with the language is almost unavoidable. Before I actually learn Korean, I have watched a lot of Korean drama and listened to K-pop, which comprehensively helped me understand Korean culture and its history. For example, bowing is the traditional way to greet and their left hands should support their right forearms when shaking hands. Also, one of the first questions you ask when meeting someone is “How old are you?” This question is essential in determining how you will interact with this new person. Your role in the relationship is determined by several factors, including age, job, and gender. The role of Confucianism takes an important role in Korean society, and it related to the history and relationship between Korea and China. Knowing the culture and history of Korea can lead us to further learning in Korean.