Blogs

Over these last two weeks I went back to my roots and used online language learning programs. I also downloaded software on my computer that changed certain words on the current screen into Korean as well as dabbled into Schola. The learning program was not as fun to learn from since it was just dialogue and reading comprehension and I prefer to talk through the lessons. The computer program would have been a good concept except the program I downloaded was translating easy words or words that didn’t need a translation (the, it, etc). Schola was harder than I expected but I got the hang of it.

Other things I learned these past weeks was about shopping and what goods we wanted to buy. The grammar we learned pertaining to this topic were units for nouns like we would use in two pairs of socks or one bunch of bananas.

I also learned about places and we described places we liked, wanted to go to, or had specific meaning for us. The grammar we learned for this topic pertained to alternative suggestions (지 말고) and explanations to why something couldn’t happen (어/아서… 지 못하다).

The game I made to teach someone something I learned was pretty fun and very competitive. There was a lot of shouting but the purpose of the game was received. Playing a game to learn a language (especially using candy as an incentive) really influences people to want to learn. My friends said they will never forget which modifier to use ever again.

Yut Nori (윷놀이) is a traditional Korean game that involves a lot of strategy. It consists of four wooden sticks which are flat on one side and rounded on the other, a game board, and 8 playing tokens. The object of the game is to return all of your tokens back to start and you can take shortcuts if you land on a corner. For a score of Do (one stick flat side up) you move one space, for Gae (two sticks) you move two, for Geol you move three, for Yut you move four and throw again, and for Mo (all rounded side up) you move five spaces and throw again. If you land on a space occupied by an opponent they are forced to return to start. In American terms, it is basically an old version of Sorry and will cause a lot of tension between players.

An activity I can create to teach someone something I learned is a speed guessing game to correctly matching the modifier to the recipient according to formal speech. There will be a sentence that describes an adult/elder receiving something and a younger person/child receiving something with the reception modifier omitted. The players have to guess if it is the formal modifier (께/께서) or the informal modifier (한테/한테서). Points will be given in the form of candy. If someone answers correctly they get the candy, if not then someone else gets to steal. Whoever ends up with the most candy wins.

Over these last two weeks I’ve been trying to have some conversations with people around me outside of the classroom. Lately I have been having conversations with my boyfriend who is Korean. One of our more difficult topics was about family and the occupations family members have. He had to explain some words to me in English but he said I did well for the most part.

Other things I learned in these past weeks was about life as a college student (대학생활) and schedules. It was a little difficult to describe the other classes I was taking in Korean. The grammar we learned pertaining to this topic was the uses of “or” ((이)나) and “besides/outside of” (밖에), and asking if someone should do something ((으)ㄹ 까요).

I also learned something that coincided with my independent study, family introductions. In class we also introduced family members and talked about their ages and occupations. The grammar we learned pertaining to this topic was about sympathizing with something or someone (겠어요).

Based on the previous weeks I already see a lot of improvement. I am a lot more comfortable within my group now so I am not as afraid to speak in Korean as I was before. I am not as intimidated and I can easily talk with my classmates. Because I am more comfortable now, I am more confident in speaking, even if I am wrong, which is what you need to do in order to improve. I think I will be able to easily improve from now on.

Over these two weeks I did some Flipboard article reading. One of the articles that stuck with me was one about the burger that is served in a North Korean airport. Apparently it got a lot of attention after an LA times reporter talked about his experience eating the burger, calling it mysterious yet legendary. I also found a recipe or two I am thinking about trying in the future.

Other things I learned in these two weeks are about school majors, why we chose our majors and what we plan to do in the future. Grammar that we learned along with this topic was a form of polite refusal or rebuttal ((은)ㄴ데/는데요).

I also learned about roommates and introducing them, along with reading exercises about problems someone has with their roommates. Grammar that we learned along with this topic concerned being in the process of doing something (고 있다) and suggesting something ((으)ㄹ 래요).

One of the most popular films that are about pansori is called Seopyeonje (서편제). I watched this film when I was studying abroad in South Korea. It is a 1993 film that tells the story of a “family of traditional Korean pansori singers trying to make a living in the modern world”. It follows the story of Songhwa, her brother Dongho, and their father Yubong, a pansori singer that strictly trains his children to be pansori performers, believing that a truly great pansori artist must suffer. Dongho runs away but Songhwa stays and takes all of the suffering. Eventually Yubong blinds Songhwa so she can experience true suffering. Years later, Dongho finds Songhwa and performs with her once more. This film seemed to give an analogy to a deep part of the Korean mindset: one must suffer to achieve greatness.

Over these two weeks I’ve been doing more listening comprehension exercises so I have been watching Korean television shows. One of the shows I have been enjoying is called “I Can See Your Voice (너의 목소리 보여)”. Some of the contestants on the show ended up being skilled vocalists who do traditional Korean music (국악) and can sing pansori (판소리). I have found pansori very interesting for a while so this has inspired by cultural post and artifacts for this period.

Other things I have learned these weeks were about elders and grandparents. This led to a heavy practice of formal language, which is very difficult to remember to use. This formal language is used not only when speaking to elders, but when speaking of elders as well. Even if they are not present they are spoken about respectively.

Pansori (판소리) is a traditional Korean art that includes a singer accompanied by a drum. The singer is not only singing, but they deliver a story with narratives and gestures. The singer plays multiple characters in a story, so they must be good at changing voices that are full of emotion. It has been selected by UNESCO as an “intangible cultural heritage” that represents the country of Korea. The Pan in pansori means “a place where people gather” and Sori means “song”, meaning that pansori can be songs sung in gatherings.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1z6hBHCXPf4

동재: 이 시계는 왜 사?

태영: 남자 친구한테 선물할 거야.

동재: 또? 전에도 바지 사 줬잖아.

태영: 그건 바지고, 이건 시계잖아.

동재: 넌 밀당도 몰라? 너무 잘해 주면 안돼. 가끔식 그 남자를 나쁘게 대우해야돼.

태영: 그런데 넌 오늘 여자 친구 안 만나?

동재: 이번 주엔 안 만나려고. 너무 자주 만나면 내가 소중한 걸 모르거든.

태영: 넌 진짜 ‘밀당의 고수’ 구나. 난 그렇게 못 하겠더라.

DJ: Why did you buy this watch?

TY: I’m giving this to my boyfriend as a present.

DJ: Again? You just bought him pants.

TY: Those were pants, this is a watch.

DJ: Don’t you know what push- pull is? You can’t treat him too well. Sometimes you have to treat him poorly.

TY: But are you not meeting your girlfriend today?

DJ: I’m not meeting her this week. If I meet her too often I won’t know how precious she is.

TY: Well aren’t you an expert in push-pull. For me I couldn’t do that.

This dialogue contains a trendy vocab word I learned in 110: 밀당. This word means push and pull which refers to how people push someone away to realize their worth and pull them back before it causes tension. It also uses some grammar that was also taught in 111 (한테) and includes new grammar as well (어/아 야돼/해).

The person I recorded this with said that I did very well in pronunciation and even some of my articulations and tones sounded very Korean. However, I feel that I pronounced some words a little off. I will continue to practice until I become more comfortable with dialogue.

Over these two weeks I mostly did a review of the things I learned in 110, specifically grammar and trendy vocab. Some things I had forgotten so I had to reteach myself.

Other things I learned in these weeks were about describing birthday events and identifying and reading certain dates. The grammar pertaining to this concerned saying from whom/which things are received or to whom they were given, taking formality into consideration (한테, 께, 에서).

I also learned about how to ask for and give phone numbers and answering questions and responding to problem with a certain reason. The grammar that we learned pertains to giving reasons (어/아서) and to express the need to do something (어/아야 되/하다).

My Learning Plan

My%20Learning%20Plan%202.docx

My goal for this semester is to improve my speaking. Last semester I was not very comfortable speaking amongst my peers, but now that it is the second semester I believe I will be more comfortable since I have been exposed to the process before. My reading and writing are good for my level, so the main focus should be on speaking and conversation skills.

I want to explore the everyday life of Koreans as well as political problems concerning South Korea. I believe group discussions and further research will give me more insight to these topics. Hopefully understanding thee two topics will allow me to better understand the link between them and how they affect each other.

데이리 스킨 케어 루틴

1. 첫번째는 더블 클렌징입니다. 화장을 지우고 있으면 제가 The Face Shop 미감수 클렌징 오일과 클렌징 폼을 사용합나다.
2. 그 다음에 Skinfood Rice Wash-off Mask를 사용합니다. 이 마스크가 각질 제거와 브라이트닝을 좋습니다.
3. 다음에는 토너를 사용합니다. 저는  Cosrx AHA / bha Clarifying Treatment Toner를 사용하고 있습니다. 이 토너가 각질 제거 및 피부 균형 유지에 도움이됩니다.
4. 그 다음에 에센스를 사용합니다. Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence는 강력한 젤타이프 에센스 피부를 수복하고 있으니까 좋아합니다.
5. 다음에는 시간이 있다면 제가 시트 마스크를 사용할 겁니다. 저는 Tonymoly를 사용하는 것을 좋아한다. 다른 피부 콘디션에 필요한 다른 성분들을 가지고있는 Real Sheet Mask Pack이는 좋습니다.
6. 그 다음에 지성피부가 있으면, 피부를 맑게하는 Skinfood Peach Sake Pore Serum을 사용하겠습니다.
7. 마지막으로 수분 크림이나 슬리핑팩을 사용합니다. Mizon Black Snail All in One 크림이나 Etude House Moistfull Collagen Sleeping Pack을 사용하겠습니다.

Daily skincare routine

1. First step is double cleansing. First I use The Face Shop Rice Water Bright oil-based cleanser to remove makeup and then The Face Shop Rice Water Bright water-based foam cleanser to remove everything else.
2. Next I use the Skinfood rice wash off mask. It helps to exfoliate and brighten my skin.
3. Then I use a toner. I am currently using the Cosrx Aha/bha Clarifying Treatment Toner which helps with dead skin cell removal and skin balancing.
4. Next I use an essence. I like to use the Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence because it is a gel that repairs my skin with powerful ingredients.
5. Then if I have time I will put on a sheet mask. I like using the Tonymoly I’m Real Sheet Mask Pack which have different ingredients for different skin needs.
6. Next if my skin is really oily, I will use my Skinfood Peach Sake Pore Serum which gets rid of oiliness.
7. Finally I will put on a moisturizer or sleeping pack. I will use either the Mizon Black Snail All in One Cream or the Etude House Moistfull Collagen Sleeping Pack.

This is the second semester I study Korean with my learning partner Minkyung. Same as last semester, MInkyung prepared teaching material for each class, and since she knew my level well, she could prepare the learning material that best fit me. However, since there were two new students in the beginner's class, Minkyung had to cover some topics that we already learnt last semester. But this is a also a good way for me to review the words and dialogues. The most important progress that I made this semester is that I mastered the Hangul system and am able to write and read most of the Korean words. In this reflection paper, I am going to first talk about the good things that I really enjoyed during the semester including my favorite learning sources, my good ways of learning the language. Then I will reflect on the problems I met and the limitations of learning plan. 

        My favorite part of this class is that we finally learnt about the Korean alphabet system this semester. This is a big cornerstone in my Korean self learning process since I could be able to read and write most of the Korean words after knowing the Korean Hangul system. In the past, I could only use English words to note the pronunciations and just memorize them again and again. However after knowing the alphabetic system, I can read the vowels and consonants and figure out the pronunciations instead of memorizing each thing. In order to help us study Hangul system better, Minkyung took the learning tools to class so that we could see the structure of Korean characters more clearly. I think learning Hangul in class this semester has been much more effective than watching videos and exploring by myself last semester. Another thing I want to mention is this website of Korean alphabet learning  http://korean.cuk.edu/en/. Although we learnt alphabet in class, the class time is very limited and I need to self study and review the consonants and vowels myself. The above website is a very good resource for Korean beginners. It explains the laws of pronunciations and structures very clearly and I highly recommend it to other self learners.

       However, there are also some difficulties and goals that I did not achieve. First of all, as I mentioned, the class time is very limited and the time for actual practicing is still very limited. Therefore we spent only a little time on each topic instead of digging into it. For example, we only studied the basic etiquette and polite way of saying before and after meals instead of the actual description about food or our preferences. This broad way of learning Korean seems have broaden my knowledge of Korean vocabulary in different fields, yet failed to give me a deep understanding on each of the area.

       In conclusion, through further learning a semester of Korean with Minkung, I have developed a deeper understanding of Korean culture and customs, from people's daily life to the history and development of the country in a wider level. The most proudest thing is again, the master of Hangul system and the improvement in grammars. With the ability of reading and writing most of the words, I feel more confident to talk to more Korean friends, and believe that I am more prepared to go to Korea by myself in the future.

artifact%203.m4a

How to say time, ask for time, and describe my weekday and weekend schedule. 

artifact%202%20%282%29.m4a

When meet strangers in public and how to express "Right" or "Wrong" to others. 

Self Introduction improved based on the previous one in SDLC 111

artifact%201%20%281%29.m4a

artifact%204.m4a

Some new words of foods, vegetables, and fruits. And a dialogue while eating in friends' home.

The culture presentation I did is about plastic surgery in Korean. I explored the reasons why plastic surgery is so popular in Korea rather than other countries. After doing research, I found that the economic boom is a contributing factor. Also Koreans are materialistic and have very competitive attitude in the society. Korea is a homogeneous country. For generations, it was a highly stratified society with a small ruling class. It was only in the past 30 years or so that an affluent middle class emerged and the quality of life improved for everyone. With newly acquired wealth, westernization and a need to express one's individuality, people sought ways to improve their appearance. It wasn't enough to feel wealthy, and people felt compelled to show it. Health and beauty have always been cherished in Korean society.  Now for once people could actually go out and do something about it.  They could look attractive, look different, and look wealthy. Also, if If you look at the most popular surgeries, they are based on uniformly Caucasian features: creating a visible eyelid, sharpening the nose or chin.  One can argue that these cosmetic procedures now adhere to some Korean aesthetic. While that may be true, this aesthetic was unequivocally born from a western ideal of beauty.

Reference: https://myseoulsecret.com/why-is-plastic-surgery-so-popular-in-korea/