Learning another language is like becoming another person.I decided to write a post on my entire journey in learning a new language! That's right, it's none other than the Korean language! I've actually had this draft saved in my draft box for the longest time and haven't sat down to write this properly. It's definitely a good time to write this now especially since I've recently stopped Korean lessons. It's a good time to reflect on the past years and reminisce some old memories.
- Haruki Murakami
Why did I start learning Korean?
Initially, back in 2010, I didn't think that I would end up studying the language seriously. I started liking Kpop then and also enjoyed watching various Korean shows. I think it was my sister's friend who passed her some phrases and from there I started learning how to say simple things.
From that sheet of paper, I not only learned new phrases, I also learned the Korean alphabet and how to put them together. I could spell simple words by myself and it felt really good to be learning Korean. However, gradually I found that it was getting confusing and I was not making much progress.
At that point, my friend from secondary school told me about her Korean class. It was the beginners level 1 course at Daehan Korean Language School (opposite Kembangan MRT station) and she asked if I wanted to join her. Surprisingly, my dad readily agreed! I immediately called the school up and signed myself up for the course. By now, the memories are fuzzy but I remembered being happy about finally learning Korean properly.
Of course, with my prior knowledge, I was able to progress quickly and didn't have problems catching up despite missing a few lessons at the beginning. It was only around the intermediate level did I start feeling like it was starting to get difficult. I was learning more things but somehow my speech and understanding did not reflect it as Daehan's Korean language curriculum focusing more on simple conversations if you were to go to Korea to live or work.
Over time, with constant practice and watching a lot of Korean programs, there was improvement and I did manage to complete the advanced level in Daehan. At that time, I still remember finding it difficult to converse or compose longer sentences. My Korean teacher then suggested that we could start a conversational class as Daehan didn't offer any more levels after the advanced level. My teacher was planning to leave Daehan as well so it worked out perfectly.
Since then, every Saturday morning, we would meet at a friend's house to have our Korean lessons. As we've completed the set of textbooks from Seoul National University, we switched to using Yonsei University's textbooks as they focus more on learning new vocabulary and sentence structures.
Who?
Many apologies but I don't really have much memory of my classmates in Daehan. I do have more memories with the classmates from when I joined Vaneh's class. They are the same friends that stayed together when we left Daehan too. It's really a blessing to have gotten to know them and it made learning Korean much more enjoyable as well.
Challenges.
With learning a new language or in fact when learning anything, there'll definitely be some challenges. Like I've briefly mentioned above, the challenges I've faced lies mostly with speaking. It's easy to learn the vocabulary and grammar rules but when it comes to forming sentences, it isn't easy. Thankfully over the years, with more practice speaking and listening to how they speak in Korean shows, it has improved.
I think this might be a common problem with most people learning Korean as well, especially if you don't have someone to constantly converse with. It's quite different from typing in text with someone as you can't practice your pronunciation and you can take some time to think before forming your sentences. Whereas comparing to speaking to someone, you have to form sentences and replies much quicker.
Hopes.
Well, since stopping Korean lessons, I do feel that my Korean language skills have decreased a little. Probably due to the fact I'm not using Korean as much anymore and I'm not learning anything new. I still do watch Korean dramas and variety shows to keep myself exposed but I just don't speak it anymore so it's quite stagnant. I'm able to understand some dramas without subtitles so it's not too bad.
I hope that in the future (probably not so near future) I'll be able to attend classes again. Maybe with the same teacher and same friends, hopefully. And of course, I hope to be good enough that the next time when I go to Korea I can converse even more freely than before.
That's all I have for this rather short post though I hope it has provided you guys with some encouragement to take up learning Korean. It won't be easy but you just have to keep trying and eventually it'll all work out!
Note: I actually worked on this post while I was on holiday but haven't had the time to edit it and thus it's only coming out so late ☹
Of course, with my prior knowledge, I was able to progress quickly and didn't have problems catching up despite missing a few lessons at the beginning. It was only around the intermediate level did I start feeling like it was starting to get difficult. I was learning more things but somehow my speech and understanding did not reflect it as Daehan's Korean language curriculum focusing more on simple conversations if you were to go to Korea to live or work.
Over time, with constant practice and watching a lot of Korean programs, there was improvement and I did manage to complete the advanced level in Daehan. At that time, I still remember finding it difficult to converse or compose longer sentences. My Korean teacher then suggested that we could start a conversational class as Daehan didn't offer any more levels after the advanced level. My teacher was planning to leave Daehan as well so it worked out perfectly.
Since then, every Saturday morning, we would meet at a friend's house to have our Korean lessons. As we've completed the set of textbooks from Seoul National University, we switched to using Yonsei University's textbooks as they focus more on learning new vocabulary and sentence structures.
Who?
Many apologies but I don't really have much memory of my classmates in Daehan. I do have more memories with the classmates from when I joined Vaneh's class. They are the same friends that stayed together when we left Daehan too. It's really a blessing to have gotten to know them and it made learning Korean much more enjoyable as well.
Challenges.
With learning a new language or in fact when learning anything, there'll definitely be some challenges. Like I've briefly mentioned above, the challenges I've faced lies mostly with speaking. It's easy to learn the vocabulary and grammar rules but when it comes to forming sentences, it isn't easy. Thankfully over the years, with more practice speaking and listening to how they speak in Korean shows, it has improved.
I think this might be a common problem with most people learning Korean as well, especially if you don't have someone to constantly converse with. It's quite different from typing in text with someone as you can't practice your pronunciation and you can take some time to think before forming your sentences. Whereas comparing to speaking to someone, you have to form sentences and replies much quicker.
Hopes.
Well, since stopping Korean lessons, I do feel that my Korean language skills have decreased a little. Probably due to the fact I'm not using Korean as much anymore and I'm not learning anything new. I still do watch Korean dramas and variety shows to keep myself exposed but I just don't speak it anymore so it's quite stagnant. I'm able to understand some dramas without subtitles so it's not too bad.
I hope that in the future (probably not so near future) I'll be able to attend classes again. Maybe with the same teacher and same friends, hopefully. And of course, I hope to be good enough that the next time when I go to Korea I can converse even more freely than before.
That's all I have for this rather short post though I hope it has provided you guys with some encouragement to take up learning Korean. It won't be easy but you just have to keep trying and eventually it'll all work out!
Note: I actually worked on this post while I was on holiday but haven't had the time to edit it and thus it's only coming out so late ☹
No comments:
Post a Comment