Getting a Korean Tutor

When I first came to Korea, I thought to myself "I can't live in a country for a whole year and not come back with some sort of language proficiency" but as the months went on, I realized I wasn't making the progress I wanted to. Given, I didn't work nearly as hard on learning Korean my first semester as I was struggling just to keep up with everything else going on, but in the spring when I started to study more and more, I realized I needed help. I wasn't close enough to go to any Korean classes for foreigners, so I opted for the online approach.

After some searching, I finally did find a website for online tutors that set their own prices. I actually lucked out in finding someone for pretty cheap who is really awesome. She is very patient and understanding. I have made a lot of progress in the past few months. Having a teacher there puts pressure on me to actually study and retain what she teaches me. For that, I have benefited. I have had lessons once a week for several months now and I'm really happy about that. I think I might actually get to the point by the end of my second year, where I will actually be able to speak in the language, therefore making it easier to study and retain Korean when I get back to the US. I don't want to have gone through all of this effort in the past year just to turn around and lose it when I get home like I did in Spanish after my college classes were over.

*Fingers crossed.

New Year... New Me? My Year of Korean

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year!

Why is it that once you reach '1' you are suddenly supposed to become a brand new person? I've never really understood "New Years Resolutions" simply because what is the point of making a resolution if you don't keep it? Why do you have to make it in January? Why can't you make these resolutions any time of year? Why is it that once you break your resolution, you suddenly can never pick it up again? Oops, forgot to workout for the past week (month), guess I'll try again next year. 

Don't get me wrong. I still make them every year. I also make a specific effort not to tell anyone my resolution. I guess that way they can't be mad at me or make me feel guilty when I inevitably break.

Usually, though, my goals are the typical ones that aren't too important to me at the time. They are things that are important and I really want to do, but not doing them won't exactly 'hurt' my day to day life.

This year is different. Maybe, because it isn't exactly a resolution, but just simply a start date. Or maybe because this was something I was already doing, but just needed to be better at.

This year. My resolution is to study Korean every day. I have been in this country since July. I still can't talk to people. I feel terrible about it. I want to be able to talk to people so much. I feel bad when I finally do get around native English speakers because I just let go. I talk so much and so fast. I don't check my speech or word choice. It's a bit of a problem. That won't go away, but I'm hoping to get better at actually talking to people.

So here's the deal. I WILL do this. Every day I WILL write in Korean in a journal. Each month, I will write one paragraph in Korean. Every day, I will study one or more of several study options. These are the 'Talk To Me In Korean' resources, 'Basic Korean Grammar' textbook, apps on my phone or other resources.

To keep me on track, I bought a small planner from Daiso (a Korean under 5 dollars store) that has monthly and weekly spreads, as well as lined and gridded paper in the back. This is where I keep track of my daily practice, trackers for my lessons, as well as all of my writing. I take my Korean notes in other notebooks, but this journal is my buddy. I am writing this now because I am well into February and I am still going. I want to hold myself accountable this year.

Please ignore my Korean (if you can read it), I'm still learning. 

Last Week of Orientation

My last week of orientations was...well, a tearful one. As I knew everything was coming to a close and that we were all moving on to the reason we all began this adventure, I couldn't help but think about everything that we were leaving. Between the 85 new friends that I have made to the nightly walks around Campus Town, or even just the familiarity of speaking with another native English speaker, I knew that the last six weeks were going to be something I will miss, and the memories I will cherish.

The week started off with preparations for our Korean Language Instruction Graduation. I even now have a paper that tells me I completed 110 hours of instruction in the Korean language, though it doesn't feel like it. I was terrified because it meant that my class and I would have to speak in front of Director Shim, all the Korean teachers, and the rest of the cohort. In Korean. I am so thankful for the rest of my class. They really helped me through it. After our mini-skits, we sang "Remember Me" from the movie COCO, in Korean. I actually really enjoyed that part. My 선상님s (Teachers) were all crying as they gave us hugs and took pictures with us. I may not remember much about the Korean language, I did learn a lot about the culture and gained five more people I could turn to for help.

After that was our farewell from Taekwondo. It was a lot of fun those eight classes, and the master even took us out to dinner to celebrate our time there and to new adventures. Each of the kids was also assigned to give us each a note. Mine was so adorable. The boy called me a 외국인누나 (Foreigner older sister) which was too cute.

We also had our talent show, which I talked about in a previous post. That was so much fun finding out about people's talents I didn't know they had. Like singing, spoken poetry, and so many ukeleles. It was great. There was also a spoof on the OCTs which was spot on and hilarious. I am so proud of the people that wrote it.

Flowers from my Co-teacher

The next day we finally got our ARCs and our homestay information. I am staying with a lovely family with three kids. A girl 시연, who is in my fifth-grade class, a boy 민준 who is in second grade and a little boy 민찬 who is 7 and will start school in March. They are all so adorable, but more on them later.

Friday was the day. It was the day that we all go our separate ways. It was a tearful and exhausting day. I met my co-teacher, who I think I will get along with very nicely, and I traveled all the way to Hwacheon, my home for the next year.

I am grateful the Fulbright Korea gives us those six weeks to learn and create the support system that exists now.

Korean Learning

One thing about orientation that I was both super excited about and terrified of was Korean Classes. The first day we were here, fresh off the plane, we had to take our Korean Placement Exam. I felt so lost. I aced the hangul (한늘 Korean writing system) part, but I had a lot of trouble with the rest of the test. Somehow, I was placed in low intermediate, however, and that is where the fun began. I love the class because it is challenging, but it is tough when the 선생님 (Teacher) is speaking so fast to us in Korean. It's the first week down though, and I feel good. I have a massive support system here and lots of people to help me. My roommate is even in the same class, so it's super convenient. So far, we have learned about greetings (we had to record a video of it!), numbers and money, as well as some grammar points that are more important. We even got to play a traditional Korean game where you roll these sticks. It was off but a lot of fun.


We have also been spending a lot of time learning about the Korean culture. We had one workshop that was titled Korean spirit and culture. The speaker introduced us to a bunch of Korean history and about King Sejong. We even were taught the correct way to bow during the holidays when the younger members of the family bow to their elders. I also got to try on a hanbok. It was oddly comfy. I am having so much fun learning all about the culture and the language. I am really excited to teach.