So What's Your Story?

[rooraa]

During summer I take classes at my local college and I really wanted to take a korean class but they only had Japanese class (don't get me wrong, learning Japanese would be awesome too but Korean is my main prioity for me right now)
If only they offered some korean class...

*sigh* I suppose if there was more of a korean presence in America, people would be interested in learning it. What really be cool would be if they had televisied korean dramas here!

Aww, you're teaching them the three bear songs? I taught my little cousins that one too ^^
How's it coming along? Since they're young, it must be easier for them to pick up foreign words =]

[holdfast]

well, the kids in my class are all under 2, so it's difficult to get them to say even english words, but they like any songs that have actions, so they will copy the actions and try to sing along! (that is, when they aren't running around like crazy and attacking eachother - there are 12 of them and they all like pulling eachother's hair right now)

and i retract my statement about not meeting another american who speaks korean - i had forgotten there is one other american at my korean church who speaks some korean. his wife is korean so he gets a lot more practice than me!

[rooraa]

열한 아기?! (is that 12 kids?) and they're all younger than 2! Wow, you have your work cut out for you XD
Must be fun though ^^

Hmm, a korean church, what religion is it?

[John]

My local Korean church is Presbyterian.

[rooraa]

Thanks for the info =]

[holdfast]

there are quite a few korean churches here - the one that i go to is united methodist (i think). i really like it. i can hardly wait to see what a korean church in korea would be like (but it looks like i am going to have to wait - plane tickets are too expensive to come even though i have a place to stay if i can get to korea this summer.. sad..).

yes, 12 kids (with two teachers, but the other teacher really doesn't help me very much) but they are all so cute! i love them so much... they are difficult at times, but still worth it. (:

[rooraa]

It would be an experience to see how churches can be so different but then again, going to Korea would an experience in itself >_<

How much do plane tickets to korea cost now?
I need to start saving up.....

Oh, you have a place already? Do you have family over there or something...? Lucky!


I commend you for veing able to handle so many kids! (hope that other teacher will lend you a hand more often ^^)
I get tired after a few hours with just 3 of my little cousins!

[Keith]

A plane ticket from where? A plane ticket from newyork is around $1100 on an average day. But who knows how it will be since oil prices are jumping

There are things in Korea called Mega Churches in Korea. And they can have thousands of people. Some of the biggest ones will have 10,000 people. And that's really a testament to Korea's group centered mentality

[holdfast]

all of the plane tickets i've looked at have been around 1,200-1,600. it would be very much worth it if i had that much money, but i can't even spend 300 on a plane ticket to go visit my parents in minnesota right now, sad. someday.. someday..

i have heard of some of the mega churches. apparently the largest church in the world is outside of seoul: yoido (i think that's the spelling) and it has about 700,000 members. that is crazy!!!!!!! the family of the little boy that i teach english to are from that church.. i suppose there are smaller churches too?

no, i don't have family there but i have quite a few friends that will be going back to korea for the summer (college students) and then returning to the states in the fall.

[beenalee]

It's amazing for non-Asians to be studying Korean.

I'm Asian but not an East Asian. I come from the Philippines and I started learning Korean since January 2006. I just watched a Korean drama called Dae Jang Geum and then I got addicted to Korean culture. Next thing I know, I was already learning the language. I've been a fan of Korean dramas and music ever since. ^^

I'm currently in the Intermediate level of KoreanClass101.com

[rooraa]

안녕하세요 beenalee씨!

Dae Jang Geum, I presume that would be in korean 대장금?
I never heard of that drama but I know what you mean, it was the drama Full House (풀하우스) that got me hooked ^^

I'm stuck at newbie level =P

[jaesun]

Like many people here, it was K-drama that got me interested in learning the Korean language. There were some other factors, too, but K-drama definitely was a big part.

I suppose it really began with a trip to the Art Institute in Chicago. I was there a couple of years ago and spent two entire days in it. I went specifically to view “Nighthawks” and a few other favorites, but then walked around and found myself in the Asian Art wing.

I was really impressed by the Korean pottery of the late Koryo dynasty- celadon ware, or 청자. I was never a fan of decorative arts before, but this stuff is really beautiful. It is housed in a room right next to Chinese pottery: in directly comparing the two I felt that celadon was superior. Chinese ware looked gaudy in comparison. Celadon was made with as much skill, but the over all effect really evoked Taoist simplicity and Buddhist tranquility (really). Apparently this is not just my opinion. Even Chinese have admitted that celadon ware of the 11th-12th century is the height of ceramic art.

Anyway, I started reading about celadon, which got me to reading about the Korean history of that era, which got me reading about Korea in general.

Then one night, months later, I couldn’t sleep and padded out to the living room to turn on the TV. I found myself watching an episode of “비밀” (secret) on AZN (may it rest in peace). Maybe I was susceptible to getting hooked because I don’t watch much TV- at any rate at the end of the episode I found myself wanting to find out what happened next. And hooked I became. I really liked비밀 because it was so incredibly over the top: evil adopted sisters, hidden identities, fate… it was good stuff.

I found the Korean spoken language charming. I don’t mean quaint- I mean I like all the “aw” and “oh” sounds that end sentences. It is a pleasing language to the ear.

All these influences- the arts, the history, the spoken language and modern culture depicted in drama (however soap-opera the plots) really pushed me to learn the language. So I dived in. I searched “Korean lessons” on the internets and here I am, still struggling.

I found the few stories already posted interesting. I’d like to read more about the ways people got interested in the language. Is it K-drama for most people?

[rooraa]

Wow, who would have known Kdramas would be so influencial?
I have never been one for art (does manga/mangwha count? ^_-) but that's cool.

Yeah, I like how in the 한국말 they sometimes exggerate sounds like "kkkeh~~" It's fun to hear.

So how long have you been studying the language jaesun씨? Is it spelled 재선?

[mariefrenette]

Korean has led me down a road I never expected to be on. A business graduate from Canada who always appreciated Asian culture but was never infected with any sort of Asiaphile symptoms or anything, I came here as the first leg of my world travel journey. One year in Korea, and then, Who knows??? But now I've finished 2 years teaching, and am about to begin 3 years of study in university in Seoul... I feel myself unwilling to leave this country until I can dive deeper into the language and culture, and swim around and have some fun!

I'm the kind of person who can learn a lot from listening in class and unfortunately had decent test results just cramming the night before... I did well in school without slaving over books but probably haven't yet reached my full potential as a result... ^^;

So every time I started a French class (or German, Spanish, etc...), I was frustrated that I didn't just remember what I had learned in class, and quickly gave up. I always thought I wasn't smart enough to learn languages.

Then I moved to Korea and although I had that perception that I "probably will never be able to learn how to speak", however I felt an obligation to this country, where I would live for an entire year and to the people, who I believe shouldn't always be the ones reaching out to me and trying to speak English. So I started studying Korean. At first it was an on and off thing, with kind of the same inconsistency as before. I even took a class and after 5 weeks, dropped out. But I kept studying alone after that, and about 3 months later picked up an unused textbook from that class I took. It was Seoul National University's 한국어 1. Suddenly, the stuff in the book didn't seem so scary anymore. A lot was familiar! And somehow this magical thing just came over me from that point on, and now not a day goes by that I don't study, even if it's just 20 minutes. Now I'm on 한국어3, which given my past history studying language is almost unbelievable to me...!!

I can understand exactly what people mean when they say "It's an obsession, it's my passion". I realize now that language learning has to be an obsession in order to amount to anything.

These days, I've really gotten excited about learning hanja. Even while on the subway in Seoul, I learned some new ones. And I can feel this familiarity and comfort with Chinese characters having another surprising side effect: there is a little man (woman?) inside of me that keeps talking to me using such phrases as "Marie, when we start studying Japanese.........." "Marie, if you want to speak Chinese really well you have to......."

Perhaps in this case there is a fine line between obsession and mental illness. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

If you actually spent time to read this overly long post, thanks a lot!

Marie

[rooraa]

ㅎㅎ, I took the time to read the whole post becauase it's the least i could for you after you typed all of that!

Wow, your story to me was very inspirational! When it's summer (it's fast approaching too) I want to seriously study korean! Not like an off on thing either! (Actually, I already made about 100 flashcards that I whip out whenever I have a few minutes, whether it be at 집, in the 차, or in math class , some of the words are really sticking in my brain!))

And wait a minute,

Then I moved to Korea and although I had that perception that I "probably will never be able to learn how to speak",

you moved to Korea, without even knowing the language??! That's crazy! You have guts! I have a feeling that it had something to do with 학교?