안넹하세요! It’s been a while since I’ve shared about how my life has been here in South Korea. Well, it’s been a busy past two months and we’re wrapping up the current term while looking forward to the short break.
Since the beginning of this term, I’ve been putting more effort into learning Korean. So when I sent a message to 아리 (Ari) about helping me, I was very lucky that she said “Yes”. 소비 (Sophy), 아리’s best friend, has joined us. Both ladies were actually my former students. Thus begins an exchange program where they both co-teach me how to read and speak, and I help them improve their conversational skills.
This experience has been teaching me the following:
- Pronunciation is IMPORTANT. You are one sound away from saying “a three-wheeled bicycle” (세발자전거) to a very bad word…
- Grammar is quite different between 한굴 and English. For example, “할아버지다 오레산 키쿤나무” reads out to be “grandfather is older than tall tree” when in reality it means the reverse: “Tall tree is older than grandfather.” So one moment as I pull out my “Korean for Beginners” and review things…
We’ve been meeting once a week and I’m enjoying the laughter and stories we’ve been sharing between us.
So here’s to my slow, yet steady, learning.
-A
P.S. I’ve accomplished Day 36/100! Check out my Instagram of what those 36 moments and things are.
Places And Spaces To Be In 