(This thread is a sort of culmination from ideas from previous posts by sarahk, mariefrenette, holdfast and others on the subject of their progress in Korean.)
Last week, I was going through some of my old notes from this time last year to find that I was still romanticizing everything and (incorrectly) phonetically spelling out all phrases and words. I also took about three times longer to use a Korean QWERTY keyboard. In my notes, I even state how I would rather copy and paste from another source instead of typing an original line in Korean.
All this, and I was proud of it! I really was. Think about it: I was starting to watch K-dramas (working on listening and fluency skills) listening to Keith's Survival Phrases (using them timidly but using them nonetheless) and starting to meet with my tutor (culture exchange mainly at that time), starting to slowly get into Korean music (shaking off the scary notion of listening to something not produced stateside) and most of all, learning to read and write hangul.
At that time, even with limited exposure (say weekly) to Koreans, extremely limited exposure to Korean food (monthly) and a part time job and a full time college load, I was still earnestly listening and learning to Korean. It's been a year since my notes and I am very proud of my progress. i have come a long way...but that's just it - I still have so much more to go!
It's so strange to me. The move from uneducated to "newbie" was quick, as was the transition from "newbie" to "beginner". But "beginner" to "intermediate" took a little more time but it still happened nonetheless. I can only imagine what it's like to listen to the advanced audio blog and understand 95% of it one day! But I know it will happen so long as I study diligently.
It's hard to see my learning as a progress but that's exactly what it is. It's dynamic and constantly changing. It hurts even more that we are our own worst critic. It's also quite difficult to objectively see our mistakes and strengths. Only if you are someone like my fellow KC101 students maxiewawa or austinfd and you make your own videos where you can tangibly see the progress made. It takes a lot of guts to post your language progressions online so my hat goes off these guys and others who have the desire to improve.
So, to sarahk, please keep up your Korean studies and post back here March 2009 - I for one am curious to see if you meet your goals. If you are like me and actively study in both an academic and real life setting, you will be so proud of your progress. And that's what this all is: progress.
Thoughts?
