K-whanau

Come join my journey in learning Korean!

about

  • Stay consistent!

    It is a couple days into learning Korean, So far it is going well. I think the most important bit of information that I could give anyone is to stay consistent. While we all have priorities in life e.g.. Work, Uni, Cooking, Sleeping. Trying to find challenges outside of it can be difficult. You really need to have a set time to study or do anything you want to do. If you don’t I find that your own mind tends to forget or procrastinate. Before you know it has been weeks or months since you last made the effort to do the activity.

    The one great trait that my partner has is that she writes everything down in a calendar. She puts the effort into the little tasks so that we can both see when we are working or when we have time together. I find that it helps a lot and would like to take that on board when I study Korean. I think it would be helpful to look to the week ahead and see what times I have available to study and what can be realistically achieved in the time frame.

    While I have been just starting to learn Korean I can see the short falls in not having the correct study style as well. I have been looking online and found someone who I find to be really good in understanding and teaching different styles of study. Justin Sung from New Zealand, has been great to watch on YouTube. A lot of what he teaches I have tried to bring over to my own studying habits.

    So if you ever feel like you pushed something away or need to jump back on the horse. Than build yourself a calendar and be realistic in the time frame you give yourself. It might take you 1 year or 5 years but you’ll be able to achieve something and create good habits along the way.

  • Why I want to learn Korean

    My first time going to Korea was last year. We were going over as her brother was getting married. This would be the first time I would see her family. I was pretty nervous as my partner had been in Korea for already two weeks. Work commitments would not let me make it for the whole trip. I still remember seeing my partner for the first time in two weeks, it was like I was seeing an angel. Right behind her was her mum. All I was thinking was to make a good first impression, bow and say hello in Korean. As you could imagine it went pretty well and we had my partner there to translate as there was a language barrier. At the end of the week would be the wedding so we ended up doing some sight seeing and looking into Korean culture and history. I was immediately hooked on everything Korean. I couldn’t believe how wonderful the country was and how nice the people were to me too.

    On the day of the wedding we would be out all morning going to get makeup and hair done for my partner and her mum. My partner left me in a Starbucks and got my order for food. All I could think about was how many people that I would be meeting for the first time in a couple hours. I would be meeting the brother for the first time and his own wedding. Time past and my thinking got distracted by a phone call from my partner. It was time to go to the wedding venue and get setup. We arrived and my partners mum had to get changed into a traditional Korean clothing for the wedding. So as we were stuck in the changing section I would hear a knock on the door. It would be 3 of her aunties looking right at me. You could imagine my surprise not knowing much Korean at all. So I mentioned to my partner that there was family here and she came over to greet them and introduce me to them.

    Time went on and we came out of the fitting room and went into the hall area. From then on I would get introduced to more than 100 family members and friends. Some of them had good English, It was mainly the younger adults and kids that was able to talk to. As we were there I would get introduced to her brother for the first time and we were able to chat. He had good English skills from going overseas to study. I thanked him for inviting me to such an important event. Afterwards we were able to go into the hall for the ceremony my partner had organised one of her friends to look after me while she was involved with some wedding bits. She had good English and was easy for me to interact with when we went into the hall.

    After the wedding we were invited to go eat some food afterwards and the bride and husband would go around a thank everyone. I was then introduced to some of her cousins that we would meet another two times before going back to Australia. To me the one touching moment would be all the family members trying to ask me questions or to want to get to know me, the only issue was I couldn’t understand Korean at all.

    We had a great rest of the trip and ended up going back home. I thought by now I would be pretty good with Korean. I guess that involves studying and learning the language. I will say though trying to study and work 10 hours days is a little tough but know one is going to magically teach me. So this is why I am here. So that you can see my progress, my commitment, my failures, my struggles and my desire to speak to her family in Korean.

  • Hello

    Welcome to K Whanau ! Come join me on my journey in learning Korean.