Study, pt. 1

For the last few weeks the weather hasn't been good, so I don't have any fun adventure stories. Instead, this time I wanted to talk about my Korean study habits. I still feel like I have a long way to go before I become fluent, but I've made good progress over the last couple years and I wanted to share it here in case anyone is looking to pick up another language.

I started studying Korean 10 years ago when I was on the airplane, en route to Incheon for the very first time. Before that, my only exposure to Korean had been a few words that my friend taught me in school. On the airplane I learned the Korean alphabet, Hangeul, and I also learned how to count to 10 in one of the number systems (Korean has 2 number systems, which is always a headache for new learners).

Hangeul is the easiest alphabet to learn in the world. The system is very logical and consistent, and there are only 24 letters, so you could learn it in a few hours. It was designed to be easy so that the common folk would be able to learn writing and reading. I think that having a baseline understanding of the writing helped me a lot because I could practice reading signs. Even though I didn't know what they said, I was so excited every time I could read them. I tried to show off to my Korean friends by reading out loud to them, too. You unlock a whole new world when you can finally understand those strange squiggles that other languages use (I recently experienced this again when I started learning Hiragana in Japanese). This was the extent of my Korean ability for now.

Fast-forward a few years later, I took a Korean class at UC Irvine, and also at the Korean American Center in Irvine. I learned a bit from both classes, but it never really developed into any substantial understanding of the language. There was no more passion in it for me; it had become a slog of memorizing vocab and difficult grammar rules. I got frustrated and I gave up again.

It wasn't until much later when I started to study on my own that I rekindled my love for the language. Before, my drive had always been to learn Korean so that I could talk to my friends or travel more comfortably, but I think this was the wrong way of looking at it. I still have these goals, but without a passion for the language itself I never felt like I really made any progress. I was studying to build up to something else, but the studying was tedious. When I started studying one my own I realized that I could learn anything I wanted to without having to follow a curriculum, and suddenly it became fun again. Maybe today I decide to learn the names of the 12 zodiac animals, or I try to translate a song I like, or maybe I look up some slang that the youngins are using. Whatever it is, the choice always drives me forward, and this inevitably leads me to learning the grammar that I need along the way. I love how logical the language is. I love discovering new words that are rooted in Chinese characters. I love seeing how everything is connected, like slowly finishing one giant puzzle. Words that I learned before take on new meaning.

Not every day is easy. I feel frustrated that I haven't made as much progress as I want, or when I can't make myself understood. Sometimes studying feels like work, so I do a little bit and then I let myself rest. The most important thing is to find the joy of studying. Try to find things that you are curious about the language. If it feels like work then you won't want to do it, but if you are genuinely passionate and want to keep learning, then you will find that the puzzle starts to come together.