Today at school we learned some new grammar about worrying about things and also asking if something one heard is true. The latter grammar point is done by just adding a 4 syllable word to the end of the sentence. But it has the meaning of “I heard about such and such. Is it true?” I find it interesting how some Korean grammar can be very short and have a large meaning. Although I guess the same is true with English…

During school, some of us discussed plans to get our reading/listening teacher a wedding gift. Her wedding is on Sunday and we decided to get her a bouquet of flowers and everyone will write short congratulatory messages that get rolled up and put into a bottle which gets placed in a heart-shaped box. I offered to get the flowers since my language exchange friend owns a flower shop. And since I have to leave early tomorrow, she made it today and I picked it up after my English tutoring I did tonight.

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After school I got lunch with some classmates. Actually, one is a classmate, and the other two are both in level 1 at Sogang. They are all Japanese and only one of them knew English. But we all spoke in Korean so we could communicate. The fellow classmate is very good at Korean and has been studying it for about 5 years. The other two are still beginners and didn’t understand some of what I would say to them. When that would happen, I’d use very basic Korean so they could understand. I also had a few chances to teach them some new words for them to use. It’s always fun communicating with other foreigners in Korean even though we’re all not perfect at it. But being able to communicate using something other than English is very intriguing to me. I also tend to have a huge desire to learn Japanese every time I talk with a Japanese person. I might try studying it after I finish up Korean.

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Today is World Cup day. Well, it’s South Korea’s 2^nd game in the World Cup and people seem to be very excited. Many people are wearing red shirts in support of the Korean team. People at school were all talking about where they were going to watch the game. Most people, including myself, planned on going to the City Hall area where there was a large outdoor area with many big screen monitors.

I met a friend at work after it ended and she was already wearing a red shirt. We first went to Myeong Dong shopping area so she could return some clothes. I found a red Korea shirt to wear too and after she returned her clothes, we went to Subway to eat sandwiches. Next door to the restaurant and outside, were a lot of occupied chairs and tables. There was also a large TV monitor with the pre-game show being viewed by all the people sitting there as they ate food. Inside Subway, there were just two other people eating while I went to place my order. The lady who took my order kept smiling when I said the various ingredients I wanted on the sandwich. We got the food fine and ate and talked. Then we headed towards the large area near City Hall where everyone was gathering to watch the game.

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Today was a big review day of the previous 4 chapters we’ve been studying at school. We focused mainly on words and played some word games. The teachers have us help each other with the word meanings by explaining them to each other. And if we still have trouble with understanding the words, we ask the teacher to explain it. I’ve rarely had to use the dictionary while studying here at Sogang, and if the teachers see us using them, they tell us not to. The Sogang books have all the words with their translations, so I can easily look up words, but hearing an explanation in Korean helps to better remember the meaning. During my time at Yonsei, I would always use the dictionary to look up words. It was helpful, but I wish I would have listened to the teachers better with their explanations.

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A park in Korea

At school today we practiced conversations of the new grammar we learned the previous day. At Sogang University, during the 2 speaking hours of class, one day is spent learning new grammar, and the second day is spent practicing conversations using the new grammar. During the third hour, one day is spent practicing listening and the second day is spent practicing reading. Also, during the third hour, we can practice speaking with each other about the topic of the day.

Anyway, we had a special day where half of the class went to visit another level 3 class, and vice-versa. We got to meet new students and practice some conversations we had just learned. I really enjoyed this sort of activity, even though I ended up speaking with a fellow student from my level 2 class. Sogang has these various activities that makes learning hear a lot of fun, and much more interactive than Yonsei was.

After class, I was walking outside and saw a couple fellow level 2 students and ended up eating lunch with them. One is from Japan and knows just a little bit of English, while the other is from Germany and can speak English well. But, since we’re all learning Korean, and the Japanese friend can’t speak English very well, we all spoke in Korean. And at the restaurant we went to, I saw 5 other fellow students that I knew. I’ve only been to that place a few times, but it seems very popular with Sogang students who are studying Korean.

At home, I did a lot of homework and afterwards did some English tutoring with a Korean friend. She’s an English teacher who wants to improve her speaking skills. I meet with her on Tuesdays and another English teacher on Thursdays. We meet up at a local café and spend most of the time just talking in English. I correct them if they make mistakes and explain grammar or words if they don’t know. I also use a conversation book that is a very good way of coming up with topics to discuss. It’s pretty fun doing it and I enjoy teaching them one on one.

Mr. Choi of Choi's Taco

Today was the first game for Korea in the World Cup. Many people outside were wearing red shirts to support the red color of Korea’s soccer team. I spent most of the day inside working on homework and my own website design. I did happen to go outside to get a burrito for dinner at Choi’s Taco.

I go to Choi’s Taco at least once a week and get large chicken and rice burrito. A lot of foreigner’s get food here, and Mr. Choi makes his workers speak in English to any foreigners who come in. His English is very good, as well as the food he makes. Supposedly, the “legend” is that he studied who to cook Mexican food in Mexico or Argentina. I’m not sure how true it is, but Mr. Choi is very nice and always says hi to everyone who comes in. And since I go their pretty often, he always recognizes me and asks me how I’m doing.

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like the title says, it’s been a while since i last posted on my site. why, you ask? well, my life here has become busier and busier it seems… that and i get distracted or interested in other things, and well, i’ve ignored updating my site for a while now…

i’ll try to do a quick recount of what’s been going on since my last post back at the end of last august. (wow, it’s been 8 months already? ok, it’s been a long while!) my mom visited me for 2 weeks during a break between semesters. we did a lot of site-seeing and it was a lot of fun. i also visited California and Washington state for a 3 week vacation which was also a lot of fun. i got to see friends, relatives and family, and enjoy a nice Christmas. it took a little while to get used to the style of life in the US right at first, but it wasn’t too bad. even though i was in the US, i automatically thought to myself “wow! there are a lot of foreigners at this airport!”

i finally made it to level 4 at Yonsei University’s Korean language course. but i mid-way through i decided to quit Yonsei and attend Sogang University which offers a Korean language course. the difference, and reason i joined Sogang, is because of it’s large focus on speaking practice. we spend the majority of the class time speaking. Yonsei was nice, but it had a large focus on grammar, writing and reading. these are all important, but compared to Sogang, there wasn’t much focus on speaking. so i’ve been enjoying Sogang a lot and it’s actually helped my confidence in speaking a whole lot more from just the 6-7 weeks i’ve been there. i will take another semester after this current one, and then i’ll need to find a job.

the weather here in Korea has been very cold for about 6 months straight. it finally started t warm up a few weeks ago. it’s now in the 40′s and 50′s and sometimes it get’s warm enough to get into the low 60′s. this has felt nice, but the change of weather seems to cause a lot of people to catch colds. i had a small cold not too long ago, as well as a strange sudden lack of energy feeling that caused me to have strange eyesight and kind of lose my hearing. it was painful, but only lasted maybe 5-10 minutes. i’m fine now though

i have to get to studying and other things now…