Now, time to make a summary of the past few days:
I decided to discontinue some activities. I was actually enjoying those activities but, as time is limited, I decided to focus mainly on the activities I enjoy the most.
So, which activities did I discontinue?- Watching 고스트바둑왕 (Korean dubbed): I enjoy watching this anime (it’s my favorite japanese anime) but, as I’m still a beginner in korean, I can’t understand the finer details even if I know what is going on because I’ve already watched it (more than once) in japanese with english (and spanish) subs. So I get distracted in some parts or I feel a bit frustrated at not being able to fully enjoy the story the way I would like to. So I decided to pause it for the time being, but I’ll probably come back to this activity when my korean level is higher.
- Reading the Talk To Me In Korean lessons: I enjoy reading each lesson but, as a whole, the way the series is organized seems a bit chaotic and for now I prefer something with a more logical and graduated order.
- Practicing my korean reading speed with the Iyagi series: I finished going through episode 2 and now I want to take a rest. I enjoy this activity but it takes a lot of time before I can move on to another episode and for now I prefer to use that time in other activities that I enjoy more.
Which activities I did and I'll probably keep doing for now?- Going through book "Korean Grammar in Use: Beginning to Early Intermediate": Last year I read a few pages in order to get a general overview of how the korean language works. This year I decided to start reading the book again from the beginning, listen to the audios, do the exercises (in my mind), check my answers, and move on. Here I’m going just for understanding, I’m not intending to master anything.
I’m currently on page 27.
- Using Memrise to get familiarized with the vocabulary used in the book "Korean Grammar in Use: Beginning to Early Intermediate".
- Dabbling in the book "재외동포를위한 한국어 (영어권) 1.2" (PDF): I had stopped dabbling in this series of books because I wanted to have a better command of its vocabulary before moving on, but I really enjoy these books and I don’t want to stop using them because of my lack of vocabulary. So I just printed the vocabulary list that comes at the end and I’m using it as a quick reference guide for when I don’t remember the words I need while doing the exercises (usually mentally or out loud).
I’m currently on page 15.
- Reading the “Easy to Learn Korean” series:
I’m currently on page 9. Last year I tried to use this series from time to time, but my Korean reading speed was so slow that deciphering the sounds of just one phrase was a torture. Fortunately, now I can read a lot faster and I can finally read all the information in each page at a comfortable pace. Another reason that, in the past, made me quit this series, is that I wanted to learn all the information in each page before moving on, and that multiplied my torture (as if trying to decipher the hangul wasn’t hard enough for me at the time). Now I'm taking things in a more relaxed way and with a more open mind: I don’t try to memorize anything anymore, but I do pay a lot of attention to the information in each page and I analyze and compare it before moving on. I really enjoy this series because it helps me not only to improve my korean, but also to get a better understanding of the korean culture and their daily life.
- Working with the book "맞춤 스페인어권 한국어-1: Coreano para la Comunidad Coreana Hispanohablante" (this book is a dual-text textbook: korean-spanish):
I finished reading all my 12 pages full of notes and I started to progress with the book again (now I have a new page full of notes). What I do is: 1) Do the whole lesson/unit 2) Go back to the beginning of the lesson/unit and look for things I don’t know or for which I have doubts about (vocabulary, grammar, etc.). Here I go beyond what the lesson/unit is teaching because I try to learn from every piece of text in the lesson/unit, be it the instructions for each activity or, for example, the short text at the end that usually talks about one aspect of the korean culture and how it compares with the hispanic culture. I enjoy this activity a lot, but it is pretty intensive and it usually takes me many days before I can move on to a new lesson/unit.
I’m currently on the second step, at the end of lesson 2 (on page 27).
- I’ve been transcribing dual text (korean-english) from some TTMIK videos while trying to relate one version with the other and to find equivalencies and differences. I enjoy this activity a lot but it feels somehow intensive, so I only work on a few lines (about five or so) each time.
- Taking the Viki's K-drama Vocabulary Quiz once a day: I enjoy this activity a lot and it has become kind of a habit now.
- I continue to watch korean TV (mainly with english subs) and listening to korean songs. I’m really happy because “2 Days & 1 Night” (1박 2일) is finally back after a long hiatus (I think about three months long or so). And I also felt happy because there was a short script part with no english translations but I understood it
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- I continue going to my once-a-week korean classes and doing related activities (homework, reviews, etc.)
Some reflections:I know I’m just two weeks into this “fun and enjoyment as a guide” approach, but I want to share some of my thoughts so far.
As I’ve said before, it is a liberating experience, but now I’ve come to realize it is also a motivating one. Last year I often found myself procrastinating instead of doing the activities I was supposed to be doing, and then I felt guilty for not doing them. But now, with my new “fun and enjoyment as a guide” approach I don’t feel guilt any more. This is because this time I can freely stop doing any activity I’m not enjoying without feeling that I failed (that is one of the reasons why this whole approach is so liberating). But I’ve also noticed that, with my current approach, instead of procrastinating I’m continuously trying to find and squeeze time for engaging in my korean language related activities. It’s just so much fun!!!