Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩
Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:47 pm
I'll answer my own questions.
At first, I wasn't interested in Korean. Don't ask me why. I didn't hate Koreans. I just didn't really know Korea existed before k-pop. Yes, I knew it existed, because we'd had geography in school. But I didn't know what the language sounded like, or anything about the culture. In senior year of high school, two of my friends decided to be more open with our friend group and show us their k-pop obsession. There I found out about SHINee and other groups I'd never heard of. Later that summer, when we'd all graduated, I watched hours of footage of SHINee and BTS to figure out more about how the industry worked, and while I knew it should be viscerally upsetting, I was still enamored by all the aegyo and stage personalities that all the boys brought to the field. I also fell more and more in love with the language the more I heard it. I decided I wanted to be an "educated", "mature" fan and learn about what Korea's really like, because that's a personal challenge of mine. I don't want to be thoughtless. I thought being a fan of k-pop was a reflection of the worst of me - not thinking and going with the crowd, not having any knowledge about what I like and just liking it, defending myself irrationally. I wanted to change that. And I thought there could be no better way to show I was serious in being different than learning the language, because it's a way of thinking in itself.
Vaguely, C1. Sometimes I get excited and want C2. But I want to be a translator and talk to Korean friends online in Korean.
I'm not a huge k-pop fan. I listen to the same stuff over and over. I'm not even a huge k-music fan. But the one constant is I like Key from SHINee. (Though this second song only has a few Korean lyrics.) Can you all educate me? (And yes, I put two songs.)
I love the phoneme inventory. Even when I was starting to discover Korean and didn't know a word, I found I loved its music. I still do.
I have an abysmal level of Korean for how long I've been flirting with it.
Why are you interested in Korean?
At first, I wasn't interested in Korean. Don't ask me why. I didn't hate Koreans. I just didn't really know Korea existed before k-pop. Yes, I knew it existed, because we'd had geography in school. But I didn't know what the language sounded like, or anything about the culture. In senior year of high school, two of my friends decided to be more open with our friend group and show us their k-pop obsession. There I found out about SHINee and other groups I'd never heard of. Later that summer, when we'd all graduated, I watched hours of footage of SHINee and BTS to figure out more about how the industry worked, and while I knew it should be viscerally upsetting, I was still enamored by all the aegyo and stage personalities that all the boys brought to the field. I also fell more and more in love with the language the more I heard it. I decided I wanted to be an "educated", "mature" fan and learn about what Korea's really like, because that's a personal challenge of mine. I don't want to be thoughtless. I thought being a fan of k-pop was a reflection of the worst of me - not thinking and going with the crowd, not having any knowledge about what I like and just liking it, defending myself irrationally. I wanted to change that. And I thought there could be no better way to show I was serious in being different than learning the language, because it's a way of thinking in itself.
What is your goal for this language?
Vaguely, C1. Sometimes I get excited and want C2. But I want to be a translator and talk to Korean friends online in Korean.
Do you have a favorite Korean language song? If so, what is it?
I'm not a huge k-pop fan. I listen to the same stuff over and over. I'm not even a huge k-music fan. But the one constant is I like Key from SHINee. (Though this second song only has a few Korean lyrics.) Can you all educate me? (And yes, I put two songs.)
What is your favorite feature of the Korean language that you've encountered so far in your studies?
I love the phoneme inventory. Even when I was starting to discover Korean and didn't know a word, I found I loved its music. I still do.
Have anything else you'd like to share about yourself?
I have an abysmal level of Korean for how long I've been flirting with it.