My Korean Learning Journey

My best friend introduced me to the world of Korean drama (K-drama) in 2015 which was much before it became popular around 2 years ago in 2018. I initially started watching my first K-Drama out of curiosity to see what she was so hyped about, and I ended up impressed with it and I was curious to check out some more shows.

Fast-forward to 2018 where I had watched about a hundred (not exaggerating) K-Dramas. I could also speak a certain level of Korean which I learnt by matching the frequently-used words from the dramas with the subtitles. At this point I was already deep into the world of K-drama and K-pop which made me want to learn the language even more to understand what my favourite stars are saying in videos that don't have subtitles. I also wanted to learn the script because sometimes subtitles just don't have the same effect as reading the native writing!

So I decided to teach myself the Korean script and broaden some of my vocabulary after my 12th grade board exams. Using some great online resources, it took me a few days to curate notes for the script and vocabulary examples but I was able to pick it up fast since I already had experience listening to it before.

My initial notes and a part of my vocabulary list is in the images below.

By the time I entered NTU in August 2018 I was very familiar with the Korean script and could speak a fair amount with a good vocabulary. At this point, I wasn't sure where I would ever use my Korean skills but it was something I was proud of because it added to the list of languages I could speak, bringing it up to five!

When I saw my pre-registered course time table for year 1 semester 1, I decided I wanted to add a UE (unrestricted elective) for the semester. So while doing some research on that, I noticed that NTU offered Korean courses up to level 6. I immediately signed up for the level 1 class and excitedly looked forward to it.

On the first day of class, when the professor walked in and started speaking to us in Korean, I felt my excitement grow even more as I hoped to learn to speak like her, a native. At the end of the first class I felt overqualified for level 1 as the professor taught us the alphabet which I had already learnt a few months ago. I then decided to have a chat with the professor and tell her that I had learnt a few things myself and confirm if level 1 was the right class for me.

She invited me for a discussion to her office the next day where she asked me to briefly introduce myself and read a few paragraphs from a book, both in Korean. She was very impressed with my speaking and reading and suggested I move up to level 2. However, I was required to take an official placement test first, in which I did quite badly. I was confused to hear that I was too good to be in level 1 and not good enough to be in level 2; which is why I was told that I would need to put in a lot of extra effort to catch up with other students in level 2. I decided to take it up because I was genuinely interested so I was confident that I would be able to put in the effort needed.

I managed to do very well in level 2 which also had a presentation (more like a skit, which was a lot of fun to do!) as well as written and listening tests. I was expecting it to be much harder than it actually was, but that's probably because I was very interested in it.

After the good results in level 2, I decided to continue taking Korean for all my remaining UEs. So in the next semester I took level 3 which taught me new kinds of grammar and gave me a chance to improve my formal speech which was weak at the time. Additionally, it also had a lot of essay writing and an oral assessment which really put my speaking skills to the test. I also met one of my closest friends at NTU in level 3 who also directly entered in level 2, with whom I often speak in Korean.

The last Korean level I was able to take at NTU was Korean level 4 in year 2 sem 2. I was out of UE credits after that so I had no choice but to end there. Level 4 was of course the hardest level for me. It introduced many more aspects in writing and more nuanced speaking. By the end of level 4, I was also able to understand spoken Korean faster and more accurately with the help of the listening exercises over all three levels I took.

I'm proud to say that in all three levels of Korean, the professors and my peers praised my speaking and pronunciation by saying I sounded almost native. Thanks to the Korean I learnt at NTU, I gained more knowledge on the Korean culture and etiquette. I can also watch most K-dramas without subtitles (except those with jargon) and understand the lyrics of many K-pop songs!

Although my journey of learning Korean started for a different reason, by the time I finished level 4, I became more interested in the Korean culture and traditions than I was before and it wasn't just about K-drama anymore.

Another important thing this whole process taught me is that I actually have a flair for learning languages! This is a talent I genuinely want to work on going forward so who knows which language I will pick up next!