강미 | learning koreanOne year later
It was a year ago today that I first posted about my Korean language study journey. In some ways it’s been a long year; in others it is as if it were yesterday.
I started out at http://www.koreanlanguage.blogspot.com (now defunct). After quickly outgrowing Blogger, I moved to TypePad, setting up shop at http://www.kangmi.blogs.com (also defunct). The long-running blog blockage finally led me to consider moving to another platform, and it wasn’t until I moved to Expression Engine that I found a place online to call home. I plan to stay here for a while.
My primary goal when I started was to create a list of online Korean language study resources that I could share with others. Once I got started, it seemed necessary to write something. Sometimes more off than on, I’ve managed to write for the last year.
I wasn’t the first to start blogging about my Korean language studies. That honor (so far as I can tell) belongs to mugunghwa. Others have since joined this particular corner of the blogosphere: 한국어 연습장, 왕음치’s group blog; Patrik Pettersson’s learning Korean blog; and Gerry Bever’s Korean Language Notes. HuangSY has created notes to accompany Arirang TV’s “Let’s Speak Korean,” which is no mean feat as there are well over a hundred episodes.
This community of bloggers and readers has been an important component of my Korean language studies. Self-study of a subject that is esoteric in my usual circles is a lonely task; being able to connect with like-minded people has been an unexpected and welcome bonus. Your encouragement and correction have been invaluable. 정말 고마워요.
It’s safe to say that I speak Korean better today than I did one year ago. The Nagging Perfectionist inside of me knows that I might have been able to study more, to learn more, but the usually latent Sensible part of me knows that in the middle of life (moving house, vacation, working, and family), one can’t achieve everything.
As the Nagging Perfectionist usually wins (truly, Sensible needs to get better weapons), I continue to look for better ways to maximize my Korean studies within my limited time. The study routine that I implemented at the beginning of this year continues to unfold; parts are working well, and other parts wait for implementation. At the moment, that’s the best I can hope for (and Sensible won that one, but not by much).
Site design doesn’t have anything to do with learning Korean, but I’ve been longing for a three-column design (which I had in the first two incarnations). I’ve started to roll out a new design. Once it’s implemented, I might swear not to touch it until my next blog anniversary. Or I might not.
To all of you who study Korean, I wish you courage, stamina, and discipline. Oranckay has called it the Long Journey, and so it is. You’ll need friends, good food, and some rest along the way.
한국어 공부를 열심히 합시다!
Posted by kangmi on January 31, 2005 at 3:01 AM3 comments
