Hanguk mal chal ha go shi pa (한국말 잘 하고 싶어) I really do want to speak Korean and not just to help me get by living there but I want to be able to really communicate with people, to communicate deeper than a few pleasantries. I want to know people, Korean people. Although, many of the Koreans my age know English I still want to be able to speak their language as well. My lovely roommates were kind and patient enough to teach my sister and I a bit: the alphabet, common phrases, and a few funny words and phrases (I mean, was it really necessary I know how to ask, "are you naked?" in Korean? but its funny to say!... but it may come in handy in the future, you never know).
Now, I'm all out of practice I can't even remember the alphabet... like they say "use it or lose it." It is so true of language. I hope to practice and learn on my own (well with the help of friends on Skype and a friend coming to visit for a few months) until I go to Korea where I would like to find somewhere that offers classes. In fact I did find one place in Seoul that does offer free language classes and some culture classes as well. I'm so excited to join a totally different society. Part of the fun is learning as much as you can and trying your hardest to fit in with that culture.
To me Korean is the most beautiful language in the world and I could listen to it all day. To some of my friends it is whiny, haha.. okay it is whiny but so cute! So, what is it like to learn any new language? Extremely hard, easier when you are surrounded by it, it encourages courage and creates humility. I easily get frustrated with myself because I am impatient with baby step learning, I want to be able to speak fluently right now! haha... Well, I hope to one day be able to say that I am fluent in Hangul :-)
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