Sascia is one of our writers here at Tampa Bay Test Prep. She’s great with words – an awesome copywriter – and has a fun and warm personality. When she said that she wanted to learn Korean, I knew exactly who to hook her up with, Jae!
Here she is, in her own words, talking about her experience as a student with Tampa Bay Test Prep.
Tutor : Jae Lee
Tutee : Sascia McMillan
When: Once a week, online
Tools: Zoom, online whiteboard, Duolingo app
Why did you want to learn Korean?
I wanted to learn Korean for several reasons. I love exploring different languages and cultures. Right now I’m focused on Asian cultures, specifically Korean. There are many things coming out of South Korea recently that have made their way to the US: Kpop, makeup, mukbangs to name a few. As I mentioned, right now I’m focused on so many Korean cultural aspects. I love learning about their music (current and traditional), watching the different TV dramas, fashion (traditional and what the actors and idols are wearing), food, and overall scenery. Immersing myself in these different areas of interest naturally led me to picking up different phrases, words, and inflections in their speech. The next logical step for me was wanting to learn this language.
What have you been doing with Jae?
Memorizing basic words and phrases, such as “Hello, I love you, Thank You, Sorry, Of Course, Awesome, Dummy”, didn’t satisfy me. I wanted to be able to talk to people if the chance to travel there was ever available to me. I thought about using just an app on my phone, but that wouldn’t give you an accurate portrayal of everyday speech. I didn’t want to sound like a tourist reading incorrectly from a travel book, though there’s nothing wrong with trying to communicate that way. At least you’d be trying! So, when the opportunity came about that I could study with a Korean tutor, you bet I jumped at the chance. In talking with a native speaker, I could learn the nuances, inflections, and the modern, correct way to interact with people whilst still showing respect.
How did you get started with Korean tutoring?
Tampa Bay Test Prep set me up with a Korean tutor named Jae. What’s great about a tutor is that they get to know you and then set up a curriculum or study plan that suits best what you are looking for and what works best with your learning style. After meeting and talking with Jae, who also loves cultures as I do, we came up with a plan. I would learn the basics, such as the alphabet and learning how words are put together, so kind of the grammar side of things, from the app DuoLingo. It’s a fantastic app that rewards you the more you study, or use it, without asking for in-app purchases. I hate those. From there I would learn the more everyday language from Jae. He’s currently teaching me about how to refer to people when talking to them or about them to others (i.e. referring to a brother or sister who is older or younger vs. speaking to an aunt or uncle).
What are your expectations? Any closing Thoughts?
While I hope to be able to have a basic grasp of the language by the end of the year, understanding that learning a language takes time. When you are a child you are a learning sponge, quickly absorbing all new information sent your way. As an adult, it becomes more difficult to retain what we learn when it’s not used regularly, so it’s best to have a goal in mind on how you will continue to use what you’ve learned.
With that in mind, my goal is to some day visit South Korea and use what I’ve learned to more fully enjoy the culture and people of that country. In the meantime, I expect to be able to watch my Korean dramas without subtitles, to listen to Kpop without needing to look up the lyrics in English constantly.
On an academic level, I just love learning about different languages. It’s a window into the heart of a culture. For me, it’s the fastest way to fall in love with a new place.
I’m an avid reader, so words have always fed my imagination, taking me to new destinations and on adventures that seem impossible.
That’s why language is important to me, why learning Korean is important to me, and why I’ve chosen a tutor to help me get there. That’s the advantage of a tutor over an app. You can’t rely solely on technology for something that is solely human in nature. I don’t want to be a talking textbook; I want to sound like I belong there.
They say that learning another language opens your mind to more of what the world has to offer; socially, academically, and personally. As an example, in talking to many foreign Kpop enthusiasts, and asking how they came to be a fan of so many different musical groups, I would hear one key phrase: I only wanted to know their names.
With access to so much information on the internet and various videos on YouTube, it’s very easy to learn everything possible about these groups and their members. But as any fan of any musical group from any country and genre will know, you don’t stop at just their names. You learn who they are, their backgrounds, everything you can about them. This becomes a snowball effect leading to learning about where they’re from, the language they speak, the country in general, the culture at large, and before you know it, you want to visit that country and eat the food, see the sites.
When you follow the rabbit trail back to the beginning, it’s language that opens these doors of knowledge to anyone willing to walk through it.
Suddenly you are more aware of world news, presented with concepts you’d not thought about before, see how other cultures treat their neighbors and communities, that your city isn’t the only place on earth where no one knows how to drive, and that cows can sometimes be reincarnations of family members (if you believe that sort of thing) not food. I could go on for hours about all the possibilities!
To put it simply, if you want to broaden your horizons fundamentally, academically, and cognitively, learn another language. If you want to do more than just learn how to say “hello” and “thank you”, get a tutor.