Hi, my name is 李品儀 （Eva）and I am a student at National Chengchi Univeristy. I am currently taking a class where we must learn the basics of a new language, through this blogpost I will document my personal experience in self learning. First thing first, why did I choose Korean? As someone who grew up in the Dominican Republic my native language is both Spanish and English. My parents also taught me how to speak Taiwanese while I am currently self-learning mandarin in university making me fluent in four languages. I have always liked the idea of learning new languages as they are very beneficial being a tool of communication. In this class, we had to choose a language we were not acquainted with to learn during the semester. I personally thought that through this semester learning an easier language such as Korean compared to other languages such as Finnish would be better as we can fully indulge in it without having too many complications. I believe that Korean is also a particularly useful language to learn while living in Taiwan as we are very close to each other as countries go. Therefore, if we were to learn Korean we would be able to use it in future aspect such as business or knowing how to make small talk or have any basis of speaking while we travel between the two countries. It is also known that nowadays, Korean films and pop music has taken over throughout the years, if we want to know what the latest trend is within the society I suggest to know at least the basics in order to integrate ourselves.
Having grown up around Korean people has also changed my mindset such as how they behave and interact, as each culture has their unique way of communicating and engaging. Although I have a lot of Korean friend I am not familiar with the language and feel like this will be a chance to connect with them on a different level. Personally I am someone who likes to travel and getting to know the different culture, thus, learning Korean has always been a part of my bucket list. I also believe that the Korean language is one that has a plethora of different influences from other countries due to the history it holds. Korea has a holiday according to my friend called Hangeul day where they celebrate the language so it is a bonus to know about it. I am also personally an avid fan of Korean dramas and social influencers, hence learning Korean will allow me to understand what they are trying to imply through their online interactions with fans especially as COVID-19 is still ongoing. Also as a Korean fan it gives me the chance to have an excuse to watch new drama episodes without having the anguish of waiting for subtitles and getting unwanted spoilers.
