. . So, as an update on my Korean language class, I did well on the quiz on Monday of week 3, troublesome as it was, because the professor announced that of the 20 questions, we only had to get 10 right (so I tried 12 and got 11, so full credit where I should have gotten a 55%), and she followed up by saying that the next time she wouldn't be so nice... so obviously I didn't go into the exam Wed of week 4 with a strong heart.
. . I was even more worried once I got to class and saw the mid term exam! I didn't think I could get any of the sections, so I started with the one that I thought I could guess parts to... and basically used the test to answer the questions from within. I guess because I could understand what things were saying and apply them to different sections that with that little bit of a memory jog I am actually learning this, and I didn't finish dead last or fail completely (73% at only 30% of the total grade). It was also a little stressful because she didn't post our grades until today so I spent most of the weekend wondering what my grade would actually be. But its not a grade thing, its a proficiency and usability thing - I can get a 62% if I don't do the final and a 77% if I get 50%... whatever. But I do worry about the pace and that I just don't have time to do my job and also take this class.
. . Today is a typical example, I did the second half of my homework over my "lunch" at 3pm, left work at 6 so I could grab dinner en route to the 6:30 class across base, worked on correcting 1206s through our 15 min "lunch" and went back to the office at 9:30... arriving home around 11:30 only to realize I have to get up early to get my PT in and be at work because I've got meetings all morning actually during the actual "duty day" and I've got several suspenses due in that time. (but I really am trying to blog when I have the time) Its like I'm robbing Peter to pay Paul. I'm not complaining, and I am sure I could accomplish all the small taskers and paperwork if I spent less time trying to work things for all the sections in my very diverse flight, but... I'm also seriously considering not taking the 112 class that starts a week after this class gets out. The thought almost makes me sad, but somehow makes me extremely happy at the same time. Quite bittersweet.
. . I'm thinking I'll take one of my midtours (30 days, however I want to split it, so in 2-3s) when this is done and work on other more self-paced methods of learning the language before I try to tackle the classes like this once again :-) I like Pimsleur for memorization of speaking/listening skills and maybe I could use the Rosetta Stone now that I have a basic knowledge. I can certainly use a dictionary since I can now read properly, though I may still struggle with some of the nuances of creating sentence structure (but then I never could tell a pronoun from an adverb in English either), I'm sure if I could focus on getting around town, I would be successful.
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2 comments:
I've been using Rosetta Stone to learn Japanese. No previous knowledge needed. I've been wondering if in fact it is easier having no knowledge of the language is more helpful since the program utilizes immersion. This is the whole reason I started with Japanese vice Spanish (which I already have a vague working knowledge of).
I think if you're doing immersion, then everyone should be about the same level - the main problem is that the teacher wasn't going by our learning, she had a specific amount of information that had to be passed on in those 15 3-hour classes. It wasn't a bad class by any means, it was just so fast for someone like me who doesn't memorize things well/quickly... I need time to let things soak in and practice lots in between. But being in Korea and around Koreans, it really helps with the immersion too!
Immersion is the way to go though :-) I used that for French in college and if I had been able to take classes consecutively (instead of one quarter a year), it would have been perfect :-) Its so good to keep learning
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