Five months
and a summer vacation later, I’m feeling pretty confident in my Korean ability. I’m still very much a beginner, but I find I
can get my point across in most situations and make small talk. Of course, my grammar is completely terrible,
but who cares about that if you can get the point I’m trying to convey?
This, to
me, is such a crucial thing to get over when learning a second language. I find many people, both Korean and American,
struggle the most with speaking each other’s language because of the vulnerable
position it puts you in when conversing with a native speaker. When one person is a native speaker and the
other a learner, the native speaker will always have the upper hand in the
conversation. It’s quite difficult to
hold any power in a conversation if you can’t speak things grammatically
correct. Thus, people shy away from
actually practicing the language.
I think
this is a rather obvious thing that language learners always encounter, but rarely
get over. Yes, you will sound like an
idiot. Yes, people will laugh at you
(especially if they haven’t learned a 2nd language themselves). Yes, it’s humiliating sometimes. The sooner you realize that all of this will
happen and there’s nothing you can do about it, the sooner you can get on with
learning the language.
Okay, I’ll
get off my pedestal now…
Much love,
Gnardaddy
