Korean Classes in Gwangju

I thought it was only fitting to write this post while procrastinating from my Korean homework.

I did the wonderfully idiotic thing and moved to a country where I can't speak the language at all. Although I told myself I would study and learn lots of Korean before moving...I didn't. I learned how to say a few simple greetings and how to read Hangul, but then got overwhelmed with learning a new language. While some people may be able to learn solely from Youtube videos, I'm definitely not that person. I might have every intention of watching Korean Language tutorials, but after 15 minutes I tend to end up on the cute babies and marriage proposals part of the Internet.

When I first got to Korea I learned how to count and say basic greetings at our EPIK orientation.  We learned enough to impress our Principal and.....that's about it.

But I really wanted to learn more.

I started dedicating more time to studying: buying books, watching videos, taking notes, and asking my friends and co-teachers to repeat sentences and words. Although I learned a few things using this method, I didn't really understand the basics.

Cue Korean class.

At the end of September I finally had the chance to sign up for classes offered by the GIC (Gwangju International Center). Previously, English teachers in Gwangju were able to take free Korean classes at the local University but alas, no longer. The classes offered by the GIC are two hours, twice a week and, unfortunately, when I took them last session they were on Wednesdays and Fridays from 7-9pm. Thankfully, they're now offered on Mon. and Wed.

Although I might not always be skipping there after work, I really love my class. The classes are really small, with 7 people last session and 4 this time around. We're able to cover a lot of material and we all got to know each other really well. Last session was especially great because we all started bringing snacks to class. This meant that there was always a plethora of snacks to eat while we learned the new vocabulary or grammar. Which made learning Korean a whole lot sweeter....see what I did there?

So what did we cover in class? So much. Last session we learned verbs in present, past, and future tense. We learned tons of new vocabulary, useful slang, useful sentences, and learned about sentence structure. We worked on our pronunciation, our listening skills, and our writing.

Right now we're two classes into the new session. We've already learned how to ask "Can I...." and responses "No, you can't" "Yes, you can." We've learned opposite adjectives, new slang, and we've been reviewing anything we may have forgotten in the 2 week break between sessions.

Books that I used for last session and books I use this session

 The books all focus on a bunch of college students from all over the world studying abroad in Korea. The story lines are really simple and not very interesting but it's fun to see my teacher react to the character Hansel. She thinks he's creepy because he keeps hitting on poor Mina and wont leave her alone. I agree. Hansel, take a hint!

A page out of a book. This page is about opposite adjectives (big, small, difficult, easy, etc.)

Yesterdays class work. You can see some of my lovely notes.

Last session my class went out for dinner and drinks after our last class. It was really informal and fun. The super short video was recorded by the only male in the class.

Not my camera but you still get the idea. Going out for dinner and drinks with my teacher and classmates.

Peace! 평온!