by the end of this weekend, i will have finished using korean through english volume one.
waiting for me are korean through english volume two, and the sogang books 1A and 1B. it does not look like 1A is going to take much out of me; it's a lot of what i know already. and so i don't have a daily rhythm or practice planned yet, but in a few weeks i'm sure i'll have a routine down.
i'm still disappointed in my lack of improvisational work. when kyung-ae and i had started our private lessons, she had wanted me to keep a journal. she didn't mind if half the words were in english, or if i could only make a sentance; she said it would be a good idea. and it was, in theory, but here was the problem: korean through english was teaching me dialogues. i could ask questions, i could answer questions, and most of these questions were about navigating small businesses and daily chores. i couldn't say very much about myself, what i did, or what i felt, at all. i could only address other people.
for awhile i resolved this by writing a little comic strip for kyung-ae instead of keeping a journal. it was about a fellow who made watermelon kimchi which he soon found turned its eaters into vampires. but that didn't get too far either, partially because my lessons with kyung-ae ended, and due to changes in her work routine don't show signs of starting up again soon either.
yesterday, i bought myself a nice new notebook. (does everybody love a nice new notebook as much as i do?) it's going to be, if not my "journal", the place where i can sit around writing improvised sentances. i doubt they will be very exciting ones, but that is still where i need to go now now. and maybe i'll just start up with the little comic strip again.
i've also added a new category on the blog for "outstanding questions", where, if anybody feels like being very helpful, they might go to give me some answers about things i just can't quite understand, while i'm down a teacher for a few months or so.
i really should take the time to acknowledge how happy i am, and how proud of myself. i got through an entire foreign language textbook -- without a report card hanging over my head. and i did a good job of it. i've never been this interested in a language before and it isn't waning (although i've been kind of bored with k-dramas lately). may i just say unto myself, even though it's not contextually correct in any way -- 수고하셨어요.