선생님 : 한국어 공부가 어때요?
저 : 재미있엉요. 그러나 조금 어려워요.
That was the question asked by the teacher a week before the class ended. She asked my opinion about learning Korean. I had to be honest. I answered, "Fun, but little bit difficult." Then, some of my classmates said, "거짓말! (Lie!)." They accused me not saying the truth. Perhaps they thought learning the language was pretty easy for me since I got perfect scores on two consecutive exams.
I have to admit 세종 1, Sejong 1 (the course level named after the course level after King Sejong who invented Korean writing system, hangeul) was easy. I had learned several grammar rules and vocabulary before. Previously, I independently learned Korean from Talk to Me in Korean podcasts. I used to listen to it every day on my spare time or even on my way while I commuted. However, I stopped listening to it after I got my first job at Bank of Indonesia. My brain refused to learn more Korean because at that time I had to learn lots of new things related to the job. Now that I learned the language again, it felt like a deja vu. I had known some of particles, tenses, and vocabulary before.
The major difficulty in Sejong 1 is memorizing vocabulary and grammar exceptions. However, the hassle can be tackled by doing homework and practicing regularly. Exposure to Korean material outside is really helpful.
One of the reason why learning Korean could be fun is because you can learn it from popular culture. Korean wave has made Korean music, drama, movie, and reality show popular around the globe. To be honest, the main reason why I learn Korean is because I'm a huge fan of K-Pop (besides my internship experience in Korean company). I listen to Korean songs every day so that I can learn some examples of grammar usage and enrich my vocabulary. However, song lyrics often contain complex grammars and sometimes use casual form that I haven't learned before. Thanks to Google and the Internet, I can easily find grammar explanation.
I'm not a fan of K-Drama (I prefer J-Dorama), but learning Korean makes me wanna see some of it. I want to learn conversational Korean from the drama. Then, I decided to watch Tomorrow Cantabile (내일도 칸타빌레) which happened to be the remake of popular J-Dorama, Nodame Cantabile (one of my favorite). Both dramas are actually live-action adaptations from Japanese manga and anime. After watched the Korean version, I jump to conclusion that I need more, more, more practices to be able watch K-Drama without subtitles.
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