studies by trophyfish

안녕 여러분! 요즘에 콘텐트 없은 죄송합니다... it has been quite some time since i last posted, about 3 months and i’m really sorry for that. between enjoying the holidays and putting off my studies, i really did forget about my blog for a bit.

yet i am back with so many festive updates! my korean has gotten better and i have begun my first class this month. so far we’ve been only covering hangul, but the class is entirely conducted in korean so it provides great listening practice. i will post my thoughts once completely the level 0 portion this week. 

but i am back and ready to tackle more korean! it’s 6 months since i moved to busan so i’m feeling much better about my language skills.

다음에 봐요~

picked up some new korean books and cute new sticky notes for my desk. time to tackle sentence patterns✨

i’d say the most effective way is finding a category first so you can kind of group the words together in your mind. then it’s a lot of using the dictionary and taking notes. i use those cute key-ring flashcards to memorize the words. i also learn new vocab through korean books and songs. 

usually if i hear my coteachers say the same words a lot i ask them what it means. also, since i’m fortunate enough to live in korea now, i really learn new words from street signs and shops. there’s a lot of new development in my area of busan so there’s all sorts of things to read everywhere. 

You can still get certified to teach English. I’m not sure which country you are in in order to do it, but there are a multitude of online programs in which you can get the certification.

Sadly, if you are not from the US, UK, South Africa, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or Ireland, you will not be able to teach through EPIK. 

You will only be able to teach through hagwons depending on each’s requirements. I will say having English as your non-native language will put you at a disadvantage as most hagwons want native speakers because the Korean parents will want someone who is fluent to teach their children. (They take a lot of pride in knowing their child is getting the “unique” experience of talking with a native speaker. Also, they tend to want their children to emulate the accent of the native speaker as well. I read somewhere they really want their English to have an American accent. Though us Americans all sound so damn different lol)

Yes, I got my TEFL (Teaching English as Foreign Language) certificate earlier this year. The course I took included both in-class and online components. I got certified through Oxford Seminars. I definitely recommend if you have the time and money to do it. It’s very comprehensive, yet expensive. My course was $1200 USD and the total amount of money spent getting certified and coming out here was around $2700-3000 USD range. So it’s not cheap to get here, but doable.

If you’re planning to teach in Korea whether it be through EPIK or a private academy (hagwon) you will need a TEFL in order to qualify aside from a valid bachelor’s degree and a whole lot of other paperwork. 

EPIK’s process specifically requires TEFLs or TESOLs of certain numbers of hours aside from being from one of the seven native English speaking countries they take applicants from. If you wish to teach in Busan like I do, you will need a TEFL or TESOL with at least 50 in-class hours as the Ministry of Education here requires that of all Native English Teachers.

good morning from korea! i got my test results back from the kiip evaluation. i was placed at level 0 which is the preliminary class before you start the hundred hour courses. i’m not entirely sure how i feeling knowing that i was just aiming for level 1. i don’t mind having to review the basics beforehand though. 

i will say the exam was difficult. everything was in korean and while i did understand a good chunk, i wasn’t 100% sure. my friend who also took the exam was placed in level 2 despite answering less questions on the written and speaking portions, so i’m not sure how she’s going to react when she realizes that lol. we both left the exam feeling like clowns lolololol. 

so we shall see where these classes take me on my korean learning journey. i really do feel finally taking a fully structured course will push me further as it’s very hard to maintain enough discipline with self-study. here’s new beginnings!

thank you so much nonnie~! you can do it too!

hey everyone! so i’m taking my korean studies to the next level! i’ve officially signed up to take the placement exam for the korean immigration and integration program. the program teaches korean language (and eventually culture) to foreigners residing here in korea. 

my exam is scheduled for november 3rd which isn’t too long from now. my friends and i are all taking it and we’re kind of nervous. none of us have ever taken formal korean language classes before and we’re hoping we’re placed in the same class together. 

so i’ve been living in busan for about a month now. so far i’ve been really loving being in a major city while still having access to so much nature. the beach is only 10 minutes away and while i’m at school, i have a lovely view of the mountains.  it’s been really nice trying to settle in and discover places that will become my local haunts.

in terms of learning korean, i still don’t know where i fit. i know a bunch of words, but actually stringing them together to speak to someone is still incredibly difficult. at times i get easily discouraged because i have been actively trying to learn korean for a while now. yet when at a local language exchange i could barely get words out. i can write and i can read to an extent which is wonderful but the fact that i can’t even speak is just so bothersome. i see so many of my fellow native english speakers really tackling the language and being able to speak without fear of failure. then when i want to try i lose all the vocabulary and grammar that i’ve learned. it’s very frustrating...

i’m hoping that as time goes on and i continue to live here, i get better at speaking. so much of me wants to be better and i’m just so afraid to make a mistake. yet i know that the only way to learn is to make mistakes. it’s incredibly conflicting. i’m going to keep trying to go to language exchanges to improve and keep on with my studies. but if anyone has any advice on getting over the nerves and fear of speaking a language you don’t really know well, please tell me. i would love to hear from y’all.