LAK1201 - Korean 1 Review

Taken in: AY20/21 Semester 1

Lecturer: Choi Nuri

Tutor: Park Sunwoo

Grading:

• 10% Tutorial participation
• 10% Vocab quizzes x2
• 15% Oral quizzes x2
• 15% Writing assignments x2
• 25% Midterm
• 25% Finals

It goes to say that learning any new language is always difficult. Having the opportunity to pick up a new language at NUS is a valuable one, but for a language like Korean where everyone that comes in is almost guaranteed to have some form of background knowledge, you definitely have to be prepared to work hard if you want a decent grade unless you have a spare SU you're ready to sacrifice. 

Tests and assignments were all extremely stressful to me, with the cohort's results released for us to compare to. The infamously steep bell curve is definitely not just a myth -- one mistake felt like do or die to me, and every little mark lost really counts. Which is why I cried after my finals when I couldn't concentrate properly and didn't complete the exam in time LOL.

The workload is pretty high, with almost a new thing to submit every week to make sure you're keeping up with your learning. It's vital to review what you learn every week -- or else it's easy to get left behind in the following week's lesson if the tutor asks you a question and you have no idea what to respond. Tutorials are conducted fully in Korean, with minimal English, which is good since it forces you to think in the language and throws you right in. My class was at 10AM and it was clear many people had just woken up 1 minute before, so everyone always looked extremely stoned and my tutor was often extremely annoyed at us because of that. I think lessons would be more fun when conducted in real life, as breakout rooms and group activities are aplenty, but the nature of Zoom made it often too awkward for us to really feel comfortable with speaking out loud in a foreign language to total strangers. 

I was enrolled in the Language Preparation Programme (LPP) at the start of taking this mod, which means I had originally planned to go all the way up to Korean 4. I dropped out afterwards, however, as I felt like the stress of competing against the bell curve alongside juggling the other higher core modules would be too much for me. Maybe in a future semester when I have a bit more confidence in keeping up! Despite all that I've complained about, at the end of the day I still really enjoyed taking this module last semester. Made a friend through it, and now I get to brag that I can understand some (very minimal) bits of kdramas. If I had to give any tips? Clarify any doubts you have about grammar after class, and REVISE OFTEN. Language isn't something that you can simply cram overnight. The workbook provides some good practice, as well as the optional worksheets they upload on LumiNUS each week. Don't wait till finals are approaching before you start mugging; that may work for other modules but definitely not for this. Especially when you're competing with people who speak like they've known Korean for years and you're just a noob starting out.

Expected grade: A- 

Actual grade: A- 

Reviewed by: M