How I found my teacher.

I have been studying Korean for almost a year now and the first 7 months or so were by myself. I found an advertisement for Amazing Talker on my Instagram and, since I was studying for my TOPIK test, I thought it might be a good idea to work on my listening and vocabulary in a more structured way. I had several trail classes with about 7 different teachers that I chose for their wide range of skills and also for things that we might have in common.
I chose Sang Hyeon because we both speak Japanese (although his is a whole lot better than mine) and I've found that sometimes when the meaning of a word or phrase is difficult to explain in English, it is much closer to the Japanese and I can understand the actual meaning if it is explained in Japanese.
I enjoyed the trail lesson and booked five 50 minute classes, to see if we could work together. I was also taking classes with other teachers as well as they all have different skill sets. After taking classes with all of these different teachers, I decided that Sang Hyeon was someone that I could learn from. We have a similar sense of humour, have both lived in Japan and have some similar experiences, this and he is very easy to talk to and we are able to discuss lots of different topics (although most of the serious topics are still in English at the moment).
One of the great things about classes with Sang Hyeon is that he listens to what students want and their concerns. Although I had been learning Korean and could make written sentences on my own when we started studying together, my listening and speaking are quite weak. I am quite shy when speaking and still take a long time to think about what I need to say. But, I have been able to be honest about the difficulty level of class and we have adjusted it and managed to find a level that suits us both. I don't feel stressed or pressured when speaking Korean and he is incredibly patient in waiting for me to make my own sentences.
I love our classes as we have a definite structure, but there is still flexibility to have normal conversations, or to go off on a tangent but still learn useful vocabulary and phrases. I have learnt so much about what language is appropriate in what situations, cultural references, cultural differences, humour, and actual useful Korean. I am so looking forward to continuing lessons in the future, and eventually weaning myself off English and becoming comfortable and truly being able to communicate in Korean.