Perseverance and Faith

My Korean journey started in 2016. My sisters and mom love the Korean culture and music. When I was old enough to register what language and culture was, I knew I wanted to study and learn Korean. So, I started studying Korean! At school, when we would have free time, I would study Korean. But people would make fun of me for liking the music and such, so I got discouraged. I barely was studying Korean, but I still enjoyed the music.

In 2018, my family re-motivated me to start doing Korean again. So, I devoted time to do Korean and study it. But then, I changed grades and met new people who again made me feel bad or like an outcast for learning this language, so I gave up again, and barely studied it, And if I did, I it was for a very short time period, or I'd give up after some minutes. Things went on this way, until the beginning of 2020. A lot of my friends listen to K-pop, and I do as well! I enjoy Korean music and the shows. But I wished I could understand them. So again, with my experience of being taunted at for learning, I was skeptical about being serious about this language again. Then, the pandemic hit. I was locked in, I had nothing to do, and I was so down in the dumps. I felt so empty. I was so bored, and I had not motivation. Until one day, a friend of mine texted me in hangul. At the time, I didn't really know how to read but a few character. So I asked her what it was, and she told me. So then, I downloaded a Korean keyboard, and stared at it. I didn't know what anything said. So I just started typing random things, and if they made a character block, I looked up what it said romanized and what it meant in English. I did that for some days. Then, I stumbled upon a video on YouTube that was about how a girl studied Korean by watching K-dramas. That caught my eye, because I had one, never heard someone learn Korean from a show, and two, I love Korean shows, so I watched it.

In the video, she did explain how she uses K-dramas, but she also expressed how you want to just give up sometimes, but pushing forward and persevering s always the key. Not giving up. And from that day forward, I found a website and started to self study Korean. For a while, it worked. But then, I started to get unmotivated and insecure because of how I sounded when reading and if I got something wrong, I would feel like I wasn't going anywhere with learning Korean. I just felt stuck, but I really wanted to keep going. Then some months ago, a friend told me that she had a tutor! I thought, maybe that would help me! So I asked her from where, and she sent me this website. I took the survey, and a few tutors messaged me. I decided to pick my current tutor, who's name is Jin. I was very nervous and scared about not being good, and being unimpressive, despite my family and peers telling me I was great.

After our first lesson, I felt extremely relieved. Not only is she understanding, she's so nice, and is not afraid to tell me if I make a mistake or how something is said. But she also commends me when I get something right. She has definitely motivated me in so many ways that she probably doesn't even know. I don't know anything about her personally, and she probably has no idea how strongly I feel about her being my teacher or how far she's helped me come. I am so thankful to have found someone as wonderful as her. She always makes sure I understand what I've learned before I go, and she always makes sure the time and day is convenient for me. She is an absolutely wonderful person. Being one of her students has given me so much confidence and has made me thrive as well as never want to give up! She makes want to keep improving and growing. Without her, I probably would have given up completely. I would've been stagnant and never continued learning. She has faith in me and supports me and that makes me feel so strong and makes me know and believe that I can really do this! And I don't have to worry about her making fun of me, because she herself speaks the language too! She's like a super woman. She will not give up on me and she continues to root for me, support me, and help me and I am so thankful for her, along with my family and friends who support me as well.

My teacher, 선생님, really is a hero in more ways than she'll ever know. Thank you so much for keeping me going