korean language immersion report · lesson where we learnt korean through the drama, secret garden....

Korean Language Immersion Report Low Jia Min A0115244R

For three weeks in July 2014, I attended the Korean Language Immersion Programme at

Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. During the three weeks, I had to attend lessons at the

Korean Language Institute (KLI) from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. with each hour focusing on grammar,

speaking and listening skills. Although most of the grammars taught were covered in Korean

1 and 2 in NUS, it was a good opportunity for us to revise them and apply it during our stay

in Korea. In addition, we were also taught many useful vocabularies as well as phrases that

we will need to speak while in Korea.

Korean Language Institute – Muak Dormitory – Korean Lessons

Cheap meals from KLI’s cafeteria (~4,000won)

Once a week, we had cultural activities after lessons. For the first week, we went to Kimchi

World to make our own kimchi and learnt how to cook kimchi pancake. We even got to keep

our handmade kimchi! For the second week, we had an enriching story-telling tour along the

Seoul City Wall where we got to know the cultural aspects of Seoul. Lastly, we had a special

lesson where we learnt Korean through the drama, Secret Garden. It was a very fun session

because we were not only taught how to converse like a Korean, we also learnt the lyrics to

the OST, Appear (나타나) by 김범수 and all of us sang it together!


Cultural activities: Kimchi World – Seoul City Wall

The immersion programme also allowed us to interact with many Koreans. First of all, we

met our buddies during the first week and got to know each other from there. My buddy,

despite being fluent in English, communicated with me mostly in Korean except for the

times when I did not understand. We met up a few times during the three weeks and she

was very helpful in bringing me to places as well as exposing me to the culture, language

and food. She introduced me to jjimdak which is now one of my favourite Korean foods!

Cheese jjimdak from Hongdae

Aside from a Korean buddy, we also spent a weekend with a Korean homestay family. The

weekend spent with my homestay family is definitely the most memorable and interesting

part of the trip! Although my homestay family knows very limited English, we still managed


to chat a lot and I learnt many things from them. I also experienced the Korean way of life

while staying with them such as having a home-cooked Korean meal, sleeping under two

blankets with the lighter one on top for warmth as well as being a noona to the two lively

sons. We visited many places together such as Insadong and Changdeokgung Palace. I am

really thankful for their warm hospitality and I hope to have a chance to meet them again!

A weekend with homestay family

There were also many other instances where I interacted with Koreans during my stay such

as when ordering food, buying clothes or telling taxi drivers the directions. Hence, the

immersion programme was a good opportunity for me to put what I learnt into practice.

As classes ended around noon, we had ample of time to explore Seoul on our own. Together

with my friends, we managed to visit many places such as Everland, Seoul Forest, Seoul N

tower, Hangang Park, Banpo rainbow bridge, the various palaces as well as all the popular

shopping spots like Edae, Express Bus Terminal, Myeongdong and Hongdae. What I will

definitely miss a lot from Korea is the food! From the mouth-watering and cheap street

foods to the delicious samgyupsal, dakgalbi and army stew, it was always tough deciding on

what to eat for our lunch or dinner because there were too many to choose from.


With the help of my friend’s buddy, we ordered pizza and chicken delivery and had a picnic

by the Han River. It was a unique experience as we watched the rainbow fountain show as

well as other street performances while eating. One will never go hungry in Korea as food is

always available 24/7. Our late night supper always involves kyochon chicken or jjajangpong

delivery.

This summer was spent meaningfully in Korea with many beautiful memories forged. I am

glad that I signed up for this programme as it is an experience of a lifetime where I not only

enjoyed myself as a tourist; I also immersed myself with the locals’ way of life.

Learning Korean in NUS has definitely exposed me to more opportunities and I hope that

students who are interested in joining this programme in the future will enjoy it as much as

my friends and I did.

Be open-minded and try all the street food!


Don’t be afraid to take buses

because sometimes they are much

more convenient (and cheaper) than

subways.

Admire the flora and fauna as it is

always a sight to behold- you can

never find pretty flowers like these

in Singapore!

And all these cute animals…

Also, some

Korean

foods are

beyond spicy

though they

may not

seem so

korean language immersion report · lesson where we learnt korean through the drama, secret garden....

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