week4, Yooran Kim, Chil-seok.

Chil-seok 200903992 Yooran Kim   July 7th is called Chil(7)-seok(night) in Korea. Koreans hold this day on July 7th of lunar calendar. It usually rains on that day. This day is important for farmers to predict the good or bad harvest of that year's farming. Also, this day has a beautiful but sad love story descending from ancient times. Scholars guess that this love story has existed since the era of the Three States in Korea, and some scholars think that the story had derived from ancient China. I'd like to introduce you about this day and the story. Kyun-woo, a shepherd boy in heaven, got married Jik-nyeo who was a grand daughter of the Great Jade Emperor. They were always idle even after they got marry and it made the Great Jade Emperor angry. He let Kyun-woo live in the east of the Milky way, and Jik-nyeo live in the west of the Milky way, so they can be separate. They missed each other so much, but had to live far away from each other with a big Milky way between them. Crows and magpies heard this sad story and decided to go up to the sky and be a bridge for them to meet each other. This legendary bridge is called 'Oh(crow)-jak(magpie)-gyo(bridge)'. The kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo could walk on this oh-jak-gyo and meet each other on that day, but had to part and head home after night. That's why there are no crows and magpies on that day. People say sometimes few of them we can see are too sick to go up to the sky. The crows and magpies get bald after this day and it drizzles around that day. That's because Kyun-woo and Jik-nyo have to step on birds' heads, and they have to wash off the dust of their wagon to be ready to go out. So, that water becomes rain to human world, and people call this rain 'se(wash)-cha(vehicle)-woo(rain)'. Also, if it rains at night on chil-seok day, people call it tears that Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo are crying because they're so happy to see each other. The rain at dawn the next day is considered as a sad parting tear. This story is originated from natural phenomenon of Kyun-woo star and Jik-nyeo star which positioned across Milk way. The official name in astronomy of Kyun-woo star is 'Altair', and name of Jik-nyeo is 'Wega'. Each of them are located in the east and the west of the Milky way. These two stars show up on the western sky in the early autumn and on the eastern sky in the early spring. This ecliptic movement of two stars looks like they meet each other once in a year on the ceiling of the sky on July 7th. July is the season that the heat wave is disappearing. So farmers could take a little break and performed a ceremony to heaven for a good harvest that year, and if it rains on July 7th, people thought Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo could meet and they would help people to have a bumper year. July, after the heat wave, women prayed to Jik-nyeo for a better sewing skill, and every house put their clothes and books that were damp during the summer to dry them out. Basically, Koreans' chil-seok was the day for people to take a little break from hard farming and reorganize their households. It is so astonishing that our ancestors had an annual season for them to catch a breath which was called with a beautiful love story of Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo.

Week3, Yooran Kim, Chil-seok.

Chil-seok 200903992 Yooran Kim   July 7th is called Chil(7)-seok(night) in Korea. Koreans hold this day on July 7th of lunar calendar. It usually rains on that day. This day is important for farmers to predict the good or bad harvest of that year's farming. Also, this day has a beautiful but sad love story descending from ancient times. Scholars guess that this love story has existed since the era of the Three States in Korea, and some scholars think that the story had derived from ancient China. I'd like to introduce you about this day and the story. Kyun-woo, a shepherd boy in heaven, got married Jik-nyeo who was a grand daughter of the Great Jade Emperor. They were always idle even after they got marry and it made the Great Jade Emperor angry. He let Kyun-woo live in the east of the Milky way, and Jik-nyeo live in the west of the Milky way, so they can be separate. They missed each other so much, but had to live far away from each other with a big Milky way between them. Crows and magpies heard this sad story and decided to go up to the sky and be a bridge for them to meet each other. This legendary bridge is called 'Oh(crow)-jak(magpie)-gyo(bridge)'. The kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo could walk on this oh-jak-gyo and meet each other on that day, but had to part and head home after night. That's why there are no crows and magpies on that day. People say sometimes few of them we can see are too sick to go up to the sky. The crows and magpies get bald after this day and it drizzles around that day. That's because Kyun-woo and Jik-nyo have to step on birds' heads, and they have to wash off the dust of their wagon to be ready to go out. So, that water becomes rain to human world, and people call this rain 'se(wash)-cha(vehicle)-woo(rain)'. Also, if it rains at night on chil-seok day, people call it tears that Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo are crying because they're so happy to see each other. The rain at dawn the next day is considered as a sad parting tear. This story is originated from natural phenomenon of Kyun-woo star and Jik-nyeo star which positioned across Milk way. The official name in astronomy of Kyun-woo star is 'Altair', and name of Jik-nyeo is 'Wega'. Each of them are located in the east and the west of the Milky way. These two stars show up on the western sky in the early autumn and on the eastern sky in the early spring. This ecliptic movement of two stars looks like they meet each other once in a year on the ceiling of the sky on July 7th. July is the season that the heat wave is disappearing. So farmers could take a little break and performed a ceremony to heaven for a good harvest that year, and if it rains on July 7th, people thought Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo could meet and they would help people to have a bumper year. July, after the heat wave, women prayed to Jik-nyeo for a better sewing skill, and every house put their clothes and books that were damp during the summer to dry them out. Basically, Koreans' chil-seok was the day for people to take a little break from hard farming and reorganize their households. It is so astonishing that our ancestors had an annual season for them to catch a breath which was called with a beautiful love story of Kyun-woo and Jik-nyeo.

Haejin Lee. Assignment 3. Dol Janchi - Your First Party Ever

   Birthdays have a significant meaning in traditional Korean communities, and some birthdays count more than others.  One of those very important birthdays here in Korea is your first birthday.  First birthday parties are called Dol Janchi in Korean, meaning Dol party.
   On the first birthday called "Dol," babies get out of their white, delicate baby suit and are dressed in their very first party outfits.  The typical outfit is a colorful striped jacket called "Sekdong Jugori." Each color of these stripes carry three to five colors, each representing different blessings in life.  Korean clothes for children and youths often have these "sekdong" patterns.  Stripes are usually one inch wide.  The colors stand for a healthy, long and peaceful life.
   Just like any other party, food is very important at a Dol Janchi.  In fact, every dish at a Dol Janchi bears specific meanings.  The five main colors that Koreans believe to bring good deed and fortune - red, green, yellow, white, black - are found in all kinds of food at the Dol Janchi.  Giving meaning to colors has a similar idea with 'sekdong' patterns on the baby's clothes.  From main dish and drinks to snacks and fruits, the table itself carries specific meaning and blessing for the occasion.
   One of the most entertaining event at a Dol Janchi is the baby's grab or 'Doljabi.' At a doljabi, you set on the table several objects related to different vocations or distinctions.  For example, if the baby grabs a pencil, people guess the baby would become a scholar; if the baby grabs money, guests would congratulate the parents saying the baby will grow up to be rich; or the baby choosing a spool of yarn means the baby would have longevity.  The randomness and good tidings are the fun of Doljabi.
   The most popular gift for Dol is a golden ring.  As many other culture, Koreans thought of gold not only as a valuable treasure, but also a symbol for good luck.  The gifts for Dol Janchi is for congratulating the baby reaching its first birthday.  They bear good tiding and also have a sense of supporting the family raising the child.  These gifts are valued and, in most cases, are saved until the baby grows up.  It may also be an investment for the child for big events like a wedding.
   A Dol Janchi is, of course, a family occasion.  But in traditional Korean communities, where most neighbors are related to each other, Dol Janchi was also a very good opportunity for the whole town to celebrate and share the joy.  It seems natural that tradition is kept in urban areas of modern Korea.  It is another way to let their new borns be blessed by loving families and friends, and be reminded of the support we get in life.

 

HW 3, Sunghee PARK

Intermediate English Writing (1) Monday 7-8

200801224 DIS

Park, Sunghee

 

 

Daeboreum (Big Full Moon Day)

 

             Last Sunday, people around the world were waiting for Super moon which is a full moon that coincides with a close approach by the Moon to the Earth. Even though it was the biggest full moon in twenty years, Korean couldn't see it due to the bad weather. For Korean, however, there is another awaited full moon called 'Daeboreum.' In Korean, it means 'Big full moon' and it is the day of the first full moon according to the lunar calendar. This is the day praying for Happy New Year, especially for the health. Most Korean still celebrate the day and there are many interesting events.

             In the morning, first of all, people drink an alcohol which is called 'Ear-quickening wine.' The name of the alcohol sounds weird but it means "hope this year be full of good news." Usually, people drink refined rice wine as an Ear-quickening wine. This is served before the breakfast and this is for men and women of all ages. When they drink the wine, people say "Quicken your ears!" I remembered this was the first alcohol that I drink, though it was a sip of wine.

             During the day, there is an event I love to do, which is called "Buy my heat." This is a kind of game selling the heat that I get in the near future. The process of the game is quite simple. When you meet someone, you need to call his/her name at first. If the person responds saying 'yes', you can shout "Buy my heat!" Since the man buys your heat at the moment, you will not get the heat this year and the person will be affected the heat easily instead of you. On the contrary to this, the person who you called does not respond and he/she can shout "Buy my heat, you first!" In this case, you will get the heat instead of the man. When I was young, I used to cry after I bought others' heat.

             At night, the most important event is held. This is the event biting on nut in order to hope be healthy. Usually, people bite on pine nut, walnut, and peanut and these set of nuts are called 'Bureom' in Korean. As people bite Bureom as many as their age, they believe not only it can make their teeth strong but it can raise their immunity. I guess this is because Bureom is very hard to bite. Among the events on Daeboreum, this must be the most popular event and many people still do it every year. My mother also buys Bureom every Daeboreum and we all do this event.

             Other than the three events, there are various events such as moon-viewing, stepping on bridges, and burning the field. According to research, almost one-fourth of Korean customs come from Daeboreum. Even though this is not as significant as the Lunar New Year's Day or Chuseok, Korean still consider it as one of the important events. Since it is sad that a lot of customs have been forgotten, I hope Daeboreum be more active festival.

 

week4-Leeyeonyoung

Students in blue shout AKARAKA.

 

When I was in Yonsei university, there was a big match with Korea university every autumn. We called it match of Yon-ko and they called it match of ko-Yon. But it is the same match. It consists of five games; basket ball, base ball, rugby, ice hockey and soccer. Because thousands of students gather and cheer their school, match is not just a match but a festival. The festival is played for three days and it is fierce from the preparation.  

Before the festival, students prepare two things, costume and seats. Because blue stands for Yonsei university and Red stands for Korea university, students should prepare their costume properly. Some students just buy ready-to-wear while many students draw a design showing their identity and hand it to manufacturers. After few days, fresh shirts are delivered and with this, half of the preparation is completed. Next, when the day before the game come, an advance party go to the gym to get a good spot. The party mainly consists of freshman and they stay up all night on the street playing games or taking late-night meals like pizza or pig’s trotters.

Finally, the morning of the match dawn and games start with loud cheering. Always cheering begins with chanting, AKARAKA. I do not know what exactly it means but when thousands of students shout the same chants, the temperature of cheering is raised. Then, various cheering songs are followed. Students sing and dance in accordance with cheer leader team. The final song is always Wonsirim meaning primeval forests. Students make a circle and put their arms around each other’s shoulders and sing a song with little dance. But the most interesting part does not start until games over.

When the game is over, students move to their base, Shinchon or Anam. Then, they line up like train and march the street asking for free drink or food. Therefore it is called Gichanori, train playing. For example, students in blue gather in front of Italian restaurant and sing a song asking for free food. Then the owner comes out with spaghetti. Students shout thanks to owner or sing a song wishing good luck. When they eat up all, they move to another shop. It may seem like a burglar but it is considered just kinds of playing.

From preparation for costume and seat to participating train playing, the Festival requires lots of physical strength. I think, however, it is worth to do, because the youth of students become brighter and brighter in the festival and three days cheering match leaves students unforgettable memories.

201003252 3rd Assignment

(201003252)

Two Weddings in One Day

 

 

Weddings are celebrated in every culture around the world. As each culture is unique in their own way, so is the celebration of ceremonial weddings. In Korea, wedding receptions are particularly a grand event because two ceremonies are held on the same day. The first reception is the most commonly known celebration where the groom is dressed in a black tux, whereas a white dress is worn by the bride. The following reception is the Korean custom wedding, it is truly an exuberant event, both the bride and groom are dressed in flamboyant clothing articles and an interesting wedding program, Peh Bek is held.

 

Korea's second wedding reception is called Peh Bek. The invited guests are the bride's parents-in-law and the grooms' relatives. The bride's side of the family are not included in this part of ceremony, because the process of Peh Bek symbolizes the bride leaving her imitate family and joining a new family. The absence of the bride's family may seem a bit upsetting for the bride, but actually it's a joyous celebration where parents and relatives offer marriage advice, blessings, and gifts for the newlyweds.

 

The bride wears a custom two piece dress, Wonsam or also called Hwalot. The top is called a chorgori (short jacket with extended sleeves). Two long fabrics which are three fingers in width are attached in the center of a chorgori and tied somewhat having a shape of a bow, except the tails of the fabrics are placed to fall on one side, rather having it extended on both ends. The chogori is usually a vibrant red with thick vertical stripes of various colors imprinted on the sleeves. The second piece is a dress that elongates to the toe; this piece is called the chima. It is made from the same silk fabric and has flamboyant flower patterns.

 

The groom's attire consists of two pieces. First, the top is called a chigori (jacket).It has loose sleeves which extends to mid finger length. The chigori is usually dark blue with flower patterns that makes it elegant and not too feminine in order for it to suitable for the groom. The second piece, Paji (trousers) is also blue and a loose fitted style.

 

 

In closure, Korean Wedding celebration is a cherishable and memorable event. Celebrations where people engage in an intimate party, where family and love ones are gathered in one place to enjoy each others' presence, and of course to give their blessings to the bride and groom to be. Most of all, perhaps it is more significant because two receptions are held all on the same day, a mixture of western culture wedding and traditional wedding.  

201000955 Hannah Kim, 4th week assignment

(Do you know "Currywurst Fest"? )-  201000955 Hannah Kim                There is a popular snack for German- sausage and one of the most popular foods using this ingredient is 'Currywurst'. In this essay, I would like to talk about a currywurst festival when people eat this popular food currywurst. Although I will introduce the meaning of the word and how people enjoy this day, what I want to focus the most is the Currywurst contest- sausage eating contest.                Currywurst Fest is a German word- Curry for curry, Wurst(the pronunciation is more like 'voost') for sausage and Fest for festival. Therefore Currywurst is a sausage dish with curry powder. To talk about the way to cook this dish, firstly, you should broil the sausage. Then the next step is to add ketchup and many other sauces that you want. At the end, curry powder is sprinkled. People usually eat this currywurst with bread or potato because it is a little bit salty.   'Currywurst Fest' is not something like a national holiday or big festival, though. People in Germany just enjoy this day eating sausage and in some cases, participating in a contest- sausage eating contest. Because I found this contest very interesting, I would like to introduce this. This contest is held by small currywurst stalls in the town and normal people do not participate in this event. People in this contest compete who can eat hotter currywurst. Therefore, there are 6~9 stages of currywurst and in each stage, the sausage becomes hotter. For the spice that makes the food hot, various peppers from all around the world are used. When the winner is decided, he/she receives the prize, such as notebook computer.   This is the steps how people who want to compete in the contest prepare. First, they all have to go to the doctor and have their body condition checked. If their condition is not good, they shall not participate in the event. If doctor thinks a person is okay to compete in the contest, the doctor informs the person of the Scoville that they can try. Then, people start to drop by the pepper shops. They try every pepper there and decide the degree they can eat. The next step is getting used to the spiciness. Usually, people buy some peppers when they go to pepper store to see various kinds of peppers and eat those every day until the contest starts. Some people even try to drink a hot sauce when they meet their friends. Friends drink wine and those who want to compete in the sausage contest drink hot sauce in wine glass! When the contest day comes, there are always two or three ambulances out of the currywurst stall which the contest is held. It may be hard to believe but there always has existed people who feel dizzy or sick during the contest. The major reason for this is that they try to eat much hotter ones than they can handle. The people who work in the stall serve the dish and take charge of the whole event. All the participants can give up whenever they want to. When there is only one person who is left, he/she is the winner and that person gets the prize.   All the people in this contest, however, do not struggle to win. For them, this is only the one way to enjoy this day. They seem to enjoy having this exotic and unusual experience. The reason I found this contest good is that the people participating in this event seemed so ingenuous. They just enjoyed currywurst and had fun with their neighbors. It was quite impressing because people do not try to sell or buy something, such as souvenirs, during this festival, although in these days I tend to think there would be many souvenir shops when a festival is held. Sometimes, I can even see some festivals that selling souvenirs and making money are the only goals for holding them. I really enjoyed this festival and some day in the future, I also want to participate in the Currywurst contest!

Yurukyara Festival in Hikone(200700121)

Last year, I went to Japan with my three of friends to study about Yurukyara. We got this chance from HUFS to the World Program and that was the only reason why we visited such a small town, Hikone, Osaka. If we weren't interested in Yurukyara, I don't think I will never have to go there because Hikone was a really small town far from Kyoto nothing but to see than Hikone Castle. I guess you are now really confused with Yurukyara. What is it? It's a compound name for town characters. This compound word "Yurukyara" is formed from "Yurui" and "Kyarakuta which is character in English." Yurui means loose or plain or even dull, and Kyarakuta is Japanese way to say character. Therefore, Yurukyara could mean that characters with plain and dull appearances. Among so many Yurukyaras, Hikonyan is the most popular character throughout Japan. This is Hikonyan. As you might guess already, Hikonyan is the main character of Hikone, and that is why the Yurukyara Festival held in Hikone. There is this organization for Yurukyara Festival, so we visited there to learn more about the festival. According to the festival organizer, the Yurukyara Festival is the biggest festival for town characters to introduce themselves and their town and their goods, and have fun time with people. It's held in Hikone because it's a hometown for well-known character, Hikonyan. I laughed so hard when I heard that it's held in fall because if it's too hot, it's hard to be the character for person. The festival organization's job was to send invitation to characters to join this festival. Because there are uncountable numbers of town characters all around Japan and because Hikone is just a small countryside town, they cannot invite them all to come to the festival. During the festival, there is PR time for each character on stage and every character has their own booths to sell their goods. Also, they have photo times with people who want to take pictures with Yurukyara. People are mostly wearing their yukata, light cotton summer kimonos. Every weekend, there is Hanabi-taikai which is a large amount of fireworks upon the sky. The streets in Hikone was decorated beautifully with various colors of panels and balloons like this picture and crowded with so many people.     I personally think that if you are crazy about characters, you may go Hikone to see the festival. It was fairly well organized festival even though it's not a major festival in Japan, but still it's very unique and special for people who are deeply interested in. For me, I don't think I will never have to go there if I wasn't going to study about the Yurukyara. But still, like Disney lands, it was a fabulous festival with lively walking characters and so much excited people. I attatched some pictures to help you to understand better because I don't think you have enough background information about this festival or even Japanes culture. Thank you for reading my writing!

To Learn, or to be Taught? (Unit 2. Haejin Lee 이해진)

WARNING: This passage is written based on the assumption that everyone agrees that foreign language instruction is necessary at some point.  This is not because we go to HUFS, nor because we are English majors.  It is simply because we live in the modern, real world.

 

Although experts seem to have different opinions on the exact age, numbers of books and TV programs illustrate that between 12 and 14 is the point our brains start to recognize the language-learning process as study, and that fluency is harder to learn as you get older.

There is no question that the brains' activity is an essential part in learning a language or anything else.  But is that all to it?

Not many people would remember what it was like when they were learning how to speak. But we can guess by looking at babies. They are quiet. They are quiet for a long time. In fact babies don't speak in any language for at least a full year.  Then they make a sound that the family recognizes as language. They get a huge applause from the crowd.

Can you picture yourself sitting in a classroom full of people speaking a foreign language? Do you think you can sit without speaking any word the entire time without feeling uncomfortable?  Babies are granted the time to take in all the sounds, gestures, emotions and culture in the surrounding without any pressure that they have to "produce" any "outcome."

Babies are fearless. They make sounds no one could ever comprehend and somehow, in the end, we feel sorry that we don't quite follow. They are not afraid of making mistakes in learning. And parents are happy to wait throughout the learning process.

To recap our question, should foreign language instruction begin in kindergarten?  I agree that we should try to give our children a better chance in learning foreign languages at an early age.  I agree that if we can let children learn how people talk and think on the other side of the globe, we should.  But I don't think the only way children can learn a different language is through learning it as we – adults – would.  Learning and teaching can be simultaneous, but they can be two very different things.

If you think about how babies start taking in the first place, given their brains absorbing every new encounter, it may occur to you that we might not have to try too hard to "teach" them a foreign language.  Is it possible that we are too anxious to give them all the opportunities? Do we need to pause and think about the way we do it?  Maybe children don't need the stress from sitting in a classroom for 40 minutes straight to learn something new. Maybe all they need is a lot of exposure to the language, some educational content and a lot of fun minus the anxiety.

 

 

Week3, Yooran Kim, Foreign language institution should begin in kindergarten.

Foreign language institution should begin in kindergarten 200903992 Yooran Kim   All around the world, the importance of learning new language is getting bigger. Especially in Korea, it looks almost impossible to live without learning English. There are so many difficulties in learning new language for school students that some people claim foreign language institution should begin in kindergarten. I don't agree with several reasons. First, scientists studied that the age between 3-5 is the effective period to learn new language. But not every student is gifted in sense of language. Lots of kids are good at their own way. There's no need that we overemphasize only about language. Bilingual adult may can speak two language fluently, but they hardly can be excellent writer or fabulous CEO speaker. Second, Also, it is really important for young children to develop ability to think. Until age 7, the process of improving ability to think can be very crucial for children's way of future. However, scientists assert that learning by rote can damage on children's brain so bad that children can have a speech disorder. Finally, do we really need bilingual environment? I do not deny that students need to learn global language. They can if they want, but forcing them to study since they're young is another thing. Not many people actually have chance to communicate in other language if they're living in their country. However, I got some impression that the necessity for English is quite overwhelmed.  Actually, one of my friends got a job in a factory. He had to submit his TOEIC report card for the job interview. He had so good grade that he could get a job, but he didn't have anyone, anything, and any circumstances that needs English. What does this tell you? Learning other language is really important and exciting study. We should make our children to feel these by themselves. I'm not denying the importance of English nor necessity of it. What I want you to think is why, when, and most importantly for whom we expose our young children to that environment. Let them choose what they want to learn. Learning new language should be one that can be chosen.

Jun Seok kang's writing 2

My opinion on foreign language education in early age

 

           There was the kid who couldn’t speak his language till he was 4 years old. If he took the foreign language education in the kindergarten under the stressful situation, he couldn’t be the greatest physicist who changed human history. The kid was Albert Einstein. Even the smartest person in the history was a late talker. Even though many people insist that foreign language instruction should begin in kindergarten. But I think should be leaved as a choice of parents, considering a few reasons.

           First, Foreign language instruction in early age is not good for every child. Every child has a different intelligence and growth stages. Like mentioned above, some children are late talkers and they are not ready to learn another language. They need more time to learn and get used to their own mother language. It also could be stressful for some young children to catch up another language class. In long term, it would bring loss of self-motivation to study for them. Parents exactly know their children’s states. They can decide whether it would affect their child in good way or not.

           Second, some parents have a different opinion on children’s education. Probably they have another priority on foreign language education. For instance, Mozart‘s parents focused on teaching their son music and art. In this case, their priority is not on foreign language education but on art. My parents think that children need to do physical activity not studying. They think physical activity is more important than other subjects. So they let me do sports.

Third children just need to learn essential subjects for young age, and I don’t think foreign language is one of required subjects. In my opinion they need to practice more native language in kindergarten. Early foreign language education can give a bad influence native language which is not established perfectly.

It is essential to learn foreign language in globalized society. But learning foreign language in early age should be decided by their parents and kids’ developed stage first. So I think our society’s tendency which just forced children to study English in early age should be reconsidered.

Week 3 - Hannah Kim (Teaching children when they are young)

Foreign language instruction should begin in kindergarten. Discuss.Foreign language instruction should begin in kindergarten. Discuss. (Because it was not enough word limit for me to express all the thing i thought, I did not follow the normal writing format. My writing is not composed by 3 elements- intro, body and conclusion but by 'common myth/controversy' and 'my own opinion')   Foreign language learning for kindergarten children              These days almost all nations try to teach at least one foreign language for kindergarten children. The reason is understandable because there is an age limit to learn languages. It means that normal people have to learn foreign languages before they become 12 years old to speak and write as native speakers do. However, there are many people who think if children learn foreign languages at that early age, it can be so stressful for them. Not only that, these people also believe that if kids start to learn foreign languages before they master their mother tongue, it is in effective when learning other languages.   Considering this matter, I think it is profitable to teach children foreign languages. However, I suggest there should be an effective and desirable way to teach kids languages, which would not make children too stressful. The reason for agreeing to teach foreign languages when kids are young is that it takes considerably short time learning it. They can even become like native speakers. Missing this good chance is not effective. The thing matter is the method how to teach languages, in my point of view. Many instructors tend to teach kids just as the way grown-ups learn. Like many experts say, because for kids, it is the time to learn by playing, teachers should adopt the method that reflect this. For example, instructors can teach kids languages using material such as sticker books and building blocks. Furthermore, there can be a learning activity that combines games and lectures so that children can learn foreign languages playing with their friends without getting stress.

Unit 2, Sunghee Park

Intermediate English Writing (1) Monday 7-8

200801224 DIS

Park, Sunghee

 

Early Childhood-Foreign Language Education

 

             Last night, on the way back home, I was so tired and sitting back on the bus. When I almost got to sleep, I heard talks using both in Korean and in English in the back of the bus and woke up. I kept listening what they were talking about and after few minutes, I found that they were a mother and son. Even though the boy looked like a kindergartener, he spoke English quite fluently. These days, we can often face kids like him speaking English well and this is the result of many parents' effort trying to make their kids like that. I strongly agree that foreign language instruction should begin in kindergarten because it is much easier to learn foreign language when we are young. Though some may argue that early childhood-foreign language instruction can disturb mother tongue education, it would not. For example, there are many second-generation Korean Americans who can speak both fluently. Of course, balanced education between two languages is required. Also, according to 2007 EU report written in Korean Trade Investment Agency (KOTRA), the Dutch have learned various languages since they were young and they can not only speak several foreign languages including their native tongue but achieve the highest TOEFL score every year. To conclude, I would prefer to have my kids learn foreign language in kindergarten because many researchers reported that the younger the better in studying foreign language and there is no denying that foreign language (especially, English) is essential to live in the globalized world. There is no reason to put off the day learning foreign language.

 

week 2, Hannah Kim (Literacy Biography)

The development of my literacy To trace the development of my writing and reading, I have to start the story from the time when I was 1 year old. The reason is that it was when I started reading books. My mother says, she had read numerous books for me since that period of time. She told me it was really surprising that I really enjoyed reading and also was good at memorizing stories. According to her, I always asked my mother to read books for me and sometimes even did not go to sleep till 4 or 5 am. She was really surprised about this because she heard that kids usually fall in sleep when their parents read a book for them. But, it was not my case. Whenever somebody read books or heard me stories, it was totally impossible to fall in sleep.  Because I loved stories, I naturally started to read books all alone and as a result, I was able to memorize all the interesting stories that I owned. It was such a huge satisfactory for me at that time.                When I was 5 years old, one of my friends started to learn how to write Korean. Watching her, I really envied that, and my mother taught me how to write. However, what she taught me was just very simple words, such as dog, cat, Hannah Kim (which is my name). At that time, I also started my piano lessons and English tutoring. My mother said that after she taught me those simple words, one day, after the piano lesson, I read the letter from my piano teacher. This might be the first time I read the letter; I mean a long writing, not a word. At this period of time, I did not learn writing neither in Korean nor English. The reason was that although I started English at the age of 5, I did not put much effort because I was not so interested in learning languages. I was supposed to learn piano and flute and I planned to major in piano in the future. All I dreamed about was going to France or Italy to learn music. Therefore, what I had done was just reading Korean story books, nothing more. However, things were changed when I was in the 7th grade.                When I was young, my parents did not even think of my studying. They thought because I was good at music, it was not likely that I am good at studying. In addition, I did not study school subjects, such as mathematics or science that much like my friends did. However, when I went to middle school, my mother had me take an English examination held by a private institute. That institute was teaching students who wanted to go to foreign language high schools or international high schools. However, till today, I do not know the exact reason why my mother decided to make me take the exam, though. One thing which is only certain is that it was one of the most stressful experiences I have ever had because I was not ready for that exam at all. I just went to the institute to take the exam after my piano lesson. Although I did not know the most of the answers, I tried my best, and fortunately and surprisingly, I entered that exam and I was allowed to study in the foreign language high school preparation class. From this result, my parents realized that I can do a good job studying and decided to make me study. Therefore, I changed my future dream to go to foreign language high school from learning music.   However, studying was not easy at all. Although I was so fortunate to begin my new life, learning difficult English, mathematics, and science, that luck did not continued. I had to face the uneasy fact that I had learned nothing compared to another students in the same class. Because of that, I started to spend much longer time and effort studying, especially English. From this period of time, my English reading improved dramatically. It was so natural because I spent most of my daily life reading and listening English. From this experience, there is one thing I realized though- reading and listening is a different thing. When I became to listen well, reading was still a trouble in my English. Sadly, however, I did not learn writing at this period of time, even though I learned and studied English very hard. There was a good reason for this- all the questions that students are asked to solve when entering the foreign language high school, were all about reading and listening. There were no writings in the test. However, it does not mean that I do not have English writing experience at all.   When I started to study English really hard, I also had to prepare for TOEFL. And it contained essay writing. However, this fact was what I hated the most because I was afraid of writing. The reason was that I had no experience of writing something in English at all. Furthermore, there were not so many opportunities to write an essay in Korean classes at school. I think this was the major reason I was afraid of writing. Because I did not write much, and learn much about writing, I was always uneasy about writing and scared of writing, and therefore, I tried to avoid the writing classes all the time. Although I started to learn so called 'writing' for the first time, I was not able to create my own one. The reason is that, for my TOEFL writing, I began to memorize all the model essays provided by instructors which are considered to be good writings for ETS. However, this activity was not so strange thing in Korea because almost everybody who prepared TOEFL underwent this procedure. It was not related to personal writing ability at all- we had to do this just because we needed a high score in TOEFL, and learning the writing format was believed to be the best policy. With this experience, my image of writing became much worse, because not only being afraid of writing, it became even such a boring activity- no creation.   This is the development and history of my reading and writing. For reading, I always enjoyed and enjoy doing it because I love to read novels. Reading books written in English is the same story because I am thrilled when I read English novels which are not translated in Korean. Experiencing the original authors' expressions and words is always interesting. However, in terms of writing, I should say that I do not like it. During my life, it is true that I always desired to learn how to write well. When I saw writers who wrote impressive books and best sellers, they were the ones who had my admiration. However, writing has been always my challenge. I have been always afraid of it. For one thing but the most important thing, expressing what I feel and what I want to write as much as I want was always an impossible thing for me. Then, after putting tons of effort to achieve this, I ended up being frustrated. In addition, I always considered my grammar as my weak point. Although I wanted to write in sophisticated way, my grammar has been always a barrier. There were always too many errors in my writing, and that also ends up making me be frustrated and after all, made me give up and quit writing. In this class, I want to learn how to be comfortable when I have to write long essays, and how to deal with these. I want to be a good writer who can express all the things that I want to say and want the readers to feel.

week2-Lee yeonyoung

Literacy autobiography

 

Things to make me read

All started with inquiring mind. Ever since I was a little girl, I have had a curious mind. And Like all other children, I kept bothering my mother for too many questions: “What is this?” or “What is that?” For example, whenever I got on the bus with my mother, I asked her to read the signboards on the store wall. At that time, I did not know how to read Hangul, the Korean alphabet, questioning is the only way to satisfy my curiosity. My mother’s prayer might have been answered or my innate curious mind might have worked. Somehow, I learned Hangul quite early than other children and since then I did not bother my mother, instsead I became a book enthusiast.

When I went to elementary school, I still liked books and started to learn English for the first time. I remembered that I used to read some Disney’s fairy tales. But as I went to high school, I read only textbooks or workbooks. It was not boring but I want to read with my own heart. Fortunately, university’s life gave me a chance to read different situation.

Before I entered to HUFS, Hankuk University of Foreign Study, I was majoring in architecture engineering in Yonsei University. Library in university looked like a big bookshelf and actually had lots of books inside it. I liked to read books there so I picked up the book written in Korean or English and read it as much as I like. Obiously, reading various books might expand my world, but the sad thing is that I could not remember the whole story that I read, truth be told, I almost forgot the stories. Nonetheless, it was really awesome experience to spend priceless time in library.

 

Thing to make me write

F. Scott fitzgerald said “you don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.” And I totally agree with him. There are some moments that I cannot help writing something because I have something to say. First, I like to write a poem when I was stressed. It goes a long way with me to calm my feeling. I believe it can be a kind of remedy for stressed person and I still wrote poem from time to time. Second, I write letters when my heart moved. Sometimes, I write letters to my old friends and say my little life story and give my concern. However, there are also some moments that do not correspond with his saying. Sometimes, I cannot help writing something because I was forced to write; Class essay, review, or some reports. Some topics that I am not familiar with usually require more difficult procedure when I collect data, choose a position and find out proper vocaburary. But it is inevitable and I write a essay.

 

Things that I wish in writing class

Sometimes I read and wrote something spontaneously, Sometimes I do unspontaneously.  And I became aware that some good works can be made in forced situation. But the everlasting works in my mind seems to be made when I have something to say. Therefore I make a little wish here that I may encounter something to say in this writing class.

week3-Lee yeonyoung

Should we make our children learn foreign languages in kindergarten?

 

 

           Few months ago, there was a news that small suitcase is selling like hot cakes. The small suitcase was for young children who learn English and they were used to carry the heavy books. Actually, many parents in Korea make their child learn foreign languages, especially English, and English kindergartens also were made here and there. But is it desirable? I cannot agree with two words, ‘should’ and ‘kindergarten’.

           First, learning foreign language cannot be mandatory. Let us think about our society. The society which we live in consists of various people. Some might need to learn foreign language to make a living but others need not. So the practical point of view alone shows that to make learning foreign language mandatory is not necessary.

Second, children in kindergarten are too young to learn foreign language. According to the Collins Dictionary, a kindergarten is an informal kind of school for very young children, where they learn things by playing. In this sentence, playing is very important because play is one of the requirements in a developmental stage for those of kindergarten ages. Unless you play enough in that stage, it might take more time to compensate it. Some might say children in kindergarten can learn a foreign language by playing, but I doubt that they really put an emphasis on playing than learning.

A foreign language is like a third antenna of ant. If you have it, you may get a bigger window of opportunity. If you not, you may find out another window. There are lots of different pictures of life and there is no ruler that can measure which life is better. Also, keep in mind there is no other kindergarten period. In conclusion, I want to answer the question; foreign language instruction could begin whenever it needs.

Does my baby brother need to learn English? (200700121 Ko Yoon Jin)

This is the matter that my family has to struggle with, because there is a kindergarten baby in my home. Surprisingly, I have a younger brother aged three years old this year. Thus, my family really needs to and wants to know whether it is really necessary to teach English from kindergarten or not. Nowadays, my baby brother is going to a church kindergarten nearby our house and they are teaching many things to him including English. It's a very common knowledge that it is always better teaching foreign language in early years.    However, my parents decided not to push my brother to learn English by force. It's my parents' knowledge that they have gained from my sister and my experiences. It's not useful or effective if the kid doesn't want to learn or understand why he/she needs to learn it. Even though my sister and I learned English when we were 3rd grade in elementary, we are good at English because now we understand the importance of speaking ability in English. When I began to learn English, it was very stressful and even painful because I had to compete with others all the time. I don't want my baby brother to experience those tough times that I had once. I strongly believe that kindergarten students need to focus learning Korean first, because it's their mother language and it's the foundation of all studies of their lives.   But still, there is an English class in kindergarten and a few days ago, the teacher gave us a textbook and CDs. My baby brother loves to play the CDs because it has many different types of English songs with funny dances. Everyday my family listens to it and even I could memorize some of those songs and dances. Sometimes, my baby brother shouts something that sounds like English for us. But still, I don't think it is an effective way or necessary to teach babies in English.

Jun seok kang's writing

Literacy autobiography

200600056 강준석 (Jun Seok  Kang)

Childhood with literacy education

When I was young, I was a shy boy who didn’t like outdoor activity. Because compared to other kids, I was small. And it made me quiet kid. And it made me focus on indoor activity like reading and playing a computer game. My parents didn’t like that I played a computer game. They didn’t let me do that. Instead, they offered me to read books. I started reading on dinosaurs and famous people’s life when I was 7.

Negative experiences and memories on writing in schools.

When I was elementary school student, people around me, teachers and parents, force me to write a diary and poem. I was not interested writing at all, At that time I just liked studying mathematics instead. Writing was very stressful activity for me. I hated writing more and more. And suddenly late grade in elementary school, I started to learn English as a class. Learning English was interesting. But the school class and teacher just focused on grammar and reading. I was able to read and understand text, but I wasn’t able to write one single sentence which I want express. This kind of education got more intense till high school. They didn’t pay attention to not raising student’s language skill but getting high score in test. After graduation, I enrolled Hufs and started to study English translation. It was really different from what I learned from high school. University required more diverse skills. I couldn’t catch up its requirements. I just got frustrated.

 

Experiences which changed my attitude toward writing

After finishing my military service, I decide to go to Canada for learning English and refreshment. I went to a language school and I met two teachers who changed my writing attitude. One is Alice, another one is Sharon. Two teachers have different teaching styles. Alice paid more attention to ideas and opinions about subject than external factors which are represented as a grammar. I tried to write what I think and to organize it as a logical writing form. She gave me perfect reviews on my writing and sometimes we exchanged our opinion on interesting subjects. She made me regard writing as an enjoyable activity. After her amazing teaching, I met another great teacher ‘Sharon’. She taught me the concept and method of formal and organized writing like essay. She also guided me to being better writer by giving advices about choosing better words and grammar. Thanks to her effort, I got better understanding about organized writing. After them I started self-sponsored writing. That was great progress for me.

Future of my writing

           After I met great teachers, I found out that I want to learn more writing. And recently I read many popular novels for teenagers. One of the best books I read is a novel which is called ‘It’s kind of funny story’. This story is about one teenager boy who got a depression from his overwhelming studying. And he went to hospital to overcome it.  It gave me inspiration. If I read this novel when I was young, it would change my life. There are so many common factors between main character and what I was. I think this kind of novel could help the young people who still struggle to find their way of life. And I want to help them to get through. I finally realized that this is the thing I really want to do and it is a meaningful job I can do. I made up my mind to be a writer. And my goal of this English writing class is to improve my writing skills.

 

SangHoon's Story

Lee SangHoon (201002378)

 

 

Reading

             When I was yet to go to school, lots of books were in my house, and they were all mine. My parents were busy with their work, and because they were not bookworms at all, the many books in my house had been bought not for themselves, but for their own little boy, SangHoon. Most of the books were children's classic stories including Korean traditional fairy tales as well as world-famous fairy tales such as the Snow White, the Little Mermaid. I liked to read these books. Of course, I had loved to play with toys like other children. But toys and books were all that I had interests in. I hadn't considered a book boring. Recently, my mother told me about the reason that I like reading books saying, "I tried hard not to make you feel uncomfortable with reading. So it's thanks to me that you get to love reading."

             My father encouraged me to borrow books regularly in the school library and read them as I went to elementary school. Since, as always, wishing that his son grow as a great man, he especially recommended biographies of great people. And as he became a Christian, I started to read the bible. I read the Proverbs of Solomon at least 30 times in elementary school days. On vacation, I most love to go to library. One of the reasons was that I got a very low allowance(still so), so I like to spend my leisure time in a library reading books because it's free.

As a child, I mostly read short stories. I miss the precious moment that I think one of the most reasons people so like reading novels. That is to be moved to tears by novels. Among so many books I've read, Pilgrim's Progress, Evergreens, Ohsing and Freezing Point are the four most memorable ones. My face was bathed in tears reading these stories. In middle school days, I was once enthusiastic with Harry Potter series. And I read a number of Christian books because a curiosity about Christianity arose.

             In high school, as preparing Korean SAT, I read a number of various literature and non-literature. I enjoyed reading articles about diverse topics such as economics, science, technology, art, culture, language and etc. After entering college, I couldn't read much during the semester. However, on vacations, I didn't do anything but read. Actually, I did some things. For example, on last winter vacation, even though I had many things to do - I helped mom nurse my grandmother who was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer, went on three retreats(such as The Young College Student Mission Camp, and Campus Leadership Conference and Orientation for Incoming Freshmen), and so on, I read staggering 8 books! But I still have 3 books unfinished.

             Actually, I haven't finish a single book written in English. Because I heard much from others that reading English books helps a lot to improve reading comprehension, I tried several times to open them; but never succeeded. When I was in the 10^th grade, I really wanted to go to a college in the U.S.A. So I studied with a SAT preparation book. But among the sections, what made me feel like being in hot water was critical reading. I immediately couldn't help but give up the dream to go to college in the U.S. And during the rest of high school, I improved my reading comprehension skill while preparing Korean SAT(which one of the sections is English). Last year, as a freshman, I didn't take any English course. But I read English everyday with "Living Life," which is a Christian spiritual journal with the Scriptures.

I want to weep again while reading as I did several years ago. These days feel too busy to have time to read novels. Please recommend any book you know definitely make me deeply moved to tears.

 

Writing

As most of the Korean elementary schools require their students keep a diary everyday(it's everyday homework.), I was writing in my journal what happened and what I thought everyday. However, I quit after suffering a kind of shock that my mother dumped all of the diary notes I'd kept since 1^st grader when my family moved. After that shock for a while, I rarely wrote in my diary.

I love reading; however, I didn't enjoy writing. The reason was perfectionism. I thought like this: 'what if this is not the best occasion to write it? I may write better when writing it later – after an hour or tomorrow' or 'I might find a better writing which is concerned with what I am about to write!' So I hardly wrote on my own. Because of this bad habit, I still have some difficulty to write for myself.

When studying SAT, the most difficult part was the first writing section. Although my teacher advised and helped me to write five-paragraph essays, I always wrote only one or two paragraphs for limited time, 30 minutes. Last summer, I flew to U.S.A. I took an ESL course for 5 days at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Hartford, CT. I was the most hardworking student there. I particularly put my priority in writing class, and focused primarily on writing good essays to improve my writing skills.

I expect my writing improve a lot through this class.