Today was our first meeting with Minju, Yang, and Emese. We met at Espresso House after our classes. We began by talking about our studies and what courses we have. Then, we wanted to start with the basics, such as how to say “Hello” and “How are you” in each language. When Minju asked me how to say “How are you” in French, I was a little confused because there are so many different ways to say it, depending on who you are speaking with and how many people you are addressing. This was a difficult exercise for me because I realized it was hard to teach French with all our pronouns. So, we decided to stick with a basic explanation, focusing on asking this question to a friend you know well. Then I asked Yang and Minju how to say “How are you” in Korean, but they explained that in Korea, they never ask if someone feels well. Instead, they ask if the person has had a meal: “Bab meogeosseo?” I was really surprised! Emese then explained that in Germany, it’s similar to France — people always say they are good and never complain. I also learned that military service still exists in Korea (there is no more in France) and it lasts about 21 months!
For me, it was very interesting to learn all these things about Korean culture because it’s a country I don’t know very well. For Germany, it’s different because it’s closer to France, so our cultures are not so different. However, I still enjoyed learning some new words in German. I already knew that learning new languages is difficult, especially when the alphabet is different, but thanks to this first meeting, I also learned that teaching a language is quite challenging, especially when it’s your native tongue, as you’ve never really had to “learn” it.
This experience was very enriching, and I really appreciated learning new languages in this way. Indeed, it’s more relaxed than in class, so we can take as much time as we want to really learn how to pronounce the words. But for next time, I think I’ll download a dictaphone app to save how to pronounce Korean phrases and words because it’s hard to remember.
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