At the end of 2017 I started looking for Korean classes in Sweden, I thought maybe I could take some university course in Korean (granted it was in Gothenburg, or an "internet-only" course), but lo and behold there were none available.
So I started a Korean course elsewhere (not at a university), which means it costs money, but not really all that much money, I suppose. One other downside other than the money issue though is that it is very slow paced, with only 1 1.5 hour lesson a week.
I've been going to lessons on Mondays now and it's been mostly very good, and I really like the teacher and her teaching style. She speaks a lot of Korean to us, even if we are total beginners, and it reminded me of my Japanese classes in Japan, where the teachers only spoke Japanese to us. It really helps you learn much quicker.
We aren't very many people in the class, last Monday I think we were only around 6 people, and I think less than 20 are signed up to the course in total.
It's mostly girls, and a few boys. Most of the guys in the class I am pretty sure are gay, haha. I am not sure why the Korean language seems to have attracted mostly gay guys, but maybe they too (like the girls), are interested in the boyband aspect of Korean culture.
At the beginning of the first lecture we all had to tell the teacher and the class why we were interested in learning Korean. I was the only one who said that it was because I wanted to study/take a master there. Now, I know that might not happen, I might not get a scholarship or maybe I will change my mind, but it was my main reason for starting the language classes, or atleast what got me to finally take the step to do it.
Most other people said that they wanted to learn the language because they like Korean dramas, or the music or the food, the culture etc (which I like too of course), but it kind of surprised me since I was expecting to hear a bit more diverse set of answers.
Anyway, like I mentioned, the classes are good. My only complaint would be that I haven't gotten to know any of my classmates.
When I was learning Japanese in just the same way as I am learning Korean now, I quickly became friends with a lot of people in class, which made classes that much more fun. We could talk and make jokes and all that, and feel like we were learning together. The friendships didn't become lasting after classes ended, but I still like that they happened.
I would like to get to know people in my class more, and I hope that will happen when we get to do more speaking, because so far we've mostly studied the writing system.
On the subject of speaking, last Monday we did have our first speaking session. Sadly, as mentioned, we were only 6 people, but it was still a lot of fun. I got to hear people's accent, which was really good, since it made me realize that I am not the only one struggling with the Korean accent and way of speaking, and also that my accent isn't bad compared to some people.
Why isn't my accent as bad as some of the other students? Because I've been practising using one of the books I bought from Japan, which is all about speaking (and speaking out loud). This means that my effort working with the book has payed off.
Some people in my class are really shy though, and do not want to speak at all, and if the teacher presses them too much they get angry and she has to back off. It's sad, because this way they will never learn the language, but I also feel bad for them of course, I know how they must feel. Hopefully as time progresses, they will get more comfortable in the classroom setting and be able to do more speaking.
Ah well, I should get back to school work now. I also need to prep a bit for Monday's Korean lesson, wish me luck!
