I think I’m going to start learning Korean this spring. I
know. Cool, huh?
Why Korean, you ask? I’m so glad you asked.
About 5 years ago, I began teaching at a local community
college. Somewhat by accident, I found myself happily entrenched in the ESL
department. ESL, for those of you that don’t know, is English as a Second
Language. You know, teaching English to foreigners. And like many other
language programs, this program organizes their students by their level of
English, not by language of origin. As a result, most classes contain a healthy
diversity of native language, hopefully forcing the students to communicate on
the classroom language (English) and not depend on translation for learning.
The fact that I was a student under similar conditions when I studied overseas
made it truly ideal for me, in the role of instructor.
The college is close to my house and, for whatever reason;
there is a huge Korean population in that town. Huge. To the point that we have
significant numbers of Korean grocery stores and services, despite not having
other ethnicities represented to the same extent.
These numbers were obvious in the classroom as well, with
large numbers of Korean students in many of my classes. Some older, some
younger. Some men, some women. Some here in the U.S. for a long time, some
recently arrived. While the fact that all them were students gave them a
certain connection and level of similarity, a certain level of diversity also
existed. Watching their social interactions always fascinated me and I became
positively intrigued by the culture. As
a language geek, I believe that you can’t truly understand a culture until you
understand their language. So many nuances are lost in translation.
And then there’s the fact that Korean in no way resembles
any language I have ever studied. I feel pretty confident with the romance
languages, having studied both French and Spanish extensively. I can’t speak
any of the other romance languages but I can read it very basically (i.e.
menus, etc) and I sometimes understand it when someone else speaks slowly
enough. But Korean… Nope. I can’t do anything with it. So, while I wouldn’t
have the benefit of previous knowledge, I also wont’ have to deal with
confusion either. As it is, I already speak a bizarre mix of French and Spanish
when I try to speak under the influence of an exhausted brain.
But that’s not the entire story. There’s another element,
another factor that must be addressed. You know… the stay at home mom factor.
Since my kids were born, almost 4 years ago, I have been
primarily a mom. And I feel very lucky to be a mom, THEIR mom… but it’s not
enough. Most of the time, I have maintained a part time job, teaching. This has
been my rock, my center. It provided me with an opportunity to wear unstained
clothing and a little bit of makeup. To have a complete adult conversation that
had nothing to do with pooping and nap time.
This year, working was not possible. Despite my maintained
confidence in the reason for not working, it still feels incomplete to me. I
miss wearing my work clothing. I miss the adult conversations. And I miss the
stimulation of the life provided outside of home and home responsibilities. I
can practically feel my brain getting mushy, my memory losing edge. My capacity
to engage in non kid related conversations decreasing at a regular pace. My poor husband, on very long days with the
kids. He’s come home to air so thick that it could be cut with a knife, poor
guy. “They’re your kids too. YOU deal with it” is not what he dreamt about
hearing as he entered the house, after a long day at the office.
So here’s my plan. I’ll take up a new language, one that I
have significant motivation to master. One that will truly stress my brain. In
the best possible way. You know… language learning boot camp. And I’m ready for
the sore muscles. Bring it on, baby! I can do it.
I’m gonna tone my brain!
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