Learning Foreign Languages as Hobbies of a Mental Nature and
As an Icebreaker ‘Cracking a Code’ for Fun
Linda B. Blakeney
I am a student in the Korean class at Laguna Woods Village taught by Mr. Chun and Professor Kihl. My name is Linda Blakeney and I’m one of the youngest residents at this retirement community. At the same time, I could also be considered an ‘old-timer here, since I have lived for 12 years. Before 2005, our community was called Leisure World. I live here with my husband, who is old enough to qualify me to live here and my cat, who I take outside on walks to show her off to the neighbors and give her outdoor adventures.
Lack of opportunities have forced me into early retirement, so I have been able to pursue hobbies. Although I go for walks around the neighborhood, use our gym and play some basketball, I prefer hobbies of a mental, rather than physical nature, such as crossword puzzles, sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, and foreign languages. Over written Japanese. I like to think of learning foreign languages as ‘cracking a code’, especially those that don’t use a Roman script. Even knowing just a few words and phrases of a foreign language can serve as an icebreaker when dealing with foreigners. In California, we get a lot of foreigners, particularly from Latin America and Asia.
So why Korean? Well, since 2010, I’ve had interest in K-pop, and wanted to be able to understand and sing along with those songs. My favorite K-pop group is the Royal Pirates. Last year, I missed them because they left California to go to Korea to make their debut. I looked at one of their social network websites, and found a photo of their schedule on their calendar. Next to the name of their bass player, James Lee, it showed days that he was taking Korean lessons. Like most fans, I thought that it would be if I cold in his class. Lo and behold, near the end of last year, I found flyers around our community advertising for free Korean lessons.
Unlike the Royal Pirates’ bassist. I don’t really have such practical reasons to take the class-I just do it for fun. So I here I am in this year’s class. I have no goal of achieving fluency in Korean, but learning some basic vocabulary and some useful phrases is good enough for me. I am literate in Hangeul, though even if I can’t make sense of what I am reading. I can easily read the English loanword, like ‘computer’, ‘supermarket’, etc.
I get along well with my classmates and I truly appreciate Mr. Chu and Prof. Kihl’s generously sharing their time and expertise with us so that we can learn the written and spoken language as well as the culture and current events of Korea.
Learning Foreign Languages as Hobbies of a Mental Nature and
As an Icebreaker ‘Cracking a Code’ for Fun
Linda B. Blakeney
I am a student in the Korean class at Laguna Woods Village taught by Mr. Chun and Professor Kihl. My name is Linda Blakeney and I’m one of the youngest residents at this retirement community. At the same time, I could also be considered an ‘old-timer here, since I have lived for 12 years. Before 2005, our community was called Leisure World. I live here with my husband, who is old enough to qualify me to live here and my cat, who I take outside on walks to show her off to the neighbors and give her outdoor adventures.
Lack of opportunities have forced me into early retirement, so I have been able to pursue hobbies. Although I go for walks around the neighborhood, use our gym and play some basketball, I prefer hobbies of a mental, rather than physical nature, such as crossword puzzles, sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, and foreign languages. Over written Japanese. I like to think of learning foreign languages as ‘cracking a code’, especially those that don’t use a Roman script. Even knowing just a few words and phrases of a foreign language can serve as an icebreaker when dealing with foreigners. In California, we get a lot of foreigners, particularly from Latin America and Asia.
So why Korean? Well, since 2010, I’ve had interest in K-pop, and wanted to be able to understand and sing along with those songs. My favorite K-pop group is the Royal Pirates. Last year, I missed them because they left California to go to Korea to make their debut. I looked at one of their social network websites, and found a photo of their schedule on their calendar. Next to the name of their bass player, James Lee, it showed days that he was taking Korean lessons. Like most fans, I thought that it would be if I cold in his class. Lo and behold, near the end of last year, I found flyers around our community advertising for free Korean lessons.
Unlike the Royal Pirates’ bassist. I don’t really have such practical reasons to take the class-I just do it for fun. So I here I am in this year’s class. I have no goal of achieving fluency in Korean, but learning some basic vocabulary and some useful phrases is good enough for me. I am literate in Hangeul, though even if I can’t make sense of what I am reading. I can easily read the English loanword, like ‘computer’, ‘supermarket’, etc.
I get along well with my classmates and I truly appreciate Mr. Chu and Prof. Kihl’s generously sharing their time and expertise with us so that we can learn the written and spoken language as well as the culture and current events of Korea.