I think this will come in time, and I feel that this is under my control anyway. Anytime that I want to achieve verbal fluency, I can immerse myself (artificially) by hiring one-on-one teachers (which is cheap in Korea) and do that. So I am not as concerned about this as I used to be. I don't think verbal fluency is the be-all and end-all anyway. There is also fluency in reading (and writing). And who wants to sit around and talk in Korean with Koreans? What can you talk about?
I don't know if I will ever make good friends with Korean people who don't speak English well. If they befriend me, I will always be wondering if they are trying to learn English from me and why they befriended me. It has happened. People want to be your friend INSTANTLY once they realize you come from a western nation and are a native English speaker. After a while, when they realize you aren't really compatible as friends, they DROP you. I don't need that.
Korean people are rather foolish in that way. The ones who have been overseas are a little different. They're not as in awe as these other Koreans. These Koreans that are in awe are a particular type. They are kind of like country bumpkins in their approach to things western. They are really annoying sort of people, I must say.
The response from that ad was overwhelming. It was mostly because these Koreans thought they would sneak-learn English from me. They should really approach it as a job and be professional about it. I made it clear what they had to do in the ad. If they don't like the conditions, they shouldn't apply. I am a beginner and cannot really spend time conversing with them in English. I am trying to pick up as much Korean as I can in the 45 minutes. I have relented since the ad and allow talking in English for the last 15 minutes. I think the people should be happy with that. Anyway the current crop of teachers are OK. I explained everything to them from the first class so they know what they have to do now, and we can proceed professionally. You really cannot learn English by teaching Korean to a beginner. The beginner does not want to converse in English with you for the majority of the class time.
Anyhow, as I said, I no longer need to worry about becoming fluent as a speaker of Korean. In fact, I don't really need to have these conversation lessons at this point in time.
But I will continue for a little while longer - for a month - because I asked these teachers to commit for a month at least so I should do the same.
I think it's OK now. I was getting confused because I had so many teachers on the books. Now I have a stable of teachers that I know well except for the young man who canceled this morning's class and who I will see this afternoon.
I will test him out. It's hard to tell what sort of teacher he will be. He's already directing the show which I don't really like.
I can do immersion for a few months at any point in the future and achieve verbal fluency. I can make the immersion as deep or as light as I want. So I am not in a hurry any more to achieve verbal fluency.
And I don't think achieving verbal fluency really helps that much with acquiring grammar in my case. I can watch movies and so on to listen to people talk and pick up grammar that way. I can learn vocab on my own and I think it's better if I put off the immersion until I have more vocab under my belt ... but I've started with these lessons now so I won't cancel them now but persist with them for a month and see how I go.
I don't really care if the people pick up English from me - I won't begrudge them that. So far, they are all good except Mrs Lim at talking steadily in Korean for about an hour, and that's all I can expect them to do.
I have to work on my language CD-ROM as well, so I am really busy with everything. Actually, I have too much on my plate and I don't like working alone. It is becoming a too big burden to shoulder all by oneself.
Anyway, I have to keep optimistic and NEVER despair and panic. I didn't know there was such a silver lining in the fact that I did not have access to a natural immersion environment.
The silver lining is that I can create my OWN immersion environment at my own time of choosing and at my own pace. I can select the people who will provide that immersion for me and I can choose my own materials as well: books, mp3s, movies etc.
I haven't been watching much KBS World lately.
I am going to keep watching more King Gwanggaeto the Great without subtitles.
I feel fired up when I find that I understand a lot more of this drama than I thought I would.
It is hard to find out what sort of progress you are making by learning all this vocab. A lot? Not much?
I don't know how to measure this.
But I will keep plugging away at learning vocabulary.
