The Journey Down Here

Borne out of sheer unconsciousness is my love for and interest in the Korean world. I vividly can remember how I drowned in awe of my first Korean Drama, titled "Empress Ki". I really couldn't fight the urge to learn a new language that time - as I normally would have done - as I watched the drama with my brothers.

My major attraction was the language. I have heard a lot of languages being spoken, but the only intriguing one - in my view- is none other than Korean. The language sounds so sweet and cool. Hearing the characters dialogue in the language that was my object of admiration was somewhat blissful. Of a truth, to this day, the primary reason I watch Kdramas is the language. I really might wish to see my beloved actors and actresses in action, but the language is my drive🤗.

My first attempt at learning Korean was to learn the alphabets. I was actually confused at the onset as to how to piece the letters together. I recalled how the Chinese characters looked and wondered why Korean looked the same. It would be difficult, I thought. This was because my first Kdrama was a Sageuk one, where Hanja characters are used in writing. I really wasn't ready to learn such complicated characters. I considered opting out. Not really though. I was so much in love with Korean Language. Can't let go. We die there😄.

I picked up my phone and scanned through the web for Korean learning resources, and luckily I encountered my beloved website howtostudykorean.com. That was my spur. Within a day, I mastered Hangul with the help of that website, after which I proceeded to download various Korean learning apps which included grammar apps, phrasebooks, dictionaries, translators. When I discovered PDFs could be the best resource I could utilise, I downloaded a great deal of them. I can remember "Basic Korean" by Andrew Sangpil Byon. I'm glad I was a user of the book. It breaks down the lessons to the comprehensible level of any beginner.

Becoming an intermediate learner wasn't easy as I needed to learn alongside my university course. I found myself gradually losing interest after 8 months when I discovered I wasn't improving and I barely have the time to study. I decided to quit. "I am very far from fluency after all," I thought. I stopped for about two weeks after which I rejoined the world I have abandoned. I couldn't bring myself into the idea of quitting. It was outrageous to me. That is the result of passion. Passion is my spur. Even though I haven't achieved fluency yet, I'm glad i can hold a conversation, compose songs to some extent and write a few things in Korean🙂.

I gradually drifted into the world of K-Pop: an experience I would ne'er forget. Korean songs are really amazing. Yeah, every Korean fan would understand my assertion. It's like no other music genre. The singers are not only energetic, but also charming and endowed with melodious voices. I've got great admiration for the likes of big bands like BTS, EXO, BLACKPINK and others. I don't belong to any fandom though buh I listen to diverse songs as long as I like them. I'm currently a fan of singers like Baek Ji Yoon, Lee Sun Hee and Davichi😘.

Now, with utmost regards to the irresistible surge of interests I've succumbed to, I decided to create a blog to pen as much as I know in the Korean world. This blog would be aimed at exploring the Korean nation as a whole with focus primarily on language and culture, also spanning our Korean IDOLS and the entertainment industry. Hence, I look forward to your encouragement of my efforts and interests as I help to enhance the world we've chosen to explore ourselves. It's great to do this!

To all Korean fans, I say "Fighting?💪💪