Majimnae 마침내 in May

(ma-jim-nae, 마침내 means at last, in korean)

안녕하세요! It makes me really sad to say this but, this is it, the last post. You've been a great part of this project. Watching me have my ups and downs of learning this language that will hopefully help me in my life one day.

Yeah, I wrote the alphabet, I painted pretty notes, I listened to audio clips and did what not to improve my fluency. So yes, now that I can read, write and speak Korean at a toddler level, here comes the big question. What now?

You see, I don't know the answer to that question myself. I actually don't know the answer to a lot of things, like my math tests or if my blog will get me a good grade again. But what I do know for sure is that my journey simply can not stop now. Ever heard the phrase "The grind never stops"? That is my motto for now. I need to keep practicing and practicing to become perfect and finally achieve the goal I set for myself.

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I started off strong, dedicating a lot of time to studying Korean during my sophomore schedule, looking at lessons daily, using the $40 Barnes&Nobles textbook I forced my mom to buy me. I'd had long streaks for visiting the apps continuously, my desk was constantly messy with all the worksheets I printed out and also with the watercolors that I used to paint my notes with. Every time I did anything to move forward in this journey just made me so happy because I was making some sort of progress to become fluent in a language I could listen to for hours without even understanding it.

My overdrive to succeed didn't exactly end up well for me. It made me... kind of unexcited because I was doing the same thing every day. And I wanted a change. So one day of spending my free time on youtube instead of learning Korean just started a small snowball that really quickly rolled down the mountain and developed into an avalanche. Soon, I just got so used to not using my time wisely, I didn't feel regret. At all. It was only when I realized that I had nothing to write for my blog post, that was when I made a huge mistake and let procrastination get the best of me.

So yes, I broke out of my unhealthy and distracting lifestyle and went back to my older one and got back on track. I regained that learning streak, talked to my native friends and did everything possible in my ability to make up for the time that I lost. But like my man Shakespeare once said, "I wasted time, and now doth time waste me", time that is gone, is time that is gone. You cannot get it back. All that you can do, is use the time that you have left and make the most of it.

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Dedicating a significant amount of time during my 10th grade for this project made me realize a lot of things.

First, is that dedication triumphs all. Without dedication, you can't find the drive to do literally anything. With the exception of breathing of course. If you want to get a good grade on your next test, then you feel the need to study in advance and review so that you are prepared. So finding yourself something motivating will really help you feel encouraged. In my case, I just wanted to give back to my favorite Korean musicians who gave all their fans their best effort in all ways, including trying to speak English.

Second, is that procrastination can also triumph all. There are two types of people in this world. People who procrastinate a LOT, and people who procrastinate a little less. When you put off doing something boring yet beneficial for something that seems fun or attention grabbing at the time, you know that you will end up regretting it inevitably. Again, for me, watching uselessly funny videos on YouTube always seems more tempting than writing some alphabets or trying to read a basic passage. Make sure you enjoy what you do, (albeit there is always a chance of getting bored of what you love) so that you know you are doing what you are doing for a good cause. I just wanted to understand a language that I listened to every day in the form of music.

Thirdly, is that you should enjoy what you put yourself through. Yes, when I started this project I thought I'd have the time of my life, but there were so many instances where I could not be bothered to perfect my pronunciation or how I didn't do anything about my ugly handwriting even if it bothered me on a whole new level. But one day I finally realized that if I didn't fix my ways right now, I wouldn't be applying myself completely, and I wouldn't be able to reach the goal I had wanted to, which is what ended happening, I could only do half of what I expected to do. Think about the future, and how what you're doing right now will only help you in the future. The thought of not needing subtitles or speaking in English to someone who doesn't understand or actually understanding the music I loved to listen to, excited me so much that I decided I had to change my ways.

Fourthly, time management plays a really big part in learning. If you waste time, time wastes your potential. Like you read a little above, my experience with keeping a fixed schedule for learning Korean did not end really well. I wasted about a month's progress and I did everything humanly possible to make up for it. If you set your eyes on a goal, do not let it waiver off to some distractingly less significant outcome.

These four things are what I would pay attention to if I could redo my project and start again.

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I do plan on continuing to learn Korean after Quest is over. The goal I want to focus on now is to be fluent in Korean by the time I graduate high school. 2 years seems like a long time, but it will go by in mere seconds.

I finally understand the phrase, "Time flies when you're having fun." You really don't realize when your time is up because you just love what you do so much. This really showed me that even if you have a limited amount of time, the only thing that really limits you really, is yourself.

I enjoyed myself almost always, doing countless pages in my workbook, using numerous apps, eating at Korean restaurants, getting excited when I understand small dialogue without subtitles. It's the little things in your process of achievement that really matter.

Thank you so much for supporting me!!

**sarang means love in korean :)

I'm not going to end this blog with my usual 안녕! because I will see you later, maybe in a few months when I get organized before IB forces me to be. 나중에 봐요 !

and remember,