Korean Language Class 1B

After 1 week and 1 day of my second month of Korean classes, I have discovered why it is so difficult for me to do well in class.

The class materials are presented like this in class:

1. Teacher introduces new grammar speaking in Korean, not English
2. Students expected to understand and apply grammar in class through speaking drills
3. Homework is a review of grammar lesson through reading and writing drills

The big problem for me is that I don't seem to be able to understand the grammar lessons until after I have had time to practice reading and writing it a lot. So when it comes time to speak using the new grammar, I become extremely frustrated. My failure rate is signficantly higher than my success rate when it comes to speaking in class.

A better sequence for me would be:

1. Students expected to apply yesterday's grammar lesson in class through speaking exercises.
2. Teacher introduces new grammar.
3. Homework is a review of new grammar through reading, writing, and speaking drills.

I think that my learning style is geared toward reading and writing first and speaking second. I can see how a teacher who thinks that speaking is the best way to learn a language would organize her class as it is now. However, I would argue that for me, I believe my speaking would improve a great deal from a heavy amount of reading and writing.

These are new insights for me about how I learn a language. I will try to come up with some strategies for using my strengths.