Koreamerican

Being a Korean American made my life a little more interesting. Born in America, and as a Korean you have to adapt to both cultures. Korean being my first language, it was hard to speak english in my pre-school and elemantary years. I remember speaking "Konglish", which is putting korean and english together in a sentence. In other words, I was not speaking fluently but it was enough for my teachers and classmates to understand. For example, I would say, "goh-gee (meat) eat mug-uh mug-uh." Which means, "eat meat." As I was growing up, I began to speak english more often. This led me to forget my native language. I was quite embarrassed when Korean adults were speaking to me in Korean, but I couldn't understand them clearly. It wasn't till High school when I was determined to learn how to write and speak in Korean. I was envious of my other friends that were from a different country that knew how to speak and understand both lanuages. I learned by watching a lot of Korean sitcoms, mini dramas, and talk shows. Day by day, I was gaining knowledge and confidence. Not just the language, but their culture. It was not very difficult learning about the culture since we still practiced it at home. Korea and America are very different cultures. We eat different foods and celebrate different holidays. For example, In America we celebrate Mothers Day, Fathers Day, and Grandparents Day. In Korea, we celebrate those days too, but we also have a Childrens Day. It's a day where we give gifts to children and give thanks for their birth. In Korea we are very respectful to ore elders, even if we do not know that person very well. Now it is fairly easy for me to approach a Korean and start a conversation. Sometimes I believe I'm speaking to much Korean. Nowadays, my friends tease me that I have to learn how to balance out the two. Anyways, I don't believe anyone can be perfect at one language. Culture is something that is changing everyday. We are still learning everyday and are trying to improve.