Korean Category

David is from Furlong, PA and participated in the Korean Summer 2018 program.  The first day of Korean class was almost here. Most students were excited because Korean classes were going to start, but I was very worried. In reality, I did not previously learn Korean through classes or self-study. Because I had learned Korean by conversing with my Korean parents, I did not formally learn basic grammar. Therefore, I thought that I would not be able to follow along with the class. Will my Korean really improve? What willRead More

Lauren is from Charlottsville, VA and participated in the Korea AY 2015-2016 program. 안녕하세요 nsliy장학금을 타서 2015년부터 2016년까지 유학했던 로렌이라고 합니다^^ 한국어를 배우면서 배운 가장 중요한것은 바로 사람들이 같은 언어로 말하지 않더라도 그 사람과 친구가 될수 있다는 것이죠. 한국에 처음 왔을 때 한국어를 몰랐음에도 불구하고 홈스테이 가족, 고등학교 반 친구들이랑 빨리 친해졌어요. 그렇지만 언어를 배우는 것은 아주 중요한 일이라고 생각했습니다. 왜냐하면 외국어를 배울 때 언어만 배우는 게 아니고, 외국 문화도 배우는 것이니깐요. 가끔 한국어 표현을 묘사할 영어 표현이 부족하다고 느낍니다. 예를 들면 한국어로 정이라는 말이 있는데요. 한마디로 설명하긴 좀 어려운데Read More

Ellie is from Spokane Valley, WA and participated in the Korea Summer 2018 program. My host mother stands firmly by the principle that food, like all other good things, should be served with generous portions of love. Among the first questions she asked me were “잘 먹는 게 뭐 있어? (What do you like to eat?)” and “보통 미국에서 뭐 먹지? (What do you usually eat at home?)” As I am not a very picky eater, I initially replied that I would eat whatever she made (and everything she madeRead More

Ashley is from Baltimore, MD and participated in the Korea Summer 2018 program. During my time in Seoul, South Korea, in the summer of 2018, it was in my wildest dreams to go and eat my culture’s food with my host family. When my roommate and I first moved in with my host family, my host mother and father bashfully told me, “Ashley…we didn’t know was Persian was. We had to look it up!” As an Iranian-American, this was culture shock to me. Everyone in the United States knew whatRead More

On Wednesday, November 14, at 9:00 am EST, NSLI-Y students from the Korea and Taiwan Academic Year programs together presented on the theme of Citizen Ambassadorship. The presenters shared about why citizen ambassadorship is important and what it means to them. This event was part of International Education Week: International Education Week (IEW), November 12-16, 2018 is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education is part of our efforts toRead More

Kyla is from Denver, Colorado and participated in the 2018 Korea summer program. 안녕하세요! 저는 카일라입니다. 콜로라도 주에서왔습니다. 이번 여름에 한국에서 공부했습니다. 한국어를 많이 배웠습니다. 한국에 다시 가고 싶습니다. 한국어를 더 공부하고 싶습니다. 제 이야기를 즐겁게 읽어주셨으면 감사하겠습니다! Hello! My name is Kyla and I am from Colorado. I studied in South Korea this past summer and I learned a lot of Korean. I want to go to Korea again and study more Korean. Please enjoy reading my story! I had never been away from my family for more thanRead More

Shreya is from Plano, TX and participated in the 2018 Korean summer program. I wanted to share a translation and video of the Korean speech I wrote for my program’s closing ceremony. While writing it, I reflected on the growth we’d all experienced over the six weeks and thanked the people who made it possible. The content of this speech sounds rather simplistic in English, but a lot of thought was put into each sentence! — Hello! My name is Shreya, I’m sixteen years old (in Korean age), and I’veRead More

Danielle is from Miami, FL and is an alumna of the 2017 Korean summer program. Some of the experiences I valued most that the NSLI-Y program provided me with were instances where I was provided with the opportunity to teach someone something new, that they may have never been able to understand otherwise. South Korea, a country I’d previously thought, as it was so technologically and economically forward, was a global society, similar to the U.S. in that knowledge about other cultures would be so easy to access, that everyoneRead More

Alex is from Las Vegas, NV and participated in the Korea AY program from 2017-2018. Alex’s language journey began in 9th grade. Her first time walking through the many Asian markets of her hometown, Las Vegas, Alex experienced a new variety of smells, tastes, and most intriguingly, languages. “Las Vegas is one of the most racially diverse cities in America. I was fortunate to experience Korean, Chinese, and other Asian cultures first hand while growing up.” Korean culture provided the motivational spark for Alex to begin studying Korean. She didRead More

Alex is from Louisville, CO and participated in the 2014 Korea summer and 2016-2017 Korea academic year programs. 334 days, 11 hours, and 25 minutes after my initial departure, I find myself back in Seoul, South Korea; the city that was my home for 268 days, 10 hours, and 20 minutes. At first everything seems just as I left it, nothing changing, everything the same. I can still effortlessly navigate the subways by memory; I easily remember the location of my favorite candy at a local convenience store I frequented;Read More