Goal-free language learning

Instead of erecting milestones and working toward them, I find more joy in stumbling across them and delighting myself.

200

The last post I wrote was my 200th post on this blog, across nine years of blogging and ten years of studying Korean. Every once in a while, I’ll check the Related Posts section under a recent post and be surprised that I wrote about a certain topic. Over the years I’ve gone back andContinue reading “200”

9 Naver Webtoons I read in 2019

When I think of my evolving relationship with Korean pop culture, I think I will remember 2019 fondly as the year I committed myself to Korean webtoons. Webtoons are online-first original comics optimized for mobile consumption. (There’s an interesting article that came out earlier this year contrasting webtoons to Japan’s print-first manga culture.) A numberContinue reading “9 Naver Webtoons I read in 2019”

On reading Han Kang

When I read The White Book, I felt a kind of desolation. It wasn’t agony like Human Acts, but a quiet, persistent sadness.

Me, in Korean

People often ask me if I have a different personality when I speak Korean. My answer has always been no.