엿듣기

Where O where has the time gone?  In the one-and-a-half months that I’ve been at Stanford, I have come to terms with the harsh reality that graduate school leaves you little to no time for hobbies.  BUT.  I refuse to let that be an excuse for my lack of Korean studying.  If you’re passionate enough about something, you will find time for it, no matter how busy you are.

However, as per usual, I’ve reverted back to my lackadaisical methods of “studying” Korean – that is, by watching more things without subtitles, reading more primary material, and writing a bit here and there.  Lately, though, I’ve found a new way to improve my Korean listening skills – 엿듣기 (eavesdropping)!

There are A LOT of Korean folks here at Stanford and, when I’m on the bus, I often catch a few words of Korean being spoken here and there.  So far, I’ve eavesdropped on conversations about wifi speed, moving to a different apartment, an internship at HP, home towns, and a couple other things.  I guess if these conversations are within earshot, it’s not really eavesdropping, is it?  Heh.

Thus far, I’ve only really gotten listening practice from dramas, variety shows, and TTMIK ‘s 이야기 series so it was definitely a welcome change to hear some natural Korean conversation that wasn’t entirely subject-oriented.  Of course, that made it harder to follow since the topics were shifting naturally through the course of the conversation.  I realized that my listening skills are really not that good at all haha.  It’s definitely motivating me to study even harder. :)