Comments on: If you got Korean skills, the U.S. military has a spot for you

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:33:16 +0000

I just figured I’d post an update on here about the Korean class at the DLI. I’m in a 50 week program so I don’t know exactly how the current 63 week normal program is but I can honestly tell you that it’s far easier than I thought it would be. The homework every night is not nearly as bad as everyone says. I have yet to meet anyone that really gets more than 2 hours of homework in a night and the pass rate now is almost 90%, with more than half getting at least a 2+ on both listening and reading. It’s not an ideal system at all and it would help a lot more with more immersion trips to Korean than they offer, but there’s not much I can do about that.

By: colontos

colontos — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 18:05:52 +0000

Ah, I understand now; misinterpreted your previous comment a bit. I was aware that your Korean is very good, but I was a bit confused. I’m sure you know that some people do use a similar excuse to avoid learning languages. My bad!

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 15:13:19 +0000

Colontos, some clarification is needed. I did insist on using Korean in public, but often heard English in reply. As my Korean got better, I heard more Korean and less English, but it is a slower and longer road to fluency for “English faces” in Korea. My Korean is now fluent enough to interpret at parent-teacher conferences. Obviously, I didn’t reach that level by “not bothering.” Living in China, strangely enough, offered me many authentic opportunities to use Korean when communicating with non-English speaking Korean parents and students at the international school where I worked.

By: colontos

colontos — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:40:30 +0000

“I think Yonsei’s Korean teachers assume that since we live in Korea, we can use the language outside of class, but that’s not true for non-Asians not married to Korean spouses.”

Of course you can. Just get out there and speak. If you really think you can’t, then why bother studying in the first place?

I don’t have any illusions about the ability of non-Asians to integrate in Korean society. But don’t use that as an excuse. Go out and speak.

By: Richardson

Richardson — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:06:46 +0000

Although I never went to DLI, but have many friends who did. Some have retained the language, some have not. Those who didn’t’ got follow on assignments like Georgia or the Horn of Africa (HOA – did use his Swahili there). There were ok with the instruction, but that was all over 10 years ago. Never met anyone who was wild about it, but did meet one AF enlisted, with no prior Korean familiarity, who came out near 4/4.

I attended two Korean programs in Seoul, one of them at Yonsei on a FLAS. Unlike some commenters, I found the program to be excellent, particularly when compared to the other program I attended some years earlier. Sounds like it depends on the instructors to a large degree. It was only a refresher, and I was in country unaccompanied and living in a ha-suk-chip, so I used (or tried to) Korean exclusively while there. That worked well. . . but I’m now very rusty, again.

As for reasons to want to learn Korean or other foreign languages, I’m surprised no one said, “I wanted to meet stimulating and interesting people of an ancient culture, and kill them.”

By: MrChips

MrChips — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:04:10 +0000

One huge problem with DLI is that the lions share of the work those folks are training for is listening and copying live transmissions. As a result they have great vocabs and listening skills and can write (as in copy) like the dickens, but conversation and composition skills are severely lacking.

I found the textbooks at U of Hawaii far more helpful than anything else I’ve seen on the market. I’m curious if anyone has actually taken a class there or at a Univ. in the states that utilizes those books.

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 10:40:47 +0000

Brendon Carr #15 wrote:

“…the curriculum is aimed solely at those of Korean ethnicity seeking to be able to discuss ghosts, goblins, and National Treasure Number blankety-blank with their halmoni.

And being able to explain Korean culture 101 (using both hands, not smoking in front of elders, etc.) to FOB Westerners gaping in wonder at the awe of 5,000 years of glorious civilization. Former Yonsei prisoners will recall Johnson, the American character in textbook levels 1-3.

While I was at Yonsei, they introduced an evening program, taking 80% of the 20 hrs/wk regular curriculum and cramming it into 9 hrs/wk in the evenings. Brilliant. Every class was a parade of munhyungs and vocabulary to memorize. Even with the faculty discount, I opted not to re-enroll the following semester.

The other problem with Yonsei is that little time is spent developing oral fluency, a strong point of the Sogang program. I think Yonsei’s Korean teachers assume that since we live in Korea, we can use the language outside of class, but that’s not true for non-Asians not married to Korean spouses. I took Chinese and Japanese language classes at Yonsei’s FLI and was very pleased with the instruction; the language was practical, the teaching materials not condescending, and the teachers gave us many opportunities to try out and use the new language. I like to tell people that at Yonsei, they teach every language but Korean well.

By: Wedge

Wedge — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 10:09:19 +0000

I used to work with a guy who had attended DLI (perhaps late 80s or early 90s) who had an excellent vocabulary, but whose pronunciation was complete shite. Any ideas on that?

By: gbnhj

gbnhj — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 08:14:27 +0000

Brendon,
Good story

By: Hugh

Hugh — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 05:55:37 +0000

Brendon Carr wrote: “the curriculum is aimed solely at those of Korean ethnicity seeking to be able to discuss ghosts, goblins, and National Treasure Number blankety-blank with their halmoni.”

Ding! dead on!