[4급]
I've now been in 4급 for two weeks. This is when the format of class changes from the format that is presented in levels 1-3.
Writing class is basically a mini-review session of the previous days listening/speaking/reading material with a writing task added in. Many times we write about the material we studied or write about some related topic. For example we learned about Korean money in reading class and for writing we wrote about our home country's money. What used to be just speaking is now listening+speaking for 2 hours. Normally the first day of a new chapter we listen to a dialogue or audio track and also study the new grammar that was introduced. The second day of a chapter we have another listening exercise plus some dialogue or vocab/grammar practice.
The reading class is basically the same levels 1-3 but really since they expect you to preview all the material before class the value added is hard to measure. I often don't get to preview a lot since we also receive a ton of homework so I'm reading the passage for the first time in class and also getting exposed to the vocabulary for the first or second time. Our teacher also speaks at what is probably considered 'normal' pace which for my brain is blazing fast. Class always seems to be rushed to complete all the listed tasks for the day. This is in contrast to my listening/speaking block of time where the teacher seems to take more time to explain things even if we don't plow through the chapters assigned tasks as quickly.
My writing teacher was one of the original teachers who helped compile material for the 1st publication of the level 4 book which is currently being revised. The book we actually use for class is one that is self-produced and currently not fully published. It's all in black and white and lacks the color and photos that the level 1-3 books had.
My thoughts on level 4 now is that even if I had done level 3 all over again (which I almost had to do) I'm not sure that would have better prepared me for level 4. The format for level 4 is different, the grammar and vocabulary is basically all new (many similar grammar patterns to what we've already studied as well to further crowd and congest the mind), and I thought I had a lot of homework in level 3 but compared to now it doesn't seem like it was that bad.
[...and such]
The weather now is consistently cold, snowing every now and then. Regardless of how cold it has been, there are still plenty of folks out on the weekends at all the hotspots around town. I want to try to go skiing here in Korea although I'm not sure of the best way to go about doing so. I believe there are a number of buses or packages one can buy to get to a ski resort but I just haven't done the research yet.
I'm also planning a number of trips for next spring since I know I'll still be residing in Asia. I hope to make some more blog posts/videos about all of that come next year. I haven't really traveled all that much since moving to Korea which is in stark contrast to what my life was right before I moved here where I was traveling pretty much every month and sometimes multiple times a month.
We also have a class field trip this coming Friday so if I get any good pictures or blog worthy information I'll be sure to upload!
Until next time...
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