Since young, I have a huge interest in languages as I find that is really amazing how people befriended one another and be able to communicate with a common language, regardless of race and native spoken language. As such, as a start, I begin learning Korean Language when I was in Polytechnics. Many have thought I jumped on the bandwagon of Korean-Pop (K-Pop) and learnt for that reason. Perhaps, K-Pop have a minimal influence as to why I pick Korean as the first foreign language that I am learning, but I’d say it’s the passion that I had for languages that keep me going throughout the 2.5 years of journey in learning Korean.
As with any other stuffs that I had not come across with, learning a new language was never easy, especially when there isn’t anyone around you who speaks the same language. This minimise the opportunity for me to practice. Nonetheless, I made full use of the time I had in the Korean class and communicate with my classmates/teacher in Korean as much as possible. We also have a group chat in which we will clarify any Korean words or grammar that we have difficulties in applying them. I stopped learning Korean after I had entered into the University as I find it hard to juggle between both. Before I stopped, I managed to attain TOPIK level 2 certification. Even though I might not be 100% proficient in Korean, but I am confident to say that I able to read and understood certain Korean sentences without the need of translation and be able to do a short introduction about myself in Korean. Also, even though I had stopped learning Korean in a formal setting (i.e. attending regular class), occasionally I will revise my notes at my own time. With the availability of resources online, I also try to improve my Korean Language by watching Korean Language videos online (i.e. YouTube). This sort of help me to practice Korean Language too.
Other than Korean Language, the next language that I am interested to pick up would be Cantonese. With Hong Kong being one of the Asian business hub and Guangzhou (China) being an important trading point for trade in South China, I believe that there would be numerous opportunities to work with people from these cities or the availability of job opportunities in these cities. By learning and knowing how to speak Cantonese, it would definitely be an advantage since most people speak Cantonese in these two cities. Yes, even though it is arguable that I can always converse with them in Mandarin or English if I get to work with people from these two cities one day, but I feel it is always good to be able speak their native languages. It shows a person’s sincerity and willingness to learn new things. After all, it doesn’t hurt to learn a new language; it will also come handful if I am travelling for leisure.
Previously in SUSS, there were 3 sessions of Cantonese lesson being conducted. From there, I had learnt the basic but I still find it challenge to speak Cantonese due to the different tone it had. It is rather different from learning Korean. However, I continue to explore Cantonese with the help of YouTube videos. Hopefully soon, I will be able to master Cantonese like how I mastered basic Korean.
Right now, I am proficient in English, Mandarin and Teochew dialect too. I would like to pick up more languages such as Bahasa Indonesia and Japanese. With the availability of SkillsFuture credit when I turn 25, perhaps I will utilise the credit and pick up another new language with it.
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