When I first moved to Korea, I did not speak any Korean, even though I studied the language in college for a year and a half. I was too nervous. But now, two months on, I speak more and more of the language every day. This semester, all of my classes are in English, so I don't have to worry. But outside of the classroom, everything is in Korean, such as the names of the school buildings on campus, so I had to memorize the ones I have class in. That was hard at first because when you do not know words in a language, anything can have any meaning, so I was saying the names wrong and a few of my Korean friends laughed!
I have to order food often, so I had to learn certain phrases and how to ask politely. Korean is very different from English, and you have to speak in a different way to adults than you do to your friends. These ways are called polite, honorific, and deferential forms. Sometimes talking can get confusing when you are not used to this, but figuring it out is most of the fun of learning a different language.
Sometimes I have to go to the traditional market to buy the foods I want, like Japchae. Japchae is sweet potato noodles with vegetables.
