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I started with French in school, only until Intermediate 2 , but when I came to university I made a lot of French friends and chose to study it a little further.  Now I have a fairly good understanding.

I have had an interest in Korean culture from around the age of 19 when I learned of the Korean war. My interest grew from wanting to learn about the country to now learning the language. I have been studying Korean for just under a year now. I can read Korean script, Hangul (한글), but would say I am far from fluent in spoken Korean.

Do you have any tips or advice to share for learning a language?

Take it slow, it’s not going to go in overnight (as much as I wish it would). It has taken me time even to get the basics of spoken Korean. I went online and found a great website for learning the language called “Talk to me in Korean”. It’s a company based in Seoul, South Korea, and they have a learning curriculum for the language, starting with the basics of learning their alphabet, and from there you can climb up the learning levels 1-17. Learning to read was the easiest part, but learning the spoken language is much harder due to its word ordering and learning how to use honorifics and particles.

What impact has language learning had on you personally and professionally?

Learning Korean has been good (albeit nerve-racking at times).  Last year, I spent my summer in Seoul, where I was immersed in the language and got to practise reading and speaking everyday. There has been the odd occasion when I have interacted with guests in Korean to help if their English hasn’t been as good. It’s always nice to see the smile on their face, in shock, when they hear Korean from a Scottish person.

My main aim after my degree is to be a Technical Teacher, but I can also see myself applying for the EPIK programme, which is for teaching English in Korea, after I graduate.