How Did We Do It?

Since Korean Intermediate 1 started, I've been trying hard to learn as much as possible, even outside the classroom. 

Like I said, I signed up on a language exchange site to talk to native speakers. I've also been reading.. in Korean. 

At first, when I talk to native speakers I met online, I often only use the grammars I've learnt- which means I could be sure what I was writing/saying was right. Later, I began to try new things. I started to construct sentences in a way I felt seemed right. Sometimes, they turn out to be perfect; sometimes, I get corrected here and there. But at least till now, none of my sentences were entirely wrong and didn't make sense.

Saturday 2-4PM. I met a senior I used to admire at the center, learning
Korean too. Different class, sadly. Probably he's also my senior in
Korean- some levels ahead, maybe?

However, sometimes, it can be quite hurtful (probably for my ego) that the sentences I wrote weren't perfect.

Silly. Of course they wouldn't be perfect, I've not learnt them and I'm trying by myself. But still, sometimes, I feel slightly discouraged. Just SLIGHTLY. 

I wonder how it was when I started picking up Mandarin: was it the same as now when I'm doing Korean? I wonder how I suddenly became good at writing essays in Mandarin. Was there a time when I was learning Mandarin that I'd messed up the grammar like I do in Korean?

I can't seem to remember. I guess that's why I'm now left to wonder if I'll ever be as good at Korean as I am at Mandarin. [Hush, patience.. Patience...] 

Some berries/flower tea from Jeju Island, Korea.
Perfect for the *!#&% HOT weather right now.

Anyway, it's good that the native speakers correct my mistakes. I'm thankful, too. At least it shows they're serious about making my sentences perfect(from a native's point of view), rather than just throwing me into the clouds by saying what I said was perfect when there are actually mistakes, and they probably only said it was perfect because they thought of me as a foreigner, and 'being able to speak like that' is 'very good already'.

Now, I guess I just have to be patient, and keep on learning till one day, I'll be proud of myself. Ha ha.


P.S
I finished Dr. Porntip's book while I was at Adelaide. I forgot to say.