Our KIIP Korean Language Level 1 class has finally reached the end of its grueling 101-hour journey. It was a struggle for me, but never a burden — because every hour taught me something worth keeping. Korean phonetics are no longer arrows piercing my eardrums but musical notes finding their way into my heart and soul.

More importantly, the experience placed me in a better position to understand the plight of language learners. It made me see — and feel — what my ESL /EFL students go through, especially those whose English proficiency remains low.

I felt it the most when I was asked to read aloud. I stammered again and again, unsure whether the graphemes I produced truly matched the phonemes staring back at me. At times, it felt as though the Korean letters were mocking me. I was humbled each time I failed to answer questions during speaking tasks, and in those moments, the contorted faces and furrowed brows of my own students resurfaced vividly in my mind — the very expressions they wore whenever I suddenly called on them to participate in class.

In the end, more than anything I learned about the Korean language itself, it is this deeper understanding of what it means — and what it feels like — to be a language learner that I consider my most priceless takeaway from this course.