Tell Your Story

What is your story? Everyone has at least one story to tell. Telling your story is an excellent way to internalize language that you have learned.

Me as a baby learning to walk

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. When I say story, I don’t mean a novel. I mean anything pertaining to you. If, when starting out, all you can say is that you like pizza, then just leave it at that. Over time, as your vocabulary, structure, and confidence grows, so to will your story and you will produce longer utterances about your favourite pizza. Keep learning and you will eventually be able to tell your entire story of when you ordered a pizza, but got the wrong kind and had to explain the whole situation in another language.

I too have many stories in Korean that are unfinished. They have been floating around in my head for months. I have written them down in part, but not completely. Why not? Because my level isn’t there yet. But that is part of the development process.

Here is one story I have finished and illustrated. It explains why I am often seen wearing a flat cap. The two scans below include the picture story and Korean text. Here is page 1:

English Translation of page 1:

My flat cap story

I have many flat caps

My first flat cap was black
My first flat cap was black

In 1999 I came to Busan
In 1999 I came to Busan

At first the air in Canada
At first the air in Canada​
was different

I had many headaches
I had many headaches​
Every day I had headaches

One day while waiting for Sunmi
One day while waiting for Sunmi

I saw a hat store
I saw a hat store

A hat? A hat?
Good idea
Good idea

Here is page 2 of the two-page story:

Here is an English translation of page 2:

In the hat store I tried on many hats
In the hat store I tried on many hats
I tried on many, many

Finally I decided to buy a black hat
Finally I decided to buy a black hat

After that the headaches stopped
After that the headaches stopped

I have many flat caps

Even now I wear that black hat
Even now I wear that black hat

Notice too, that throughout the text, the same lines are repeated. I did that intentionally for two reasons. First, it simply reinforces the language used in the text. Secondly, when I read it out loud, I can develop a rhythm when speaking.

Since I started pursuing Korean again this year, I have created over 40 illustrated poems of 1 to 3 pages in length. They all can be found on my Facebook album here:

Korean Illustrated Poems

In conclusion, keep telling your story. Start with a little bit and continue to build. Everything, including learning how to walk, starts with small steps.