Hi! My name is Eunkyoung Kwon :D
Please introduce yourself.
EK: Hi, I’m Eunkyoung Kwon. I’m from Busan, South Korea.
My home university is Kongju National University, and I’m senior now.
My major is Education(pedagogy) and my minor is English Education.
On January 2013, I came to Western Michigan University as an exchange student.
To here, I’m majoring in English Education.
What is your dream?
EK: Once a time, I wanted to be a middle school English teacher.
But studying my major, I changed my mind. Now I want to be a school counselor.
I have an interest in Counseling Education/Counseling psychology.
Due to high strong passion of Education, there are lots of students who have
some psychological problems related to school in Korea.
I’d like to heal their mind rather than teaching them.
Is there any particular reasons that you learned English?
EK: Hmm....I think there are not particular reasons (smile). Actually, South Korea had no natural resources (i.e. oil, coal..), so people tend to think human resource is the only thing that S.Korea can be developed country. Even Korean language is the only mother language, but many people in my country can speak at least 2 languages. English langugage is the secondest language most people learned, other people can speak Japanese, Chinese, etc. I also learned Japanese language for 3 years.
To speak the truth, when I was young, my father said, "Eunkyoung. You should learn English to live your life more comfortable. English is no.1 language you need to learn over the world." So I started learning it since I was 10 years old (In Korean age). The more I learned English, the more I want to know it more. My dream was to live in native-English countries (such as the United States, United Kingdom, etc.) for a while. Finally my dream came true in this year. :)
Do you like writing?
EK: Well... How can I measure the standards...
I will tell it as two ways: informal aspect and academic aspect.
First, I love informal writings. I like posting my story on my facebook, writing diary, chatting on website and my smartphone (I think chatting on web is also writing lol.) Sometimes I pull out my previous writings, and read and enjoy them.
On academic aspect, I remember that I started learning English when I was 9 years old. In my memory, I studied hard but focused on other contents such as grammar, speaking in English rather than writing in English. So I didn’t like writing in English very much.
But some experiences made me different. From 2010 to 2012, I was an editor-in-chief and a reporter of my university’s student English
newspaper. I wrote some articles four times a year. Usually, I tried to write the articles related to Korean Education. Sometimes my
professor scolded me when he read my articles due to my poor English skill, but I believed that someone will admit and praise about my
writing someday. When I came to WMU, I took an ENGL 1050, Thought and Writing, which is an English writing course. In that class, I practiced how to write an essay in English and what is a problem in my essay. Finally I got an A in that course I got confidence writing English. Still writing in English is a challenge to me, but I started enjoying writing.
What is the hardest one when you write something?
EK: I have a fear of "boredom". I mean, when I write something both in Korean and in English, I often feel my writing could be bored to the other people. In other words, I have no confidence of my writing. But when people praise mine, I became happy easily. Am I so easy person? hahaha.
Do you have any habits when you write?
EK: Funny question (laughing). I have many writing habits. Before I write an academic papers, I make several drafts. And I chose one among them. It takes quite time than I expected. So I need to start my writing assignments earlier. I can't imagine "cramming on the paper".
Second habit is, you know, as other people do, reflection the papers. After writing my papers, I read it over and over again. maybe 5~6 times? To correct errors, and to confirm my writing style. Sometimes I feel obsessed with the reflecting process. I feel "Well, it is okay to stop reflection." and need to do other things, I read the paper once again. It's a kind of perfectionism. Even, before submitting my papers, I confirm it again lol.
What kinds of persons(writers) do you want to be?
EK: I'd like to be a 'warm' person. As my dream is a counselor, I really like listening others' stories. Also, when I write something, I usually write the trivial, and usual ones. My writing style is not fancy, not pretty. But when people read my papers, I wish they can feel warm, and feel empathy. When I read other peoples' writing, I like sharing and feeling their emotion. I'd like to share my feeling, too.
This is my cousin and me. [The child who wore red shirt is me! :D]
My Cousin and me
My cousin, whose name is 'Hyekyoung' and I taught each other.
Hyekyoung was good at math, and I was good at Korean. Especially, the word spelling.
Here's a conversation between her and me:
*The conversation was in Korean, but I translated it in English.
Hyekyoung[HK]: How can I write a word 'pillow'?
Eunkyoung[EK]: I guess...Pi...ll...ow..pillow!
HK: Pill....aw?
EK: No, no, it is Pill'o'w
HK: Oh..okay I got it.
EK: Yes! Anyway, can you solve this math question? what is 1010+780?
HK: Let me see....it's 1790.
EK: Why? Isn't it 8810?
HK: No, it isn't. Because....you should follow the mathematic rule.
EK: What's that rule?
HK: You need to follow the double figures, and single figures....and calculate it!
EK: Woo....I don't know....I hate the math.....
HK: You can do it, let's try to solve other questions.
My cousin, whose name is 'Hyekyoung' and I taught each other.
Hyekyoung was good at math, and I was good at Korean. Especially, the word spelling.
Here's a conversation between her and me:
*The conversation was in Korean, but I translated it in English.
Hyekyoung[HK]: How can I write a word 'pillow'?
Eunkyoung[EK]: I guess...Pi...ll...ow..pillow!
HK: Pill....aw?
EK: No, no, it is Pill'o'w
HK: Oh..okay I got it.
EK: Yes! Anyway, can you solve this math question? what is 1010+780?
HK: Let me see....it's 1790.
EK: Why? Isn't it 8810?
HK: No, it isn't. Because....you should follow the mathematic rule.
EK: What's that rule?
HK: You need to follow the double figures, and single figures....and calculate it!
EK: Woo....I don't know....I hate the math.....
HK: You can do it, let's try to solve other questions.