Everything about me! | Nature Korean Listening Practice

Hello everyone I'm Teacher Sol I've been creating a podcast specifically for beginners I've always wanted to create a podcast for mid-to-high- level learners which is why I've started this new series We'll be discussing various interesting topics about Korean culture and other foreign cultures Well then since this is the first episode I'd like to give you a brief introduction to myself You might not be curious but I'll tell you who I am and how I've lived my life I'd like to give you a brief overview of my life Yes I am a native Korean born and raised in Korea My hometown is Daegu Daegu is a city located next to Busan That's why I can speak the local dialect quite well But since you're a Korean language teacher let's start with Seoul dialect if you'd like to learn a regional accent we can cover that too I'd love to listen to a podcast in a dialect If you give me your feedback I'll try saying it again in the local dialect I went to elementary middle and high school all in Daegu Yes I have almost no memories of elementary school I didn’t really remember much from elementary school and in middle school I was completely obsessed with gaming Do you know this game everyone It's called MapleStory Though it's a gaming term there's a word called "hyanjil" in it Spending real money to buy in-game items is what gacha spending means Yes I've spent a lot on gacha spending After all he's just a student so he probably didn't have any money right That's why I went to my mom and dad my parents Oh I'll do the dishes so just give me ten thousand won I'll clean up so just give me ten thousand won That's how I ended up spending so much money on MapleStory items—true to my reputation for heavy spending I had so many friends in MapleStory—hundreds of them really I had way more friends in real life than online where I was completely popular That's why I spent three years all through middle school completely immersed in MapleStory And I really love animation too So you know those famous Japanese animations right I've watched everything like Naruto and One Piece I've seen them all That's why during middle school I lived a life spent only watching games and anime I did study a bit in high school though I went to the high school near my house When I was in first year I was just studying for exams but in third year I think I studied a bit more seriously I gained a lot of weight around that time I'll explain more about this Korean school and studying separately Yes I spent every single day from 8 a m to 1 a not at night but early morning living the life of a senior high school student in grade 12 That's how I ended up going to college—right to Seoul From here on out my life changed dramatically You could say the turning point of life is the college years Shall we head back to those days now Since I'd studied pretty hard in high school once I got to college in Seoul I just didn't feel like studying at all Yes I didn’t live with my parents and my dorm had no curfew so I was completely free I don't go to school anymore I've already finished all my classes and I drank alcohol I’ve been drinking and getting more and more hooked on this Overwatch game yeah I’m living a pretty wild life That’s how I wasted my first semester of freshman year at university I scored a staggering 1.8 GPA in my first semester of freshman year—yes just 1.8—because I didn't attend any classes There were three F's And here's a funny story Academic warning academic warning starting from 1.7 I barely managed to avoid academic probation But just think how disappointed my parents would be if they found out We sent our daughter to college in Seoul all by herself and now she's not studying at all—just drinking with a GPA of 1.8 So here's what I did: this report card flies home to me when the semester ends delivered by mail I've changed my address to my friend's house so my parents won't receive it and thus my grades are still unknown to them Yes our parents aren't watching this video are they Yes they should be watching it That way I truly enjoyed myself confidently during the first semester of first grade and I lived similarly during the second semester I didn't study hard but I did go to school—attended classes yet spent most of my time drinking and partying It was somewhat similar in second grade when I went on a short-term language study trip to Spain for about a month and also took a little trip around Europe Since then I've thought I really wanted to get good at language I had studied Spanish before I tried English too but that' s when I realized I needed to pull myself together and start living with a clearer mind And in 2018 I worked at the PyeongChang Olympics I've met so many foreigners while working but I'm just really bad at languages —I can't speak English well at all and I can't even have a conversation I really felt how pitiful I am—more than ever before—and at the same time I realized I absolutely must study English I made the decision in 2018 You can probably guess my age now and yes that's right I’m taking a leave of absence for the second semester of 2018 and I’d like to go on a language study abroad program for one year Working three part-time jobs simultaneously I studied English for two hours every day I taught math at a cram school from Monday to Friday and on weekends I worked mornings at an internet café and evenings at a café That's how I used to work There wasn't a single day off For eight months I work part-time and save money which allows me to go study English in Europe It was early 2019 and I was at Malta this place called Malta I'm going to study English for four months It was so much fun back then too There were lots of Koreans there But since I went there to study English I had only one Korean friend—just one And whenever I played with my foreign friends my English improved significantly—over the course of four months My English improved greatly and as I met people from all over I was exposed to many different cultures making it a truly wonderful time Yes and I'll be entering Korea four months from now I' ll be returning to school and I will resume my studies That's when my longing for English began—I just couldn't stop thinking how much I wanted to master it so I started carrying a schoolbook everywhere I'm taking another leave of absence Where do you think I've gone Well where I'm going is You said you'd been longing for English didn't you I'm going to the United States Yes I'm going for an internship in the U S in Los Angeles Fortunately I received a scholarship so I'm a student Yes I got the scholarship like that I'm going to the United States for an internship It was originally a one-year program I went in 2020 Do you remember that time That's when COVID-19 broke out— right in March of 2020 I'm going to the United States then So right after arriving everything was shut down everything was closed What is a shutdown In Korean everything is shut down everything is closed and everything is under control Even the company was out of reach for me—I couldn't even go to work It was as if I'd been barred from going to the office altogether For about a month it all felt utterly senseless Staying home just staying home and I didn't even have any money Yes so I went to a company I hadn't even tried working for I borrow money from the boss I've been in a situation where I couldn't pay the monthly rent and had to do something like that I was supposed to stay in the U S for a full year but I came back to Korea after only five months My big goal had been to go study English but the company was initially a Korean one and everyone there spoke only Korean My English wasn't improving at all and at the same time the work wasn 't fulfilling in the slightest so I ended up working for five months I'm heading straight back to Korea I'm returning to Korea since I still had one year left in fourth grade I'll finish school I graduated in 2021 then did a brief internship Where did you go I went to Peru I went there to visit my boss I went to Peru to work as a Korean language teacher I had a lot of career uncertainties I wanted to work in the United States I kept wondering what kind of work would give me a real sense of purpose and then I thought I'd like to volunteer in a way that's a little different from most people I taught Korean in Peru I was in Peru until last year This year I've returned to Korea I am currently working a regular office job Teaching Korean is something I do I've been consistently doing it online since 2021 and I still can't let it go I really enjoy meeting students and feel a great sense of fulfillment from teaching I teach Korean as a side job and yes I have a separate side hustle But I enjoy conversing with all of you like this The greatest fulfillment I get is from teaching Korean Someday I’d like to open my own little study space like this I've been thinking it would be nice to actually meet you all someday Yes that was a brief overview of my life so far I've lived quite dynamically There are many things I haven 't mentioned along the way but I even went to Mongolia As someone who's traveled to over twenty countries my goal is to share a wide variety of stories with you in a fun and easygoing way If you have any questions please don't hesitate to let us know Thank you so much for listening to my humble story keep up the great work with your Korean studies I'll be back with another fun episode soon See you later Goodbye