I had a bit of a happy minor milestone with Korean this morning.
My building occasionally makes announcements over the intercom system. A few of these, in the past, I have learned to identify, mostly on the basis of keywords combined with the timing (each month's electricity bill delivery, for example, comes on a certain weekday near the end of the month).
Mostly, however, I feel about these intercom announcements the way the peanuts kids feel about their teacher's talking. The sound quality is poor, and my command of Korean is lousy at best.
It's just so much incomprehensible input.
This morning, however, there was an announcement. It included the word for electricity, and it listed a specific time, and I was able to decipher it enough to realize: a) the power was going out, and b) I knew the exact times. I was thus able to actually plan my morning around this knowledge.
Therefore, this represents the first time an intercom announcement influenced my behavior directly in a way closely connected to its intended meaning.
That's what language is for. So … I felt happy because of that.
I'm off to a very stressful week of work. Annual talent show, this Friday. Blog posts may be sparse…
[daily log: walking, 6 km]