Well, my class doesn't start until Monday, but I've been contemplating what I'm attempting. I've been worrying about my ability to really, truly, single-mindedly pursue this. I always approach things so dilettanteishly, in life. In fact, I've made a bit of a positive personal philosophy out of being a dilettante in many fields rather than an expert in any one subject.
All of which is to say, I'm actually feeling a bit terrified at the prospect of trying to be a full-time student, with virtually nothing else on my agenda, and no excuses not to study. Even if it's only a one-month commitment. Well. We shall see.
I just barely placed out of the absolute beginning level on the placement test at the hagwon I'll be attending. I would have been slightly mortified if I'd actually ended up in absolute beginning Korean 101. As it is, I'm in something roughly equivalent to 102.
The problem, as I suspected, was entirely due to my weak vocabulary. There was a section where I had to fill in noun case-endings, for example. I know, quite well, my Korean case-endings. But getting the right ones is next-to-impossible if you don't what the verbs are in the sentences in question. So… not such a good score, there. I actually did better on the spoken section, where the woman asked me questions and I had to answer. But she said I was too informal, and my tenses were wrong.
I have decided that between now and next Monday, I'll try to work through the first half of the textbook, which is the Korean 101 that I just barely placed out of.