bora00 Tutor Interview

Q. Hi bora00, can you introduce yourself to Cafetalk community?: A. Hello, I'm Bora the Korean teacher at Cafetalk. I appreciate this opportunity that I can introduce myself to Cafetalk community. I am a normal Korean girl who likes to travel and have a good time with my friends. It's already 2 years since I began to teach Korean. I was very shy and wasn't thinking about becoming a teacher, but now I am enjoying meeting people and teaching them Korean.
Q. Can you tell us about your city?: A. I live in Seoul now. I assume you are familiar with Seoul, so I want to talk about my hometown, Gwangju. The city is not famous as Seoul is, and yet Gwangju is famous for amazing cuisines! There are many visitors who want to taste our food. The food here is particularly famous for Kimchi and Deokgalbi(Korean traditional beef patty). If you want to try out the food in Jeonra province, I recommend visiting Gwangju someday. Plus, you can also hear a significant dialect that people use in Jenra province. If you want to experience our dialect, I can assure you will have a nice experience.
Q. You studied in Japan for a while. Can you share some of your experiences in Japan?: A. I stayed in Osaka while studying in Japan. I'm sure there are some of you who are curious that I chose to study in Osaka, not Tokyo. I was also hesitating whether I should study in Osaka or Tokyo, but I think I made a good choice at the end. You will think its dialect when you think about Osaka. I was worried about the dialect, but I am glad that I can be able to talk in the Osaka dialect. The most significant experience I had was working as a part-time job. I was not used to speaking Japanese at that time, and I had to understand customers who speak the Osaka dialect. However, I could learn Japanese a lot through this experience, and I also became a more outgoing person. I want to go back to Osaka someday.
Q. What made you decide to study in Japan?: A. I had a Japanese friend, but we had to communicate in English. This made us hard to understand better and deeper. I wanted to talk to my friend in Japan. I began to study Japanese through a textbook, but I decided to study in Japan to speak Japanese more fluently.
Q. What do you usually do when you have free time?: A. I usually stay at home watching movies or soap operas. I also meet friends to eat out and go shopping.
Q. What made you become a Korean tutor? what is the most important point in the lesson?: A. I wanted to have a career that I can use Japanese. I thought being a Korean tutor would be my temporary job, but it's already been 2 years. I realized that you can find some merits in online lessons whereas you can't really find these merits in an offline lesson. Although you need to read a student's emotions through a camera, I make sure I provide a relaxing atmosphere in a lesson where a student can enjoy learning Korean.
Q. Do you have any recommendations for studying Korean for beginners?: A. I studied listening through Japanese TV programs and speaking through Japanese friends. The most important factor in Japanese is intonation and pronunciation. I practiced words that are hard to pronunciate for Koreans. I recommend you to study with Korean friends. I know it is sometimes overwhelming to talk to the natives, but you will get used to talking to them if you talk to them often.
Q. Before we end the interview, please leave your message to Cafetalk students?: A. I know there are many students studying Korean for different reasons. Don't give up and enjoy learning the language. I want to assist you in learning Korean.