When I first came to Korea, I couldn't speak the Korean language. I couldn't even understand what Koreans were saying, because I had no chances to speak or hear the Korean language when I stayed in China. For me, the first two months were just like falling into a terrible dream. All the people around me spoke a language which I couldn't understand. They sounded so noisy to me, and I felt my that my head might explode. The most terrible thing was that during class time I didn't know what the professors were saying. Can you imagine the feeling when other students except you were laughing because the professor said something interesting, but you  didn't even know why they were laughing? During that time, I had to communicate with other students with my poor English, but it was so difficult. It was just like I was in a deep forest and had lost my way.
        I knew that the urgent thing for me was communication, and I had to learn to understand their language in a short time if I wanted to study here. So, when someone suggested to me to live with a student who majored in Chinese language, I refused that. I lived with a real Korean student who didn't know any Chinese language. Every day, I stayed in the TV room to watch TV except my class times. I saw all kinds of shows except news, because I think that the words used in news were too formal and a little difficult. I saw almost all the dramas on the different channels, because I thought the dramas were just like our real lives and the language was simple and understandable. Till now, some Korean students are very surprised that I know so many Korean actors.
        At the same time, I tried to speak as often as I could, even a word. I often asked others when I heard some new words, "What does that mean? In what kind of situation can I use it...?" I listened to their talking very carefully and tried to memorize the common expressions. At first, some students laughed and imitated me when I was speaking, because my intonation was mixed with Chinese, and that was so strange to them. But I was not ashamed about that, but just spoke. When I stayed in the TV room by myself, I repeated the actors' dialogue again and again to try to change my intonation. During the first summer vacation, I put myself completely into studying the Korean language. I got a part-time job in the central library, and I tried to talk with my work mates and learn some slang which I couldn't learn from books.
        The second semester became easier than the first one, because I could understand many of them. Now it is my third year since I came to Korea. I can speak Korean very well, and I can understand almost all of it. But I made one big mistake. I didn't study how to write. I seldom thought about writing, because there was no problem with my communication. I know that when learning a language, speaking and listening are important, but writing is important also. These days, I  am trying to read some fiction in Korean and English, and I am trying to understand in both language, but I haven't had much success.
        Sometimes I think that if I had studied how to write and some grammar when I could understand only half of the Korean language, I would have a more perfect Korean language ability than now.