Time transcripts of Mason

[00:00:00:00]	Oh, okay. Hello, my name is  Mason Myeongseon Ha. 

[00:00:03:27]	I am from South Korea and  I'm interviewing with Catherine.

[00:00:08:06]	So, it's really an honor to help her. So, yeah.

[00:00:11:26]	[ interviewer - Okay, so what  age did you start learning English? ]

[00:00:15:05]	Uh, what age? At... I think at 16.

[00:00:19:29]	At the high school, first year. From that time,

[00:00:23:29]	every single student in South Korea  started learning English

[00:00:27:14]	as the second language  from the education system.

[00:00:32:19]	At that time, I started English from the scratch - 

[00:00:35:13]	I mean the base grammar,  or alphabetical order, something like that -

[00:00:39:08]	and, impact in South Korea it's really important 

[00:00:43:23]	to study hard in English to get to good University, 

[00:00:48:22]	permission I mean. 

[00:00:50:07]	So, at first time I just think English  as just the test subject.

[00:00:56:17]	Not for the communication, that sort, but

[00:00:59:28]	as time goes by I met several friends in the...

[00:01:03:22]	I mean, English speaking countries.  I feel I need to study English more. 

[00:01:09:24]	So that's the reason I study English

[00:01:12:05]	bottom-up. From graduation from high school. 

[00:01:15:01]	To sum up, my english learning experience  start from the 16s.

[00:01:19:25]	[ interviewer - Okay, so is there a particular  reason you wanted to learn English? 

[00:01:25:19]	Or was it mostly because it was required?]

[00:01:28:16]	At first, as I mentioned, it's required one but

[00:01:31:29]	I met the America guy, he's from, I don't know.

[00:01:37:05]	He's from the Maryland or something like that. 

[00:01:39:01]	And, he's exchange student from the American  to my high school.

[00:01:44:01]	So I met him and I tried communicate  [ with ] him and be nice friend. 

[00:01:49:15]	But, at that time, my English is not that good, 

[00:01:52:28]	so I felt that I need to study English so,

[00:01:55:25]	that's the reason I keep trying  to improve my English. 

[00:01:59:21]	[ interviewer: Ok, so, now that you've been  learning English for a little while, 

[00:02:04:28]	how do you feel speaking English with people?

[00:02:07:29]	Are you more comfortable with it?  Or is it still very challenging?]

[00:02:11:17]	I think that depends. Uh... 

[00:02:14:26]	it's... depends on the circumstance.  I mean, just casual talking 

[00:02:19:08]	with my friendly people such as friend  or the professor,

[00:02:24:29]	it's kind of comfortable. But the -  when it comes to first people.

[00:02:30:09]	I mean, the people that I met first time,

[00:02:32:25]	it's really hard to communicate just for... 

[00:02:35:13]	I don't know why but the... uh...

[00:02:39:15]	try to make good first impression makes me 

[00:02:43:28]	feel a little bit difficult speaking English and...

[00:02:48:18]	and in terms of the class,

[00:02:51:23]	the jargon is really difficult in some subject.

[00:02:54:29]	Such as economics or the mathematics, something like that, the topic is...

[00:03:00:22]	is sometimes harder to communicate,

[00:03:03:19]	but the in casual setting, it's really good.

[00:03:06:29]	[ interviewer - Okay, so your nervousness  when meeting people for the first time - 

[00:03:11:28]	do you experience that when you speak  in Korea too? Because I know,  I'm a native English speaker,

[00:03:16:25]	but I have a hard time talking to people  at the first time. Do you think it has to with that

[00:03:20:29]	or is it just more nervous with English?] 

[00:03:23:16]	Compared with English, I mean,  English is much harder to express. 

[00:03:29:21]	I mean, it's second language 

[00:03:32:10]	and sometimes I just stopped,

[00:03:35:20]	and say nothing. But, I know that at first time, 

[00:03:41:15]	I need to go - I need to take initiative  to make friend

[00:03:44:22]	or make good impression.  But my English abilities,

[00:03:48:16]	it's a little bit limited, so...

[00:03:52:00]	English is harder. 

[00:03:55:04]	[ interviewer - okay, so, what is the difference  between when you

[00:04:00:24]	were learning English and speaking -  actually speaking it now in practice?]

[00:04:04:28]	It's really different. I mean, just 

[00:04:09:02]	solid vocabulary or reading textbook  it's really far from speaking English. 

[00:04:13:23]	Speaking English is kind of habit I think.

[00:04:16:20]	Just giving practice and make - 

[00:04:20:02]	making more comfortable myself. 

[00:04:22:27]	So next time I can speak more jargon  or more express just... 

[00:04:27:02]	How can I say... more eloquently I mean.

[00:04:34:05]	But the... just reading text book...

[00:04:36:23]	or...

[00:04:38:00]	just learning grammar is not good way  to learn English, I think.

[00:04:45:24]	I just learned that, in this quarter...

[00:04:49:05]	I mean, before I came here, I just start learn.

[00:04:51:28]	I think for English speaking I just want to - 

[00:04:56:28]	I just want to read the textbook. But, when I came here

[00:05:00:28]	I feel that I need to speak English. Yeah. 

[00:05:04:12]	That's really different.  [ interviewer - Okay, so what is... what's

[00:05:09:01]	what's the hardest thing about speaking English?]

[00:05:12:01]	Oh, that's a really difficult question. Let me see...

[00:05:16:14]	Hm... 

[00:05:21:06]	from time to time I can not guess the...

[00:05:25:09]	do you know American joke?  [ interviewer - Mhm. ]

[00:05:27:19]	Um, I can not understand that. Sometimes people speaking in joke, and  making joke something,

[00:05:34:09]	or make funny - funny atmosphere 

[00:05:37:26]	or something like that, but I can not get it.  That's the - 

[00:05:40:24]	That's the one of the  biggest things I have right now. 

[00:05:43:09]	I think that's because I have no understanding  of American culture.  [ interviewer - Mkay, so is it just jokes?

[00:05:49:07]	or does that carry on to sarcasm too?] 

[00:05:51:21]	Yeah, I think some kind of that. That topic.  [ interviewer - That's difficult too? ] Yeah.

[00:05:55:13]	[ interviewer - So what was it like in South Korea,

[00:06:01:04]	learning English? Like...  what was your experience with it?]

[00:06:05:18]	Uh, in high school,

[00:06:08:25]	it's really about just reading  and grammar or listening

[00:06:12:13]	but I think also these things  are changing right now, 

[00:06:16:07]	is more emphasis on the speaking itself. 

[00:06:18:27]	So many Korean students started learning  speaking in middle school,

[00:06:24:07]	different from my generation.  So I think it's really good, the policy.

[00:06:30:16]	But from my experience in high school,

[00:06:32:15]	it's just about reading. Yeah. 

[00:06:35:15]	But I think that since it's changing right now,  it makes more good opportunities.

[00:06:41:21]	to my - the - my junior.

[00:06:45:23]	[ interviewer - Okay, so is there  anything you want to share about 

[00:06:49:17]	your experiences learning English or anything?]

[00:06:52:12]	Mm, frankly speaking I'm not

[00:06:57:15]	perfect English speaker, I know, but the -  I try to improve myself. 

[00:07:02:04]	From my experience, it's really important

[00:07:05:01]	I met the English speaking people. 

[00:07:07:12]	Not... I met the student from Maryland,  that experience really helped me.

[00:07:13:13]	I can... 

[00:07:15:05]	I can learn how to in proper English  not from textbook.

[00:07:21:28]	Just in speaking. And, actually,

[00:07:25:04]	I joined army in 2009 and 

[00:07:29:14]	I worked with American soldier in U.S. Garrison.

[00:07:33:15]	At that time, I felt that my English is really limited

[00:07:38:07]	I must speak English  in front of American soldiers.

[00:07:41:04]	Yeah, from my - from several experiences...

[00:07:46:29]	experience, I think, speaking in American people

[00:07:49:25]	is really important to English  and it'll be very help too.

[00:07:53:04]	to learn English. And...

[00:07:56:08]	hm... let me see.. the other thing?

[00:08:01:16]	This interview makes me help  to improve my English too.

[00:08:07:08]	Thank you from that.  [ interviewer - You're welcome,  I'm glad I helped you too! ]

[00:08:10:17]	I hope that my interview is really helpful to you.

[00:08:14:25]	[ interviewer - It will be. ] Hm... 

[00:08:16:00]	Let me see. The other thing...

[00:08:22:04]	Yeah, that's all. [interviewer - That's all?] Yeah.  [interviewer - Alright, well thank you very much!]  Yeah, you're welcome!