Minji Tutor Interview

Q. Hi Minji! Can you tell us about yourself?: A. Hello, my name is Minji. I teach Korean at Cafetalk. I visited Kumamoto for two weeks when I was in high school. I stayed with the homestay family, and I wanted to teach Korean to Japanese from that moment. I am learning Japanese, Japanese culture and society until now. My goal is to become a Korean teacher who can tell amazing stories about Korean cuisine, customs, best restaurants, K-Pop, soap opera so that students can understand Korean culture better.
Q. Where do you live now?: A. I live in a city named Daejeon. The city does not have many famous tourist sites, and yet it is a quiet and nice neighborhood to live. The city is known as “the center of transportation” and “the city of science”. It is not a famous city like Seoul and Busan but there are some awesome restaurants and places you can find. If you have a chance to visit Korea, don’t forget to visit Daejeon!
Q. Do you have any recommended place for those visiting Korea?: A. I recommend Jeonjoo. I haven’visited the city yet, but I heard you can experience Korean traditional town, night market, Hanbok(Korean traditional clothes) etc in a short time.
Q. What do you usually do when you have free time?: A. I usually study Chinese when I have free time. I study through Cafetalk or video lesson. Being a student as well as a tutor, I consider how a student can learn better and how a tutor can explain things better whenever I learn Chinese through lessons. Besides learning Chinese, I like to have times with my dog or cook my favorite dishes.
Q. How did you decide to become a Korean tutor? What do you consider the important point during a lesson?: A. When I was staying with the host family in Kumamoto, I was admired by their kindness and hospitality. Unfortunately, they were not familiar with Korea. I wanted to teach them Korean and Korean culture. This is the moment when I decided to become a Korean tutor. My goal is to make students to enjoy learning Korean. I try to help students to have interests in learning Korean and study the language consistently. It is important to help students to keep learning.
Q. Can you recommend a study method for students who learn Korean?: A. Make yourself enjoy learning Korean. This is a critical point. You don’t have to speak with a perfect sentence, and you don’t have to study through a textbook. Speak anything with vocabularies you’ve learned so far. Learning through an expensive textbook is not a must. You can learn through Korean song and soap opera. It is a good study method to listen to the songs you like and pronunciate song lyrics. I think it is essential to learn joyfully and persistently. Think what makes you enjoy learning Korean, and that will teach you the best.
Q. Before we end the interview, can you give the last message to the students?: A.I am glad that I can meet students to teach Korean and Korean culture. I hope my lessons be pleasant experiences to all of you.