Kai Ford, ’23, East Asian Studies, Working on Prof. Hi-Sun Kim’s Language Transcription for the Korean Language Program project
My work with Professor Kim was focused on transcribing recorded interviews of Korean students from various levels of the Korean language program. The students were given a topic to discuss and then proceeded to converse freely on the topic for anywhere from 25-30 minutes. My job was to take careful note of anything from mispronunciations, lapses of speech, use of english, etc. From this, Professor Kim will be able to identify consistencies amongst the various levels of students, information that is useful in documenting the learning process while also allowing instructors to further refine their own teaching practices.
As someone whose entire language journey occurred at Harvard, it’s no surprise that I was incredibly interested in discovering the patterns that existed in the language learning process at Harvard. Not only did it allow me to reflect on my own habits, but I was also able to practice my listening skills and was forced to focus on the little aspects of others’ speech.
During my initial years learning the Korean language, I also participated in this study. It’s been a wonderful experience to be able to pay back (a very miniscule amount) of the attention and care that’s been given to me during my time with the Korean language department. I hope to continue to have this same attention to detail in my language journey moving forward.
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Kai Ford, ’23, East Asian Studies, Working on Prof. Paul Chang’s Reinventing Family: The Rise of Non-Normative Households in South Korea project
Professor Paul Chang’s research, ‘Reinventing Family: The Rise of Non-Normative Households in South Korea,’ first drew my attention because of its connection to my own background. While I’ve personally experienced life with a single parent in a multicultural family, it would be foolish to believe that such experiences are the exact same even within the states, let alone in a completely different country. Thus, I was more than excited at the opportunity to assist with his research.
My focus during this internship was on the 4B movement in South Korea. 4B is shorthand for four Korean words that all start with bi-, or “no”: 비혼 (bihon) the refusal of heterosexual marriage, 비출산 (Bichulsan) the refusal of childbirth, 비연애 (biyeonae) saying no to dating, and 비섹스 (bisekseu) the rejection of heterosexual sexual relationships. It’s seen as a more radical feminist off-shoot of the already well established “N포" movements of the MZ generation in South Korea. I was tasked with finding the answers to various questions including the spread and influence of the movement, its roots, if there are any countermovements, and more. This led me to interacting with a wide breadth of resources discussing the topic and allowed me to become significantly more informed on the topic. Additionally, I assisted Professor Chang by being one of many to read through and provide feedback occasionally on his work-in-progress chapters.
Through this research, I have not only gotten better at understanding how to responsibly collect and analyze information on disenfranchised groups for the purpose of understanding their backgrounds and struggles, but the gathered information has provided me with a better understanding of the feminist movements within South Korea to better communicate with others on the topic.