Wondering why there’s an image of swans here? Read on to find out!
An amiable and highly-respected professor at School of International Liberal Studies (SILS), Professor Rhee Maji Christine exudes poise and humility inside and outside of classroom. Besides Korean and Korean Studies, Professor Rhee also teaches Culture and Law as well as Legal Communications. This week, Her Campus talks to her about appreciating our mothers as well as mastering multiple languages.
HC Waseda: Thank you for accepting our interview.Professor Rhee: Thank you for interviewing me! I saw your website and I think what you girls are doing is great! If there’s something that I could express on the website, I just want to say that you should be more grateful to your mothers. What my mother did for me, all the sacrifices she made, are just beyond my expression. My language cannot explain everything in words. You know, it’s kind of amazing, me having a job and being a mother simultaneously. At the beginning, it was so tough. It is enormously expensive to send children to day care centres. The fees for after-5 hours are even more expensive, and that means you have to forgo any leisure with colleagues after work. I think young people should be more appreciative of what their mothers do for them, and that’s my message.
HC Waseda: What do you think is the toughest thing about being a mother?Professor Rhee: It is very hard and very demanding physically. If you have a young child, you have to be physically strong. For infants up to 2-years old, they usually have to take naps throughout the day, and you have to feed them every 3 to 4 hours. It requires a lot of physical strength. But people always take that for granted. Up till 6-years old, or what I call the critical developmental stage, children need full support from mothers. The people I interact with are very prominent, but you know, in order to get to that point, you need someone’s help. Not many people focus on the fact that their mothers play a big part in making them who they are.
HC Waseda: We heard that you speak fluent English, Japanese, Korean and French. Do you have any tips for learning a foreign language?Professor Rhee: (holds up her book) Oh, this is in French! For French, if you already have good English competency, it comes naturally. But you have to listen to the news, and it’s all in the internet. For Japanese, there are many national news channels such as NHK available online. At the same time, you should read a lot of books. You can pick up a lot of vocabulary and other skills from there.
HC Waseda: But pronunciation can be so difficult sometimes. I think it’s what foreign language learners struggle with the most.Professor Rhee: That’s the charm of learning another language! There’s a metaphor that I use all the time. Swans always appear to float with so much grace on water. But in order to stay afloat, they actually have to paddle a lot. At the surface, they appear so elegant and effortless, but you don’t see the paddling and kicking that happen below the water surface. It’s really energy consuming! That’s like learning a foreign language. You have to paddle a lot and keep practising. I think this is the best time for you to learn new things! You’re in your 20s, and you have the time to study. Once you have a job and a family, you won’t be able to have so time to much study.
Professor Rhee: Swans always appear to float with so much grace on water. But in order to stay afloat, they actually have to paddle a lot.
HC Waseda: What motivates you to learn so many languages and be so good at them?Professor Rhee: Simply the love of the culture, especially the literature. Once you like the literature behind the culture – and literature is like a written media – you will form a passion for the language. My goal is to have impeccable writing skills in different languages but it is hard, extremely hard, to write like a native. I think it’s close to impossible! It’s the biggest challenge in language learning. You have to constantly practise, practise and practise. It’s an accumulative effort. If I find some expressions that I like from a book that I read, I copy them, and then try to create my own expressions from there. It is very time-consuming.
HC Waseda: It’s really enjoyable at the same time, isn’t it?Professor Rhee: Yes, yes. Also, you have to develop the habit. Whatever you do on a daily basis, they become great strengths.
* Professor Rhee prefers not to have her picture posted.