October 9th was Hangeul Day, a national holiday to commemorate the creation and publication of Hangeul and to recognize the excellence of Hangeul. Koreans will not have much time or opportunity to seriously think about “Hangeul” because it is a language that they speak, write, and listen to every day. On the occasion of “Hangeul Day,” however, I was able to seriously consider the meaning of Hangeul and its application. In particular, I came to think about the use of language and literacy in the 2030 generation, which I also belong to, and I would like to talk about it through this editorial.
Before the development of the media, we learned and acquired languages mainly through books. Perhaps that is why Koreans could understand the meaning of Korean words through the context of the text, and there was no big problem with having the ability to read and analyze them. However, with the rapid development of the media, people have more often learned languages through Social Networking Services (SNS) or videos instead of books. Of course, it can be said that the previous methods have advantages in that they can be learned through more fun and easier ways than reading books. However, it is questionable whether it is a good way to say that it is not given time to think about the meaning of the word or to think about how to use it at an appropriate time.
In fact, if we meet many 2030 generations, we will realize that the language used is quite diverse. We can see people using trendy words in their daily lives, and on the contrary, there are people who do not understand their language at all. In addition, some people know the original meaning of the language well and apply it well to the situation, but some people do not know the meaning of homonyms or words accurately, so they apply them incorrectly to the situation. As such, the use of language by the 2030 generation shows a wide variety of expressions.
It can never be said that a certain way is the answer and a wrong way. Over time, the language used by the younger generation naturally changed, and the process of acquiring the language changed. However, I think that knowing the meaning of the language and using it according to the situation should continue even if there is a change in the way the language is acquired.
Nowadays, there are more opportunities to encounter other languages instead of Korean, and new words are created through various attempts in Korean. While new words are emerging and new ways of learning are continuing to emerge, why do we not still try a little to keep the original meaning of Hangeul? I would like to ask the last question, thinking that the efforts of the current 2030 generation will have a great impact on protecting the language culture in Korea in the future. Now, how is your language usage?