(The following series are from the three North Korean defectors that joined us during the winter and spring of 2020 from South Korea. Their words were originally in Korean and have been translated into English by ENoK staff.)
I began studying English with the hope of helping more people understand North Korea. At first, I and two other girls planned to stay in America for six months when we first went to Chicago.
We lived near the University of Chicago campus and learned from many volunteers who taught us in libraries and nearby cafes. We worked on grammar, conversations, vocabulary, and reading skills. When March came, however, because of COVID-19, we had to change all of our lessons to online sessions.
In a way, it was unfortunate that we could not explore downtown or go outside much at all because of coronavirus. However, in exchange, we got to spend more time talking with and learning about each other.
– J