Fully Korean, can barely understand it

Audrey Lee,
Menlo Park, CA

I’m fully Korean – both of my parents were born in South Korea to Korean parents. Yet I grew up in an English-speaking environment, and once I went to preschool, my mind switched from fluent Korean to English and American-accented Korean. I never returned to fluent Korean, and as I grew up, I stopped trying to learn it. In 2022, I wrote a poem, “An Ocean Away”, detailing my experiences and the disconnect I feel.