I considered Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The importance of Korea can not be overstated in the upcoming decades.  The fact that no peace treaty was signed with the North, ongoing nuclear and missile testing (North) and our presence of 20,000 soldiers along the DMZ in South Korea, the area will be prominent in our lifetime.

As with any language learning Korean will take practice and patience. The following poem is by Oh Sae-young a Modernist Poet (b. 1942) in South Korea.

Music

by Oh Sae-young
When their leaves have fallen
the winter trees
turn into musical instruments,
instruments
ringing out at the wind’s fingertips
following the notes hanging in the sky.

And not only trees.
Listen to the streams in the valleys.
Water bouncing off rocks as it flows
echoing under sheets of ice
is music too.

The tree where high notes ring from high branches
low notes from low branches
is a stringed instrument,
the valley where loud notes ring from big rocks
quiet notes from small rocks
is a wind instrument,

On a day like today
when snow has fallen white over the world,
the image of the one we yearn for effaced,
I want to listen to music
leaning here beside my window.

Emotions come through the ear
rather than the eye,
winter is a rainbow emerging through hearing.