Younghi Ramsey

This professor has taught: KORA101, KORA102, KORA201, KORA202, KORA211, KORA212, KORA311, KORA312, KORA398Y, KORA398Z

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Younghi Ramsey KORA311 Expecting a B psong 12/10/2015	If you sign up for KORA311 and you've only taken the pre-requisite UMD Korean classes, be very careful. Before entering this course, you are expected to know a LOT of vocabulary words that were not taught in previous courses, yet are not listed in the assigned textbooks. The in-class readings took a huge amount of time because 교수님 had to stop and ask if there were words we didn't know. In addition, these words will often be used on quizzes and tests. I'm not saying this course is impossible, but it will require more memorization than you would expect. You will also have to memorize certain poems for the tests (ask your TA about these). Surprisingly though, we didn't learn that much grammar.
Younghi Ramsey KORA311 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/08/2015	She is a nice and friendly woman, but she does not know how to teach. Overall, the class is very easy but boring as heck. I think the hw amount is not that bad (especially if your TA is nice enough it's going to be a guaranteed A).
Younghi Ramsey KORA202 cactus_rabbit 05/06/2015	There hasn't been a recent review for Professor Ramsey, so I figured I would write one in case students are thinking about taking KORA classes. I have taken KORA101, 102, 201, and 202 over the past four semesters. Overall, Professor Ramsey is a very nice lady and likes to see students make progress. However, her teaching style is a bit difficult. KORA 101 and 102 are pretty fun and easy enough if you put in an adequate amount of effort. Most of what you learn in class is straight from the book, but every week the TA will introduce some aspect of Korean culture. You have quizzes every Thursday that aren't too hard as long as you review a bit. KORA 201 and 202 were a bit different. First off, tests became a lot more difficult. At least for our class, she used to let us keep the reading prompts in 101/102 to help us answer questions. However, in 201/202 she gives you a passage for 5 minutes, lets you write down things, but then takes away both the story and anything you wrote down before you even see the questions you have to answer. Tests in 201/202 rely a lot more on purely memorizing the book instead of testing you on what you have learned which I found a bit unfair. In a language class memorization is important, but I think there should be more of a focus on being able to apply the vocab/grammar you learn in your own words. She basically expects you to memorize specific sentences and wording. The professor has the habit of including material from chapters you haven't covered yet on exams, but if you point this out during/after the test the TA can give you points back. Also, you skip an entire book between 201 and 202 which makes you feel extremely lost in 202 since you don't know half the grammar and vocab used in the textbook. My advice is to become good friends with the TA for your class. They make the weekly quizzes and usually hold review sessions if you ask. Needless to say I felt pretty frustrated during most of KORA202. I didn't have time to dedicate hours studying for this class each week, but if you have more time you might do better in the class. I would still recommend taking Korean classes, but just be prepared for KORA202 (maybe purchase the textbook you skip and review over the summer). Again, I don't fully agree with Professor Ramsey's teaching style but I really like her as a person.
Younghi Ramsey KORA211 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/02/2012	I cried myself to sleep because of this class. Professor Ramsey does teach it straight off the textbook and attendance is basically mandatory or else she'll not look too fondly upon you. She is not afraid to put you on the spot for lateness, grammar mistakes or anything. The students in this class has a ridiculous range of Korean backgrounds from natural speakers/writers to complete twinkies... Even though this is suppose to be the beginner's level for heritage students, the pace of the class got crazy fast. Kind of a miracle that I managed to get a B.... I don't think it's really fair that heritage kids have to take this class if we don't know really know the language at all with kids that already know so much.. HOLD ON TO YOUR TA LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT in this class. She ultimately makes/grades almost everything. If you need this class for whatever requirement you were gonna do, DO SOMETHING ELSE LIKE SPANISH. Not worth it, at all.
Younghi Ramsey KORA101 Expecting a W Raikou-Neko 12/14/2011	I dropped this course after the first 3 weeks. Irksomely, I'll get a W, but it's better than fighting through the craziest class ever. By our 3rd week, she expected us, non-heritage speakers, to be able to listen to Korean words and write them in Hangul. Anyone who knows Hangul knows there are overlapping vowels, so unless you know the spelling of the word, you have to guess. Which makes it even harder because we were not really taught the meaning of the words to begin with. The textbook was designed for high school students and we had to order it through an obscure Korean book website, meaning that I cannot return them. I ended up giving them to a friend who planned on taking the class next year. I loved the TA, but Ramsey could never make up her mind on what she wanted us to know. She say one thing and our quiz the following class would have it on there plus a bunch of other things we hadn't studied for (because she changed her mind and didn't tell us). The homework was similar, she'd change her mind 2 or 3 times and so several students always had the wrong assignment. There wasn't a syllabus that accurately state assignments. This class, as mentioned previously, was highly unorganized and a joke to college courses. I honestly feel that the only reason she is the teacher for the entire Korean department is because her husband is the department chair.
Younghi Ramsey KORA212 Expecting an A xcranberry 03/10/2011	A nice enough woman... but this class (and the whole KORA dept at UMD) is a joke, unfortunately--despite the many Korean students here, we do not have a major, for instance. To be fair, not completely her fault. The heritage class is comprised of many different students at different levels of mastery, and so, if you are higher than the level that she teaches on most of the time, you will do pretty well. Exams are very fair, and she likes to great a bit more strictly than the class would prefer. As someone else mentioned, a nice TA helps a lot. But despite this, she does try...it just ends up not being very good. She notices those who score well on exams, but she does/will help those who ask for it. TAs grade quizzes, she grades the exams. One group presentation, but even if you do horribly on that, if you have good grades on the other assignments, you'd still do well enough overall. Basically, if you are above level at all, you learn nothing from this class. I am really poor at reading and writing, but I'm pretty above speaking-wise, and it was this way for me.
Younghi Ramsey KORA212 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/09/2011	Overall, she is just a terrible teacher. She just makes students read straight from the book and randomly goes on tangents and expects you to know that material. She stops students in the middle of their sentences when they're speaking to interrupt with her own interpretation/translation, and she frequently pauses for at least 5 minutes to give an answer to a student who asks a question. It doesn't help that there are some students who are really good at Korean while there are others who can barely speak it, all in the same class. There were several korean minors who dropped their minors because of the horrible teaching system. If you are above the standard level of speaking, reading, and writing, don't expect to learn anything out of the class. It's an easy A, but you basically sit there and waste your time. If you need a Diversity core, go ahead, but reconsider if you are serious about learning the language.
Younghi Ramsey KORA311 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2010	She was such a good teacher in terms of teaching and preparing material for every class. However, her exams were impossible. Make sure you have a nice TA, otherwise, you will definitely end up with a C or a B. I barely got an A and I went to Korean School at my church for a while. Her exams consist of memorizing poems. It's very ridiculous. I advise you to not take this class if you are not minoring in Korean. It's not worth the effort. There is a quiz ever week too.
Younghi Ramsey KORA211 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/01/2010	The TA was nice. I don't know if he'll be there next time though. The professor seems like a nice enough person. If you miss three classes, your grade drops a letter grade.--However, there is really no need for you to be there. She just teaches the class directly off the book (that is, we take turns reading the book out loud for the whole class). We also have the exams, quizzes, essays, homework assignments, and a presentation. I'm an above average korean speaker and I basically learned nothing...but I skipped a few classes which impacted my grade a bit in the beginning. Oops. On the plus side, it isn't a hard class if you're good at Korean?
Younghi Ramsey KORA102 Expecting an A ricki_ravioli 05/22/2010	Extremely easy and dull course. Unfortunately the level of the class as a whole is low and we spent a lot of time waiting for students. The teacher never did anything to challenge us, just maybe wrote some new vocab on the board and changed the subject right away.