(Part 4) Top products from r/washingtondc

My wife has taken courses with GLN and I took a few courses at the KCC. From hearing about my wife’s courses with GLN, it seems more suited to a casual interest and particularly helpful for tourists or language basics. Courses through the KCC are well-handled but much more intense, at most half of those who start Beginner I sign up for Beginner II. Not to mention how insanely small the class sizes get for the later courses. I personally had to drop halfway through Beginner II, I did not have the time to prepare/study outside of class. Also, there can be strong differences between teachers, and that makes a huge difference in whether you are prepared for later courses.

Some of the students at KCC have a background in Korean, either having family members that already speak Korean or who lived in Korea. There were people in Beginner II that lived in Korea for a year or more, you will never catch up to them. You also have your students that are hardcore Korean drama, cooking, and music (K-pop) fans and they can also leave you in the dust. This all makes it even tougher for someone without these backgrounds to get left behind.

There are some excellent resources available if you want to get a head start, such as https://www.amazon.com/Korean-Beginners-Mastering-Conversational-Included/dp/0804841004/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1484328652&sr=8-5&keywords=learn+korean but stay away from Rosetta Stone, as that is more geared to learning romantic languages (IMO). Overall, I would say Beginner I at the KCC would be casual and fun enough for anyone to take, but you have to consider your commitment in moving forward.

Prep courses not always necessary. It depends on your self-study commitment.

I used this book: https://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-LSAT-180/dp/0743224353. It was amazing. The actual LSAT seemed so easy by comparison to the test questions in this book. I also scored in the 98% percentile on the test.

I'd recommend seeing if there's a place where you can take a free practice test to see where you are. Then maybe evaluate whether you think you need additional help.

Yeah, I've been trying to find one as well and the only thing I could find was a shitty t-shirt on the WMATA site in google's cache. Alternatively, this is kind of cool as a coffee table book. One of the additional images shows it has DC in it. I do quite a bit of international traveling so maybe it's just interesting to me but I thought it was a pretty cool idea for a book. I think I may get it pretty soon.

I've heard good things about Washington's U Street: A biography, by Blair Ruble. It's less lyrical and more historical, but I think it paints a pretty great picture of a street that's been at the center of DC life for a long while.

http://www.amazon.com/Washingtons-U-Street-A-Biography/dp/0801898005

On a side note, how do I italicize text and embed hyperlinks?

I've got this one on my shelf right now. Haven't read it yet but it looks really interesting

Between Justice and Beauty: Race, Planning, and the Failure of Urban Policy in Washington, D.C

You totally should! They're great fun, both to build and to sail! Don't forget the instruction manual either; it's invaluable!

This book was required for my DC History class at GW and it was a great read. It was paired with Literary Capital, a book that is full of excerpts from what visitors thought of DC from Charles Dickens to more modern authors.

Get the Papazian book, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing

Also, there is homebrew shop in the district now

good read [The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital : The Masons and the Building of Washington, D.C.] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-Architecture-Nations-Capital/dp/0060195371) via amazon

Garfield is the most criminally under appreciated U.S. President. After reading this this book I wanted to put him on Mt. Rushmore: http://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President/dp/0767929713

I think the site deserves a plaque at least. #JusticeforJim

There's a whole chapter on the attempt to find the exact spot in the fantastic Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. Vowell also explores how the Garfield Memorial is kinda super gay. http://www.amazon.com/Assassination-Vacation-Sarah-Vowell/dp/074326004X

I believe the canonical history is Washington: A History of the Capital. It's quite good.

If this subject interests you I'd like to recommend the book A Way Out of No Way, which recounts stories from a Virginia plantation.

The Political Ladder: Insider Tips On Getting A Job In Politics by Alexandra Acker-Lyons

Getting a Job in Politics, and Keeping it by Ben Wetmore

I read both shortly after graduating from college and early on in my career, and they do good job of conveying the the high level of competition for these jobs, they steps you'll need to take, and the sacrifices you'll likely have to make if this is something you're really serious about.

> Strangely, it seems like that rate of progress has slowed down considerably in the 21st.

People who study these things are taking note. I haven't read this (yet), but it's on my list: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-American-Growth-Princeton/dp/0691147728

I read Escape on the Pearl last year and it's excellent. It's about slavery in DC and a group's effort to make an Amistad type escape.

https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Pearl-Freedom-Underground-Railroad/dp/0060786604

He wrote a book about the neighborhood, too!

Park View (Images of America Series)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738582182/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZK1Y7LR/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?dchild=1&psc=1&qid=1571962972&refinements=p_4%3ATopo+Graphic+Tees&s=apparel&sr=1-2

It's good, quality food with a relaxed atmosphere. Also, we brought Stuff White People Like and checked off like half of the things in the book during brunch one day (one of them is brunch, if I'm not mistaken).

It's pricey, but the food is generally pretty good. (Service failed me once, but hey, that happens everywhere.) Get the Devilish Eggs - deviled eggs with crab, smoked salmon, and lobster (separately).

If we're drawing from the same pool of characters, I'd pick Little Miss Bad