The forms and demands of language learning are changing in the pandemic era. Learners no longer rely solely on a formal language curriculum. Instead, they are using various informal language learning (ILL) channels. Although informal language learning has been in the spotlight and is growing, more research on ILL is needed. In this study, ILL taking place through an online community was analyzed. Articles from the Korean learning community (r/Korean in Reddit) were collected, and the topic modeling technique, Latent Dirichlet Allocation, was conducted on the collected data. As a result, seven major topics were selected. The most common topics in all posts were issues faced by beginner learners, followed by vocabulary and sentence meanings, interest in Chinese characters and applications of Korean language skills, culture and daily life, translation, online learning materials, and Korean phonics. Through this, the interests of ILL learners and the characteristics of learners could be identified. Due to the nature of ILL, in which a formal curriculum does not exist, it was found that questions about general strategies for learning and questions that could not be solved in formal language education were most prominent. In addition, the characteristics of ILL learners who actively sought learning content and materials were also found.

There has been increasing evidence of the positive effects in informal science programs to promote the youths' positive development. However, relatively a small number of informal science programs target specific student populations such as youth in poverty with little research done about the important program factors. This case study presents an exemplary informal science education program (focusing on Earth Science Education or more specifically, water in urban environments) for youth in poverty in a midwest city of the United States. This study explored the most important characteristics of the program that could lead to positive development for the youth. Through a number of observations of the program and interviews with the participants, this study employs inductive and interpretive research methods. Findings show that the program managers' beliefs about the youths' knowledge and experiences, their relationship building skills, and their cooperative work are very important. A concrete mission for the program and structured institutional support to hire the youth as paid museum staff are also important in assuming their responsibility and building identity as an active social member.