My Korean Language Journey: 

Hello everyone, I’m Stephanie Bulega-Nasuna with another article about Korea, but on learning Korean. When you go to Korea you will not regret learning even just the basics of Korean before you arrive. In this blog post, I’ll highlight the tips, tricks, and my journey learning Korean. P.S. I started learning Korean at Yonsei University during my spring ’22 semester as a sophomore. I took a Korean 101 class at Yonsei University that met three times a week for two hours. There was only Korean in my textbook, homework, and assignments. The only time we used  English was asking my professor questions. My class was online, but it may have changed now. However, for the midterm and exam there was reading, writing, listening, and a speaking portion with your Korean teacher. Coming back, I wanted to continue learning Korean, however, it’s not offered anymore at Suffolk, so I’ve been self-studying for a almost a year with the sources I’ll be naming below. All these sources helped me improve immensely and I’ll also be providing a review  of them too.  Now, I’m a lot better at holding a conversation in Korean with my friends and tutor, I can read a lot faster, my listening is much better, but my writing could still use some work. 

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Tips & Tricks:  

1. Korean is a character based language. When you’re first learning you may write the corresponding English sounds when reading Hangul (the Korean alphabet). Eg. 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo). This ruins your pronunciation a lot because you’re supposed to be learning Korean not English.  In my Korean classes I improved tenfold by not writing the English romanticization and instead memorizing the sounds.

  ->Here’s the video that helped me: Learn Hangul 한글 (Korean Alphabet) in 30 minutes – YouTubeYouTubehttps://www.youtube.com › watch

2.There are a lot of resources out there for learning Korean however when creating a studying schedule it’s trial and error to see what works for you. Try it all because as I studied Korean some methods were not for me. Make a schedule that fits with your responsibilities. For my goals, I try to study everyday which sometimes doesn’t happen but even two-three days of studying is still progress for me.    

  3. Identify and remember what your goal is, if it’s watching K-dramas without subtitles, knowing travel phrases, or even mastery of Korean. Overtime I’ve realized some study methods were excessive and did not fit my goals for Korean and I dropped it . Do not overload yourself with things to study or you’ll burn out. Language learning is not knowing every single word in the language, but knowing what to say in different situations.

4. Learning a language is lifelong. You’re not going to be fluent in a couple months or a year. There’s a setup to learning a language starting with the alphabet, vocabulary, grammar, idioms, slang, and so much more. However, make it fun so you don’t feel like giving up.

5. When learning Korean or any new language, you’re going to embarrass yourself a lot, I know from experience. Don’t give up, instead laugh it off and learn how to fix it. In Seoul, with my Korean tutor and Korean friends, I messed up so much but I could laugh about it and then ask how to fix it.

6. It’s okay to take breaks from a language or even miss a day or more from studying a language. You’re a human being, things come up and you get busy. You can come back to it and all your progress doesn’t just magically disappear. Sometimes I get so busy I can’t sit and read my Korean textbooks but I’ll make time to learn new vocabulary for ten minutes.  

7. Update and change your language study routine to what works best for you. This prevents your routine from getting old and lets you choose what areas to focus on. I review my language schedule every month and might change my habit from doing something once a week three times or even the other way around. 

 

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Sources & Reviews: 

 I understand why as a college student you wouldn’t want to pay for language resources. You do not have to, but personally for me since I pay for some subscriptions for these resources I feel I have to use the resource to the fullest extent and get my money’s worth. In my experience, paying for language resources has been a worthwhile investment. I have found that the more I use these resources, the more I learn and the more confident I become in my language skills. However, I only pay for the resources where it is going to be 100% worth it.

1. Duolingo (Language Lesson App) 6/10

• I’ve been using the free version, but started a free trial of premium. I like not being limited by how many hearts I have to practice so I can make mistakes. 
• It’s good for learning vocab and getting used to Korean sentences, but you cannot use it alone to learn Korean. 
• It tends to be repetitive with sentences.
• It’s convenient that I can practice it anywhere. 
• It helps you practice Hangul too.

 

2. Quizlet (Flash Card App) 8/10

•  I use premium to get the learning feature and see my progress of what I know, do not know, and haven’t studied. Also, the test feature is great. 
• I like I can put in an English word and it automatically translates to Korean. 
• I can have multiple sets of what I learned at Yonsei University, with my tutor, and what I learn on my own. 

 

 

3. Teuida ( App for Speaking Korean) 10/10

• I like apps where it’s interactive. This one you can practice speaking Korean. You get everyday situations to learn key Korean phrases.
  
• They’ll ask you a question and you speak into your phone and answer. 
• They have fun stories with different themes to practice. I don’t have the time, so I just do the lessons. 
• Their premium to me has a higher rate compared to other apps. The only difference is you get early access to the same material, so I won’t pay. 

 

4. TTMIK  (A website for learning Korean) 10/10

• I pay a premium subscription for this site because it’s entirely worth it. You get access to pre-recorded online courses for difficult topics in Korean like for the difference between topic and subject marking particles.  
• It’s a great grammar tool and has ten levels of Korean. Each level has thirty lessons that come with a podcast episode of the founders explaining Korean grammar, then sample dialogues, and then you get a quiz to test your mastery.
• They also have books that I’ve bought that are super detailed and have a deeper analysis of how Korean works. I’ve bought: Build and Extend Korean sentences, Hangul Master, and Real Life Korean conversations.  

 

5. Mirinae (Learning Korean with AI)  10/10

• This AI program is like a translator app, but it is different because it analyzes speech and grammar patterns. It provides an explanation of the grammar and conjugations there and how it works. 
• It helps me a lot when I have to translate English sentences into Korean for my translation homework from my tutor. 

 

6. Dr. Moku (Language Learning with Mnemonic Tricks) 9/10

• The premium subscription lets you access the most useful Korean phrasebook with themes such as: Express yourself, Essentials,Travel phrases, etc,.  
• I love mnemonics while learning Korean. Associating with different grammar or vocabulary makes it fun to memorize.  
• It helps you learn with mnemonics, helps you practice hangul with reading and listening, and has a chart with Hangul characters you can click to learn the sound.   

 

 

7. Papago (Translator App) 8/10

• A better version of google translate for Korean.  
• I used this app to take picture of signs and menus in Korea to see what it translated to in English.  
• At Yonsei, I would write the sentence in Korean on my own and check my answer with Papago. 

 

8. Italki (Online, Language Tutoring Site) 10/10

• Italki is a website where you can find many online, language tutor for Korean and other languages. Since Suffolk doesn’t offer Korean classes, Italki was the closest I could get.  
• There are professional tutors who cost more, but have a background/their profession is teaching the language. Or there are community tutors for a lower rate who you can have informal, conversation practice with.
• My tutor is a professional tutor who I meet with once a week for an hour for $30. For ten minutes we have a conversation, for thirty minutes she does her lesson plan of grammar rules, and in the last twenty I do exercises with her with those grammar rules.
• My Korean tutor takes notes for me on the concepts we talked about and what we discussed in our conversation. She also gives me weekly homework to finish before our next lesson.

9. Language Immersion:  

• There are so many ways to immerse yourself and learn the Korean language. It’s how I keep learning Korean that’s interesting and not all textbook based.  
• Watching K-dramas with the google chrome extension.  language reactor that displays both Korean and English. 
  • For me its a passive way for me to learn Korean and finish my shows.  
• Learning the lyrics of Korean songs. 
  • This really forces me to read and speak with confidence. Especially since it is someone singing and usually it is my favorite songs.
• Subscribing to Korean YouTubers who speak in 100% Korean.  
  • The more Korean I learn, the more I understand what they’re saying in the video before reading the subtitle.
• Texting and calling friends in Korean.    
  • Its unscripted practice and low stakes because it’s with my friends.    
• Starting a Korean diary and writing about my day in Korean every couple of days.  
  • I look at my old notes and review this way.
  • I look at old concepts and make sentences using those concepts to describe my day to make sure I have mastery.

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My Advice 

To wrap up this post, through learning Korean I understand the urge to keep rushing into the next topic. However, speeding through learning a language doesn’t mean you’ll get better. It’s actually the quality of your language learning and what you invest into it that makes you better. Also, reviewing even the simplest topics is key so you don’t forget basic concepts as you move onto the next topic. When adjusting your language schedule ask yourself, “What should I focus on next?” As you learn you will be embarrassed as you make mistakes, but mistakes are signs that you are starting to make an effort. Language learning should be fun, so stick with what is fun and aligns with your goals. For me, this meant applying to the CLS Korean program and Korean Intensive Summer Language Program (KILSP) by American Councils . Both are summer programs focused on sending students to spend a summer in Korea intensively learning Korean. I was selected as an alternate for KILSP, but I was accepted for CLS and will be in Gwangju, Korea to attend Chonnam University to study Korean and reach an intermediate level.