Korean Job Discussion Forums

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

Being ESL instructors we learn about lots of different methods of language acquisition.

How did or are you learning Korean?

I currently have Rosetta Stone Korean language packs 1 and 2. Not sure how knowing the boy is on the airplane is going to help me.

I am also just finishing downloading 18 cd's of Pimsuelrs learning korean. I have the first disk already but I don't feel that reverse drill really works with me.

I believe that learning the alphabet may be a help to me not sure where to look. I presume there is an internet site that will teach me the alphabet.

I learnt Thai by the natural method. Really natural I just didn't speak to people and listened to them talking for three years. Now I'm in Korea I'm amazed at how much Thai I can use to answer a Korean when they ask me a question.

I'm really undisciplined when it comes to studying languages so any tips would be of use. I know I should listen to the advice I give my students but that would be too easy.

JeJuJitsu · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Location: McDonald's

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

I meant that when people speak to me and it's translated or I sort of understand what they are saying I can answer in Thai.

It's bloody hard not to.

Not much use to a Korean though.

Mashimaro · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: location, location

westonw · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Location: Omungwelume, Namibia

i know how you feel. i've been in korea six months and feel i've made an earnest attempt at learning the language and my progression has been minimal. i'm not much of a linguist, though i speak spanish well, however it took a couple years of study and living in latin america about a year and a half. i plan on staying in korea at least a couple of years and imagine by the time i leave my korean may still be at a basic conversational level. i plan on keeping at it for the duration of my time here. right now i take classes once a week, study with a friend twice a week, and daily on my own from anywhere between 10 - 30 minutes. after learning the alphabet i've been studying out of two books that i've found helpful, Korean Through English and Speaking Korean for Beginners. i posted an article on my website about learning the language which some of you may find interesting...

http://whataboutwes.googlepages.com/i%27mnolinguist%2Careyou%3F

also, i know what you mean. the first few weeks i don't know how many times i reverted to answering people or trying to communicate in spanish just out of habit or instinct...didn't work too well. good luck to everyone in your pursuit of the korean language.

Ginormousaurus · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

When I first came to Korea I definitly planned on learning the language, but after 2 years it was clear that I just wasn't going to be able to pick it up simply by hearing it spoken. Maybe some can learn effectively that way, but not me. Finally I quit my hagwon job and enrolled in Yonsei. 6 months later I quit Yonsei and enrolled in Sogang. My only regret was staying at Yonsei for level 2. (I had a terrible teacher)

Good luck to you and stick with it.

xCustomx · Joined: 06 Jan 2006

There are a lot of different ways to learn Korean. I think the most important thing to do is to learn the alphabet, then you won't have to struggle with the romanization pronunciations, which are terrible.

If you have time in the mornings you could enroll at YBM or Pagoda (i think they have classes). The university classes are not really meant for people who work full time. Besides the 4 hours of morning classes you'd be looking at at least 3 hours of homework a night in order to memorize the vocab, study grammar, writing and conversation.

I recommend getting a language exchange partner, but be careful that it doesn't just turn into an English only conversation.

I recommend either the Sogang books or Seoul National Univ. books.

I have studied pretty much by myself for the last 2 years, though I also listen to Korean music once in a while and watch some dramas. Even though I don't think my pronunciation is that great, people comment on how good it is. I guess it's just one of those things that if you listen to the language enough your pronunciation will naturally get better.

Try looking for "Let's Speak Korean" on Arirang's website. The student on there is an idiot and plays the stupid foreigner role, but overall the show is somewhat helpful. Good luck

mrsquirrel · Joined: 13 Dec 2006

Do the classes use modern teaching methods or are the teachers reverting to the learning by rote?

I would be interested in actually partaking in some lessons if they used different learning methods to see if I can find one which suits me and my boneidleness.

True Samurai · Joined: 07 Feb 2007

I found a great site. Google up 'Genki Korean' (dot com) and they have games to help you learn the alphabet, numbers and basic vocabulary. Learning doesn't have to be fun, but it sure as hell does help!

ron_j · Joined: 02 Mar 2007

Once you have an idea of the sentence structure of hangul, you can start watching korean movies with english subs. I find that you can pick up quite a bit that way, while enjoying yourself.

chickyabroad · Joined: 24 Jul 2006 Location: Seoul

I found this site http://www.langintro.com/kintro/index.htm to be really good for learning the alphabet and some other basics.

I also have some books, but like the OP, I'm very undisciplined about learning on my own. Recently I've just been asking my Korean friends lots of questions whenever we go out, which has actually been working pretty well.

Ginormousaurus · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

Sine qua non · Joined: 18 Feb 2007

Schools generally make stupid people smarter.

From my experience, I vote for the attending-classes-at-Ehwa-or-wherever method of learning Korean. It becomes a force-fed, steady diet of Korean language acquisition. You can't not learn Korean in that environment (except in the rare case where the teacher just isn't effective--just go with the law of large numbers and plan to study in many classes, back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-...).

Also, spending the majority of free time with Koreans (i.e., friends) works wonders.

tomato · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:22 am Post subject:

Hello, Mr. Squirrel!

This question has been asked before--and each time with different answers:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=58293&highlight=zone++proximal+development
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=58070&highlight=zone++proximal+development
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=31230&highlight=zone++proximal+development

madtinkerer · Joined: 02 Jul 2004 Location: Gumi, South Korea

I've been going through the Seoul National Korean books with a Korean Language Education major that I met. I prepare before our "class" - we meet 3 times a week for an hour each time (10k won an hour), we review the examples in the book then do some focused examples free talking. I often bring worksheets in English with me and we work on those in Korean. If you are at all able to work on your own, consider this option. My teacher took a class on teaching KSL, so she knows what she's doing. Have a Korean friend call up a local university and ask for a volunteer from the Korean Language department. I had about 10 to choose from when I asked.