Korean Job Discussion Forums

[JustJohn]

The official poll!

Sorry it's so long, but I wanted to categorize by length of stay as well. What I mean by:

Good to fluent - you can say what you want and not tons of mistakes, understand normal conversation (or better)
Pretty decent - you can usually communicate what you want and can generally understand people if they don't talk really fast or use a strange dialect
Basic - Can communicate simple ideas, can pick up enough words to know vaguely what people are talking about
Little to none - If you don't know more than Hello, goodbye, Where is ___, and it's "delicious" type stuff then you belong here.

P.S.
I realize there should probably be one more fluency level option, but I had to cut some options already b/c it was too long...

[Smee]

I don't own a Korean.

[skeeterses]

I wrote down pretty decent. While I can talk about different things in Korean, my listening skills aren't that great and of course, reading Korean books is a difficult challenge for me.

For those who are fluent or really good, how did you get up to fluency and how long have you been in Korea? By fluency, I mean the ability to understand most of what the Koreans are saying and able to read authentic Korean texts like newspapers and books.

[ttompatz]

My communication skills are somewhere between "Basic" and "Pretty decent."

I am what could best be described as functional.

It would be difficult for me to carry on a conversation in Korean but I can function quite well without any English supports at work or in the community.

I find it is easier to read than to listen to a coversation. Perhaps that is a function of solitary study.

.

[kreitler7]

[kentucker4]

Is it essential to learn Hangul first? I know very basic Korean phrases. Should I just commit myself to learning hangul before anything else?

[cdninkorea]

[Ed Provencher]

I've studied for almost 7 months straight for about 2 hours a day. Most of the time I study alone, but I have had a Korean friend with which to ask questions. Her English is very good, so that has helped too.

My reading and writing are definitely in the "pretty decent" category. My speaking and listening are a tad behind. This is definitely due to my solitary approach to learning and lack of courage to start a conversation with Koreans.

I don't mind that speaking and listening will come slower as I'm sure my confidence to have conversations will grow as I learn.

I have a friend who has been here for 2 years. Twice as long as me. He has a ton of confidence speaking Korean, but he makes a lot of mistakes and can't read or write. He doesn't study, but puts himself in speaking situations, and listens to how Koreans speak.

I think my ability to speak and listen will surpass my friend's in a few months. I will have a much deeper understanding of the language and have a much better ability to articulate my thoughts creatively in various situations.

[tzechuk]

I am pretty decent - never attended any language school.. it's what a professor friend of mine called *natural language acquisition*.

When people ask me if I know any Korean, I always say, sure, I know *ajumma Korean*... meaning that I can haggle and get discounts or what I want pretty effortlessly.. LOL...

My husband doesn't speak any Korean to me at all.. English, sure.. sometimes French and sometimes German, but never Korean.

[JAWINSEOUL]

Writing
I can write a brief letter if I keep the topics focused on things I know. Grammatically I can handle pretty much all the basic grammar rules. Once the sentence gets too complex I�m a little unsure.

Reading
I have read a few Korean books. I didn�t understand much of the content, but it was for studying purposes only.

Speaking
I have made some good strides of late in my speaking ability. As most people here would say, I can communicate on a basic level and other than some misunderstandings I usually accomplish my objectives.

Listening
I do understand what the speaker is talking about. My issue is I mold the words people say into ones I know. Since I know some Korean people and I usually find myself in the same types of conversations I understand more through individual words and personalities than the meaning of the sentence.

Studying
Yes you must learn Hangul first in my opinion. I found it was helpful to learn all the skills above simultaneously. There are some good book and websites for all levels.

[JustJohn]

At this point it looks like we're going to have a pretty even spread in every category for the poll. Interesting, and slightly surprising.

[just because]

The problem with these kinds of polls is that one person may think they are advanced when in reality they are only high beginner at best....it is all about perception of how good you think you are.

I have met a few people who claim that they are advanced speakers and are pretty good so when i talk to them in Korean they suddenly back-track and give a whole range of excuses to why they can't understand what i am saying...

I am not saying people shouldn't make an effort, heck the best way to learn is through making mistakes and looking the fool (as I have many times) but people generally over-estimate their own levels.

In my experience, a lot(not all) people that think they are really good and at an advanced level are really only low to mid-intermediate at best.....

Anyway, happy learning....

[crazy_arcade]

My listening is the best.
Followed by speaking, reading, and writing at the bottom.

I enjoy listening in on conversations, finding what I know, and trying to pick up more from context. I have several friends now that speak little to no English so I've been learning a lot more recently.

Actual studying for me has been intermittent at best. Most Koreans tell me that my Korean is excellent. I know they're just humoring me. I'm not that great at Korean but I guess it's considered good compared to the average white foreigner.

I'd place myself in a low intermediate level. I can use past tense and future tense with ease and can make myself understood despite my moderate vocabulary.

[JustJohn]

I know that people tend to have different ideas about how good they are, which is why I included the description of what I meant in each option. That should serve to ameliorate the problem a bit, though I know it is by no means a complete solution.

I think it should be enough for us to get the general idea of people's Korean level though. The next big question is "is there a significant difference between the Korean level of the average Dave's poster and the average English teacher in Korea?"

Unfortunately, I don't have a way of answering that one.

[browneyedgirl]