Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jone1116]

I'm a big fan of learning languages, but I've never been fully immersed like I will be in Korea. I have minimal knowledge right now, just picking up stuff online (reading/writing/random vocabulary words). For those of you who are applying yourself to learning the language, how fluent would you say you are after a year in Korea?

[crossmr]

After a year it seems like a lot of people couldn't string together a sentence without pulling something. I know people who have been here for years and can't do much more than that.

If you just want to survive you can get by without much Korean if any. You'll have a coteacher, korean friends, etc, When you're shopping, you can probably get by without talking at all.

If you were going to school, working at a Korean company, etc you'd be much more immersed. I've met koreans who lived in the US for a couple years and their english isn't that great because they were married women who didn't work. So they stayed home, took care of the kid, and weren't really forced to speak that much English.

[mld]

[Ilsanman]

After one year, I was able to hold my own in a conversation, but not about any detailed topics, and I could not express a multitude of ideas.

I remember at my 14 month mark, going to Busan to see an old flame and holding my own all day in only Korean, though she can speak intermediate English. I did it, but had a huge headache at the end of the day.

I improved a lot more when I took classes on the weekend and studied at 2 universities, but I haven't improved much in the last 3 years due to not trying.

[bluelake]

[Daegudavid]

I didn't try much for the first six months, but after that I bought a book and started to learn. My grammar is good, and generally my reading and writing are decent. Speaking, however, isn't my strong point. I struggle in conversation, going anymore than basics.

Learning from co-workers with poor English is helpful for working on your speaking, but unfortunately I'm at a small school with very busy co-workers - not much time for studying.

[pushpin fantasies]

i wouldn't classify life in korea as a truly immersive experience simply because so many people of the people you meet speak at least some english, so many signs are written in english, and so korean many people do not expect (and at times do not want) foreigners to speak korean with them. with that said, if you dedicate a lot of your time to studying after work and find someone to practice speaking with, you should be able to hold a basic conversation - involving simple sentences and verb tenses - after a year. if you take a class, you might be able to do more - but imho you shouldn't expect to be "fluent" after a year because there are many obstacles to learning korean, not the least of which is its dissimilarity from english.

[mc_jc]

- Learn the Hangeul alphabet (it�s phonetic)
- Learn how each letter is pronounced
- Then read movie posters and subway and bus signed to get the feel of how words are spelt and pronounced (except for those quadruple compound words or those with consonants that are silent) (basically learn that each Korean word is build consonant-vowel-consonent and that vowels can never be first when writing a word in Korean).
- If you want to get an understanding of Korean grammar before you go, learn Shakespearean English (Old English). A good example of this is reading Shakespeare's Sonnets in its original form. That�s the closest similarity I could find to Korean grammar.
- Then gradually learn Korean words


There you go- Korean!

[dannylelievre]

First off, don't waste your time with university classes or anything that requires money. There are far too many people here willing to do language exchanges (this costs time) for free. If you can pronounce the alphabet and read, there is very little reason to take classes until you get to the extremely advanced grammar that requires explanations from a native. There are tons of free programs online, from Seoul National with does an excellent Novice online course called Click Korean, as well as studykorean101.com or learnkorean101.com, not sure, that offers podcasts and stuff. I'm not going to outright say how to do it, but it is possible to study from the website for free. There is also another intermediate site from UC Berkely at http://www.language.berkeley.edu/korean/10/index.htm

If you take 6 months to study all of those resources you will speak better Korean than any foreigner you will meet here.

[Papa Smurf]

[I'm no Picasso]

[littlelisa]

[jone1116]

Thanks, I have studied Japanese for many years so I think the grammar part will be easier to comprehend. I've been doing some stuff on my own and when I get there I want to definitely take classes, do exchange, and really see how far I can go. I'm a fan of language learning but have never had the chance to really excel by being surrounded by the language. I'm hopeful I'll have a decent grasp by the end of the year..

[oni]

so can anyone recommend a good place to take classes In Seoul???
Especially the people that have posted above(Papasmurf and I'm no Picasso). I've taken free classes at a place in JunAng Ilbo building that were really helpful for a few months but then next level had no clue what was going on and class was all in Korean.

[I'm no Picasso]