Korean Job Discussion Forums

[World Traveler]

How long did it take you to learn?

What methods did you use?

I'm really struggling with the language and I'm sure many others are in the same boat.

Any advice you could give us would be much appreciated.

Thank you so much.

[nourozi]

I've tried books and different website but this site is the best.

http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/

In the end, you need to study hard.

[tokkibunni8]

I learned Korean by hanging out with just Koreans. Gave the classroom a tried but all it really did was flatten my wallet.

Come out to the boonies and you'll learn Korean just like that

[Gaber]

I can't speak it. I can communicate in it though. It's damn hard, grammatically, as an English speaker. Keep throwing yourself in front of it though. Stuff seeps in. If you're not able to be a full-time student, you'll pick it up piecemeal where you need it.
Rosetta Stone is, IMO, good. Others disagree, but as long as you make a point of repeating the phrases out loud, building up that muscle memory, rather than just racing to the end of the unit, it can be quite valuable. 3.0+ is quite a bit better too, as they have broken out of the present progressive "_고 있습니다" mode into more varied grammatical forms.
There are great free classes around City Hall station. I went to months of the Seoul Foundation Culture Center's courses, and those few months of 2 hours a week advanced me more than the previous 2 years of dabbling.
If you're in a public school hit your CTs up any time a Korean question comes to mind. They're teachers too so they'll love giving you some of their knowledge. It's what we do.
And obviously learn Hangul. To think that you can just learn spoken Korean without learning the scrip is misguided, it isn't going to happen. I suspect from the questions you asked you already have.
Good luck!

Oh and the hang out option is viable to if you're socially inclined.

[cheolsu]

I mostly learned it from hearing it at school, watching English TV with Korean subtitles and listening to my friends talk. I compulsively look words up in my phone dictionary every time I hear a new one, and whenever I hear something simple translated from English into Korean, I make sure to remember it.

This is basically being immersed in it, but I never really spoke Korean with my Korean friends until I was good enough to speak it, and I never took classes. It was just interest and self-study that got me there. I recognize that might not work for everyone.

[Hightop]

[Gaber]

[mithridates]

[Old Gil]

"흠,그냥그래요" then try to keep up, or if you dont' want to just to talk to that person, throw your hands up and grin like an idiot.

Better yet, pound your forehead like an ajumma giving herself a thigh massage and say 에이구에이구,힘들다힘들다 until you creep them out.

[mithridates]

[coralreefer_1]

How long did it take you to learn? Well, this depends on what your standard is for learning. If you mean can get by in most common social situation with only speaking Korean without sounding like a retard(emphasis on sounding like a retard).then I would say perhaps around the middle of my second semester of Korean study in a university program...basically 3.5 months of Korean study 4 hours a day 5 days a week.


What methods did you use? I studied a bit on my own. I taught myself to read the language within a few hours (homemade flashcards with the Korean character on one side, the English phonetic equivalent on the other) By the time I entered a university Korean program, I had already been in Korea for 2 years around mostly Koreans, so the pronunciation was no problem. I studied full-time in the university Korean program for a full year (four 10-week semesters) These days I am not really learning new Korean except for new vocabulary related to my field of study, and studying for the books to prepare for the TOPIK and KLPT exams coming up in spring. Those are decent books, but not really used for learning the langauge as much as reviewing things you have already learned and reviewing for an exam.

I'm really struggling with the language and I'm sure many others are in the same boat.

Any advice you could give us would be much appreciated.

My advice would be to enter a university program if you budget and schedule will allow it. I hear there are a few Korean language learning hagwons around Seoul(I have never hear of one in Daegu) so I cant really say much about those..but the university programs are very comprehensive and in-depth. This is a great way to learn the language in an environment where you HAVE to speak it..and be around others with different accents and styles of speaking Korean compared to yourself.

With that in mind, I would say one other thing. I think one of the main reasons many foreigners cannot speak Korean (and by SPEAK..i mean forming multiple sentences that are actually correct and can be understood) is that many foreigners here..whether they are English teachers, or factory workers...try to recreate their former life back home here in Korea (western friends/western bars/western restaurant/western shopping) Nothing is wrong with that of course, but in the case as we have here were we all are living IN the country and have the opportunity to study the language and practice it everyday...to isolate ourselves from it seems counter-productive if the goal is to actually learn the language.

[Gaber]

Thx Mithridates, I do miss signatures, though only for your "don't touch the girls" .gif

[kinerry]

Korean Made Easy is the best beginner book you can find.

http://koreanmadeeasyseries.blogspot.com/

Try Gwanghwamun station bookstore or the bookstore on Jeju island.

[Hightop]

This is an option. http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/ My friend writes for this site and she is a good teacher.

[samd]