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boatofcar
Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Location: Sheffield, UK
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 Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 11:20 am Post subject: Great resources for learning Korean? |
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| After a year off to get my master's degree, I will be returning to Korea for my third year of teaching. This time, I want to get serious about learning Korean, because I plan on staying a while. To those of you who have learned Korean since you arrived, what resources have been the most useful to you? I'm looking to take Korean courses if I can, but since I'll most likely be heading to an area with not a lot of foreigners, I'll probably be going it alone. Any books, websites, etc you think are great I'd love to know about. Thanks! |
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nourozi
Joined: 15 Mar 2009
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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1) Understand that you are committing yourself to a very difficult task and make that commitment seriously.
2) Commit as much time as possible to the project and develop the habit of regular daily study at fixed intervals.
3) Begin with [iLet�s Learn Korean by B.J. Jones (Hollym Press, 1982). Before you do anything else, take a black marker and ink out all the Romanization in the book, and be prepared also to edit the music and English off the recording.
4) Initially, do nothing but blind shadow the accompanying tape, focusing entirely upon the phonetic aspect of the language for as long as you can stand to do so.
5) When you have made as much progress with the rhythm and sounds of the language, learn how to read Korean aloud by working systematically through this excellent little introductory work, which will put you on the road to good pronunciation, help you develop basic literacy, and give you some useful vocabulary, phrases, and, hopefully, some intuitive feeling for the language.
6) Work systematically and thoroughly through all the materials in the Historical, Literary, and Cultural Approach to the Korean Language, upon which I first collaborated with Professor Kim Jongrok in order to fill precisely this very specific need for a more systematic approach to the language.
7) When you have done all of this, you should be at a certain juncture in your studies. For maximum efficiency in attaining the final goal of an actual full command of the language, you should endeavor to get to this point after about three months of studying for several hours each day. After this juncture you should continue working with the same intensity using a six pronged approach consisting of six different elements, some of which may at times be easily incorporated into each other, but all six of which should nonetheless be given specific attention in different measures according to different learning styles. These six elements are:
A. Shadowing
B. Working through many different volumes of grammatical textbooks and teaching
manuals such as Francis Y.T. Park�s Speaking Korean series (Hollym Press) and Fred Lukoff�s series of Courses in Korean from Yonsei University Press.
C. Writing many sheets of Hangul out by hand on squared paper, reading aloud as you do so.
D. Systematically mastering the 1800 basic Hanja from Bruce K. Grant�s Guide to Korean Characters (Hollym), again writing out squared sheets by hand while reading aloud.
E. Internalizing the material in Miho Choo and William O�Grady�s Handbook of Korean Vocabulary (University of Hawaii Press 1996) by reading and writing out loud, making vocabulary cards, using mnemonics, etc
F. Chanting aloud the rhythms of the patterns of the paradigms to be found in A Handbook of Korean Verbal Conjugation, available from Dunwoody Press.
8 ) Expect to engage in these activities for several hours each day each and every single day for at least one full calendar year and more likely for several years before you come to a new juncture.
9) If you are fortunate enough to be able to add a 7th element of conversation with native speakers at any point in the process, by all means do so, but also by no means neglect any of the other six elements. If you do not have this opportunity, however, at this juncture you should actively seek it out, i.e., plan some sort of excursion containing organized intensive linguistic immersion on the Korean peninsula.
10) While there, you should acquire both as many graded readers and as much easy authentic material in subjects of interest to you as you can (children�s literature and schoolbooks, translated texts, more complex Hanja workbooks, etc.), as from this point on you should be advanced enough to chart your own course.
11) Keep your perspective at all times. Foreigners who have emigrated to Korea and engaged the language in a serious fashion generally report that it takes something on the order of fifteen years in the country before they feel truly 100% at home in it. So, do not berate yourself if after ten years of study you still cannot effortlessly read a novel; this is normal and to be expected. �Survival Korean� can be attained in a matter of months, but true systematic exploration and appreciation of the language is a life's work. |
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7606&PN=1 |
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boatofcar
Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Location: Sheffield, UK
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 1:15 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks! Both these look really great. |
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samd
Joined: 03 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 2:13 am Post subject: |
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| nourozi wrote: |
| http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/ |
+1
Combine this site with:
- A good vocabulary book (the vocab sections of the website are straight out of Naver online dictionary, which is useful, but misleading at times) I like Survival Korean Vocabulary by Bryan Park. There are lots of good ones though. Check out Kyobo bookstore.
- A grammar reference book. I recommend Korean Grammar for International Learners by Yonsei University press.
- Spaced Repetition Software. I like Anki, but any will do.
- Find wikis and blogs on Korean, and learning it. There are plenty of them, eg. Korean Wiki Project, Korean Language Notes.
The Q&A thread on this site is helpful too - there are some advanced-level or higher posters who usually answer questions pretty quickly, and are better at explaining things than the average man in the street. |
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movybuf
Joined: 01 Jan 2007
Location: Mokdong
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 1:14 am Post subject: |
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| This has nothing to do with your question, but "boatofcar" did you take that name from the song by They Might Be Giants, or is that just a happy accident? |
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kikatwist
Joined: 20 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:11 am Post subject: Tutor |
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| I know a good Korean tutor. His English is excellent and he's pretty serious, he's dropped lazy students before. Lemme know if you want his info. |
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hungrybeaver
Joined: 09 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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The United States Government Foreign Service Institute's language courses are public domain and free for download on this site:
http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php |
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noobteacher
Joined: 27 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:31 pm Post subject: |
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This website is also a great resource - http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/
They do worksheets, videos, and podcasts so you can just download it to your iPod/iPhone, etc. and they also touch on a lot of cultural stuff that you might not get with "out of the book" type of Korean language learning. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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Here are some language-learning tips that may help you whether you're taking a class or learning Korean on your own:
1. Practice speaking every chance you get - make the chances if necessary. Practice is especially necessary for learning Korean if you don't have a similar language base because nothing is familiar. If you're English speaking and learning French, there are words/sounds you can hook on to in order to remember - but not Korean. Practice (and repetition) really does make perfect in language learning so wherever you are create opportunities or take advantage of them to speak Korean: at the supermarket, in restaurant, with colleagues/staff, with taxi drivers, etc.
2. To hone your listening and comprehension skills listen to Korean dramas (not those with subtitles though because you're more likely to read the text rather than listen) in partnership with a friend. If your friend is not with you, write up some of what you understand and then share it. Listening to the news in Korean is an excellent way of practicing listening as well. TV shows you've seen in English that are dubbed in Korean are another option.
3. TV and radio shows that teach English to Koreans are another useful way of improving your listening skills and improving your Korean vocabulary.
4. If you're a beginner, you can practice reading wherever you are. Billboards, store or traffic signs, flyers, store receipts, labels can all be turned into learning tools. As your skills improve, read the advertisements that are delivered to your mailbox or stuck on your door; pick up the free newspapers you find next to or in the subway stations. Even if you don't understand everything (or even anything) your reading skills will improve and at the same time, you will be acquiring more vocabulary.
5. Carrying a notebook where you can jot down words you've seen and want to look or remember is helpful. There are also electronic dictionaries that allow you to save words. Always having something small on your like a notebook or electronic dictionary means you can practice/memorize anyplace, anytime - on the bus/subway, waiting in a restaurant, while you eat, etc. |
http://www.korea4expats.com/article-korean-language-learning.html |
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ippy
Joined: 25 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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| im a kind of independant learner but man oh man do i find korean books hard. Has anyone GENUINELY come across a book you can work through without feeling utterly lost within the first page? All i want is a nice korean version of genki japanese or the like, but no one seems to know of any. Im happy to order it from amazon, i just want one book that can take me out of the beginners rutt i am obviously languishing in. Ive been in korea for 6 months and its frankly insulting that im even WORSE at korean than i was at japanese in this time. A nice beginners to intermediate series thats straightforward and doesnt require a korean teacher would be nice. |
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banjois
Joined: 14 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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"Teach Yourself Korean" is a great book in a fantastic series. I've bought several books and found them too dense to plow through, and then finally found a copy of this book a few days ago, and I've made more progress since then than I made in three months. I'm a bit annoyed at the consistent romanization throughout, but the marker trick should work.
Seriously, the "Teach Yourself" series is awesome for whatever you want to learn. I highly recommend it. |
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kbit
Joined: 18 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 11:25 pm Post subject: |
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| noobteacher wrote: |
This website is also a great resource - http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/
They do worksheets, videos, and podcasts so you can just download it to your iPod/iPhone, etc. and they also touch on a lot of cultural stuff that you might not get with "out of the book" type of Korean language learning. |
ive enjoyed these too |
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