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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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 Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:35 am Post subject: Re: Why is Korean hard for me to remember? |
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| some waygug-in wrote: |
I got this topic from the general discussion forum, and on a slight tangent from that
thread,I wondered about this problem and how it might relate to teaching English in Korea.
When I was studying Korean, especially the first couple of years, I can remember studying the same lessons over and over again many times
(even more than 10- 20 times) and yet I was barely able to recall anything.
When I tried to speak Korean my mind just went blank except for the most basic vocabulary and phrases.
I was fully able to understand the material, and pronounce everything while studying, but within a few minutes it was gone.
I think a lot of my adult students were having a similar problem with learning English and I can see why they would get frustrated. (I did)
Just wondering what other people's thoughts are on this problem and what are some ways of overcoming this?
What are some ways of making things stick? |
To alleviate this issue I found that:
a) practicing what I just learned was optimal and made the new knowledge "stick"
b) Repetition is often required when learning a language, especially at the lower levels
I became fluent in Korean in a few years through study, memorization but mostly through regular and plentiful PRACTICE that was full of TRIAL and ERROR!
That was the best learning tool for me: getting out there and putting myself in situation where I was forced to practice.
I would say that at the lower levels (beginner to Intermediate) it also took 3-4 hours of study per day. Thats the sacrifice it took for me to become fluent. The number of daily study hours declined once I reached the Advanced level.
Having goals is important too. What do you want?
Full fluency including speaking, writing and reading?
Selective fluency focused on speaking and reading?
Each requires a tailored method and specific goals.
Memorizing what you need to say is good in the early stages as it provides you with a linguistic security blanket! You can fallback on these memorized passages or sentences. If you focus to much on them however you will miss developmental opportunities for your LISTENING.
In fact, one of the hardest things to do when learning a language is not to memorize what to say and say it...it is to RESPOND in that language when someone REPLIES or SPEAKS to you! A lot of people freeze up there and feel they suck at the language when in reality all they need to do is develop their listening and "tune their ears" to the particular language.
How to do this:
Korean music, TV, Movies. Conversation with Koreans....practiced dialogue through multimedia. |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:22 am Post subject: |
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Sir Patrick wrote:
That was the best learning tool for me: getting out there and putting myself in situation where I was forced to practice.
I would say that at the lower levels (beginner to Intermediate) it also took 3-4 hours of study per day. Thats the sacrifice it took for me to become fluent. The number of daily study hours declined once I reached the Advanced level.
(Quote:)
See that's the part I had trouble with. Working full time at a haggie, I just didn't have the energy for that, even if I did have the time.
There were always other things to do, like shopping, hiking etc.
I found I was able to break past the "memorized sentence level" with Spanish within a few months, but Korean. *~* |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:34 am Post subject: |
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| some waygug-in wrote: |
Sir Patrick wrote:
That was the best learning tool for me: getting out there and putting myself in situation where I was forced to practice.
I would say that at the lower levels (beginner to Intermediate) it also took 3-4 hours of study per day. Thats the sacrifice it took for me to become fluent. The number of daily study hours declined once I reached the Advanced level.
(Quote:)
See that's the part I had trouble with. Working full time at a haggie, I just didn't have the energy for that, even if I did have the time.
There were always other things to do, like shopping, hiking etc.
I found I was able to break past the "memorized sentence level" with Spanish within a few months, but Korean. *~* |
Why the Sir??
Anyway...
I was working full time as well back then (At a Hakwon). I was also working on starting my consulting agency and volunteered on some weekends to deliver workshops to new teachers.
I was dating my wife (this helped) and we had a busy life (movies, trips, shopping...)
Now on the basic and practical matters if I may....
1- Practice is where you find it!
Shopping or hiking are excellent examples. Interact with Koreans there...in Korean and wham you have live practice that is tied in to real life activities and that is PRACTICAL to you. 
2- If you want to learn, you have to study. No way around that.
What you CAN do is break down your study time and do it during breaks at work, during lunch, a bit after work and tie it into your practice.
3- Spanish
Not comparable because of the similarities with English and French for example. You will have basic phonetic anchors you can hang onto, this eases learning.
Still, learning Korean is a personal choice built on personal preferences, abilities, availability to work and study...and most of all.....MOTIVATION.
Motivation makes or breaks the learning process.
I consider that I had extremely high motivation to learn because I wanted to learn my wife's language, communicate with her family, gain my automony in Korea without relying on a Korean friend to translate and so on...this kept me fueled up and gunning for more when I got discouraged.
Anyway, this is what worked for me. It may not work for another person and people decide to give Korean a crack for numerous reasons. A lot of people crash at the high beginner stage because they notice they can "get by" and that is enough for them. No worries as it fits their needs.
Others take it further or nowhere at all. Everyone has their reasons. |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:21 am Post subject: |
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Thanks Patrick, (OK, no sir then)
I think that your wife was the motivating factor for you.
I did try to have conversations while shopping etc., but I was usually frustrated by three things;
they either would answer in English and not speak Korean to me
they would not understand what I was saying (really frustrating)
I could not remember what I wanted to say and had to revert to English.
I did have a Korean girlfriend for a while, but we usually ended up in arguments when I tried to get her to explain Korean to me. Her English was OK, but she would always contradict herself, and I couldn't understand what she was trying to get across.
She would say things like,' It's really great, but it's not really that great at all" *~*
Anyway, it's all water under the bridge now.
I doubt that I'll ever go back to Korea unless there are some better opportunities available to me. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:52 pm Post subject: |
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| joelove wrote: |
| earthquakez wrote: |
I also am limited as are many foreigners who can speak Korean to an extent by the narrowness of Korean perceptions of what we are doing when we speak Korean. My accent is good according to my Korean friends but everywhere I go Koreans refuse to listen to what I am saying and then attribute it to the 'fact' that I don't really speak Korean. I can understand the worst broken English in Korea so most Koreans should be able to understand their language when it is spoken by a foreigner with a reasonably accurate understanding of pronunciation.
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I liked your post, just wanted to respond to this part. You are constantly hearing Koreans use poor English, so you get good at understanding it. This may change if you go to another country though and cannot understand the poor English with a different accent.
I suspect most people are not really used to hearing their native language spoken by non-native speakers, and that most people live in fluent land almost all the time except maybe when studying a foreign language. English speakers probably hear their language butchered more often than anyone else though I reckon, seeing how many non-native speakers there are.
In Asia I've found the local mind often just tunes out anything a foreigner says if it doesn't come out well or isn't something easy like hello and thank you. Many just assume you are speaking English when you are not. It's a kind of bias I guess. Some probably feel embarrassed with their poor English or even just trying to communicate with a foreigner. Some are frustrated you don't speak their language well. Most have never taught a foreigner a single word of their language.
I expect pretty much everyone where I am to speak only Chinese. I had that idea in Korea too, though there is more English there. A guy one day said something and I had no idea what he said. Later it dawned on me he said "Eck suh coo juh me" (excuse me). I just thought it was some Korean I didn't know. In the classroom I likely would have understood it immediately though.
All probably obvious stuff and I reckon a fair bit of psychology is involved with many Asian-foreigner interactions as well. |
In my experience, most Koreans except for the elderly can understand my accented and somewhat gramatically mangled Korean. Usually it's some older or younger K man that seemed to frown before I even opened my mouth who pretends to not understand me. But I know they're jsut being an ignorant jerk. Foriegners have been in Korea long enough now and people have been exposed to English pronunciation so that Koreans can understand me.
I talk to some K chicks only in Korean and they understand me perfectly well. Guess maybe that's all that matters. Ha ha. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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| I'd like to say overall though that Taxi Drivers can be great for practicing Korean. Don't know about Seoul but the regional cities are good for practicing. |
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joelove
Joined: 12 May 2011
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Taxi drivers are good, and like many other people I also used to find it easier speaking with some alcohol in me. Also good to try with the locals you see regularly, like the guy or girl at the store you go to often. |
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