Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sistersarah]

i want to get back into studying korean....i really wish i could take a course, but i can't.

did anyone learn korean entirely by self-study? is it possible?

any tips?

thanks

-sarah

[Son Deureo!]

It's possible, but there are some serious downsides. The biggest downside to self-study is that you have no one to talk to. You need to find people to talk to on a regular basis in Korean in order to remedy this. Language exchange partners, cab drivers, those bar employees that are basically paid just to hang out with the customers... there are people out there to talk to for the low-level Korean speaker, but it's not as good as a teacher who will actually correct you when you make mistakes. Still, the guy I know who speaks better Korean than any other foreigner I ever met never took a class, he just practiced by chatting up the barmaids at the bars in his town.

Try to use as many audial sources as you can to help you with listening comprehension. Music, language learning tapes, TV, etc. This is an area that's really easy to fall behind in if you aren't learning Korean in a classroom setting.

I'm not sure what you're studying from, or your level, but I'd recommend studying from Elementary Korean and Continuing Korean by Ross King as well as the Sogang website.

Then of course, there's always the motivation issue. It's easy to get lazy, so try to make your studies as fun as possible.

[mithridates]

I did! I listened to KBS radio quite a bit (I was in western Japan where one can hear it) and used music quite a bit. I think there was a thread on that.
I also suggest a Cyworld homepage, meet some people there and chat with them on MSN when you can.
It also depends on where you're living right now...where are you?

[sistersarah]

thanks for your replies. i'm in ilsan actually, so don't know of any classes being offered and i'm leaving in less than 3 months anyway.

my boyfriend is korean, which is perfect for someone to talk to, but he speaks fluent english, so it's just too easy to speak english all the time. i guess i should take advantage of the situation and have "only korean speaking time" or something. i suppose it's a motivation and discipline thing.

i'm happy to hear of two people so far who have learned on their own. that's inspiring.

sarah

[JongnoGuru]

[Chillin' Villain]

For all of the fundamentals of Korean that I learned in my first year, Ilsan was my classroom, and taxi drivers were the teachers. Taxi drivers RULE for basic, stock conversations, and a lot (definitely not all, however) of them are patient and willing to speak to you (wanting, even!)...

I found that after a year of half-assed studying, discussions with taxi drivers, shyoo-pa ajummas, and drunken college kids, etc., I was able to get basic communication down, and a lot of the further stuff I had to learn was much easier. The main thing is not to expect too much of yourself right away- be satisfied with every little milestone you reach, and just screw up and learn from it as much as you can... Keeping a notebook with you DEFINITELY helps, as its the best way to keep track of vocab &c that you learn as you go along out in the streets (y'know, the vocab you actually NEED)... Also, as someone else said, it can be fun and effective to learn from music and norae bang... Get a cd with liner notes (or the internet), a dictionary, and go at it... Then, if the song's slow enough, start singin' em! I was kicking out the slow ones in noraebangs after a few months, so I reckon other people can do it too, with a bit of effort.

If you're thinking of coming back for another year, you should try studying a bit! I seriously would not live here any other way (although I have no criticism for those who do, of course.)

[little mixed girl]

i wanted to know the basics before i started formal study at my university, so for a year before i look my korean class i did self-study...it was a pretty crappy study, but....yeah.

the edge u have that i didn't was a sexy korean BF...lol.

even if u are already kinda fit with hangeul, i'd say review it again, and ask your bf about pronunciation and such.

for books...i really have not seen ANY korean grammar book that i've liked. the books that my school used were called "college korean", and i hear that only the UC schools and my school use them... -_-
you could either get a book from kyobo bookstore or from yonsei university...

personally...i don't suggest language tapes because they are usually filled with things like "can u give me a pack of ciggarettes?" or "how many bottles of wine can i bring back in the country tax free?".

for the grammar, i'd say go over and over what's in a chapter and remember that korean is subject-object-verb and english is subject-verb-object.
also.....if u like comic books i'd suggest buying the korean translated japanese comics. they have pictures so u can follow along with the story, even if u can't understand all the grammar.

and vocab!! sometimes i feel that vocab is more important than the grammar, but they are equal of course hehe.
copying down random unknown words then looking them up and learning their meaning can help.
over the summer my friend suggested that reading children's books would be good for learning korean...i don't have any tho,,,haha..

mmm...yeah...

[nev]

Self-study is useful, but only as a component of learning. I find it very useful to memorise words, but using that word in conversation is the best way to actually "know" it.

With your boyfriend, insist upon an all-Korean day once a week. If he refuses, withhold certain privileges.

[crazylemongirl]

I learned a whole lot of korean of my students... but I think one of the best things you can do is try and practice as much as possible. For instance read everything you see. I picked up hanguel on the subway by listening and saying the station stops as they flashed up in english and korean.

Also try and practice with someone about your level. Those who are particualrly strong in korean (ie. native speaker) tend to dominate conversations. I'm finding my conversation is getting better in part because I practice with one of my neighbors who is at a similar level.

[Ilsanman]

There is LMC hagwon, near Daehwa station. They offer Korean classes.

I learned through mostly self study and practicing on MSN messenger.

[sistersarah]

[peppermint]

[manlyboy]

[sistersarah]

[just because]

I self-study and am cracking along Ok.
I do the following.

1. Learn a lot of the basic sentance structures and grammar rules.
2. Once this is down develop vocab.
3. practice on people all the time, g/friend, taxi drivers(as someone said they are gold), agasshis in bars(the best Korean I speak is when i'm pissed), and just in random conversations.
4. develop what you've learned and repeat with new structures.

Its like the foundation of a house, you build it up brick by brick and with each brick it becomes more complete.

I still have a long way to go though.