Korean Job Discussion Forums

Mashimaro · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: location, location

anyone who has seriously studied a language knows the ebbs and flows you feel from time to time. One day you might really surprise yourself with your ability and the next you can't even ask the �� where to find the toothbrushes!

Somedays you feel there is so much to learn, you will never get 'there'.

Other days you still know there is a long way to go, but the puzzle seems to be coming together.

How do you feel about your korean learning right now? Are you stoked because you are improving every day and your life is getting easier? are you stuck in a rut?

after feeling a bit overwhelmed for a while, a feel pretty good about things now. Every time I learn a new word or piece of grammar I feel it is tying things together and is filling in the many pieces. Before, I learnt something new and it only reminded me much was still unknown. Before the jigsaw pieces were randomly scattered everywhere, a word here, a phrase there.. now i have put a few pieces together... only another 10,0000 or so pieces to go! Smile

Chillin' Villain · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: Goo Row

Yeah, you NAILED it with that description... I am completely in that middle "nether-region" you were talking about. I finally managed to do classes last month (self-study up til then), but it doesn't feel so much like I'm advancing- just learning new stuff that I'm gonna forget right away!

I'm sorta at a stage now that might be referred to as "fossilization" by some cunning linguists out there.... My level of Korean serves most of my purposes- I can go out with my K buddies and drink and BS with 'em all night (just BS talk, though), and I can usually circumlocate my meaning/point in any dailiy life transaction... Thus, new stuff I'm learning just ISN'T finding its way in- mostly due to my passivity- so my Korean has "fossilized"...

It's tough to find a reason to study more seriously, as I don't know how much longer I've been here, and what I can speak now is usually sufficient... Still frustrating to learn new stuff, though.

mithridates · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:40 pm Post subject:

I'm sure you already know about this method of mine, but have you found a band you like whose music you can memorize? If you can find five CDs from a good Korean band to listen to over and over again you can have some four hours of Korean in your head...

matthewwoodford · Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Location: Location, location, location.

Sometimes I feel like I have a solid base to work on, but there are times I just don't want to make the effort to think, the whole fragile edifice of my Korean learning comes crashing down and I'm incapable of making a coherent sentence. Perhaps that's not unusual.

mithridates · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:42 pm Post subject:

Here are some lyrics from a song, are they easy enough to understand?

�׷� �׷� �ʴ� �׷�� .

�� ٽ� �׷� �� Ŷ��.

�� 鼭 �� ?

�ʴ� �� ʾҴ�. �� ΰ�.

Daechidong Waygookin · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:48 pm Post subject:

mithridates · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:50 pm Post subject:

Why, it's �ڿ츲! If you want to buy their CDs buy
#1 (purple heart)
#2 (��)
#2.5 (remixes)
#3 (wonderland)

or Yuna's solo CDs, Shadow of your smile or ��. �� has the hardest lyrics, and least applicable to real life. Get one of the four above first.

Mashimaro · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: location, location

mithridates · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:52 pm Post subject:

The best part of that song goes like this:

��
�� λ�� ִ� ��

��
�� ſ� �ϴ� ��

��
��

and then an awesome guitar solo that sounds great when you're driving.

mithridates · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:57 pm Post subject:

Yeah, actually I do have some advice. Most songs are about something important and if you can grasp what they're getting at it can make things a lot easier. Say you're looking at a song and you see the words
break up
sad
feeling empty
etc. etc.

then it's a sad song, maybe this person wants to commit suicide or something...if you can get at the underlying concept of the song you'll be able to predict or anticipate most of the words that follow. And if the song itself is good, even if the sentence is like that one, too small and lacking in anything in particular, it will stay in your head if you hear it sung.

As a last resort you can translate it into English. Ever hear a Korean swearing at somebody and you're thinking
that's a really bad word
that one's pretty bad
that word's not really a swear
that one's really bad too

and then you think, well what was that in English? Why it's a motherfucking son of a bitch ass fucker *beep* cunt bitchface

and suddenly oh wow, that guy's really bad...that's when it hits you. Sometimes it helps to think of something in your native language to reall feel it.

mithridates · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:57 pm Post subject:

How did that pass the swear filter?
Sorry mods...

Chillin' Villain · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: Goo Row

Yeah, song stuff pro'lly accounted for about half of my Korean learning in my first year here... Mainly, I wanted to be able to sing and understand a couple Korean songs in the ol' norae bang.... My first Korean song:

�� ٽ� �� ̴�
�� ̿�

(�豤�� "�̵�� ")

That one was great for the simplicity of the lyrics and the slow pace of the song... I really wanted to learn it after seeing JSA in the theater, cuz the scene where they used that song was kinda powerful...

After that I learned a bunch of others, but I made it my goal to learn "Run to You" by DJ DOC... Understanding the lyrics is SO much better for being able to sing the song properly... Just easier to anticipate what the next line/word is gonna be.. So I studied that thing to death, learned a whole bunch of new stuff, and subject my coworkers to it every freakin' ȸ�� we go out on. Rad.

I wish I had the same motivation to study and learn like I did in my first year... It's like �� 䳢 said - ROLLERCOASTER. Right now, I'm not exactly at the apex....

(Hey, Rollercoaster's a good band, too... Don't know about noraebangin' any of their songs though....)

mithridates · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 10:19 pm Post subject:

All right...how about reading Marine Blues?

Daechidong Waygookin · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 10:19 pm Post subject:

My favorite song is by �̼�� - �׸�� . But Bugs wont let me listen to it anymore:(

mithridates · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 10:25 pm Post subject:

Oh, just thought of another good comic.
�б�� Ƹ��
It's a little perverted which just makes it easier to follow and pay attention.