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Reading Korean-Can you do it?
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Can you read Hangul?
Yes- No problem
78%
 78%  [ 65 ]
Yes- but it takes me a while
18%
 18%  [ 15 ]
No- I tried, but its too hard
3%
 3%  [ 3 ]
Total Votes : 83

Author Message
kat2



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Location: Busan, South Korea

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:02 am    Post subject: Reading Korean-Can you do it? Reply with quote

How many foreigners, who have been here over 6 months, do you know who can't read Korean? I have met several recently who have been here too long not to be able to read it. I learned in the first six months, and it is so helpful. I try to convince them to spend a few days on it, but they think I am crazy. My Korean is pretty bad, but I speak a lot more than any of the people at my school. I wanted to see what other people's experiences have been. Maybe I am just meeting the wrong waeguks.
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the_beaver



Joined: 15 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have some facility with reading and so do 99% of my non-Korean in Korea acquaintances.
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SPINOZA



Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've learnt a lot in nearly 5 months but I've been slacking off recently. Biggest achievement recently is learning how to say "I'm the king of the world" (���������ǿ�). Next I wanna learn "and criticism of the King isn't tolerated".
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peppermint



Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can I read a newspaper?- no

Can I read street signs, bus destinations etc? sure

If you've been here six months and you haven't managed to get to the level of sounding out bus stops and take out menus, then you're either extremely lazy or a masochist.
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Satori



Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Location: Above it all

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's a difference between being able to see the letters and sound them out, and understanding what the words mean. The sounding out is very easy in Korean. The other, well, they say it's the third hardest language in the world to master...
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kat2



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Location: Busan, South Korea

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 2:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am talking basic phonetic reading, just for the sounds not understanding. I am amazed by the number of people I have met recently who can't even do that! Its so helpful, and takes very little effort to learn.

Last edited by kat2 on Sat Jan 14, 2006 2:11 am; edited 1 time in total
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SuperHero



Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Location: Superhero Hideout

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 2:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Reading Korean is one of the easiest things I ever taught myself. However comprehending what I read is a completely different story.
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Mr. Pink



Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 2:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Satori wrote:
There's a difference between being able to see the letters and sound them out, and understanding what the words mean. The sounding out is very easy in Korean. The other, well, they say it's the third hardest language in the world to master...


Considering that most native English speakers haven't mastered English, how about voting that hardest language to master Razz


I think it must have been a Korean who decided the language was #3 in hardest to master.
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Mashimaro



Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: location, location

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 2:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr. Pink wrote:

I think it must have been a Korean who decided the language was #3 in hardest to master.


How hard would you rate it? If you think it is not particularly difficult I assume you have reached a very high level of proficiency?
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HapKi



Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Location: TALL BUILDING-SEOUL

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 2:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
"I'm the king of the world" (���������ǿ�).


If you really were the king of the world, you could get by with the banmal form, ����, or, as I'd like to hope, you'd be saying it in English. Laughing

I've heard of people learning the characters on the flight over here, as well as people being here many years who don't bother.

As I said in another thread, I learned by using mnenomic devices.

�� looks like a trampoline, so "j" as in jump.
�� looks like a bowl, so "b", and so on..
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ChimpumCallao



Joined: 17 May 2005
Location: your mom

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 3:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mashimaro wrote:
Mr. Pink wrote:

I think it must have been a Korean who decided the language was #3 in hardest to master.


How hard would you rate it? If you think it is not particularly difficult I assume you have reached a very high level of proficiency?


Im calling bullshiit on the 'third most difficult to learn'. i learned to read and write perfectly when i got here, plus get by in basic korean, with little to no motivation or interest in the language.
Just because it's an UNPOPULAR language to learn in the world does not make it hard. It makes it unpopular!
Having a master's in linguistics, i can say there are a LOT of languages much harder to learn due to alphabet, pronunciation, and grammar. I think Koreans and others alike like to tell themselves this to defend why no one cares to speak their language or read their alphabet.
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The Bobster



Joined: 15 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 3:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

peppermint wrote:
Can I read a newspaper?- no

Can I read street signs, bus destinations etc? sure

If you've been here six months and you haven't managed to get to the level of sounding out bus stops and take out menus, then you're either extremely lazy or a masochist.

I wouldn't go that far, but I've met teachers over here who've been in the country going on almost four years who have not yet even tried to get the hang of the alphabet. This does amaze me.

I might be lucky, in that I made it a project to learn the alphabet in my first couple of weeks in-country, even though back then I never had a clue I'd be hanging about more than a year. Back then, I figured I'd have less inclination to get into it if I was at the 6-month mark, and I'd be able to use it more the sooner I got it crammed into me. I recommend this to newbies, by the way : learn it quickly, hopefully studying the book on the 16-hour flight over.

Easy tip : go to a video store. The names of Hollywood movies are usually transliterated in han-gul directly, so just use what you learned from a little book and stare at the characters, sounding them out until you get some phonemes going on in your head that are something close to what you know the name of the movie really is in English. Hey, it helped me.

Easy tip #2 : Get hungry. Then go to a Kimbap Nara, or really any eating place without English on the menu. Do it a lot, and you will either learn han-gul, or you will lose a lot of weight without exercising (because you got so frustrated you walked out and bought a bag of potato chips at the corner store).

Learning the Korean alphabet, by the way, also gives you a lot of insight into the causes and nature of your student's pronunciation errors. It makes you a better teacher.


Last edited by The Bobster on Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 5:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ga, na, da, la, ma, ba, sa, a, ja, cha, ka, ta, pa, ha... (sung to ABC song)
aw, yaw, a, ya, o, yo, oo, yoo, e, uh.

... yup... this is so hard to learn. If you can't handle that then you should most definately not leave ickywan. Hakwon-3a's rest and repeat for one year.

If you have been here for 1 month I have sympathy for you and will offer all the help I can.

6 months down now and you still can't read a bus sign yet? SHAME on you.
Go to Itaewon. Do not pass go and do not collect 2m won.
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Jaygee



Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 6:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been here 8 months now and I'm ashamed to say that I don't know squat about Korean except the basic "kamsa amnida" and "anyong aseo" and "mul dom juseyo" and "soon dubu tsigae juseyo" (my prefered dish N.B. Please forgive my roman translation).
My GF speaks good English and I found out that I can function quite good without the language.
But, as I said, I'm ashamed of it and would like to improve my knowledge of the language. And I believe that learning Korean would make me a better teacher.
What would be the best way to learn? Take classes? Buy books? Which ones? Any website that could help?

Thanks for any advice, constructive one preferred.
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peppermint



Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 6:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm a very long ways from fluent, but this site is great:

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