Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ohahakehte]

how did you do it?

how long did it take?

how hard did you find it?

were you living in korea the whole time you learned?

[carcerate]

how did you do it?

When I was attending undergrad at UCSD, I lived with a half-Korean/half-Chinese friend for two years during my junior and senior years. During the first year I lived with him, I did not really learn any Korean at all from him. Then in the year 1999 during the summer time I took my first steps in learning the alphabet and vocabulary. Then I graduated in 2000 with a computer science degree and at that point I had such a great interest in learning Korean, I really wanted to go to Korea. So I found a job as an English Instructor and went in July to teach English in Korea. I put my computer programming goals on hold.

how long did it take?

I lived in Korea from July 2000 to July 2001 and when I was not teaching at the Hagwon, I was studing Korean. I studied in the morning for 4 hours, after work for about 4 hours. On the weekends, I would study for like 6-8 hours a day. I did this for one year straight and after diligently, applying myself, I now can communicate just fine in korean through typing on the keyboard and verbal communication. I have been in Southern California from July 2001 till now and I even study Korean hear in America. After you learn the basics, you can learn the language of your choice anywhere as long as you have the proper materials! I am so thankful for the help that I have received from a very select few of special Korean friends who helped me. I am so honored with the time taken to help me learn Korean from my friends.

how hard did you find it?

I did not find learning Korean that tough because of my great and pure interest in the language. The written language is so logical and well formulated that it made the spoken language very easy to learn based on phonetics. Lastly, I thank God for the people in my life who helped me learn Korean. I plan to use my Korean language ability to help others and be a positive influence in society. Also, since I was able to basically become proficient in the Korean language in about 2 years, this will give hope to Koreans who want to learn English. If you have a genuine interest, you can learn at a much quicker pace than expected.

Of course, everyday I learn more and more Korean vocabulary and improve on my language skills all of the time. Even in English, I still learn words when I read the newspaper or read TIME magazine. So life is one continual learning process.

I hope this testimony satisfies your curiousity.

[CaptPorridge]

u a native english speaker who has become fluent in korean?

nah - anio

[buddy bradley]

Strange - the OP doesn't even come across as a native English-speaker...

[CaptPorridge]

strange indeed, I suspect the christians are involved

[tomato]

Hello, Carcerate!

You studied Korean 8 hours a day on work days?
I can't squeeze half that much time in, and I don't even get enough sleep.
How did you do it?

[CaptPorridge]

[komtengi]

I majored in Korean for three years at university. 6 hours a week, during that 3 year period 1 year was spent here as an exchange student, classes were 9-1 at Korea university. I've now been here for going on 2 years and my Korean is at an advanced level. I found it really easy, but I also did f all study, just picked it up in everyday conversations. Some people just have an ability for languages, for the others its a real bitch fight to learn a language

[CaptPorridge]

[Corporal]

[William Beckerson]

[rapier]

In the future we will be able to acquire a new language simply by having a microchip inserted in our brains, a bit like on "total recall". I'm waiting for this to happen before i spend 8 hours a day poring over textbooks.

[ohahakehte]

carcerate: thats impressive! good work!

ive found that hangul is not hard. i can read about 80% of it. some of the weird vowel combinations i dont know very well yet, but im sure it'll come.

i study korean a little bit in my own time, but not a lot. once a week i meet w/ a korean teacher from my school and she teaches me korean and i teach her academic english. i doubt ill become proficient in korean thru this kind of instruction so im considering taking classes somewhere and sometime.

anyone know how much a good course in korean costs, where to do it, what the class schedules are usually like and whether its worth it or not?

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

I'm a practical man, so I just got fluent in the dirty talk

[tomato]

Hello, Corporal!

Here's why I would spend 8 hours a day studying Korean if I could:

I feel infantilized when Koreans speak to me in English. I want to put a stop to it. Once I can eliminate the need for it, and once I'm good enough to cuss up a blue streak, watch out.

I want to prove I'm smart enough.

I might spend the rest of my life here. Korean is as important here as English is there.

I'd like to know what's going on around me. Ever been to a movie or play where everyone in the audience but you laughed at a joke? It's awful!

It's beneficial even for an English teaching job. If my Korean ever gets good enough, I'll try starting a club for the parents, in which I exhort the parents to help the children by speaking English at home.

It's good life insurance. If I ever get good enough, I could semi-retire as a Korean translator.

It disassociates me from my compatriots, so Koreans will be less likely to slap their stereotypes on me.

It doesn't have to be boring. There is an infinite variety of activities involving Korean, just as there is an infinite variety of activities involving English.