Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Eazy_E]

I know that the word "fluent" is often subjective, but has anyone here gone from knowing zero Korean to being comfortable speaking Korean in most situations in the space of a year?

I only plan to be here for a year, but I study Korean partly because I want to understand what's going on and talk to the locals, and partly to stem the mind-numbingness of my job. Most people in my situation would see it as a waste of time, but now that I'm making progress I can't seem to stop studying it.

I just want to know how far it's possible to progress within a year. Has anyone here become really proficient? Bragging is okay as long as it's honest.

[just because]

I know a guy who lived in the middle of no-where(between Chunchon and Sockcho) and nobody spoke conversational English(not even the girls at his hagwon) so he had to eaither learn Korean or speak to himself all the time.

He was only there a year and he picked it up not badly. he sin't fluent but he can get around better than I and i've been studying bit by bit for 2 years.

[FierceInvalid]

I know a guy that came here and 8 months later he was comfortably conversational and was dreaming in Korean. The big BUT is that he wasn't teaching, he came here as a language student and immersed himself. Teaching while you study definitely slows the curve.

[kangnamdragon]

I don't believe anyone can teach English and learn fluent Korean in one year............unless you already speak Korean or Japanese...........

Don't come with a goal to be fluent in one year. Just do the best you can. You don't know how hard this language is.

[Eazy_E]

[the_beaver]

[Eazy_E]

[FierceInvalid]

[Eazy_E]

I read your story and a lot of that holds true for me too. I'm often addressed in English or not at all.... most people don't speak Korean to me. I almost wish they did, that's when I get a lot of practice. I surprise myself with my Korean when I speak to someone who doesn't know a lick of English. I guess that's what you have to do.... but it's getting harder and harder because so many Koreans are learning the master language!

BTW, you have an interesting site. I'll check it out again later.

[Skippy]

They only people that get fluent are those that go full active study with the Korean. I had friend who was Gungho.

and a few of the Mormon Missionaries. They come here after a 6 week intensive Korean English Lessons. And then they are dumped in to Korea. And the Missionaries can not go to the bar and hangout. They are pretty much immersed into the culture and language.

But as to Full Fluent. I think OK level I mean they understand 80 percent. And speak about 60 percent level. (Subjective people).

Skippy the Evil Twin.

[carcerate]

Hello, my name is Sudip. I am fluent in Korean and I am studing everyday even here in California. I didn't know any Korean 10 months before going to Korea. I had an awesome friend who helped me from 1999 to 2000 summer for 10 months to learn the basics. Then I went to Korea with a simple knowledge of Korean. I taught English for 1 year in Korea. I taught from basically 3 to 9 on the weekdays. Anytime other than teaching, I would spend studing the language. Everywhere I walked, I was listening to a walkman with Korean radio on. When I would read, I would read the Korean Herald section where they had one article in English and the same one in Korean. On the weekends, when I would speak to anybody, it would be in Korean. I would not answer in English. The only people I really spoke English to were my American roommates and my folks back home. So after one year of being in Korea from 2000 to 2001, I was fluent enough to speak, read and write just fine and have conversations. If there was a word I didn't know, I can ask in Korean, understand the explanation in Korean and learn that way. I believe that is where you acheive fluency when you actually can learn in the language you are trying to acquire. Now it is 2004 and since 2001, I have been studing Korean all of the time here in Southern California. I plan on going back to Korea very soon to live there. I really love the language and the culture. I have met many good Korean people who had a positive impact on me so I feel very blessed and honored at the same time. Sorry if I sound like I am bragging but I am just responding to the topic of this thread. I hope this inspires anybody with the desire to learn any language that it can be done with dedication and geniune interest. If you are just learning Korean for some selfish reason or to get with a girl, that will only last so long and the desire will eventually wane off to oblivion.

[Eazy_E]

No mate, that wasn't bragging at all. I just want to know what it takes to learn a language like Korean when you can't commit yourself to studying it full-time.

And IMHO, 90% of people study a language for selfish reasons, whether it may be for their survival, for their future, or simply just to communicate with others. Nobody studies English out of a sense of duty to the speakers of the language, they do it for a plethora of other reasons. Korean is much the same.

[Flex Bulkchest]

no, i'm glad you posted your experience of learning korean, because i'd come to the same conclusion. i was lucky to get a proper korean tutor and have a 2 hour lesson a day. even at my school they started only speaking to me in korean...what confusing times those were. but after a year it was incredible how comfortable i was with speaking korean. i think the most frustrating part of learning korean is the grammar structure being backwards to ours, but i'd already spent years taking japanese courses, so it wasn't as confusing. i really think that time invested in learning korean is well worth it. it's made my time here infinitely more enjoyable.

[rok_the-boat]

I did the SNU 4 hours a day language course for one year or so when I first came. That was five 10 week semesters. The classes were in the morning, leaving all afternoon / evening to do what you wanted. Several of my classmates were English teachers - and none would have claimed to be 'fluent' after just a year, but that was one hell of a good start (even if the course itself was lacking in many respects).

[princess]