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Deja
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
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 Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:40 am Post subject: Looking to learn Korean |
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I'm interested in actually learning good Korean (currently I can only go to e-Mart and buy any meat I need and do numbers  )
Does anyone know of a good school where they teach IN ENGLISH (rather than teaching Korean in Korean like most schools do) in Guro-Digital?
I was looking for a more fast paced group course of Korean, but considering I found none nearby that teach in English, I am open to any.
TIA. |
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CrikeyKorea
Joined: 01 Jun 2007
Location: Heogi, Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:52 am Post subject: |
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| I know what your post asks for, but in my experience if your language ability isn't good enough to take even basic lessons purely in English you would be better off doing books by yourself at home until you can get enough confidence to take korean lessons in korean-much like korean do in english with native english speakers. |
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Deja
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 1:58 am Post subject: |
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| At the point where I can take a language lesson in that language I already do not need a teacher (been there done that for Italian, German and Russian already). |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:10 am Post subject: |
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Try Google translate. I'm amazed at how good it's gotten.
I wish it had been that good when I was still in Korea.
I think you need a fairly current browser though, or it won't work properly. |
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joesp
Joined: 16 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 12:11 am Post subject: |
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Yea, man, total immersion
... yes.
I'm sure you can handle the numbers without any English.
As for buying meat .... animal sounds would probably do the trick. |
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Enrico Palazzo
Mod Team
Joined: 11 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:21 am Post subject: Re: Looking to learn Korean |
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| Deja wrote: |
I'm interested in actually learning good Korean (currently I can only go to e-Mart and buy any meat I need and do numbers )
Does anyone know of a good school where they teach IN ENGLISH (rather than teaching Korean in Korean like most schools do) in Guro-Digital?
I was looking for a more fast paced group course of Korean, but considering I found none nearby that teach in English, I am open to any.
TIA. |
This is tricky. I believe it's hard to find classes where they teach in English since the trend is to follow the communicative approach where the teacher avoids using any English. I've studied Korean at a couple of different places in my city, and they tended to avoid using English. One place used it somewhat more. In my opinion, since Korean is so different from the Indo-European languages most of us are familiar with, it would help to have a certain amount of English. It would be one thing for me if someone used the communicative 100% in say Italian 102, but not in Korean 102 it's a lot harder unless I've studied a ton on my own, which I've had to do. It's going to have to be somewhat you teaching yourself and getting very good books to where you won't really need to rely much on English. At least, that's my opinion. The other posters are reflecting what's pretty much out there. |
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furtakk
Joined: 02 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 6:18 am Post subject: Re: Looking to learn Korean |
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| Enrico Palazzo wrote: |
| It would be one thing for me if someone used the communicative 100% in say Italian 102, but not in Korean 102 it's a lot harder unless I've studied a ton on my own, which I've had to do. It's going to have to be somewhat you teaching yourself and getting very good books to where you won't really need to rely much on English. At least, that's my opinion. The other posters are reflecting what's pretty much out there. |
I think this is pretty good insight. I haven't studied any other languages very seriously, so I can't compare it to a European language, but studying Korean effectively requires a lot of prep work on the students part. Review the grammar using English explanations at home, go over the vocab ahead of time, and it will click better in class.
I have taken a variety of classes in Seoul. None were taught in English. If you're insistent on finding such a class, I think your best option would be a tutor. I used to see one for conversation/TOPIK. He speaks English well and teaches his lower-level students in English if I'm not mistaken. PM me if you're interested. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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| I did classes at Sookmyung women's university where the first two levels have some English content. The teacher explained on the first day she'd be using some English and it helped soften the blow. You have to be a very skilled teacher to be able to teach beginners in just the target language and not demotivate them. |
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le-paul
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Location: dans la chambre
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| Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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y can download mp3s from the internet. its just listening, so it doesnt make any difference how good your reading writing is and its in english.
second to that, get a language exchange partner. Ive always used them and at least that way i got to learn my own agenda instead of some books. |
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comm
Joined: 22 Jun 2010
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| Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 11:19 pm Post subject: |
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| le-paul wrote: |
| y can download mp3s from the internet. |
TalkToMeInKorean.com is pretty awesome in every respect, particularly their easy-to-listen-to MP3s.
And (alone though I may be) I -really- love the Rosetta Stone Korean program. It's kind of the "low impact exercise" of language learning. |
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Deja
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:16 am Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| I did classes at Sookmyung women's university where the first two levels have some English content. The teacher explained on the first day she'd be using some English and it helped soften the blow. You have to be a very skilled teacher to be able to teach beginners in just the target language and not demotivate them. |
I tried to start Korean in Korean last time I came - I just looked at the teacher, as if she is a Martian.. she tried to ask me what my name is, and I wasn't sure if she was giving me a hand shake, asking me to give her my book/pen or if she was talking to a fly on my shoulder, literally  I don't see how one can progress that way at all.
Granted, I don't expect total English, but the teacher must know and often use some English in the starting classes. Otherwise, what's the idea of "beginner" classes?
I presume that university is for women only, so it won't work for me |
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nora
Joined: 14 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 1:49 am Post subject: |
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| Deja wrote: |
| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| I did classes at Sookmyung women's university where the first two levels have some English content. The teacher explained on the first day she'd be using some English and it helped soften the blow. You have to be a very skilled teacher to be able to teach beginners in just the target language and not demotivate them. |
I tried to start Korean in Korean last time I came - I just looked at the teacher, as if she is a Martian.. she tried to ask me what my name is, and I wasn't sure if she was giving me a hand shake, asking me to give her my book/pen or if she was talking to a fly on my shoulder, literally I don't see how one can progress that way at all.
Granted, I don't expect total English, but the teacher must know and often use some English in the starting classes. Otherwise, what's the idea of "beginner" classes?
I presume that university is for women only, so it won't work for me |
You assume wrong. Sookmyung is open to any gender.
Near Guro, you're not going to find much, but if you're willing to travel about 30 minutes and pay, go to Sogang. No, it's not in English, BUT they will level test and put you in the appropriate level. You'd probably be in level 1 or 1.5A (if you can read Hangeul, they put you in 1.5). While it is all in Korean, the teachers are usually very good at only using language that is at or near your level. Worst case scenario, the teachers can and will use English in the level 1 class if people are having trouble.
Can't say the same thing for level 2 - I went from having perfect scores in level 1 to totally bombing level 2. It's a lot more material and there is ZERO English in level 2, so you'll waste 20 minutes trying to figure something out that a simple 8 word English sentence would have answered. Very frustrating.
But, if you're looking for a class, I'd say that would be the closest and best option for you. Otherwise you could head to a hagwon down towards Gangnam, but those can be spotty on quality (from what I've heard from people who have been to them.) |
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Deja
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:06 am Post subject: |
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Oh, I totally gave up on finding something near Guro (I have seen more foreigners in rural parts of Busan  ).
So traveling 30 mins will be quite acceptable.
Yeah, I thought of Sogang, provided I am not late for the spring term already. (one thing that is curious about it - they ask for my diploma?? To learn Korean if I already live here??).
Other ideas are welcome also. Yonsei has no applicable program that'll work for me at this time. GreenKorean has good schedules, but it is an allergy-haven
After accepting that most of the class would be in Korean, the biggest issue now is that most places require registration long before the actual classes (e.g. 3 months for SNU), so it is narrowing options still.
The way this is going, I'll be back in Europe for the summer before I start Korean and I'll learn it there |
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