Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itiswhatitis]

I was taking Korean evening classes at one of the universities in Seoul in the evenings (teaching at a public school during the day).

Instead of going to class 3 times a week I am thinking of meeting with one of the teaches one on one from the univ.

The teacher is a tad more pricey (but only a little more than univ. class tuition) but I think I will learn as well and I want to avoid 3 trips a week to school (we will meet once a week for 2 hours and univ class is 3 times a week for 2 hours).

I figure once a week for 2 hours to keep me in check, ask questions and speak together. I am a self starter and I study well independantly.

Advice/sounds like a plan?

Thanks in advance.

[Fox]

If you study well alone, and have a job (meaning you have natural daily interactions with Koreans), I see no reason for you to pay to learn at all. I did not attend classes, or even study very hard, and I've done all right. Study hard on your own, ask questions to your coworkers or on the net, and you'll learn fine, for free.

[Engrish Mufffin]

As long as the one to one teacher is organized and has planned lessons. You don't want one of the lazy teachers who just shows up and thinks striking up a conversation will do.

She should probably follow a textbook to make sure you learn in an organized manner.

[jammo]

Honestly don't bother. Once you get to the level where you understand what people are saying you will regret it.

[World Traveler]

[Fox]

I really cannot express how useless my wife has been as a language resource; I ask a question and get an, "I don't know, why do you only ask me hard questions?" And the kids are only one year old.

Being in Gangwon might have helped though. My coworkers have generally not spoken English, the locals almost never do (even doctors and the like), and I do not associate much with the local foreigners, who almost all either go home after a year or run off to Seoul.

[tmax500]

I learn by reading (some) Korean subtitles on American movie channels. Good for about 5 new words per movie and remembering earlier ones.

"Korean grammar in use" is a good book and the Sogang university website is worth a look (http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/). Pimsleur CDs are great for other languages but they're too formal in Korean. I've never taken a Korean class, but if I really had to study I'd find a gyopo teacher (online or in-person).

[Ginormousaurus]

[mr_thehorse]

[elavndrc]

I learned Korean pretty much on my own. Learn how to read the alphabet first and then listen to some slow songs - reading as you go along (even if you don't know what they are saying). Watch some TV - variety or dramas. Variety can be easy because you can pause and look up the words appearing on the screen, and a lot of times it's slapstick so that will be easier to watch.

Move on to dramas with English subtitles - watch a Korean drama episode three times. First time with subtitles, second time with subtitles but concentrate on listening to what they are saying. The third time you watch it without the subtitles, you will already know what they are saying since you watched it twice already with subtitles and that will help the content sink in. I also used to copy whatever the characters say to help with pronunciation.

It's not easy and it takes a lot of time - but I did that for maybe five years and I'm fluent. I tried to take some classes to learn proper grammar, I took maybe 6 months of classes but it's not really the way I learn and it was too formal. Depending on how you learn - any combination of methods could be useful.

[Squire]

I spent about 2 years studying from books by myself (there was a 10 week evening class course towards the end of that, which also helped) and then started to be able to keep conversations going to the point where chatting to people is becoming a more useful form of study. I'd probably just do the course if I were you and keep plugging away at the books in the meantime. Focus on learning grammar rules until you can express yourself confidently with what you know, then do lots of conversation practice and build vocab

[PatrickGHBusan]

[markness]

Hey OP,

Sounds like you have a good plan. You say you are a good self-learner, I am curious, have you tried out the pimsleur? I know you will think that it is "too easy", but I swear, that program nailed grammatical structure into my brain like no other. I studied Chinese at a university, and got to "intermediate" level, but let me tell you, what I thought I knew, was not enough. Learning languages at a university/in a traditional setting is a slow and questionably useful process. Sure you will have a large vocabulary, but I never actually learned how to properly structure sentences until I used the pimsleur. You can find a free copy on pirate bay Also for the reading/writing part I supplement it with free courses I have found on the internet:

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

Try using that website and the pimsleur, I swear there will be stuff you think you knew but you didn't.

[Fox]

[World Traveler]

Fox, how long ago did you come to Korea? Did you say something like only five years ago? It's crazy you got so good in such a short amount of time. How did you do it? I know you said you studied a lot of hanja. What else?