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Korean language courses

 
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muggie2dammit



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Location: Ilsan, Korea

PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2004 6:15 am    Post subject: Korean language courses Reply with quote

Interested in full-time Korean language courses.
My question:
Which course at which university is best?
I've heard some good things about Sookmyung. Yonsei and Sogang also claim to be good. It's hard to know which claims to believe in Korea.
Which universities offer the best Korean language courses, in your opinion?
I'd love to hear back from people who've done the courses.
And if you've done a full-time Korean language program at any other place that can offer a student visa while studying, that'd also be good. Smile
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wanderer



Joined: 25 May 2003

PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 4:50 pm    Post subject: what are you looking for? Reply with quote

..

Last edited by wanderer on Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:51 am; edited 2 times in total
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casey's moon



Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Location: Daejeon

PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 5:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seoul National isn't very popular on this forum, but it was great for me. I think it offers a good balance between conversational and academic Korean.
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peppergirl



Joined: 07 Dec 2003

PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 6:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

casey's moon wrote:
Seoul National isn't very popular on this forum, but it was great for me. I think it offers a good balance between conversational and academic Korean.


Good to hear that as I'll be starting there in December. What level did you do and how good is your Korean now?
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casey's moon



Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Location: Daejeon

PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 6:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

peppergirl wrote:
casey's moon wrote:
Seoul National isn't very popular on this forum, but it was great for me. I think it offers a good balance between conversational and academic Korean.


Good to hear that as I'll be starting there in December. What level did you do and how good is your Korean now?


I studied levels 3 and 4 there -- as for how good my Korean is now... well, I can pretty much communicate anything I need to say, but sometimes get lost in conversations with difficult grammar. My confidence in listening, speaking, reading and writing are all very much improved. The only complaint I have with their course is that it gets kind of fast for the non-Japanese and non-Chinese students around level four.

I suggest you take a look at their textbooks at Kyobo bookstore (or elsewhere) to try to get a feel for what level you might be at before you take the placement test. You may even want to buy one that is appropriate and brush yourself up so you'll know the same things as the other students (for example, if you think level 2 is most appropriate, you maybe want to buy level 1 anyway). I started my Korean studies with this series and I rather like it.

Anyway, good luck! It's a lot of work, but well worth it.

Edit: I meant to say difficult vocabulary -- not difficult grammar. Grammar is no longer the problem. Words... those darn words -- they're the problem.


Last edited by casey's moon on Wed Nov 24, 2004 9:44 pm; edited 1 time in total
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just because



Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Location: Changwon - 4964

PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 8:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll second casey's moon and say that I use the Seoul University textbooks a lot as well. I found them to be quite good and not dry at all(which a lot of books here can be - being way too overly honorific) and has good examples for conversational use.

I also use Sogang and I have fond that using both has been a good balance for me.

I never went to any Korean language course though, all self-taught.

Where i live it would be a 10 hour round trip everyday Smile
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peppergirl



Joined: 07 Dec 2003

PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 9:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

casey's moon wrote:


I studied levels 3 and 4 there -- as for how good my Korean is now... well, I can pretty much communicate anything I need to say, but sometimes get lost in conversations with difficult grammar. My confidence in listening, speaking, reading and writing are all very much improved. The only complaint I have with their course is that it gets kind of fast for the non-Japanese and non-Chinese students around level four.


Anyway, good luck! It's a lot of work, but well worth it.


Thanks! Got to do my placement test next week, hoping to get into level 3 and planning to study there for 6 months... so hopefully I'll be as confident as you in half a year Smile
I might have some advantage as I did study Japanese before (lived there for 5 yrs) and know some Chinese too (thanks to my Chinese mum Wink ).
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casey's moon



Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Location: Daejeon

PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

just because wrote:
I'll second casey's moon and say that I use the Seoul University textbooks a lot as well. I found them to be quite good and not dry at all(which a lot of books here can be - being way too overly honorific) and has good examples for conversational use.

I also use Sogang and I have fond that using both has been a good balance for me.

I never went to any Korean language course though, all self-taught.

Where i live it would be a 10 hour round trip everyday Smile


Do you think it is worthwhile to study both books -- I mean, are they different enough? I used to study multiple materials and sometimes found that it boosted my understanding of concepts. Do you think I should study the Sogang books on my own for awhile? I'm not sure I've seen them for sale -- where did you get yours?

Peppergirl said:
Quote:
Thanks! Got to do my placement test next week, hoping to get into level 3 and planning to study there for 6 months... so hopefully I'll be as confident as you in half a year
I might have some advantage as I did study Japanese before (lived there for 5 yrs) and know some Chinese too (thanks to my Chinese mum ).


Yep, that background should help! If I were you I'd take a quick review of level 2 this weekend, to help you ace the entrance into level 3. If you study there for six months, you'll likely do the same thing I did there (level 3 and 4). It'll be great!
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just because



Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Location: Changwon - 4964

PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 10:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

casey's moon wrote:
Do you think it is worthwhile to study both books -- I mean, are they different enough? I used to study multiple materials and sometimes found that it boosted my understanding of concepts. Do you think I should study the Sogang books on my own for awhile? I'm not sure I've seen them for sale -- where did you get yours?

Definantly worthwhile studying as many different sources as you can.

The thing while they may be similar it reinforces concepts and presents them in slightly different ways. Just sometimes I'll study something the first time and then it will click a lot better if I study it a second time from another source.

I got my Sogang books from Youngpoong(??) bookstore in Busan(I'm not a Seoulite) near Seomyeon.
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casey's moon



Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Location: Daejeon

PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2004 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

just because wrote:
Definantly worthwhile studying as many different sources as you can.

The thing while they may be similar it reinforces concepts and presents them in slightly different ways. Just sometimes I'll study something the first time and then it will click a lot better if I study it a second time from another source.

I got my Sogang books from Youngpoong(??) bookstore in Busan(I'm not a Seoulite) near Seomyeon.


Yeah, I know you're right -- just wasn't sure if I could justify shelling out the dough for more textbooks, but as I'm in a studying rut, could be just the thing! Thanks!
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steelhead



Joined: 28 Mar 2004
Location: Seoul formerly known as Victoria

PostPosted: Thu Nov 25, 2004 5:49 pm    Post subject: Seoul Lang Academy Reply with quote

Im going tostart at the Seoul Language academy next week. 2 hrs a day M-F. We will see how it is.

Have to take entrance test, should be interesting.
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