Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itsme]

So what are the options for one seeking to learn how to speak the language? Are there night schools? Culture clubs? books and tapes? Whats the tutor scene like? I will most likely be living in Incheon so any information specific to that area would be nice.

[Cheonmunka]

I did a search on Google.co.kr using search item �ѱ��� ���� ��õ and found nothing of any formal Korean language learning institutes on first 6 pages, just a text about the volunteers' organisation for foreign labor workers.

[visitor q]

The ironic thing about Incheon is that you will need to know Korean to live here because no one speaks English, yet there are no places in Incheon to learn Korean.

Go to Seoul or Busan instead; any other city in Korea is a waste of of time for a newbie.

[Hater Depot]

I would say that's far from true, especially if you luck into a good tutor. Langintro.com has a good set of pages for starting to learn and you can buy some good textbooks. Elementary Korean and Active Korean are generally considered the best. There is also Stephen Revere's Surivival Korean, and these video lessons (although they're way more useful once you've got past the total-rookie phase).

[itsme]

thanks hater depot. I find it amazing just how little information I have been able to find on Incheon but supposedly it is close enough to Seoul for me to go to some of the big bookstores there and check it out.

Does the written language have any similarities with Chinese?

[NearlyKorean]

[Hater Depot]

The general consensus is that hangeul was created ex nihilo, but if you squint at a few Chinese characters you can see some similar shapes. Otherwise there is no relationship at all.

[ajgeddes]

Actually, there are over 80,000 Chinese character, but of course, most of them are not in use and I believe the average educated person in China, knows something like 20,000, but I may be wrong.

I agree that some of the shapes are defintely similary to Chinese writing, expecially starting with �� and ��. Also, there are similar shapes in written Japanese.

Learning the alphabet will take you a day, and after a week you will actually remember all of them all the time and be able to read most words with pronunciation that other foreigners will understand, and after a month, your pronunciation will be good enough for most Koreans to understand. Then it is just a matter of knowing what you are reading, and that my friend, is a whole different story.

GOOD LUCK!

[SPINOZA]

[ajgeddes]

Yes, you are right, but you also need to know such things as the sound of ��,��,��,��,��,��,�� and more do change pronunciation depending on location. Also, when the 'y' vowels are used in combination with a �� you don't really get syaah from ��, but rather you get a shaah. There are other things as well that do not make it so simple to learn. Overall, it is much, much easier to learn to read than Japanese and Chinese, but at the same time, it isn't as straightforward as it appears at first.

[stumptown]

I lived in Incheon my first year and it absolutely sucked. But after 6 months, I made some effort to learn Korean. Because of that, my Korean improved much more rapidly than if I would have lived in Seoul or Busan my first year. Try finding a language exchange partner on the Korea Herald board since there are a couple of universities in Incheon, maybe you can find a college student to help you. Or better, someone more interested in exchanging fluid more than language.

[HapKi]

visitor q wrote:
there are no places in Incheon to learn Korean.
Go to Seoul or Busan instead; any other city in Korea is a waste of of time for a newbie.


I guess I understand your meaning (that there are no formal schools) but still had to laugh. Ever heard of self-study? How about language exchange, either formal or informal?

As others have said, learn the characters first. This I did by using mnemonic devices, such as-

�� - looks like a trampoline, ok, the "j" sound in jump
�� - looks like a bowl= "b"
�� - square like a map= "m"
�� - someone wearing a hat= "h"

Then you can start reading the language. When you're around Incheon, practice reading Hangul that you know the meaning of, such as subway stops, menus, students names in the role book at school, etc..

[philthy]

[Mills]

[Qinella]