Learning Korean - Tumblr Posts
안녕하세요 여러분! Today I wanted to do something a little different and make a post describing my experience in a college Korean class. This is for anyone who’s wanting to take Korean in college and is curious about what it’s like. Obviously every college is different so I’m just going to talk about my personal experience to give you an idea of what it might be like.
시작합시다!
Environment
Class Size
I go to college in Mississippi and, even at a university as big as mine, there aren’t a lot of people taking Korean. Because of this, my class is very small and I imagine it’s going to get smaller and smaller as the semesters go on. In the first semester there were about 22 people and this semester there are 14. Everyone in that class knows each other and the professor knows us all pretty well too. The small class size is beneficial in that you get a more individualistic and one-on-one learning experience. Downside is that there isn’t just not showing up like a big lecture class. If you’re not there, it won’t go unnoticed.
Professor
Our professor’s name is Dr. Lee and she’s great. Actually, I know a few people in my class don’t really vibe with her or think she’s scary because of just how blunt she can be. Personally, I don’t mind. After you go for so long without having any help or guidance learning Korean, it’s nice to have someone there to tell you when you make dumb mistakes. She’s also a professor who likes to call on people randomly and with such a small class there is no avoiding it. Normally, I HATE when professors do this. However, I really like the challenge when it comes to Korean. Normal conversation is all unplanned and on the spot so it’s really good practice for real interactions.
Work
Vocabulary Quizzes
Every Monday or every other Monday is when we have vocabulary quizzes. In our textbooks, each chapter has a new batch of vocabulary to learn so that’s what we study for.
The quizzes are pretty simple with just some translations from Korean to English and English to Korean.
Please ignore my handwriting
And that one I missed bc my brain doesn’t work sometimes
And my misspelling of Vancouver bc my brain doesn’t work sometimes
Handouts
Almost everyday we are learning a new conjugation / grammar pattern and we do that with the help of our textbooks and handouts. We use both to practice what we learned usually with a partner, group, and by speaking and reading outloud (as a group and individually). Here’s the handout we got yesterday when we were learning -을/ㄹ래요, (아)나, and -밖에 so you have an idea:
Homework
Every Wednesday we have homework that we go over on Thursdays. These usually involve translating and listening practice for whatever we’re learning that week and it’s always from our textbook. This wasn’t actually homework but this is what a lot of our homework looks like:
Testing
Our Mid-Terms and Finals are really just a culmination of everything we learned that semester. This includes listening, translation, reading comprehension, and writing.
Aside from tests, we also do a few presentations. Last semester, they were all in groups and my groups did presentations on 추석 and places to visit in Korea outside of Seoul. Personally, this is my least favorite part of the class.
-
Anyway, this was a very brief description and I hope it gave you an idea of what a college level Korean class may be like (but maybe not!). And if you’re in a Korean class that’s different, I’d love to hear about it!
bussu 🇰🇷 lesson and notes
Semiformal forms 🤗 We transformed verbs and adjectives into semiformal forms in the present tense adding 아요 or 어요 to the radical. We add 아요 if the radical ends in vowel ㅗ ou ㅏ. Otherwise, we add 어요. 찾다 (to find) – radical ends in vowel ㅏ = 찾아요
좋다 (to be good) – radical ends in vowel ㅗ = 좋아요
먹다 (to eat) – radical ends in vowel ㅓ = 먹어요
있다 (to have) – radical ends in vowel ㅣ = 있어요 How to add 아요 Fisrt, let’s see how to add 아요 to radicals with final consonant. (Later we’ll learn how to add 아요 to radicals without final consonant.) If the radical ends in vowel ㅗ or ㅏ with final consonant, we add 아요 to the radical. ㅗ ou ㅏ + final consonant radical + 아요
좋다 (to be good) = 좋아요
닦다 (to wash) = 닦아요
볶다 (to fry) = 볶아요
닫다 (to close) = 닫아요
높다 (tall) = 높아요
살다 (to live) = 살아요
Today's vocab from Busuu's Lesson
연필 yeon-pil a pencil / um lápis 책 chaek a book / um livro 종이 jong-i paper / papel ... 있어요? / ... i-sseo-yo? Do you have...? / Você tem…? 네, 있어요. Ne, i-sseo-yo. Yes, I have. / Sim, tenho.
Today's vocab from Busuu's Lesson pt. 2
펜 pen a pen / uma caneta 공책 gong-chaek a notebook / um caderno 지우개 ji-u-gae an eraser / uma borracha 없어요. Eob-sseo-yo, Don't have (it). / Não tenho. 아니요, 없어요. A-ni-yo, eob-seo-yo. No, I don't have (it). / Não, não tenho.
y’all know what’s the craziest part about learning a language? (Yes, I’m trilingual) is when it’s an Asian language.
I’m learning Korean, and Japanese right now. I know Korean more than Japanese at the moment. My parents are aware about this, but they take advantage of it, or the wrong way.
So we’re in the waiting room at the doctors (for my dad, he has kidney stones now.) he’s scrolling on his lovingly, addicting face book. Tell me why, he showed me a picture of Chinese letters. CHINESE LETTERS. It was a photo of Chinese letters with what the letters mean. He literally asked me, “are those correct” like how am I supposed to know ?
I told him, “dad. I don’t know?” And I scoffed. It was so crazy, I just shook my head. 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️
12 DAYS OF HANGUL ~ MASTERPOST
Are you beginning to learn Korean? Then you need to learn Hangul! It’s the ingenious Korean alphabet system. Click on the lessons below to get started and learn how to master a new script.
HANGUL LESSONS
[Day 1 ~ Consonants] Learn the 14 consonants and their sounds. [Day 2 ~ Vowels] Learn the 8 Korean vowels and their sounds. [Day 3 ~ Double Consonants] 5 more consonants to learn. [Day 4 ~ Y Vowels] 6 unique vowels to round out the alphabet. [Day 5 ~ Characters] How to create Korean characters/syllables. [Day 6 ~ W Sound] How to form the W sound in Korean. [Day 7 ~ Sh Sound] How to form the Sh sound in Korean. [Day 8 ~ Orientation] Learn two ways to write with Hangul. [Day 9 ~ Batchims] How to read final consonants in syllable blocks. [Day 10 ~ Linking Sounds] Linking batchim sounds with proceeding vowels. [Day 11 ~ English] How to write English words using Hangul. [Day 12 ~ Review] Test your knowledge with this short review.
HANGUL DOWNLOADS
[Alphabet PDF] All the Consonants and Vowels. [Characters PDF] How to form characters, Ws, and Shs. [Advanced PDF] Batchims, Linking Sounds and English.
Does anyone want to do a language exchange? I’m learning Korean and would love to have someone to talk with so I can improve cuz I sound like a sad child lmao
No. You don’t understand. I WANT to learn another language. I want to be FLUENT in another language. My brain just doesn’t soak it in. Conventional learning methods just don’t seem to work
So this is a little different from my normal posts, but I’ve had a couple of people ask me how I learned Korean and for tips and tricks so this is a compilation of the tips and tricks that I personally used to help me learn.
First-Study, study, study. Spend at least a couple hours a week (or as much time as you can) practicing and learning new words and pronunciation.
Second-Speak! If you're like me and no one around you is Korean its really difficult to find someone to speak to and thats okay, just talk to yourself and say the new words out loud when you learn/practice them.
Third-Use as many senses as you can. Write the word down, read it, say it, hear it. This will help you to remember it. I’ve even heard of drawing pictures that goes along with the word.
Fourth-Remember the basics! The basics are super important in any language but especially in languages that have a different alphabet and different sounds than in your first language, and its really important that you remember them.
Fifth-Take advantage of the free apps/websites online. These are super useful and really helpful when you're trying to learn and you don't have a teacher, or even for practicing what your teacher gave you.
Sixth-Use YouTube to help with learning new words, writing in hangul, the different sounds that the hangul make, etc. Trust me it works wonders.
Seventh-Label everything. And I mean everything. Your house, objects, and work items that you have. This is an easy way to help remember what the name of these certain things are because you see the label whenever you use it.
Eighth-Keep a set notebook for that language. You need to have a designated notebook for just Korean or else it will get confusing and difficult to read through your notes.
Ninth-After taking notes for a certain period of time, (I do mine for about a week), look back through your notes and rearrange them a clean sheet of paper in a way that makes better sense.
Tenth-When practicing your pronunciation stick a pencil in your mouth sideways so that your teeth rest on it and speak around the pencil. MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT CHOKE ON THE PENCIL! This will help your mouth form the words in ways that is normally difficult for English speakers.
Eleventh-Learn Bachim. Just learn it. This will make life so much easier as you go through and continue learning. Just do it.
Twelfth-Dont be afraid to find a pen pal or someone who's willing to talk online in and about Korean. I know it might seem scary at first but trust me, it really helps you grow in confidence and fix any little mistakes that the computer cant help you catch.
Thirteenth-Watch KDramas/KPOP. I know you've probably heard this before but heres why you should so it. When you listen to how they speak and pronounce the words it helps you to correct your own speaking mistakes and help develop an accent.
Fourteenth-Listen to as many different accents as you can. If you get used to the Seal accent then when someone from Busan tries to talk to you you will most likely not be able to understand them, simply because of the slight differences in pronunciation.
Fifteenth-As soon as you feel comfortable enough or decide that you need to there are plenty of apps or websites where you can actually interact with Korean teenagers like yourself, most of the time over KPOP or KDRAMAS and it will help build your confidence.
This is is all I could really think of but please feel free to add your own thoughts, opinions, tips, tricks and information on the subject! And last but not least, remember you're not alone or weird for trying to learn Korean. It’s a beautiful language that can sometimes be really difficult. Just keep your head up and keep trying and I promise you'll make it!
Introduce Myself...
내 이름은 오유아 입니다!/ 나 는 오유아 입니다!
My name is Oyoa!/ I am Oyoa!
Today’s tiny joy: Apple
Chotu happy tidbit - I’ve been learning Korean on Duolingo and I’m so so so happy and proud of myself today for forming a whole sentence in Korean without ANY help. I was given the sentence in English and I was able to correctly translate it in Korean without looking at the hints! This is magical to me because like juuuust a couple of months ago I had zero to negligible knowledge of this language. A year ago I just knew that this language exists. Today, I was able to say ‘I am not in Korea’ IN KOREAN. The nerd in me is ECSTATIC & nerding-out about the magic of learning!
(Progress is slow so I like to celebrate moments like this!) It’s so so cool to learn a new language it’s like I can feel the POWER UP. And and and I really hope I’m able to take learning and knowing these languages & make something like a tribute.
And plus plus, being a part of this crazy subcontinent called India makes my heart just... F U L L. T O. T H E. B R I M. Because there are moments when all that I’ve had to learn/I’m learning makes me think of/look for ways of connecting us all with these words because we are - connected! And I feel like crying thinking about something as small and as beautiful as the fact that I now know how to say APPLE in five languages.
forgot tumblr existed hello ! im currently going really hard on studying korean for the last bit of summer before i have to deep dive into mandarin reviews. hows everyone doing?
pls give online resources alternatives to ttmik, im currently using korean from zero and howtostudykorean but i need more i didnt realize my ttmik subscription expired and cant afford to get it back rn
HIII im back fr this time lol here are updates on life and my studies
- did not get enough funding for my planned study abroad in taiwan sadly, BUTTTT i last second was able to get into a summer program at korea university in seoul!! (will post summer + fall schedule after this)
- ended up failing a class this semester because the listed grading system on the syllabus was apparently not what was used but its fine ill live, just need to do reallly good in the fall to bring my gpa back up (it went from 3.425 -> 3.0)
- im either switching my minor to east asian languages or dropping it all together and focusing on anthropology/archaeology in school and languages in my own time :) i already dropped the chinese minor as i dont want to continue taking courses with the single professor at my uni but still want my credits for the mandarin and japanese courses ive taken to count towards my degree if possible
- currently trying to rest during my short summer break before i go to korea so im not burnt out there or in the fall but also starting to read ahead on the classes im taking there when i have the energy
finally comfirmed all my summer courses so heres the schedule!
for context: im studying at Korea University in Seoul for a 6 week semester abroad.
Period 1 - North Korea: History, Society, Politics
Period 2 - Media & Popular Culture in South Korea
Period 5 - Beginning Korean 1
im very interested to see how the class on North Korea will be, i have started some of the recommended reading as well as doing my own research & finding friends in the class and looking forward to it. definitely not a course i could ever find/take at a university here at home.
media & pop culture also super excited for bc i want to dive deeper into studying pop culture, performance art, fandom spaces and more within the realm soso bad
korean 1! i do have some korean learning and time in the country under my belt already but ive never taken an actual class (my speaking is very casual/informal bc of who/where i learned from lol) i feel like i definitely have missed or not fully understood a lot of grammar in the past also so i wanna kind restart the learning process w more structure :)
if anyone has questions abt the classes/program/study abroad/ etc lmk and ill do my best to answer !! excited to be back and motivated and study the things i love after a pretty difficult spring semester
Let's chat & Learn 😄
I downloaded kakao again. Learning Korean & Spanish. Still a beginner for both Still looking for a study buddy for both languages. Anyone is welcome to chat. Just don't be a jerk. 🤗 ID is a_squish21
Small writing exercise I did today:
(Instructions: You just met a Korean friend. You need to say "hi" and introduce yourself. Write "hello," your name, and where you are from.)
안녕하세요. 제 이름은 SIMP입니다. 저는 (미국/스웨덴/멕시코) 사람입니다.
Exercise from Julie Damron & EunSun You, Korean Stories For Language Learners (Tuttle Publishing, 2018), p. 10.