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Moving to Korea to learn Korean? | ||
Tags: Living abroad | Korean | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| IronFist Senior Member United States Joined 6439 days ago 663 posts - 941 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 1 of 27 21 September 2012 at 6:21am | IP Logged | ||
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The title of this thread was supposed to be "so I'm thinking about moving to Korea to learn Korean" but it's limited to 41 characters.
I see a bunch of listings for short-term apartment rentals in Gangnam and around Seoul. Seems much cheaper than staying in a hotel. Some of the apartments are furnished. Why not move there for a few months, right? In all seriousness though I probably wouldn't even be able to get from the airport to the apartment! Do cab drivers speak English? I don't really have a plan. The plan is basically: Step 1) go to Korea Step 2) live there Step 3) see what happens Discuss this idea. edit - fixed title. Somehow each instance of "to" got removed. Edited by IronFist on 21 September 2012 at 7:32am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Raincrowlee Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 6704 days ago 621 posts - 808 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Indonesian, Japanese | Message 2 of 27 21 September 2012 at 2:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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There are English speaking cab drivers in Korea, especially in Seoul. Not all of them do, but I think the taxis are generally marked.
Plus, they have a subway from the airport to downtown, and the maps are bilingual. I wonder if you looked at another part of Seoul if the rents would be even cheaper. Gangnam is the ritziest part of Seoul, and it would probably be cheaper north of the river. There are universities on both sides of the river that would have short-term Korean classes. I went to Seoul National University for a short time, and I know that they have short-term programs. Seoul's a nice place to visit. If you're interested in Korean, and you have the money and time, why not? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Leurre Bilingual Pentaglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5427 days ago 219 posts - 372 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Korean, Haitian Creole, SpanishC2 Studies: Japanese | Message 3 of 27 21 September 2012 at 3:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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In terms of life decisions, I'd give you a 0.7 out of ten.
In terms of language learning decisions, I wouldn't give you more than a 3 out of 10. If you're planning on moving to Korea to learn Korean, perhaps there are more vital questions than 'do the cab drivers speak English?' Namely, 'how would I learn Korean differently in Korea than I am learning now?', 'Will I be able to learn to speak/write/etc at a more efficient rate?' 'What are the best ways in Korea to learn Korean?' As it happens there are great great programs in Seoul for Korean language instruction. From minimal knowledge you could go to a high B2/ low C1 in about a year (I've seen it happen numerous times). There are also great resources, great little tricks to make the best of language partners, to meet friends, to avoid speaking English etc. So while a very sudden and drastic change- moving to Korea- sounds very adventurous and all, without a plan of some sort you'll be... sort of just another american living in most likely Seoul, who really wants to learn Korean. If I were to give you some advice, it would be to do research on 3 fronts. 1.Language- you know this, I'm sure, but just moving to a country guarantees nothing other than the fact that you'll spend a lot of money. 2. Living- Where is a nice place-both room and neighborhood- to live, where should one absolutely visit etc (probably the least important) 3, After- I learn Korean, I invest thousands of dollars and months of my life in it- and then what? Do I go home and just speak it once in a while with a couple of friends, and watch Korean TV? Do I want a job that has something to do with Korea or Korean? How am I going to keep up my language skills after this experience, and more importantly, what is my ultimate goal and why? (Speaking good Korean is a great goal in and of itself, don't get me wrong, but if you're going to be paying so much money and spending so much time on it (especially if you're closer to you 20s), it's worth thinking about how this works into the grander scheme of your life- and obviously that doesn't simply mean getting a job to do with Korean). Edited by Leurre on 21 September 2012 at 3:42pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| IronFist Senior Member United States Joined 6439 days ago 663 posts - 941 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 4 of 27 21 September 2012 at 7:07pm | IP Logged | ||
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How much are Korean classes in Seoul?
I want to live in an exciting downtown area. Can you please suggest other good places to live that are either downtown or close (walking distance) to downtown, that are still safe (eg. can walk home alone at night)? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| atama warui Triglot Senior Member Japan Joined 4703 days ago 594 posts - 985 votes Speaks: German*, English, Japanese | Message 5 of 27 21 September 2012 at 7:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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I know that for Japanese, you can get a students visa for 1 year for about 5000 Euro study fees at one of those language schools. No idea how good they are, how much you can actually learn and how similar that is to Korea, but at least the visa portion would be taken care of. Edited by atama warui on 21 September 2012 at 7:36pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| IronFist Senior Member United States Joined 6439 days ago 663 posts - 941 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 6 of 27 21 September 2012 at 9:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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5,000 Euro = about US$6,495. That's way more than I want to spend on language classes.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Leurre Bilingual Pentaglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5427 days ago 219 posts - 372 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Korean, Haitian Creole, SpanishC2 Studies: Japanese | Message 7 of 27 21 September 2012 at 10:30pm | IP Logged | ||
There are many different concentrations of people and things, in different parts of Seoul, so there isn't really one single downtown (you wouldn't want to live around the CBD). Nice places to live, in my opinion, are around universities- there's cheap food, nice places to eat/study/party, and it makes for a better environment to approach people/make friends. 홍대is a little expensive but worth it. 신촌is a really good example, 안국 is also pretty nice, though expensive. I'd stay away from 잠실/한양대 and away from 서울대/신림 which is kinda barren and maybe the only slightly sketchy place. But there are a lot of nice neighborhoods, so definitely have a look around. As for safety, pretty much all of Seoul is safe to walk alone at 3 in the morning. Also, for getting around, the subway has great coverage and is about half the cost of most subways in the US (usually around 1050won, or 1 dollar depending on the exchange rate of the day) Korean language programs... you'll find many, and I can only speak for what I've tried. I did one year at 이화여대's 언어교육원, which was a great experience... 10 weeks at 4 hours a day/5 days a week. And it was about 1500 dollars per 10 week session. I also did one 9 week session at 한양대 which was about 400 cheaper, and just as good a program. But like I said, there are plenty of different programs each with their merit. Edited by Leurre on 21 September 2012 at 10:44pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Haksaeng Senior Member Korea, South Joined 6200 days ago 166 posts - 250 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, Arabic (Levantine) | Message 8 of 27 22 September 2012 at 1:53am | IP Logged | ||
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Living in a hasukjib near a university with a language program is a good option. Not much privacy, but the ajumma provides 2 meals a day and you'll be immersed in a Korean environment. Many of the universities have Korean language programs, and there are also hagwons with Korean classes if you don't want to spend 4 hours a day in class.
I find Seoul pretty safe and it's possible to live cheaply if you're careful. If you're enrolled in a language program you can get a visa that allows you to stay for the duration of the program; otherwise as an American you can stay for three months on a tourist visa. You won't be able to work. Medical care is cheap as long as you don't have anything major. What I mean is you can go to a doctor for antibiotics or get a filling in your tooth and it won't set you back too much, but you should have some kind of catastrophic coverage in case of a horrible accident. If you have been putting off any medical or dental care in the U.S. because of lack of insurance and funds, Korea would be a good place to get it taken care of. Never take a cab from the airport. Airport buses run every 20 minutes to virtually every Seoul neighborhood for about $15 and the subway, cheaper and less comfortable if you have luggage, is also a possibility. You won't automatically learn Korean in Seoul, because so many people know at least survival English. If you live in a nice area or near a university, practically everyone will speak English to you. If you want to find areas where people will speak mostly or only Korean, try poorer neighborhoods (they are safe), traditional markets, cheap Korean restaurants, and small towns outside of Seoul. Living in Korea can be fascinating. It's a modern, developed country with access to everything you're used to in the U.S., but it has a very distinct culture and feel--you definitely know you're living in a foreign country. They do almost everything just a little bit differently than in the U.S., and I mean that in a positive way. There are tons of blogs online written by people who are here teaching English, and that can be a good way to get some information about what it's like for foreigners living in Seoul. Youtube has lots of videos about life in Korea, and apartment and neighborhood tours by foreigners, etc. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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