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My Approach to Conversational Korean | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| jtdotto Diglot Groupie United States Joined 5039 days ago 73 posts - 172 votes  Speaks: English*, Korean Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, German | Message 1 of 1 07 February 2013 at 3:49am | IP Logged |
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I wrote this out in response to forum member who messaged me for advice on learning conversational Korean. I thought it might be helpful for current and future members who are interested in Korean, so I'm posting it here. I've edited it a bit to make it less a response and more of just a method and commentary. Feel free to comment!
I'd like to recommend a couple of different approaches for learning spoken Korean, all of which I have used at some time or another and all of which have their merits. This post if worth a look at first. I personally wouldn't recommend following this study plan, but it does have some good resources. http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=7606&PN=5&TPN=1 In order to speak good Korean, you will need to learn how to read and understand the mechanics of Korean. I've met a lot of foreigners who speak Korean. Some of them can interact with Koreans and may know quite a few phrases, but their ability quickly reaches its limits when faced with real or even just initial conversation that goes beyond introductions and the like. The very best are always the ones who have spent serious time with the grammar and dialogues/texts, as well as countless hours with natives. To do this, the first thing you'll need to do is learn Hangul. It's very easy and if you're motivated you'll be able to make out sounds in a couple days. There are plenty of resources online for learning Hangul, I know TTMIK has some Hangul videos and maybe some worksheets. Learn each letter individually, then start to put them together. The more effort you put into this initially the bigger the pay off will be down the road. Once you know Hangul pretty well, I would crack open a textbook. I highly recommend You Speak Korean!, begin with level 1, it's a challenging, yet fun journey, and the textbook is designed especially well for self-study AND 1-1 tutoring. I would do the following with each chapter: - memorize the vocab at the beginning of each chapter - read and reread and copy by hand the main text multiple times - work with a native on first understanding the main text, and then with reading it aloud for pronunciation and intonation - read and reread the grammar section - study the hell out of this section! (so much info is in each one of these that you can't help but read it multiple times) - work through some of the exercises in the textbook with a native - download the mp3s for each chapter and listen to them while reading the main and supplementary texts, then without the texts, then by shadowing with your voice - any other techniques you can pick up that help use the same material in a fresh or novel way <--- this is one the keys to learning a foreign language!!! I went through books 1 and 2 in 3 months in an intensive 4hr/day language class with the author as the teacher. By the end of the quarter, with having met a number of new Korean friends a couple times a week for practice, I was able to have good basic conversations in Korean. You could probably work through books 1 and 2 in six months if you study everyday and have a couple intelligent Koreans to help you. Meanwhile... Work through TTMIK's (Talk To Me In Korean) audio lessons, starting with level 1. Keep a notebook of things you want to remember from each lesson. Don't worry about retaining everything they tell you (unless you are an aural learner). Just listen to each a few times and jot down a few notes from each lesson - the textbook I recommended will take care of the rest. (By that I mean the textbook will have much more thorough explanations and plenty of examples for all the grammar and vocab usage. TTMIK is good for exposure to the language, repeated listening practice, and cultural awareness and tips.) Meeting with native speakers is key. For me, a foreign language does not come alive unless I can put myself in an environment where it is being used naturally. When I attended university I had a large population of Koreans to speak with and befriend. That made all the difference. If you can find three or four intelligent, open-minded, and helpful Koreans, and at least one who knows a bit about teaching, you should be set. When I was in serious beginner learning mode, and even when I was intermediate, I would meet with up to 2 or 3 different Koreans individually once a week. I always kept a notebook of phrases and things they taught me. Once again, meeting with natives is *** KEY *** if you want to speak natural Korean. Do it from day one. Don't put off making friends with a Korean until you can do xyz. Hit them up for help with their language from the beginning. Most Koreans find it interesting and novel that a foreigner wants to learn their language, and most of them will gladly help you. A note on Integrated Korean - this is one of the more popular textbooks methods for learning Korean, and while it is a solid course (I've used it before) and served a great purpose when it was published, I would not say it is the standard anymore. It's a bit dry and boring to be honest. If you can track a copy down, check it out and see if it fits with your learning style, but I would also go to www.paradigmbusters.com and find the sample pages from the YSK! series. The difference is night and day (I'm not kidding, one is entirely in black and white and the other is completely in color). Grammar explanations in IK are short and simple, which may sound ideal, but it's not. You will want detailed explanations of the grammar, or else you will have to suffer through serious trial and error until you finally gain a deeper understanding of when and when not to use x grammar point. YSK! has detailed, yet easy to understand, explanations, and plenty of examples to help you learn. A note on dramas and Kpop - I think anyone on this website would agree that any sort of exposure to your target language and its culture is positive. If you enjoy dramas or Kpop, by all means watch and listen as much as you can. Me personally... I've only ever watched one drama all the way through, and though it was an incredibly helpful experience, and though I did enjoy watching it, and in fact now, thinking back on it, the story was pretty compelling (it was a martial arts story), it was still a Korean drama, which meant it was produced in an industry that pops these out in assembly line fashion and gear them towards mainly women and especially teenage girls (though some are a bit more mature). Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I'm not big on even American television series that are produced like this. As a foreigner to their language and culture, these dramas can be extremely helpful, but you cannot expect the level of writing and character development, let alone acting, the likes of which can be found in Breaking Bad, The Office, The Sopranos, The West Wing, Game of Thrones, The Wire, Dexter, The X-Files, Black Books, etc, etc. Of course to each their own, I respect the fact that people have different tastes, and if K-dramas are your thing, more power to you. But keep in mind, the most accessible of these dramas are put recycled and rehashed every year under different names, with seemingly minimal attempts at creativity in the story or the setting, and they give the sense that only rich and beautiful people live in Korea (far from the case). You're not going to find any terminally ill chemistry teachers blowing up movable meth labs to make money for his family (not that this is true either, but it's believable). That being said, there are some quality shows, mainly having to do with historical fiction or politics. Now, Korean cinema is much better. There are many duds amongst Korean movies, but there are also some outstanding films that have interesting characters, compelling stories, and a genuine quality to them. Old Boy, Mother, The Host, Memories of Murder are just a few that come instantly to mind. Kpop - once again, this music is produced with the explicit intent to make money from teenage girls and middle-aged salarymen. You're not going to find a Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach, John Lennon, Kate Bush, Adele, etc, in general Kpop. It is very much the Korean version of Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Nsync, Backstreet Boys, etc. If you dig deeper you can find some very creative and genuine artists, like Kim Gwang Seok, Lee Jeok, Kim C and Hot Potato, the list goes on. But if you like Kpop, this is another good resource to get exposure to the language. For me, rather than watching listening to dramas and Kpop, I just made quite a few Korean friends and drank lots and lots of soju. I also dated, and still am dating, Korean women. But once again, to each their own. Check out mezzoguild.com for some interesting posts on language learning in general, and Korean specifically. As far as literature goes... well, it'll be a while before you get to the point where you can read it in Korean, but Hwang Sun Won's short stories are great, as well as Ahn Do Hyun's novel on salmon. There's a book called 배려 Consideration that's quite good. A number of others but most of these aren't translated... I know Salmon is translated into German though, check it out (if you read German). Cheers and good luck~ (Edited to be more sensitive to people who like Korean dramas) Edited by jtdotto on 07 February 2013 at 8:20am 6 persons have voted this message useful |
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