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Tarko’s Log (TAC 2014 Team Gumiho) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4860 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes  Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian | Message 113 of 119 06 October 2014 at 8:30pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Actually, because Korean is so different from the other languages I speak, memorisation helped me a lot in updating my almost non-existing speaking skills to something passable enough to get into Sogang level 5. I made a deck of Anki cards containing audio sentences and listened to them and then spoke along with the text for every card. I didn't deliberately memorise anything, but a lot of those sentences stuck in my brain. I had arouund 4-500 cards from different sources (textbook-dialogues, news reports, TTMIK Iyagi lessons) if I remember correctly. I'm convinced that it helped a lot with grammar and pronunciation and just getting my Korean to sound a bit more natural and more idiomatic (although that could be much, much better). I was so convinced by this experiment that I solely relied on an audio sentence deck during my short Persian stint and it worked perfectly. If I had gone the conservative route of textbook study I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to say as much in such a short time. I will also use this method for every other new language I study. So although I dislike memorisation severely when required, I can see its merits - especially when the grammar and expressions are so foreign as they are in case of Korean.
Sounds like you're doing very well, by the way! Congratulations on tying for the best test! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Tarko Senior Member Korea, South Joined 4683 days ago 119 posts - 148 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, French | Message 114 of 119 07 October 2014 at 1:32am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
What I meant by that part was, "There is a lot of broth in the soup." And thank you!
This relates to my mixed emotions regarding memorizing dialogues. While I hate doing it, I do find the structures and sometimes the sentences popping out when I least expect it. That is, I suppose, the reason internalizing the structures is useful- I can incorporate the grammar/sentence in a situation other than the one portrayed in the dialogue. I personally find that the act of actively writing/correcting example sentences to be more useful, but that's because I'm more of an active learner.
Thank you! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Tarko Senior Member Korea, South Joined 4683 days ago 119 posts - 148 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, French | Message 115 of 119 14 October 2014 at 1:20am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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10월 7일부터 10월 14일까지
Korean - Yonsei 3-1: 108-135 - Yonsei Reading 3: 58-65, 80-85 - Yonsei Workbook: 70-73, 82-95 - Vocabulary: 148 words - Grammar: -만 못하다, -는 대신에, -는다고 해서, -을 뿐만 아니라, -어야지, -는 데다가 - TV: 패션왕코리아 (1), 도전 수퍼모들 코리아 (5) - Movie: 나의 사랑, 나의 신부 - Speaking Practice: 3 hours with a group, 2 hours with my tutor French - Attachement by Rainbow Rowell: 271-375 I have to go to class shortly, so I'll make this quick. I found a tutor! Well, kind of. He's a Korean Education major and is only able to help me out for about 2 months before he heads off to 군대. We've planned to meet 4 days a week for an hour a day. I'm going to decrease that to 3 days a week soon because, well, 4 hours a week is a lot, and there's only so much we can talk about in a week. We're going to focus on speaking skills/applying the grammar I've learned, in that we'll choose a grammatical point, come up with a conversation to incorporate it, and then we continue talking about that subject for a while after that. It's working well so far, but we've only met twice... My class went to the movies yesterday and saw 나의 사랑, 나의 신부 with 신민아 and 조정석. I've seen both of them in dramas (아랑사또전, 최고다 이순신) and find them to be very good actors. Especially 조정석, whom I, too, would marry. My comprehension was roughly 30-40%? Not the best, but I understood what was going on. We were also able to partake in a 조조할인, or a morning sale. I think I'll be trying to get more 조조할인 tickets in the future, since it'd be a good way to study/learn more Korean culture. Also, Korean movies are roughly 50x better than Korean dramas, so... there's that. We have a 수시평가 tomorrow over chapters 3-4 in our textbooks. I'm feeling confident about my grasp of the grammar/vocabulary/the content in general. Next week is the midterm... not feeling quite so good about that! Anyways, time for class. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Tarko Senior Member Korea, South Joined 4683 days ago 119 posts - 148 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, French | Message 116 of 119 28 October 2014 at 7:40am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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10월 15일부터 10월 28일까지
Korean - Yonsei 3-1: 136-181 (finished) - Yonsei 3-2: 186-211 - Yonsei Reading 3: 86-93, 102-131 - Yonsei Workbook: 96-99, 108-124, 140-148 - Vocabulary: 357 words - Grammar: -을 만하다, -을걸요, -는 모양이다, -을 뿐이다, -는다면서요?, -만하다, -기란, -었던 것 같다, -었을 텐데, -거든, -어다가, -이라도, -더라, -다니요?, -고 나서, -지 - TV: 패션왕코리아 (1), 도전 수퍼모들 코리아 (8) - 원미동 시인 by Yang-ja Kwi: 11-22 - Speaking Practice: 2 hours on the phone, 4 hours with a friend, 3 hours with my tutor French - Attachement by Rainbow Rowell: 376-439 (finished) 수시평가 점수: 27/30 - same as last time. 중간고사 점수: 문법/어휘: 27/30, 쓰기: 26/30. They haven't told us our 읽기 or 말하기 scores yet, but I'm not too concerned. My teacher told me that my scores were the highest in the class. I'm... not surprised, to be honest? A few things of note to discuss. 1. Memorizing dialogues or sentences are a very common way to study in Korea (Asia?). It is not a common way to study in America. I've been spending at least 30 minutes to an hour a day memorizing for something that doesn't even contribute very highly to our grade. I was very diligent about my memorizing until yesterday, at which point I made the decision that I can put the time to better use. 2. That being said, I've decided to start reading Korean books again. My major is Korean Literature, and the only reading I've been doing recently is in my textbooks. I have a friend who is having a horrible experience in graduate school in the same major, so I'm going to learn from her mistakes and read the shit out of every book I come across. I'm not sure exactly how much time I'll dedicate toward reading every day, but I plan to read at least 5 pages a day. The time I'm saving by not memorizing dialogues will be better spent in this way. 3. Despite my constant talk about scores, grades don't really matter. I need at least 60% to move to the next level. I do my homework, show up to class every day, and get good scores on tests, so this is not an issue. I also already have a 3급 on the TOPIK, so I'm already qualified for grad school. What matters to me now is that I improve my Korean skills to the point where I can function in a graduate program where English simply won't be an option. 4. My tutor was accepted to his desired branch of the army, so as of next week I'll be tutor-less once more. Oh well. I don't know if I'm going to seek out a new tutor. I may just force my friends to switch to Korean instead. 5. French... I'm just not sure where to go from here, to be honest. I'll probably just keep reading. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Tarko Senior Member Korea, South Joined 4683 days ago 119 posts - 148 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, French | Message 117 of 119 11 November 2014 at 8:58am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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10월 29일부터 11월 11일까지
Korean - Yonsei 3-2: 212-297 - Yonsei Reading 3: 140-181 - Yonsei Workbook: 149-157, 166-180, 188-194 - Vocabulary: 294 words - Grammar: --는다니까, -지요, -는다는 것이, -을까 봐, -어 버리다, -잖아요, -고 해서, -지 그래요?, -고도, -단 말이에요?, -으면서도, -도록 하다, 어찌나 -는지, -고 말다, -고는, -을지도 모르다, -으면 되다, -이라서 - TV: 패션왕코리아 (1), 도전 수퍼모들 코리아 (6) - 원미동 시인 by Yang-ja Kwi: 23-65 - 해리포터와 불사조기사단: 1-74 French - Six Appeal par Janet Evanovich: 1-135 수시평가 #3: 26/30 중간고사: 문법/어휘: 27/30, 쓰기: 26/30, 읽기: 28/30. At the moment Korean is going... okay? I seem to be getting a bit worse in the last few days - speaking is not coming as easy as it was a week ago. I've noticed that when this happens - or when I hit a plateau - I stay there for a while before having an abrupt turnabout and find my skills higher than ever before. I'm hoping this goes fast, because I have a speaking final on Monday that I'd prefer not to fail. We're about to start chapter 9 in our textbooks. I have to say, I like the Yonsei textbooks much more than the other books I've used, mostly because it seems to fit my learning style the best. Other people in my program have complained a lot about the textbooks or the way in which we're taught. It goes at a very fast pace and there isn't much time for review. I understand where people may have problems. However, I can practically feel my Korean knowledge growing by the day, which feels very gratifying. I learn a grammar point one day, the next day I encounter it in the real world. Brilliant. While I do feel like there should be more time dedicated to speaking practice, this is something that can (and should) be remedied in the real world, so I'm not too concerned about it... yet. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| druckfehler Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4860 days ago 1181 posts - 1912 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean Studies: Persian | Message 118 of 119 11 November 2014 at 11:25pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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It's very interesting to read about your experiences! I wish you good luck for your speaking test. I'm sure it'll go well.
I think a focus on reading is a very good decision. You really need to read a lot to learn how to read well, I don't think a typical language course can really prepare you for reading native materials, especially literature. You just have to get used to common phrases and the ways in which things are formulated in Korean narrative fiction/non-fiction. My count is now around 20 books read in Korean and it's great to see how much knowledge accumulates and how every successive book gets easier. Even if it doesn't always feel like it, my brain registers a lot of the new vocabulary and grammar in what I read. And right now I think reading combined with structured studying seems to be the greatest way to boost your language skills. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Tarko Senior Member Korea, South Joined 4683 days ago 119 posts - 148 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, French | Message 119 of 119 12 November 2014 at 8:40am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Thank you!
I agree, I am quite a good reader in English not because I'm good at English, but because I read roughly 200 books a year, and I've done so since I was roughly 9 years old. Reading skills can only help your other skills - I am also fairly well-spoken in English, which I attribute primarily to my years of obsessive reading. I'm attempting to do at least an hour of Korean listening practice a day, and I'd like to do the same with my reading. I don't know where I'll find the time, though... I actually have a friend who went through the same program I am (different university, though) and got a 6급 on the TOPIK. They just started graduate school in Korean Literature at a pretty good university here in Korea. That person is having a lot of trouble because they never did a lot of reading outside of class during their language studies. I don't want to replicate this - I want graduate school to be difficult because the subject is difficult, not because the language is difficult. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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