I learned to read Hangeul by exactly following this method and watched some videos on youtube on how to pronounce it properly. The hangeul alphabet is like pieces of puzzles that you put together to form a word! It’s not as hard as you thought…start now if you haven’t!
FULL VERSION: Ryan Estrada’s Learn to Read Korean in 15 minutes
all the grammars, words and sentences that you learned from the VERY first scratch. I don’t have any picture of it anymore so…but you know what I mean.
- words and vocabularies
- grammar list
- sentences practice
- additional notes
customised your phone with korean apps
Some recommendations:
- naver papago/dictionary
- ALL naver apps [from the search engine to naver blog]
- korean dictionary
- KakaoTalk [if you have Korean friends]
- duolingo korean
- change the language to korean
BE CAREFUL if you are downloading apps to talk with native Korean language like HelloTalk etc, there are sooo many weirdos and perverts there. So.. be. careful.
familiarise myself with the language
I started studying Korean in August 2016. I found myself reading Korean articles/webtoon/news in Naver, Korean news, watching dramas, and listening to Korean songs most of the time. Find the genres and type of entertainments that you like! Explore and discover yourself. No matter how much people recommend you this and that, if you don’t enjoy it you’ll never find it amusing & fun to learn.
I am not really a fan of Korean dramas but here is my favourite that I will always recommend to everyyoneee that I met:
I can’t pick a favourite because children are special in their own way, but here’s my list:
- Daehan-Minguk-Manse
- JamJam
- Seungjae
- So-Eul & Da-Eul
the genius [더 지니어스, mind games]
I watched all seasons and my favourite is the episodes where there is Oh Hyunmin!! Hahaa. I was crushing on his mind.
baek-jeong-won [cooking reality show]
or any cooking reality show! so that I can learn Korean and recipes at the same time. Hahaha
talktomeinkorean.com
They have so many exercises and free contents in their website and youtube, just check and you’ll find out! Free essential courses click here
TTMIK’s Youtube
study previous TOPIK tests
I downloaded previous exam papers from this blog, even the information that I got about the test are mainly derived from there.
Check this blog that I followed: TOPIK guide
Previous TOPIK papers: Past TOPIK test papers
took my first TOPIK I exam in yogyakarta, indonesia
After five months of learning, I decided to enroll for TOPIK 52nd in January 2017. I achieved TOPIK Level 2 in less than half a year with a decent score. TOPIK stands for Test of Proficiency in Korean/한국어능력시험
full story i wrote in 2017: TOPIK 52휘 RESULT!!
go to their website topik.go.kr
There are two types of exam that you can choose, TOPIK I Beginner [Level 1-2] and TOPIK II Intermediate to Advanced [Level 3-6]. There is no speaking in both test, the differences are in writing and of course the difficulty level and price.
연세 한국어 Yonsei Korean
What I did back then:
reading
- passage reading from the book and previous topik tests
- practice to read aloud
- read conversations, memorise and practice with friends
- read books or short stories in korean
- read subtitles in korean
- read comics/naver webtoon in korean
- surfing the internet with korean [in a korean search engine]
writing
- practice TOPIK writing from number 51-54
- write basic daily conversations
- write random sentences from the words I learned
- write diary/journal in korean
- write captions in korean
- texting in korean
- learn from good essays
speaking
- practice korean with friends
- talking with myself in front of the mirror
- mimicking the dialogues in books/dramas/youtube
- roleplay with friends
- make friends with native people
- record yourself and listen
listening
- listen to audiobook in korean
- listen to youtube videos/movies without subtitles
- listen to music [if you are listening to music, otherwise you can just listen to podcasts]
- listen to anything. idk.
self-study [outside class]
I didn’t. I was so lazy. I stayed with a roommate when I lived in the dorm, both of us were the same, we kept saying “okay let’s study” “girl let’s support each other” but ended up “nah…”
Okay this part is not helping. But let me give you some ideas.
- change your phone/devices to Korean language
- memorise new 5-10 words everyday and write a sentence about it
- when you learn new grammar: use it and write a sentence
- if you don’t know something, write it down on a post-it
my second TOPIK exam in 2018
go to their website topik.go.kr
what i wrote in the study plan vs. reality
i wanted to achieve level 5/6 in 6 months
Nevermind. I changed my mind. I wanted to enjoy and finish in a year. If I am not mistaken, I think I got level 3/4 in the first six months but I don’t have the result anymore. I don’t know where it is.
i wanted to finish “the little prince in korean” and write a resume about it to practice
“I am planning to finish a book called “A Little Prince: 어린왕자” and write the resume in Korean.”
“Besides the books that I will get from NIIED, I will read another book to improve my reading speed and skills. Every book that I read will be written a resume in my journal in Korean and English.”
Never. I wonder how could I be that ambitious that time… how come did I get the idea that I would stay motivated for the rest of the year??? Unbelievable. Anyway, people have their ups-and-downs!
achievable and realistic goals [but chose to procrastinate]
“The first month of my arrival in February 2018, I will focus to learn more advanced grammar points”
“I will review things that I have learned weekly and do previous TOPIK exam papers every 2 weeks.“
Never. Never. I only learn what’s taught at school, do the homeworks and etc, and the rest of my time? Enjoying the country that I’ve always been dreaming of, doing the chores, exploring the city, shopping, shopping, grocery shopping, and just play around.
what I do after the language course until now
using korean language in daily life
I no longer watch Korean dramas and listen to songs anymore because I am so fed up… hehe. But I still read naver webtoons, blogs, and watch youtube in Korean, most of the time without subtitle. Or sometimes, I will watch English videos/movies with Korean subtitles.
My major’s courses are mostly conducted in English, so I didn’t use Korean a lot in daily life. I speak in English with my friends and colleagues, sometimes in Korean, but my Korean friends usually are very good in English as well so it really depends. So I decided to take free korean class [1 month duration] at Korea univ…
so yeah basically:
- read naver webtoon
- watch movies/videos in korean [without subtitles]
- watch english movies with korean subtitles
- speak in korean
It takes time to be fluent in Korean. When I graduated from Silla University, I still couldn’t speak properly despite being in the highest-level among all class [advanced level class]. I was very very very very slow and shy in speaking. I had no problem with the pronunciation, but I just couldn’t see myself handle a proper conversations, taking the words and grammars out of my brain into a solid sentence.
So, I forget it.
And once I moved to Seoul, I started building my confidence back and speak casually. I don’t even remember when did I start speaking like that… I think it just comes naturally as time goes by and I practice more.
My advice is:
don’t afraid to make mistakes and just start now!
i am not used to honorifics
so you know that Korean has level in their languages [informal to formal/honorifics]. Back in the korean language institute, I often slipped off my tongue to say things in informal Korean to my teachers and they’ll be like “Aurora why are you talking down to me?” because I was dropping the ending -요 [yo] and -ㅂ니다/니까 [-bnida/-bnikka] unintentionally.
Or sometimes I put the honorific endings but didn’t use proper words for older people. For example:
- house: 집 [jib] and 댁 [ddaek]
- honorific -시- ending, instead of saying “필요하면” piryohamyeon -> “필요하시면” piryohasimyeon or “괜찮으면”gwaenchanheumyeon -> “괜찮으시면” gwaenchaneu-si-myeon
- using 있다 [issda] instead of 계시다 [gyesida]
mixing formal and informal language 반존대
Because I am not used with the formal and informal language, sometimes I dropped it unintentionally and use it at the same time…
But, well…since I am a foreigner, people understand and just shrug it off.
That’s it!