Update: What Have I Been Up To?

Annyeonghaseo! (Hello!)

Over the past few weeks, I've focused mainly on pronunciation of consonants and vowels as well as learning some basic greetings. I’m getting better at being able to look at a word and figure out how to say it. For me, pronunciation in Korean is difficult because it is so different than English- I have to make a conscious effort to remember some of the different rules (listening to audio lessons is a major help).

I’m finding that I need to delegate time outside of school to work on learning Korean. I’m still incredibly excited about the whole thing, but some extra effort is going to have to be made. I really can’t expect to become fluent in a language when I’m only spending a couple hours a week on it, right? With the way I am going, it would take forever. So I've set some more short term goals for myself:

• ·         Practice vocab with flashcards everyday

• ·         Spend 3 hours a week on the Living Language program

• ·         Listen to K-pop or watch YouTube videos involving Korean every week

Hopefully this will keep me engaged and productive in learning Korean!

I haven’t mentioned it yet but one of my best friends is learning with me, so I've got moral support in my journey! We’re constantly repeating words we've learned or having simple conversations back and forth with each other. The repetition obviously helps but the best part is that only we know what we are saying. We may just be saying “hello” or “are you doing well?”, but do our friends know that? Nope. Do we look like super cultured individuals who can totally speak another language? Heck yeah.

I've also decided that with each blog post that I do I will include a link to a 'song of the week.' I've really been loving listening to Korean music and I'm here to share the love!

So here it is for this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWVz6Qls9O4

I'll try to mix it up as well and include a variety of artists and styles!

On that note, I think I will wrap up this post. It’s been a relatively productive past few weeks, but with my new game plan I’m hoping to see things step up a bit!

“Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.”

― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Maxims and Reflections

Lauren

Living Language: Korean UNBOXING!

I’m going to channel my inner YouTube beauty guru here and do a little unboxing of a recent purchase! I found the Living Language program on the Barnes and Noble website and it had a lot of great reviews all around. I went ahead and bought it, and it shortly arrived in my mailbox.

I've decided that I will work my way through this program bit by bit each week. Before I do that, however, I have to acclimate myself (as well as you) with what the program has in store for me. I’m hoping that it will make tracking my progress and explaining my experiences easier to follow if I set a baseline as to what the program is all about.

What you get:

The set includes four books: essential, intermediate, advanced, and reading and writing. A notebook is included as well as a set of 9 CD’s that accompany the lessons in the books. Everything is color coded, which is a lovely plus.

 Course Breakdown

*The following information I have gleaned from the books included in the set*

The Essential (beginners) Course:

• 10 lessons
• 3 parts each
• Vocab
• Quizzes
• Dialogues (conversational Korean)

*Advised to go through Reading and Writing Hangeul lesson book

The Intermediate Course:

• 5 units
• 4 lessons each
• Vocab
• Phrases
• Sentences
• Conversation
• Grammar
• Cultural Notes
• Pronunciation 

The Advanced Course:

•  4 units
• 4 lessons each
• Vocab
• Phrases
• Sentences
• Conversation
• Grammar
• Cultural Notes
• Punctuation       

*this seems to be structured very similarly to the Intermediate Course just more… advanced

So that’s the gist of it all.

It’s actually kind of weird that a whole language can be stripped down to just those things. I feel a bit better now about tackling Korean. I think that a program with lessons that already has goals built into them will help to keep my motivation up. I haven’t accomplished much this past week, but I’m excited to start this! It will also provide a way to learn the language without having to go through the daunting task of teaching myself.

I’ve included a link below to where I bought Living Language if you are interested in checking it out…

The complete edition sells for $44.95 on Barnes and Noble’s website. You can usually find a 15 or 20 percent off coupon for Barnes and Noble as well, and if you have a membership that’s an additional 20 percent off. It is definitely on the less-expensive side compared to some of the other programs that are out there!

 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/living-language-korean-complete-edition-living-language/1114306248?ean=9780307972231

Thanks for tuning in!

Lauren 

An Introduction

¡Hola!

Ever since elementary school, that has been the greeting I have given or received when walking into a foreign language class. I’ve learned the basics of the Spanish language, and concluded my studies last year with the final exam of Spanish 2. I’ll be honest, some part of me wishes that I had continued on to Spanish 3 and beyond. The largest lesson that I took away with my dabbling in Spanish was that I love to learn new languages; the whole concept is just very appealing to me. I love the idea of being able to communicate with others in new ways. Being able to connect with people who I would otherwise not have been able to because of a language barrier is one of the coolest things out there. Some of my greatest memories that are tied with Spanish are texting friends using new vocabulary or testing out my knowledge with a native speaker.

So now I’ve decided to learn Korean.

Seems like quite the change from Spanish, right? Well, that’s sort of the point. While learning Spanish was cool, I’m ready to switch it up and step outside of my comfort zone. To me, learning a language that is so completely different from my own seems like a daunting task. That being said, I’m up for it and excited for a challenge that will hopefully prove to be a rewarding experience.

Why Korean?

For ten years, I did Tae-Kwon-Do. In the process of doing so I picked up on some very basic Korean vocabulary. As we did warm-ups or exercises we would count reps in Korean, and all of the names of the forms as well as some of the moves we did were in Korean. That was how I was introduced to the language and what prompted me to learn it now (in addition to what I mentioned earlier about the challenging aspect of it).

As for my goal for this whole 20-time experience, I’d like to become fluent in the language. While I don’t think that is a remotely attainable goal for the time this project spans, it is a long term goal that I am shooting for. Another nifty goal of mine is to write a whole blog post in Korean. ;)

So far, I’ve done some research as to what the best way to learn the language is. My original thought was to invest in Rosetta Stone, however- upon reading reviews - I’ve decided against it. According to many, the program didn’t prove as worthy as they had hoped. Ultimately resulting in a waste in money, people commented that it was hard to follow and that its program structure is sub-par. A few people commented some recommendations for other methods of learning Korean. Books seem to be my best option next to having an actual teacher teach me (which could possibly be something I look into). After paying the library a visit, I now have Korean for Dummies in my language-learning arsenal. Additionally, it was advised to watch Korean dramas and listen to K-pop to get a better feel for Korean.  From here on out my plan is to do just that and plow my way through Korean for Dummies as well as get some advice from outside resources.

I’m just going to end this post now with a nice little inspirational quote:

“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.”

-Ludwig Wittgenstein

Wish me luck!

Lauren