Learning Korean Language 한국어 배우기

Nami Island, taken in Sep/Oct 2005

Learning a language is difficult. Learning korean language is even more difficult. Even koreans will agree.

I believe that learning a language involves learning 4 skills .... learning the vocabulary and the grammer through reading, writing, listening and speaking. Each of these skills can improve or regress over time depending on its usage. But one thing is for sure, to master a language is a lifetime commitment because there will always be new vocabularies, new phrases and new idioms to learn.

I have learned korean language for only a year. The more i learn, the more i discover there is alot more to learn. During this one year of learning, i find the following methods helpful for myself :

Firstly and importantly is to set up a schedule to study eg. one to two hours everyday.

Secondly is to reinforce new vocabularies and grammer which i have learnt. When i first started, I used to make flashcards of the new vocabularies and new phrases. Then i used these flashcards to refresh my memory of these new words and phrases. Till today, i still have spelling tests for myself so as to keep remembering the new vocabularies that i have learnt. Also, when i learn a new grammer, i try to combine the new grammer with either the nouns or verbs which i have learnt and say them aloud. I find this extremely useful because it will be easier when i use the new grammer in conversations.

Thirdly is to write often. Our homeworks require us to write a lot. It can be in the form of sentence-making, short passages or short essays. We are fortunate that we can email our homeworks to our teacher who will correct them and email back to us. This makes things a little faster. Writing in my blogs is also another avenue to improve my writing skills.

Fourthly is to improve listening skills. I try to listen to the conversations from the CDs provided together with the school textbooks. As i listen to the conversations, I jot them down in point forms. Also, my teacher speaks everything in korean in class. As she speaks, i take notes too. At the same time, I also use my MP3 to record the entire lessons and i listen to the recorded lessons a few times at home. Watching korean dramas and movies is another way to improve on listening. I definitely enjoy this method ;)

Lastly is to improve reading and speaking skills. I try to memorise the passages from the textbooks and recite them aloud. I find this method helpful because i will remember to use them in my conversations. Talking to yourself aloud and to your friends is definitely another beneficial way.

I am still a beginner at this and there is still so much that i do not know. Like many other beginners, i have my ups and downs during this learning journey. At the end of the day, i tell myself that it is the motivation and passion that is the most important. Passion is the fuel of your motivation which in turn drives you to put in the effort to learn. Your reason to begin learning korean language must be the same reason to keep you going when the going gets tough.

All the best to all out there who are learning korean language. Ajja ajja fighting!!


"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." - André Gide


P.S. please share with me your studying methods