korean language....

[yojong]

hi there..
i'm new here..
..i guess i've figured out that i'm not the only one addicted to asian dramas..

hmm..

recently i've wanted to study korean..
..now.. i know how to read and write korean..
..but i lack understanding..

..so guys.. if.. you would be so kind..
..please help me..

..i've really wanted to try watching korean dramas and understanding it
without subs,,..

..i would be truly greatful for whatever help you could give me...

..thanks very much...

[xbabygmonsterx]

It's neat that you wanna learn Korean and all but, what is it that you want help with exactly?

[Néa Vanille]

Download the 'Let's Speak Korean' episodes here on D-A. Just search for them in the torrent section. They're pretty helpful, teach you grammar, vocab etc.

[melodramatic]

Hey I moved to korean last year jan and so I found myself REALLY needing to speak Korean fluently and right away. I found that these books are a real help
Korean for foreigners (ganada). They go through things at a nice pace and I found I could use the words they taught me right away.
Like after I learnt bus stop the same day I got on the bus and the buses tell you the bus stop your at and the next bus stop so after one bus right the word was cemented into my head. Or learning the word for flower and then noticing that you live around an awful lot of flower shops.


Anyways, it's a great book and remember you have to practice speaking it too. If you just study you woun't be able to speak it when the time comes (happened to me with Japanese>.<)

[yojong]

It's neat that you wanna learn Korean and all but, what is it that you want help with exactly?

well.. i actually want to learn more words...
..how to say a sentence correctly in korean..
..vocabulary.. something like that..

thanks for your help.. for those who replied..
..very much thankful..

[clarence_me]

Korean is easy, it may seem a little weird for the sentence structure but I'm sure you'll get used to it.. Yes, I totally agree that you have to listen and speak when learning Korean.. I started learning Korean a year ago and now I got used to the sentence structure.. Good Luck!

[clarence_me]

Well basically sentence structure is ..
Subject - object - verb
Eg. John = subject
object = the ball
verb = kick.

Hence its John the ball kicked.

For the names of the things in Korean I suggest you get a dictionary, its useful! ^_^

[immazombie]

Hi'ya I'm new too.
I'm also interested in the language.
I found this one website that kind of helped me out.
The website is http://www.learn-korean.net/

I hope you find it helpful!

[EleKYAH]

Are you really learning korean by doramas or websites?? I can't believe it korean is an easy language compared to others, yes, but like every language, it's harder, im going to a korean academy since 2 months and now i begin to understand little phrases and expressions, and begin to do some few logical phrases, so...

[sksen1978]

I AM A BEGINNER MYSELF AND HERE ARE A FEW WEBSITES THAT MIGHT HELP.

http://www.indiana.edu/~koreanrs/hangul.html
http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/

[chinchinlag]

Korean language??? hey! that's really hard! actually I didn't started studying it right now... I'll try it...

[ivanlsm]

I AM A BEGINNER MYSELF AND HERE ARE A FEW WEBSITES THAT MIGHT HELP.

http://www.indiana.edu/~koreanrs/hangul.html
http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/

Thanks for the info.. I can't wait to speak to my Korean girlfriend.

[yojong]

Are you really learning korean by doramas or websites?? I can't believe it korean is an easy language compared to others, yes, but like every language, it's harder, im going to a korean academy since 2 months and now i begin to understand little phrases and expressions, and begin to do some few logical phrases, so...

yup.. i just try twisting my tongue on the korean language.. and learning it in the web..
..there are many koreans here in my place...
..so i wanted to learn korean aside from the fact that i am sometimes addicted to the dramas....

..well,, i was thinking.. if i could learn korean.. i could tour the koreans here in Baguio City.. here in the Philippines... at least something like that...

..and i really hope to socialize with the foreigners here...

...so guys.. i really feel grateful to those who helped.. and replied...
..thanks guys...

[princerick]

my experience is
i started to learn it alone, using english/korean books such as "teach yourself" and some universitary korean learning book
i am italian (from rome)
after a while i found a personal tutor, here in italy and we started having lessons 3 times per week
and i can tell you, in that time my korean advanced so much more than doing alone... so i guess self korean learning is usefull for the very very basics, but after a while a korean teacher is totally needed!
im studyng it since 6-7 months, but only since 2 with a korean tutor, i am still low level but i can have very very basics conversations and i can understand something
im going to seoul for 6-7 months from february where i'll attend sogang university language department to make my korean slightly better!
i just wish the best to everyone who wants to learn such a beautifull language, and never feel down, korean sentences are weird, but after you get used everything gets easy!

[yojong]

my experience is
i started to learn it alone, using english/korean books such as "teach yourself" and some universitary korean learning book
i am italian (from rome)
after a while i found a personal tutor, here in italy and we started having lessons 3 times per week
and i can tell you, in that time my korean advanced so much more than doing alone... so i guess self korean learning is usefull for the very very basics, but after a while a korean teacher is totally needed!
im studyng it since 6-7 months, but only since 2 with a korean tutor, i am still low level but i can have very very basics conversations and i can understand something
im going to seoul for 6-7 months from february where i'll attend sogang university language department to make my korean slightly better!
i just wish the best to everyone who wants to learn such a beautifull language, and never feel down, korean sentences are weird, but after you get used everything gets easy!

thanks for the encouragement....
...i would also want to go to Seoul myself...
..if im a little older..
..anyways.. thanks again...

[PeaceK]

Do you guys want to learn Korean Language? Let me teach you guys then. Well, I really wanna teach you guys Korean language as many of you guys as I can but I won't be able to teach all of you guys aye? Well, I will introduce you guys myself. I'm a Korean. I'm 19 years old and 21 years old as Korean age. I had been living in New Zealand for 3 years and I graduated college(high schoo) and I just have come back to Korea for militery service. After that, I will go back to Australia or New Zealand for university again. I will might join the army between April and May. Anyway I've got plenty of time until I join the army. So, I think I can teach you guys!

Well, how can I teach you guys? I won't be able to meet you guys cause you guys wouldn't be in Korea. So, what I'm thinking is to use MSN. I've got a headset which means we can talk each other without paying any telephone fees if you have a headset. A headset is very cheap, just get one. so if you have a headset, I'll be able to teach you Korean language. I will be able to fix your pronounciation. Since English is not my first language, I'm not perfect at English, but as you can see, I can say I can do English. And you guys will do Korean language as I do English now. Don't give it up guys. I will help you as much as I can till April or May. Give me a message!

[yojong]

Do you guys want to learn Korean Language? Let me teach you guys then. Well, I really wanna teach you guys Korean language as many of you guys as I can but I won't be able to teach all of you guys aye? Well, I will introduce you guys myself. I'm a Korean. I'm 19 years old and 21 years old as Korean age. I had been living in New Zealand for 3 years and I graduated college(high schoo) and I just have come back to Korea for militery service. After that, I will go back to Australia or New Zealand for university again. I will might join the army between April and May. Anyway I've got plenty of time until I join the army. So, I think I can teach you guys!

Well, how can I teach you guys? I won't be able to meet you guys cause you guys wouldn't be in Korea. So, what I'm thinking is to use MSN. I've got a headset which means we can talk each other without paying any telephone fees if you have a headset. A headset is very cheap, just get one. so if you have a headset, I'll be able to teach you Korean language. I will be able to fix your pronounciation. Since English is not my first language, I'm not perfect at English, but as you can see, I can say I can do English. And you guys will do Korean language as I do English now. Don't give it up guys. I will help you as much as I can till April or May. Give me a message!

hey there... i appreciate that there is someone willing to teach..
..hmm.. i have an msn account.. but just send me a message through my yahoo mail..
..here's my email add... xaye34@yahoo.com
thanks again for the help.. i'll just be sending you my msn account through yahoo so just send me a message... thanks...

thankss.. thanks.. again..

[dima]

recently i've wanted to study korean..
..now.. i know how to read and write korean..
..but i lack understanding..

Hi, I seem to have the same problem, and I've been at it for 3 and a half years now! I dunno how come it's so hard to understand spoken Korean, and trying to say something is even worse!
One thing I found out though - a Korean course book in my native language is a lot easier to read and I seem to remember phrases and grammar a lot better.

Good luck!

[jpwoof]

Well basically sentence structure is ..
Subject - object - verb
Eg. John = subject
object = the ball
verb = kick.

Hence its John the ball kicked.

For the names of the things in Korean I suggest you get a dictionary, its useful! ^_^

is that the normal order? subject object verb?

[Enki]

While studying (note I said WHILE studying, not "instead of") immerse yourself lots in the language. Lots and lots of movies, music, ect. If you're by yourself (or not, if you're brave enough ) sing along or try to imitate the voices. It's very helpful for listening and pronounciation.

Listening and pronounciation are often overlooked when studying a language, and I think it's a big cause of people hitting a wall and not improving (if you can't listen well, you can't pick up new expressions and vocabulary, the language will always sound unnatural and "foreign" ect.)

[yojong]

While studying (note I said WHILE studying, not "instead of") immerse yourself lots in the language. Lots and lots of movies, music, ect. If you're by yourself (or not, if you're brave enough ) sing along or try to imitate the voices. It's very helpful for listening and pronounciation.

Listening and pronounciation are often overlooked when studying a language, and I think it's a big cause of people hitting a wall and not improving (if you can't listen well, you can't pick up new expressions and vocabulary, the language will always sound unnatural and "foreign" ect.)

thanks for the advice!!!

[marvelous]

Korean is a easy language... Lot of foreigners learn it less than a year... Good luck..

[princerick]

easy language? not at all...
the problem of korean isn't the writing part (that's very easy) or the pronunciation (that's also easy for latin countries, harder for english ones), but the grammar is a total hell.... i have serious problems about adjectives theese days, and talking in general korean has too many level of speaking which just make you confused... probably among chinese and japanese, korean has the hardest grammar

[Néa Vanille]

http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/novembe ... tions.html

Estimated class room hours before achieving proficiency in Korean: 2,200 hours.

And to be honest, I believe it. If it was easy to learn Korean as a native English speaker or easy to learn English as a native Korean speaker, then I don't think Koreans would be as bad at English as they are, despite investing billion of won into trying to teach their kids English. Having lived in Korea, I find it shocking how badly most Koreans speak English - and it's not because Koreans are a stupid or lazy bunch. The differences between both languages are just so grand that learning French, Spanish or German (for us) or Japanese (for the Koreans) is a walk in the park in comparison.

In Korea, I met an American guy who was taking Korean classes at Yonsei Korean Language Institute and was learning Korean 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. When I met him, he had been in Korea for 7 months and was at 440 hours of Korean language instruction. He could hold a conversation about everyday topics well, but couldn't watch dramas, understand the radio, read the newspaper or talk about difficult/complex/abstract topics such as politics or theology by far. And he held a GPA of 4.0 at Yonsei and was an exceptionally intelligent man. Learning Korean isn't impossible, but it (and other Asian languages) definitely takes a lot of dedication.

However, getting to small talk and easy-conversation level is easy in Korean, just as it is in any other language. It won't be long until you can hold a conversation at a disco about where you're from, what you like doing etc. It's getting to a native-like level that takes a lot of time and sweat.

[RainingWendy]

Dang well I hope that since I am not only a english speaker but a spanish speaker as well that
I would have it a bit easier since my tongue is used to a lot of sounds.

[princerick]

yea that's for sure
english speakers have too many troubles with pronunciations
however, those hours counting looks not real to me... 88 weeks is just insane
im going there in 1 month for 7-8 months, so i'll tell you my experience soon

[Néa Vanille]

My boyfriend is Korean and he has a little experience in the matter since he is teaching me Korean every day. According to him, 88 weeks or 2,200 hours is for being able to professionally work with the language, meaning almost being able to function like a native. You won't be able to do that after 7-8 months by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I once had a Sogang Korean language teacher admit to me that she thought that after graduating Sogang from level 6 (that's 1 and a half years and 1,600 hours of in-class tuition), students commonly spoke at an intermediate to high-intermediate level and were about a quarter to a third to the level of a native speaker.

Getting conversational can be done, though, depending on which school you visit and how much you speak the language out of the classroom. I always hear Sogang University offers the best program for students aiming to improve their communication skills. Myself, I actually think the pronunciation is the easiest aspect of Korean (but then I speak 3 languages on a native or near-native level, so I already have a wider range of tones and sounds) - most difficult to me is actually comprehension. Most Korean words have no similarity at all to any European languages except for those words borrowed from English, so while I can guess the meaning of plenty of words in any European language and can even read Spanish newspapers well because of its similarity to Italian, in Korean, I have to KNOW the word or I won't understand the sentence. It takes some dedication to manage a few thousand words of vocabulary for a language that has nothing to do with your native one. In addition to that, Koreans speak extremely fast and tend to mesh their words together in a sentence. I don't think you will find pronunciation to be the hardest part once you have progressed beyond the beginning level.

I also find it depressing sometimes when I hear of very intelligent people failing at Korean and the enormous work load it entails. However, I am completely obsessed with the language, study it every day as much as I can and I find it so much fun that I don't mind the fact that I will never speak it like a native. Korean is difficult, but fun, interesting and very challenging.

[princerick]

Miss Néa, your love for korean language is admirable, and i must admit myself has the same thoughts about it
i simply love that language, i study it everyday, but sometimes i feel seriously depressed cause eventhough apparently it's an easy language, more you go deep in, and more you find out how there is no rules.... and most of all you require a super memory, cause, as you said, you have no other language comparation so you never heard any of those words before
the words memorization is probably the key
anyway, i agree about sogang, that's why i choosed that university for my korean improvement, i'll do only 2 semesters cause i've still many things to do in italy but i hope soon i'll be able to move to korea and work there!

[Enki]

For everyone that says getting to a conversational level is the easy part: What's your trick?

For me conversational is the *hardest* part. I can read some articles and understand a fair amount of stuff. But when it comes to speaking I can't for the life of me say even the simplest of phrases orz

[PJB]

My routine for studying Korean, depending on how much time I get each day:

* Watch or study at least one phrasebased program and/or book every day. Making notes and getting handwriting practice. Phrases are useful and help you to integrate the sound and structure, rather than just starting from the base level I.E Mastering Korean series.

* Watch at least one drama per day.

* Try to watch at least 2-5 dramas without subtitles per week.

* Listen to Korean music all day, both enjoyment and study at the same time. Hearing a language all the time really helps.

* Always practice the alphabet and numbers as often as possible, so you don't let the sounds slip in your memory.

* Talk to Korean friends and pickup random stuff, haha.

* Check the dictionary whenever I think "hows that in Korean?" - Feed yourself with words.

* If possible, read material on Korea, so always studying a little bit more about certain foods, attractions and cultural aspects whenever time permits. You have to do more than speak, you have to understand how to think in a language.

[Néa Vanille]

I think it depends on how and where you learned the language, what your priorities are, how confident and sociable you are and what your resources are. When I was in Korea, I found it easy to learn how to speak Korean because I met so many people who spoke worse English than I do Korean. It forced me to try to make myself understood in Korean and I made a lot of progress trying to make friends with people who didn't speak a lick of English, German, Italian or French. At first, our conversations were really, REALLY primitive and I can't say they are complex now or that I'm in any way fluent, but chit-chat about family, school, friends, hobbies, likes and dislikes etc. I can comfortably do.

Like I said, I think small-talk is comparatively easy to learn in any language. You don't need a large vocabulary or advanced grammar for it, all that's required is having the opportunity to speak it and, maybe most importantly, not being afraid of making mistakes and speaking with a certain confidence. Getting to the level of being able to hold complex or abstract conversations, though, that's a different matter and probably takes 10 times as much time as learning how to hold everyday conversations. I think that, unlike reading articles or understanding dramas, easy conversation is less a matter of skill but more a matter of confidence and opportunity.

I think conversation can be learned faster because new words will stick with you better - I think it is true for most people that they will be able to memorize words and grammar patterns better when they are said in a fun conversation than when they are studied from a dry textbook. However, it is true that getting over the initial shyness of speaking the language can be a hard and intimidating task. When I started speaking Korean, my boyfriend laughed at my pronunciation. Then, I threatened to hit him if he laughed again ( ) and continued to talk to him in Korean. I got the gist of it soon after that, my pronunciation got much better very quickly and I was able to memorize certain speech patterns better because I could associate situations, pictures and feelings with them. And then I went to Korea and made friends with Koreans who spoke no English and now my spoken Korean by far beats my written Korean.

[PJB]

I've been learning how to understand strong Korean dialects, bahaha, it's like an entirely new challenge and so much fun to pronounce words in dialect.

[princerick]

@PJB

your program is quite good, but it also takes really lots of time...
best solution is of course going in korea and studyng there, i know it's not easy and not everyone can do that, but like every other language that's the fastest way to learn it

@Néa, just a curiosity, did you meet any italian in korea, or by chance any italian who wanted to learn korean? im asking this because here in italy nobody speaks korean, the level of korean taught in university is very very poor (there is people that after 2 years of korean studyngs in universities here, can't even have a very very very basic conversation), and of course nobody is interested in it (everyone goes for japanese or chinese)
so im quite curious to know if i'm the only one ^^
personally when i went to korea, i didn't meet many foreigners (compared to japan, in korea there is much less turism) and most of them were either american or russian
so i'm just wondering ^_^

anyway having a korean partner makes you improve much faster, that's quite clear

[Néa Vanille]

I didn't meet any Italians in Korea, though I have a friend who studied Korean in Rome.

Anyway, you really should check out the Let's Speak Korean show for conversational pointers. They also frequently have Italian girls as guest students on the show, the one in the first few eps is called Miriam Mangano.

[RainingWendy]

wow then i will surely dedicate myself to learning Korean first i been lately studying this whole week and I can finally make out a few written words but spoken heck no I have a problem with that I can only understand hello and I love you...and that's mainly it, I finally got a few Korean friends online who are willing to help me study the language which I love by the way because I never been so dedicated to learning a language as I have been with learning Korean and well I finally could write in Korean in my keyboard although I have to learn how to type because its not the same as trying "regular" letters...and at times the pronunciation isn't the same as how the romanized version is so it makes it harder even to type the word. Lately I studied this whole week since I am still beginning that means I have a longggg road to go, but its a road that I am willing to travel, I know someone in my church that knows korean and has been to korea so maybe if I talk to her I may learn sooner !!!! I am soo happy!!!

[PJB]

Ofcourse it takes time, some days I just can't fit half of it in. I just do what I can, and make up for it on a day when I have more spare time.

[RainingWendy]

I sooo am trying my hardest and well I don't know should I learn 2 languages at the same time or one at a time?

[aimberyo]

I think that learning Korean is complicated because the pronounciation of words is so different from english, but it is interesting. I take it at a university and it does take a lot of time and effort to try to memorize vocabulary and new grammar structures. I kind of suck at it, or at least I feel this way, so I continue to suffer and take it. XDDD Because I want to be able to speak it.

Néa Vanille your story about your boyfriend laughing at your Korean made me laugh because that happened to me the first time I tried to speak to my one Korean friend in Korean. She kept laughing at the way I said water.

[vannessave]

While studying (note I said WHILE studying, not "instead of") immerse yourself lots in the language. Lots and lots of movies, music, ect. If you're by yourself (or not, if you're brave enough ) sing along or try to imitate the voices. It's very helpful for listening and pronounciation.

Listening and pronounciation are often overlooked when studying a language, and I think it's a big cause of people hitting a wall and not improving (if you can't listen well, you can't pick up new expressions and vocabulary, the language will always sound unnatural and "foreign" ect.)

This is really encouraging and informative. Thanks for the timely reminder

[Néa Vanille]

Haha, I remember the first time I tried to write a mail in Korean. The guy wrote me back and said, "that's not the Korean language, I can't understand." God, I was SO embarrassed, blushed deep pink on my computer seat and I wouldn't dare write anything else in Korean for months after. I also felt embarrassed again every time I talked to that guy. That's what happens when you learn a language only from speaking and watching dramas. I had no clue about spelling. It's better now, but I still hate writing mails in Korean.

Anybody has an idea how I can improve my reading and writing?

[Enki]

Anybody has an idea how I can improve my reading and writing?

Kinda my "strong point"

When I read something in Korean, I try to analyze the style really really thoroughly. To see how things are written differently. Like for example, I notice in Japanese and Korean writing, adjective modifies are used on nouns a whole lot (taking an example from a novel I read the other day. The passage I read when translated read as "my mom, who gave birth at me at 21, said..", literally it was "the 21 year old when gave birth to me mom said...")

And lots and lots and lots and lots of repetition. I swear I read one page so many times I can almost say it in my sleep

When writing, just try to imitate those styles I guess. I write some short passages and ask my friends to correct it, whether something could be written more naturally, ect.

This book is pretty cool:-


Now if only I can follow my own advice. And learn to speak better

[RainingWendy]

Néa Vanille




Haha, I remember the first time I tried to write a mail in Korean. The guy wrote me back and said, "that's not the Korean language, I can't understand." God, I was SO embarrassed, blushed deep pink on my computer seat and I wouldn't dare write anything else in Korean for months after. I also felt embarrassed again every time I talked to that guy. That's what happens when you learn a language only from speaking and watching dramas. I had no clue about spelling. It's better now, but I still hate writing mails in Korean.

Anybody has an idea how I can improve my reading and writing?

I know my handwriting in korean isnt any better then it is in English or Spanish, I am kind of embarrased by it since even though my handwriting is bad I still keep at it. I do hope that some day it will get better. I know this week I got embarrased by trying to talk to this guy in my poor korean since I only know like 10 words in Korean, better then last week! YAY! I am learning how to write finally! I am soo proud of myself and well I wrote to this dude that I just met online in Korean he started to laugh saying. "Wendy you totally messed up the letters try it again and this time faster."

yah the whole typing in Korean is also hard I just hope that when I will learn how to pronounce the words soon since I hope I will not brutally kill the language since I like it so much.

[kclass]

I have spam link remnoved on loop whenever I'm out, I've found that it helps a lot. I think I've learnt most of my vocab that way.

[kobe23]

Dude...you've spammed that website in all 5 of your posts and your username is a dead give-away that you work for them.