DIY: How I'm Learning Korean
One of the things I have struggled with here is the lack of
time and surprisingly, the lack of opportunities I get to learn Korean.
Learning Korean and becoming somewhat fluent is something on my bucket list to
do here but here I am, 7 months in, and I still can’t really string a sentence
together.
Have I really put 100% into learning Korean? Probably not.
But in my defense, I spend my whole week here teaching in English, I am
surrounded by English speakers, and every single Korean person I have had the
pleasure of meeting finds it more comfortable to speak in English with me
rather than trying to teach me Korean (also they are my friends and it isn’t
really their job to teach me)!
Since my recent move to Seoul, I have decided to pull my
finger out and get stuck into learning Korean. So here are my top 5 apps/online
resources for learning Korean.
Memrise is a really cool app that starts you out on basic
things like the Korean alphabet and then eventually leads you into things like
putting simple phrases together. It focuses on using your memory to learn new
things quickly and will keep reviewing and testing you one words and phrases
until they are solidly in your head. This is probably my favourite method for
learning at the moment as it quick a relatively easy!
HelloTalk is an app designed to connect language speakers
from all around the world. This nifty app allows you to speak to native
speakers, send voice notes, correct peoples grammar and translate things you
don’t understand. This is great for when you at a conversational level with
your Korean, or you genuinely want to ask the best way to say something. This
app also has a ‘posting’ feature which allows you to post statuses and
pictures.
Dongsa was actually introduced to me by one of my colleagues
but I have found it very useful since. It is an app to help with conjugating
words (something I still can’t get my head around). You type in the
dictionary/infinitive form of the word and it will conjugate the verb for you.
So it really helps with those pesky irregular verbs!
This one is a no-brainer. I share a Korean Pinterest board
with one of my friends and we are constantly pinning different things to it. It
allows you to try out different methods of learning Korean if some methods
don’t suit you, you can find new ones. Pinterest is also great for learning
colloquial/slang phrases too!
This is another obvious one. Although YouTube houses many
weird and wonderful videos, it is also home to a lot of educational channels. I
use videos all the time for my students so I thought, why not use it for
myself? One of my favourite channels to watch is Talk To Me In Korean. Their
videos are fun and informative – a perfect combination for learning!
I hope this article helps you in some way! Let me know if
you try one of these resources and let me know how it goes!
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