#Korean learning

[hrtsri]

korean learning resources !

hello, my name is ri (ree) and i've been learning korean for almost 2 years. when i started learning korean, i tried using almost every source i could find and watched a whole lot of youtube videos.

whether you have just started learning the language, or have been a learner for a couple of months, here's a list of resources you can use!

﹡﹡ ʳᵉˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉˢ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵃ ʰᵉᵃʳᵗ ᵃʳᵉ ᵒⁿᵉˢ ⁱ ʰⁱᵍʰˡʸ ʳᵉᶜᵒᵐᵐᵉⁿᵈ

HANGUL VIDEOS:

♡ miss vicky hangul in 30 minutes

♡ all about batchim (part 1)

♡ all about batchim (part 2)

♡ all about batchim (part 3)

learn hangul in 90 minutes (start to finish)

LEARNING SITES:

♡ talk to me in korean: provides a grammar course & other learning materials.

how to study korean: provides free grammar with vocab lists with pronounciation.

loecsen: phrases & vocabulary with pronounciation.

♡ learnkorean: provides a course, grammar lessons, flashcards, worksheets & more all for free!

YOUTUBE CHANNELS:

seemile korean: topik help

♡ choisusu: learn korean vlog, podcasts & more

♡ conversational korean: vocabulary videos, lessons, listening practice tests & more!

♡ banzi's secret diary: cute cartoon for listening practice! (no subs for a challenge)

learn korean with jadoo: another cute cartoon with english & korean subtitles.

READING PRACTICE:

brunch story: stories by users in korean. (for more advanced learners)

♡ korean comics: one comic in korean & english with small vocab list!

do you want to go eat?: a cute & simple webtoon comic

♡ story korean: stories with vocabulary & grammar tips.

APPS:

mirinae: korean sentence analyzer & more (android & ios)

audioclip: korean podcast app for listening practice (android & ios)

todaii easy korean: learn koran by reading & listening to news (android & ios)

vocat: create your own vocabulary lists (android & ios)

podo korean: grammar lessons, vocabulary, reading & listening (andoid & ios) ** for vocab only download podo words

eggbun korean: learn korean with a chatbot tutor names lanny! (android & ios)

drops: korean vocabulary apps (android & ios)

PODCASTS:

cozy story time in korean

♡ choisusu

♡ tayoni's korean podcast

korean story

hopefully this is useful to you and good luck with your learning journery! and let me know if any of the links aren't working!

you can follow me on my instagram: wrldwithri ✨ to follow me along my language learning journey.

[koreannook]

SINO KOREAN NUMBERS PT.2

2024년 8월 11일

안녕하세요 여러분!

As promise, second part is here!

Telephone numbers (05860791834)

Metro/Bus lines (Line 8 / Bus 576)

Height/Weight (150cm and 50kg)

Years (2024, 2000, etc)

Minutes and seconds (45min and 20 seconds)

Prices (5,000 wons)

Directions (Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney)

HOW TO SAY PHONE NUMBERS:

Let’s take ( 05860791834 ) as our example.

You have to say number by number: 0-5-8-6-0-7-9-1-8-3-4

공(0) / 오(5) / 팔(8) / 육(6) / 공(0) / 칠(7) / 구(9) / 일(1) / 팔(8) / 삼(3) / 사(4)

For zero, you can say both (영/공)

HOW TO SAY METRO/BUS LINES:

Line 8 / Bus 576 = 팔번 / 오백칠십육번

We will use “번” to say “line”.

HOW TO SAY KILOS/CM:

150cm and 50kg = 백오십센치 / 오십킬로

We use: 센치 for height and 킬로 for weight.

HOW TO SAY THE YEARS:

To say year we will use 년, for example:

Year 2022 = 이천이십이 년

HOW TO SAY MINUTES AND SECONDS:

For minutes, we will use 분 and for seconds we will use 초. For example:

45 minutes / 30 seconds = 사십오 분 // 삼십 초

HOW TO SAY PRICES:

30€ (euros) = 삼십 유로

4,000 ₩ (wons) = 사촌 원

56$ (dollars) = 오십육 달러

HOW TO SAY DIRECTIONS:

It’s the same as before, if you live in house number 40, you will say “사십”.

[yuyamuya]

Korean Emotions (part 1)

가뜬하다 (adj.) : refreshed; light-hearted 몸이나 마음이 가볍고 상쾌하다. Body or mind being light and refreshed. 예.) 가:너 오늘 기분이 굉장히 좋아 보인다? 나:과제를 다 끝냈더니 마음이 가뜬한 게 날아갈 것 같아.

가련하다 (adj.) : pitiful; poor; pathetic 마음이 아플 정도로 불쌍하다. Sadly sick or troubled. 예.) 직장에서 해고를 당하고 집에서 놀고 있는 형이 매우 가련하다.

가소롭다 (adj.) : ridiculous; absurd 비웃고 무시할 만하다. Deserving to be belittled and ignored. 예.) 형은 내 말을 형편없고 가소롭다는 듯이 들은 척도 안 했다.

가엾다 (adj.) : feeling pity 마음이 아플 정도로 불쌍하고 딱하다. Feeling heartfelt pity or sympathy for someone. 예.) 나는 자식들을 먹여 살리느라 평생을 고생하신 어머니가 가엾게 느껴졌다.

가증스럽다 (adj.) : despicable; detestable 다른 사람의 말이나 행동이 화가 날 정도로 몹시 밉다. Behavior or a remark being mean or hypocritical enough to upset others. 예.) 승규는 남들 앞에서만 착한 척하는 지수의 행동이 가증스러웠다.

가책 (n.) : admonishment; rebuke 자기나 남의 잘못을 꾸짖음. The act of scolding oneself or others for doing something wrong. 예.) 나는 친구를 속이고 한동안 심한 죄책감과 가책에 시달렸다.

갈등하다 (v.) : be ambivalent 마음속에서 어떻게 할지 결정을 못 한 채 괴로워하다. To experience agony and inner struggle over what to decide. 예.) 나는 시험 준비를 할까 좋아하는 드라마를 볼까 한참을 갈등했다.

감개 (n.) : deep emotion 지난 일이 생각나서 마음속에서 솟아오르는 감동이나 느낌. One's state of feeling deeply moved and getting emotional from one's memory of past events. 예.) 작가는 몇 년 동안 고생하면서 쓴 소설이 출판된 것을 보고 깊은 감개에 젖었다.

감개무량하다 (adj.) : touched deeply; emotional 지난 일이 생각나서 마음속에서 느끼는 감동이 매우 크다. Feeling deeply moved and getting emotional from one's memory of past events. 예.) 상을 받은 여배우는 감개무량한 표정으로 소감을 이야기했다.

감격하다 (v.) : be touched 마음에 깊이 느끼어 매우 감동하다. To be deeply moved and touched by someone or something. 예.) 대��에서 일 등을 한 선수는 감격한 표정으로 소감을 말하였다.

감동하다 (v.) : be moved; be touched 강하게 느껴 마음이 움직이다. To be touched by something very deeply. 예.) 나는 어려운 환경에서도 꿈을 잃지 않고 살아가는 청년의 이야기를 듣고 무척 감동했다.

감명 (n.) : impression 잊을 수 없는 큰 감동을 느낌. 또는 그런 감동. A state of being deeply touched, or such a feeling. 예.) 지수는 가족의 사랑을 그린 영화를 보고 감명을 받아 눈물을 흘렸다.

감미롭다 (adj.) : mellow; sweet 달콤한 느낌이 있다. A story, voice, song, etc., sounding sweet. 예.) 김 감독은 사랑에 빠진 남녀의 행복하고 감미로운 사랑 이야기를 영화로 만들었다.

감복하다 (v.) : be impressed; be moved 진심으로 크게 감동하다. To be impressed deeply and sincerely. 예.) 공연이 끝난 후 관객들은 배우들의 훌륭한 연기에 감복해 박수를 쳤다.

감탄하다 (v.) : admire; wonder 마음속 깊이 크게 느끼다. To feel strongly and deeply about something. 예.) 관객들은 서커스 단원의 공중 묘기에 감탄하여 박수를 쳤다.

감회 (n.) : reminiscence 마음속에 일어나는 지난 일에 대한 생각이나 느낌. Thoughts or feelings on the past. 예.) 아버지는 돌아가신 할머니의 사진을 보며 감회에 젖으셨다.

개탄하다 (v.) : deplore; lament 분하거나 안타깝게 여겨 탄식하다. To sigh at something out of anger or regret. 예.) 나는 경솔한 말 한마디로 사랑하는 여자를 떠나보낸 뒤 자신이 어리석었다고 개탄했다.

거부감 (n.) : sense of refusal 어떤 것을 받아들이고 싶지 않은 느낌. The feeling of not wanting to accept something. 예.) 이 책은 고전을 청소년들의 눈높이에 알맞게 개작하여 그들이 거부감을 갖지 않고 쉽게 읽을 수 있다.

걱정하다 (v.) : worry; be worried; be concerned 좋지 않은 일이 있을까 봐 두려워하고 불안해하다. To feel fearful and anxious that something bad might happen. 예.) 그는 다가올 시험에 대해 항상 걱정했다.

겁나다 (v.) : be afraid; be scared 무서워하거나 두려워하는 마음이 들다. To feel afraid or scared of something. 예.) 나는 교통사고를 당한 이후 차 타는 것이 겁난다.

격노하다 (v.) : be furious; be enraged 몹시 화를 내다. To be extremely angry. 예.) 강제로 해고된 직원들이 회사에 격노하여 복직을 요구하는 시위를 벌였다.

격분하다 (v.) : be furious; be enraged 몹시 화를 내다. To be extremely angry. 예.) 사기 피해자들이 격분하여 사기꾼의 멱살을 잡고 분통을 터뜨렸다.

격정 (n.) : passion 강렬하고 갑자기 생기는 참기 어려운 감정. A powerful, sudden burst of uncontrollable emotion. 예.) 나는 알 수 없는 격정으로 가슴이 꽉 막히는 것 같았다.

겸연쩍다 (adj.) : embarrassed; abashed; sheepish; awkward 쑥스럽거나 미안하여 어색하다. Awkward due to being shy or sorry. 예.) 나는 짝사랑했던 그를 마주 대하기가 겸연쩍어 자리를 옮겼다.

sources:

KOR-EN Basic Korean Dictionary through Naver Dictionary. National Institute of Korean Language. Accessed 14 July 2024. <https://en.dict.naver.com/#/main>.

Park, In-Jo., & Min, Kyung-Hwan (2005). Making a List of Korean Emotion Terms and Exploring Dimensions Underlying Them. Korean Journal of Social and Personality Psychology, 19(1), 109-129.

[jimpagne]

Bite-sized Korean with 이게 맞아?!

*disclaimer: I am not Korean, I am not fluent in Korean, but I have taken formal classes, so this is to the best of my knowledge. If anything is amiss, please let me know either privately or in the comments of this post.

I'm going to discuss what Jimin says in the first three seconds of the trailer!

지민: 오늘 정국이 잘 때 안 춥게 형이 옆에서 꼭 안아줄게 I'll give you a cuddle tonight so that you don't feel cold.

Let's dive into the 단어!

오늘 - Today (but in this context, it's translated as tonight bc it's encapsulating the notion of it being *later* in the same day)

정국 - Jungkook

자다 to sleep

자다 in this case is conjugated to 잘 때 when added to the ~을/ㄹ 때 form, which indicates when a verb occurs/is performed. so it's like, when you sleep.

안 - Not

춥다 Cold

춥다 is added onto the grammatical form of ~게 and becomes 춥게, which functions like "so that" or "to allow for" in English. This is used to explain what influences the speaker to perform a certain action. Usually forms like this might appear awkward to the average English speaker because the form is usually structured backwards from what we're used to.

형 - Hyung

옆 Next to (paired with a ~에서, a dynamic location particle)

꼭 - Tightly, firmly (in this particular context)

안다 to embrace, to hug, to hold within one's arms

안다 is combined with the ~아/어주다 form, which indicates that the speaker wants the listener to do something for them. I'd say this form mostly closely equates to asking for a favor from someone. Since 안다 is a verb that is commonly paired with 주다 (to give), this form can also demonstrate that you are also doing something on behalf of the listener. In more polite forms, you'd use the verb 드리다 (for humility), but Jimin is older (and close) with Jungkook, so he uses comfortable language and sticks to 주다. 안아주 is then added to ~ㄹ/을게(요) form and becomes 안아줄게, which is when the speaker states their intention to do something unless the listener refutes them.

So ig you can see this sentence like: When you sleep tonight, so that you don't get cold, hyung will be next to you and will hold you tight.

That's a little too wordy, however.

Other Notes | 때 usage

There's also a form of 때 that can be paired with nouns. ~을/ㄹ 때 is used exclusively with verb forms, but you can use 때 by itself next to nouns. ex: 방학 때 - during (school) vacation

중학교 때 제가 좋아하는 과목은 수학이었어요. When I was in/During middle school my favorite subject was math. 중학교 middle school, 제 my, 좋아하다 to like, 과목 subject, 수학 math, 이다 to be

Also another form of 때 is ~을/ㄹ 때까지, which is like, until (verb) occurs. In this case, 때 is added to ~까지, which means until/up to. In the song Spring Day (봄날), at the end they sing:

다시 봄날이 올 때까지 Until that spring day comes again 다시 again, 봄날 spring day, 오다 to come

꽃 피울 때까지 Until the flowers bloom 꽃 flower(s), 피우다 to bloom

Other notes | ~ㄹ/을까(요), ~ㄹ/을게(요), ~ㄹ/을래(요) verb attachments

~ㄹ/을게(요) is like, I'm going to do this (if that's alright) or I'm planning on doing this (if you're fine with it). It's more of a statement rather than a question/suggestion, but it carries a kind of nuance that can fish for the consent/permission of the listener.

불을 켜드릴게요. I'm going to turn on the light (for you). 불 light, 켜다 to light, ignite

~ㄹ/을래(요) is an invitational form that usually expresses the desire or want to do something. It's like forming proposals like, "will you do… (together)", "let's...", "would you like to...", or "do you want to...". It's a form that pays more attention to what the listener wants to do.

같이 밥 먹을래요? Let's eat together/Shall we eat together? 같이 together, 밥 rice/meal, 먹다 to eat

~ㄹ/을까(요) is also an invitational form, asking "should I..?", "I'm thinking of...(but give me your thoughts)", "should we…?". Honestly, when I first encountered this form, I wondered what made it different from 을/ㄹ래(요), but from my understanding this form values the opinion of the other person (about information they may not know) and also asks for an opinion or permission about things that have yet to occur. So this form can almost be used like the English statement of: "What do you think? Should we...?"

불을 꺼줄까요? Do you want me to turn off the light? 불 light, 끄다 to put out, to extinguish

That's all! Until next time ;p

[zookacestance]

LET’S DO THIS!!🎀

[honeyhangukeo]

some more words related through Hanja characters:

If you don't know what Hanja is, it refers to the Chinese-derived words of the Korean language. Pretty much half of Korean comes from originally Chinese words (and therefore will share pronunciation similarities with actual Chinese) and the rest is pure Korean.

Just like Latin and Greek is to English (e.g. aqua- hydro- indicate relation to 'water'), we can remember some Hanja to make semantic links between words in Korean.

The majority of Korean people's names have Hanja equivalents and could be written out in Chinese (sometimes required on official documents) and will be chosen by their parents based on the traditional semantic meaning. However, in the last few decades more Korean people are giving their kids pure Korean names with nice meanings such as 사랑, 보라, 하나, 하늘, 진주. More on Korean names in a future post!

Anyway, on with some semantic Hanja word links.

Marriage related words - 혼

결혼 - marriage

이혼 - divorce

약혼 - engagement (does the 약 part also seem familiar? It's the same 약 in 약속 - promise, and 예약 - appointment.)

기혼 - married (as in the person's status)

미혼 - unmarried, single

water related words - 수

수달 - otter

생수 - drinking/fresh water

수상 스키 - water ski (상 is a Hanja meaning 'above')

홍수 - flood

호수 - lake

school related words - 학 and 교

학교 - school

학생 - student

교복 - school uniform (your probably know what Hanbok is right? 한 - Korea 복 - clothing. That's the same 복.)

교육 - education

middle related words - 중

중국 - China (국 is the character used in country names)

중학교 - middle school

중급 - middle/intermediate level

중 - medium size (might see on a menu with portion options)

beauty related words - 미

미국 - the U.S.

미녀 - beautiful woman

미용실 - beauty salon/hairdressers

people related words - 인

인간 - human

~인 - person from ~ country (a Korean, a Brit, a German etc)

인생 - life

인기 - popularity

인사 - greeting

인삼 - ginseng (so called because the root resembles a person)

개인 - personal, private

주인 - owner

부인 - wife

female related words - 여/녀

여신 - goddess

미녀 - beautiful woman

마녀 - witch

그녀 - she

여성 - female

소녀 - girl (소 is another Hanja meaning small)

[aja-aja-hanja]

All about Hanok, the Korean traditional home, using the oldest surviving example of the Maeng clan haeng-dan! It is an example of architecture from the beginning of the Joseon dynasty (start:1392) which has been maintained according to the old way of building.

The name 행단 refers to a place with a gingko tree, which makes reference to Confucius teaching pupils under a gingko tree. In Joseon, Confucian culture became a main part of the national culture, replacing previous national Buddhism in Goryeo dynasty.

[asyastudieskorean]

10.10.2024 — 안녕하세요! I realize I never made any sort of introduction on here, so here goes a short and simple one!

저는 에샤입니다~ It’s pronounced like Asia~ 한국어를 공부하고 있어요. 온라인 수업 대학교에서 공부해요. 25살이에요. 그리고 워싱턴에서 살아요. 네, 전 Twilight life 정말 살아요. ㅋㅋ

커피, 케이팝, 드라마들, 웹툰, 비, 매운 음식, 그리고 글쓰기 좋아해요. 언젠가 드라마를 쓰고 싶어요. 그게 제 꿈이에요.

대학교에서 1년 동안 한국어를 공부했지만 아직 잘 못해요. 그래서 친구들과 함께 한국어를 연습하고 싶어요. 정말 싶어요! 😭🙏🏻

If you are a Korean student or studying Korean and want to practice messaging in Korean together, please always feel free to message me on Tumblr (seriously please feel free, lol). No pressure, as I am a beginner with only basic knowledge right now. Maybe I’d be okay with voice messaging in the future, too. We could also ask each other study questions, talk about Korean topics, etc. I’m really open to anything if it means practicing!

어쨌든, 만나서 반가워요! 화이팅 여러분~

[thelinguistthing]

Hi ! :D

I'm a first year French linguistics student ! I made this blog to find other language nerds like me and to gather interesting bits of data and informations about linguistics (and to compile said infos for my studies.)

Languages I'm studying:

French (native language), English (fluent), Italian (B2),Korean (A2), Chinese (A1) , Dutch (A1)

Welcome !

[beforeiread-studies2]

First goal of the year reached! I just finished watching all 14 available Korean Short Stories (Intermediate) by 몰힙한국어 Immersion in Korean.

I really like the format (the same short story is repeated in 3 different ways or povs) and it included some useful idiomatic expressions, so I think I will keep following the series.

But now it's time to move up one level! Since my goal for this first quarter of the year is to start (and finish) listening to Choi Susu's intermediate podcast, starting tomorrow I will listen to 10 min a day of her Stardew Valley series. The playlist is currently around 120 min long, so I should be done by the 21st but I'll give myself until the end of January since I'm starting my internship next week :)

[koreannook]

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

2024년 8월 5일

안녕하세요 여러분!

Today we are going to learn personal pronouns, as well as when to use some suffixes to add to the name of the person we are going to talk to.

The blue ones are in the informal form and the purple ones are in the formal form. Always try to use the formal form when you start speaking and/or writing. If there is an X, that means there is no word to say that.

I = 나 / 저

You = 너 / X

He/She = 그 (he) or 그녀 (she) / 그분 (both)

We = 우리 / 저희

You = 너희 / X

They = 그들 (group of boys) or 그녀들 (group of girls) / 그분들 (all)

We only used 그분 or 그분들 when that person is not with us in the moment we talk about them.

How we can address someone who is our boss or someone who has a more power than us? There are words for this one, so we won't use any of the pronouns learnt today. For example: Boss (상사님), Teacher (선생님). That 님 means kind of "sir".

OTHER WAYS TO CALL PEOPLE:

If we don't know the person, we add -씨 at the end of their name: 송 민기씨.

If the person is our friend, we add -이 at the end of their name ONLY if ends with a consonant: 김강민이. This only works with korean names, don't do this with foreigner names.

If you want to call someone (a friend) who is a little far away from you, we will use -아 at the end of their name if ends with a consonant or -야 if ends with vowels: 신정근아 or 김준호야.

And that's all for today!

If you have any question, please, feel free to ask me !

[yuyamuya]

231212 Vocab

반추: rumination, reflection 어떤 일을 여러 번 계속하여 생각함. 또는 그런 일. The act of constantly thinking about a matter, or such a matter.

역이용하다: turn something to one's own advantage; turn something against itself 어떤 목적을 가지고 있는 것을 그 반대의 목적으로 이용하다. To use something for a purpose opposed to its original purpose.

어여쁘다: beautiful, lovely (옛 말투로) 예쁘다. (old-fashioned) Pretty.

이치: reason, principle, sense 정당하고 도리에 맞는 원리. 또는 근본이 되는 목적이나 중요한 뜻. A right principle consistent with reason, or underlying purpose or significant meaning.

일구다: create 어떤 현상이나 일 등을 일으키다. To cause a certain phenomenon, matter, etc.

공통분모: common denominator, something in common (비유적으로) 여럿 사이에 서로 같은 점. (figurative) A common point among different people.

궁핍: being poor 물질적으로나 정신적으로 가난하고 여유가 없는 상���. The state of being materially and mentally poor.

허술하다: shabby; humble 낡고 헐어서 보잘것없다. Being old and worn out, making it look worthless.

탁상공론: desk theory 실제로 이루어질 가능성이 적은, 헛된 이론이나 논의. An impractical theory or discussion, whose possibility of coming true is low.

도출: inference 어떤 일에 대한 생각, 결론, 판단 등을 이끌어 냄. The act of deriving a thought, conclusion, decision, etc., about something.

구현: embodiment, materialization, realization 이념이나 사상, 계획 등을 구체적인 모습으로 나타나게 함. Making an idea, thought, plan, etc., appear in a concrete form.

[jimpagne]

hello! in the past you have written and translated about some moments from Are You Sure? (which i thoroughly enjoyed, thank you) and i wanted to ask if you could make a post about how you started learning korean? as a native english speaker it is a bit intimidating to me but seeing how you were able to succeed in the language, it gives me a bit of courage. i know that is not your usual content but i wanted to send an ask anyway. hope you are having a lovely day! and thank you for your response.

Oh, I would love to talk about this topic! Thank you so much for sending in the ask ;p

Also fair warning... this will be a REALLY long post.

In the Beginning...

I began "learning" Korean waaaay back in 2017 (holy shit, that was EIGHT years ago??), back when I was still a high schooler and setting alarms to wake myself up for Mystic Messenger chatrooms. I grew up in a very diverse area with a considerable Korean population, and I had a lot of Korean friends who decided to share their language with me. First, they spelled out my name in Hangul, and in my free time, I decided to learn the rest of the alphabet.

The rest is history, really.

Of course, throughout this time, I felt really intimidated. I mean, where do you even start? There were so many Korean resources online, and it felt like I was entirely lost and overwhelmed by the huge responsibility of taking on a language like Korean, one that is drastically different from the ones I know.

So despite starting my journey in 2017, I really didn't start making a breakthrough in my learning until 2021, where I enrolled into a formal Korean class at my local university. I researched a few things here and there, knew some pretty basic grammar and vocabulary, but again, I was entirely scrambled in the directions in which I was acquiring the language. So finding a professor to steer me into the right direction was incredibly helpful.

But, what do you if you can't afford or have the time for private lessons or university classes?

Even though I have had the immense privilege of going to university, I still found that the burden of learning Korean mainly fell on myself. Language classes are one thing, but you need to have the drive outside of the class to learn as well. If you only become familiar with your textbook, you'll never learn. So, outside of an academic environment, I've learned many things when it comes to teaching myself the language.

Obsessions, Interests, and... Autism?

One of the main things that really propelled my Korean learning journey was integrating the language into almost every relevant facet in my life. I have autism, so I hyperfixate on things to the point of annoying my relatives and close friends. I don't really think they care about the linguistic harmony of Korean characters as much as I do, but I can't help but fall in love with the language every single day.

I made it a goal to learn as much as I could about Korean culture, and through this I picked up a lot of vocabulary. In my personal opinion, I think what really stumps a lot of learners is that they get stuck on the "pop" culture part of Korea. It's nice and all to like K-pop and K-dramas, but if your heart is not in it beyond that, you might find yourself struggling to stay motivated. If you're going to learn Korean, you're going to need to delve into the culture, history, and every day life itself, because a lot of the language will start to make more sense.

You don't need to become an expert in those things, but you'll find that Korean people appreciate this a wholeeee lot more. I speak Korean at my workplace with Korean customers, and they'll usually ask if I learned because of K-pop. However, when I tell them otherwise, I watch just how much brighter they become.

I also enjoy writing (fics and other personal projects), and a lot of my research could not be found on western websites, so I had to start googling IN KOREAN to find what I wanted. Through this, I also mastered the Korean keyboard and I don't need to look at it to type anymore.

I started documenting Instagram captions and comments from my favorite idols, made song diaries, read children's short stories, and watched Korean YouTube channels. In my opinion, I think having physical books or physical notebooks are better than virtual ones when it comes to learning a topic.

I also made plenty of personal flashcards, and if I was using a virtual set, I would make the quiz option entirely in writing. The more you practice spelling a word, the more likely you are to remember it. I would do these quizzes over and over and over again until I could spell and remember every single one of the words in the set.

Now, if you give me a set of 50+ new Korean words, I can have it memorized in less than 10 minutes.

Resources I Personally Like

Spoiler alert: It's not Duolingo. Duolingo is probably one of the worst resources that you could use. I hate that green bird.

I would also like to preface that I use an adblocker, so I'm not sure if any of the websites have ads or how invasive their ads are. So, if there's like ten billion ads on one of these websites, I didn't know! I would marry my adblocker if I could.

The reason why I put emphasis on the word personally is because at the end of the day, how people learn language is entirely a customizable process. What works for me might not work for you. People just have to find what works.

How dependent you'll be on these resources that I'll list also depends on your current Korean level. A lot of what I will provide will be more beginner friendly, but eventually you'll find yourself doing your own research or making your own resources.

Also, it is incredibly important to note that language learning is not one skill. As someone who also studies language acquisition, imagine Korean Fluency itself to be an empty box with different shaped cut outs. There's a star cut out, a circle cut out, a square cut out... etc. You need to fill the box, but in order to do that, you need to fill it with different shaped pieces.

Speaking is a separate skill. Reading is a separate skill. Listening is a separate skill. Writing is a separate skill. Your mastery in Reading won't always bleed over into your mastery of Speaking. These are muscles that must be exercised separately. Of course, they can help each other, but you need to know that just focusing on one facet, or one cut out shape of the language will not be enough to fill that box.

How To Study Korean 한국어를 공부하는 방법

First of all... this person is incredible... The person who made this website is a foreigner who learned Korean, and I think that's an incredibly valuable perspective to take on when you're also a foreigner learning Korean. Their explanations are very precise (they've saved me during so many of my Korean exams), and they also grouped many grammar concepts into digestible levels, so you can start from level 0 and progress onward in a way that makes sense.

I honestly almost feel offended that all of this is free. Thankful, but offended. It's seriously such an incredible resource. If you're looking for a clear roadmap, this is your website.

GO! Billy Korean

Again, if you're looking for a foreigner to explain it in a way that makes sense to your English brain, this guy has some pretty good videos. If you go to his playlist section, he has clips from his livestreams where he teaches Korean grammar and concepts in depth. Some people might not learn that well from just reading, so a video format is perfect for those craving a more personal touch from a teacher.

Talk To Me In Korean

You probably saw this coming. There's a reason why these guys are the best! I know a lot of their options have recently become paywalled, but they still have a lot of valuable lessons on YouTube and they also offer free podcasts on Spotify if you'd like to take a listen. You can also take a level test on their website to determine which course might be best for you. I have a couple of their physical books, some of my favorite being....

Easy Korean Reading For Beginners: this book really introduces you to easy concepts and basic vocabulary, but it also showcases Korean sentence grammar in a very clear way.

My First 500 Korean Words: This book is exactly what the title is. However, in addition to the 500 words, they give related vocabulary, crossword puzzles, reading exercises, and they also break up the words into a weekly manner, so you don't feel overwhelmed to learn everything in one go. Vocabulary is so, so, so important. And anyone learning Korean will tell you that usually its not the grammar that's the issue, its the sheer amount of WORDS that you have to learn...

KoreAnt

Incredibly underrated but very good, especially for beginners trying to expand their listening practice! KoreAnt has cute little visuals where they showcase real Korean scenarios, and they also explain the grammar and vocabulary used in their videos.

Integrated Korean (3rd Edition)

This is a traditional university textbook for English speakers, so you can buy it from multiple different platforms other than the one I linked. It's produced out of one the best university's in the United States for Korean language learning. The entire Integrated Korean series is very well put together and the main meat of the course is separated into four textbooks, Beginning 1 & 2, and Intermediate 1 & 2. Like I said, it's a university textbooks that many of my American friends use (and they all like it), so it might be on the more expensive side. Also, this textbook has sound files on SoundCloud where you listen to workbook or textbook conversations and narrations.

Since it is a textbook, it also has a workbook to pair with it, so if you want to quiz yourself or do additional exercises, you can consider looking into that as well.

그냥 한국어 Just Korean

Now this isn't super beginner friendly, as it is a YouTube channel that teaches Korean concepts... in Korean. It's a great listening resource, however, and she does provide English captions that you can turn on. So you can learn Korean grammar at the same time as listening to it be taught to you in Korean. I think that's pretty cool.

Korean Wiki Project

This is a big hub of archived information and they have a lot of fun wiki pages that you can go through. They also have some pretty solid yet concise explanations on the Korean language, and they also delve into some more colloquial topics (like common slang/texting forms). A little bit of a warning on this one, not everything is super detailed, so if you're looking for a full on lesson other than a quick overview, this is probably not the source for you.

Technical Resources

These are the resources that I recommend for like... typing, general help, or dictionary usage. Things like that.

Naver Korean-English Dictionary

I just really like this dictionary. There's something about it... Something that soothes my soul. They have conjugation settings in there and also you can add stuff to a personal list on this dictionary and quiz yourself over it. 10/10 gets me through school.

Papago

I like to use Papago for quick translations when I'm on the go and don't understand something immediately. It's far more accurate than Google Translate, however it does have its pitfalls. After all, you shouldn't be using Papago as a means to speak/learn Korean, it's just a quick resource -- and since it's artificial intelligence, it can definitely mess up and it will mess up. But if you need to translate something quickly for whatever reason, this is a better resource.

Hancom Taja

I discovered this after I mastered Korean typing! It's a typing website that a lot of Koreans actually use to practice English typing, but they also have Korean options for Korean learners. You can play fun games and select the length of the words/sentences. Fair warning, it sometimes hates working for whatever reason, but when I do get it up and running, I find the overall experience to be a lot of fun.

Language Reactor

This is a Google extension that allows you to have both the Korean and English subtitles running together at the same time over your favorite K-dramas. You can hover over words for instant dictionary translations, get full excerpts of television shows, and you can save/add words to your personal dictionary. I'm not a big TV fan, but I find this resource to be incredibly helpful whenever I am studying Korean off of a drama.

Korean Reddit

I know that the word Reddit might send chills down the spines of many, but in all honesty, you can find some pretty good help on this subreddit. Have a question? Just type up something and get some pretty good feedback.

How I Take Notes in Korean

Do you feel like you're back in school again? I remember I always hated sitting through those "useless" lectures about how to take notes... but in actuality, how you take notes can easily help you understand a topic much better.

I know you already got a taste of my note taking style from my 이게 맞아?! post, but I thought I might explain it a bit better here. Korean, in my opinion, has a lot of solid foundations, and once you work yourself up from those, learning other parts of the language become almost like second nature.

Let's do a quick example:

You might come across a 100 Common Phrases in Korean post, which great! We all love posts like that. However, when you're taking down the notes for what you've learned, you might not be getting the most of what you can get from the content.

Ex) 좋아해요 - I like you.

This is pretty standard, right? Well, how can we expand on this very simple phrase?

좋아해요: I like you

좋아하다 (verb: to like) conjugated in the polite present tense form (~어/아요). Both the "I" and "You" can be inferred due to the high context nature of the Korean language (aka, as long as the speaker and the listener both know what it's about, you can omit pronouns).

You don't need to take it exactly like that, but we've now classified the root verb, how it's being conjugated, and how the cultural behavior/structure of the language impacts its usage. These small changes can really make a difference when you're taking notes.

Also, like I did in the post I mentioned above, I went outside of the material and connected it to other forms that I might've known about. So if you were looking at 좋아하다, you might think of 좋다 (adjective; to be good), or 사랑하다 (verb; to love). Maybe you'd think of Korean pet names and you might want to do more research on Korean couple practices and vocabulary. Make connections. Build your web. It's very important to keep practicing concepts you might already know.

When you are taking notes in Korean, I think it's VITAL that you classify something as a verb or an adjective. Multiple Korean forms change based on this factor, so it's important to label it accordingly. Actually, I'll tell you a quick hack as to how you can master every single Korean grammar point (even if you don't know it yet). I'm not kidding.

To master Korean grammar, all you have to do is ask yourself these four questions.

Is it an adjective, verb, or noun? for particle usage & forms that might use ideas of continuity (adj. do not have continuous states)

Does it end with a vowel or a batchim (final consonant)? for forms that might connect with ~(으) or ~아/어 conjugations, general connectors like ~(이)라...etc

Does it end with a bright or dark vowel? for forms that might connect with ~아/어 or have irregular forms like 으 & 르 verbs.

(if writing) What tense is it going to be in? for general forms that follow the basic ~았/었 & ~(ㄴ/는/ㄹ) rules

If you know the answer to all four of these questions and you know the behavior of these forms, boom, you've mastered the general science behind several Korean grammar points!

Most Importantly...

Don't be afraid to make mistakes.

I know this is a common phrase you've probably heard a million times, but it is incredibly true. Actually, the reason why adults struggle so much in learning foreign languages in comparison to children is because of this concept of shame. Children (other than having advantages in cognitive freshness and free time) often lack this idea of having to be perfect. They make spelling errors, they jumble up their words. But they still communicate. They still try.

Adults often have this feeling that they need to be perfect, so they often shy away from the idea of potentially messing up. You are learning something new, you are meant to mess up.

And that's okay.

(Most) Koreans don't really care how GOOD you are at their language (unless you're trying to work at some formal company in Korea... sorry guys, the concept of Emily in Paris is just not realistic...), they mostly care about the effort that you're putting into learning it.

So don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. I mean A LOT of questions. After my class time, I would go up to my Korean professor with a whole new list of words/cultural contexts/grammar points that I wanted to ask her about. She never saw it as a burden, and she was more than delighted to educate me about her home country and tongue.

But before I go, I just wanted to say that I was thinking about doing more Korean posts, but I'm not exactly sure what to focus on. I was thinking about doing a fun Linguistic-centered post about Korean, but that might not be super beginner friendly. If you have any topics you might be interested in or you might want me to cover, I'll look into it and see if I can make a proper post about it.

That's all I have for now... if you have more questions, just shoot me an ask!

[saranghandagom]

Korean vocabulary

나누다 - divide; split

"원래 하나였던 것을 둘 이상의 부분이나 조각이 되게 하다."

To divide something that was one into two or more parts or pieces.

나는 ���이크를 열 조각으로 나누어 사람들에게 한 조각씩 주었다.

문명 (文明) - civilization

"사람의 물질적, 기술적, 사회적 생활이 발전한 상태."

An advanced state of material, technological and social life for humans.

대기 오염과 수질 오염 등의 환경 문제가 현대 문명을 위협하고 있다.

세계화 (世界化) - globalization

"세계 여러 나라를 이해하고 세계적으로 나아감. 또는 그렇게 되게 함."

The act of understanding many countries and advancing globally, or making something that way.

인터넷 등 정보 통신 기술의 발달로 인해 국가들 간의 거리가 좁혀져 세계화가 빠른 속도로 이루어지고 있다.

풍족하다 (豐足-) - abundant; plentiful; rich (also: well off)

"매우 넉넉해서 부족함이 없다."

Being enough and ample, without a shortage.

복권에 당첨된 뒤 그들은 당첨금으로 풍족한 삶을 누렸다.

짐승 - animal, creature, beast; brute

1 "몸에 털이 나고 네 발을 가진, 사람이 아닌 동물."

An animal other than a human, with four feet and body hair.

숲 속에서 짐승 두 마리가 어슬렁어슬렁 마을로 내려왔다.

2 "(비유적으로) 매우 잔인하거나 야만적인 사람."

(figurative) A person who is very violent or barbarous.

게걸스럽게 먹어 대는 사내의 모습은 마치 짐승 같았다.

속삭이다 - whisper

"남이 알아듣지 못하게 작은 목소리로 가만가만 이야기하다."

To talk in a small voice repeatedly, so that others cannot hear.

승규는 친구에게 슬쩍 집에 가자고 속삭였다.

비키다 - step aside; step back

"마주치거나 부딪치지 않으려고 있던 곳에서 자리를 조금 옮기다."

To move slightly in order not to bump against or run against someone or something.

여기에 서 있으면 불꽃이 튈 수도 있으니 멀리 비켜 있어라.

맴돌다 - remain; linger, keep coming back

1 "어떤 상태 등이 일정한 범위 안에서 계속되거나 머물러 있다."

For a certain state to continue or linger within a certain range.

뚜렷한 단서를 찾지 못해 수사가 원점을 맴돌고 있다.

2 "같은 생각이나 느낌 등이 반복되다."

For a thought or feeling to be repeated.

그는 지수가 화가 나서 뱉은 말이 계속 맴돌아 마음이 좋지 않았다.

(definitions and examples taken from naver dictionary)

[beewaswerebeen]

심각하다 and 심하다

both describe severity, but they have different nuances and usage contexts.

Self-studying Korean with ChatGPT