haha sounds like I’m talking about my relationship isnt it? ^^ Yes, it’s my relationship with the Korean language. I know I’ve said this countless times, but I’m still amazed at how long I’ve persevered in learning Korean~
When I bought my first Korean novel, I have to highlight so many words on one page and it took super long just to finish reading and comprehending one page, but now I can read a book with relative ease. ^^
The trip to Korea helped improve my speaking skills alot. I use Korean everywhere I go and the amount of compliments I received further boosted my confidence, and hence my speaking skills 😀
Before the trip, I could write and read relatively well but speaking always posted a problem for me. I was afraid of sounding awkward and worried that my pronunciation was lousy. It was a psychological barrier. But in Korea, it was so natural and essential to speak Korean, I realised that I could actually form sentences with ease.
This blog has also been a source of motivation for me. There are times where I just want to give to my inner lazy self and not do anything, but the encouragement that I received from people here keeps me going. ^^
I’m thinking of how to further improve my blog. Let me know what you wanna see here k?
- tips / practical info on Korea?
- good places to visit in Korea?
- Korean textbooks/resources?
- on learning Korean?
- ?
If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email ^^
25 Comments
Jean
11 August, 2010 at 10:41 PMyes, yes. I totally agree with the lil’ sense of achievement you get when a Korean compliment and said that you got the sentence correct ^^
anyways, congrats on your LONG journey learning Korean. The time you’ve spend paid of the work!
축하 해, 언니~! ^^
hangukdrama
11 August, 2010 at 10:43 PM고마워~! ^^ ㅋㅋㅋ
Courtney
11 August, 2010 at 11:12 PMWow, in less than 3 years your Korean is sooo good. Amazing! I wish I were as dedicated and disciplined as you obviously are. My biggest problem with Korean isn’t grammar, it’s vocabulary. How did you learn so many vocabulary words? Did you use computer flashcards, wordlists, vocabulary learning books? I really need to increase my vocabulary to make progress in Korean. Thanks for any advice.
hangukdrama
11 August, 2010 at 11:46 PMHi Courtney! ^^
Personally I’m not inclined to using flashcards or wordlists. I try to use a wide variety of textbooks and also any reading material I can find online. You are bound to see repeated vocabulary as you read more. When I first come across a new word, I’ll check it up on the dictionary and write it down together with a sample sentence. I’ll read through the list after completing the reading. Don’t force yourself to memorise
The 2nd time i see it, i usually get the feeling that I saw the word before. If I cant remember the meaning, I’ll check it up again.
In this way, you can learn more vocabulary without actually memorising them. But then, different people have different methods. you have to find sth that suits you the best ^^
miruku
11 August, 2010 at 11:46 PM안녕하세요! I am from Singapore n currently learning Korean too!
I enjoyed reading your blog n it is very motivating =)
Like you, I hope I can have the chance to go Korea to learn the language in its native country.
Congrats on your trip & you are one step closer to your dream =)
Looking forward to posts textbooks review n your experiences in Korea etc.
hangukdrama
11 August, 2010 at 11:47 PM안녕하세요~! ^^ thanks for leaving a comment! It’s always nice to know of fellow singaporeans who are learning korean too 😀
I’ll come up with more interesting posts soon~! ^^
Uil
12 August, 2010 at 1:05 AMhey just came across your blog while searching for something else! LOL
but hey we got something in common, learning korean! im learning it right now and hope being able to have conversation using korean xD
안냔하세요~
저는 윌버에요…
hangukdrama
12 August, 2010 at 8:25 AM안녕하세요~! ^^ how long have you been learning Korean? ^^
prashanth
12 August, 2010 at 10:39 AMthat was a nice post and your blog seems quite cool. I’ll try to follow your blog from now on ^^ 안녕히계세요 .
hangukdrama
12 August, 2010 at 10:40 AM안녕하세요~! ^^ thanks for leaving a comment! are you learning korean too?
prashanth
27 August, 2010 at 7:13 AM네 . i’m learning korean too. Sorry for the late reply, I had exams to do. Should restart my Korean prep now. I hope to concentrate more on Korean learning now. Could you please suggest any online websites, where there are like interaction games to learn Korean ?
감사합니다 . 안녕.
프라쉬 (prash / 신)
su
12 August, 2010 at 10:02 PMi really like your blog! found my way here after your interview at TTMIK..and have been following ever since. you’re definitely an inspiration cos i’m also learning korean on my own now (: and your korean is really really good!!
do recommend some good places to go to in korea! that would be so so awesome
hangukdrama
12 August, 2010 at 10:46 PMHi Su! ^^
wow you are self studing korean too? *high 5* ^^ where are you from? thanks for leaving a comment! I’ll write a post on that soon 😀 I miss Korea so much!
su
12 August, 2010 at 11:19 PMhigh 5 back atcha! i’m from singapore too (: i went to korea for hols and am so missing the place still…so i know what it feels like.
Courtney
12 August, 2010 at 11:18 PMCan you let us know if you come across a grammar book similar to “The Practice of Korean Grammar” but with English translations? My Korean isn’t good enough to use a Korean only grammar book 🙁 I would love to find a good grammar reference book.
hangukdrama
13 August, 2010 at 8:53 AM‘Korean Grammar for international learners’ is good! I dint buy it, but when I was in Korea, I flipped through it and it’s really good!
the grammar points are explained clearly with example sentences. The book was well structured and user-friendly too ^^
Uil
13 August, 2010 at 12:08 AMhahas 1.5months! LOL thats really short compared to yours!
i wanna go korea for vacation!
Byeol_in_Autumn
13 August, 2010 at 9:25 AMOh… I use the same method as you do in memorize the vocabulary. And my problem is how to make a sentence. I really bad in making sentences. Sometime, I know the words in Korean, but I don’t know how to combine it and make it into a good / grammatical sentences 유_유. But I know if I want to be as good as you, all I need to do is practice and reading a lot. ‘Practice Make Perfect’, I always believe in it =)
hangukdrama
13 August, 2010 at 1:28 PMgrammar books help in this case! ^^ Also, by reading more, you will be able to learn how sentences are formed 😀
Byeol_in_Autumn
13 August, 2010 at 9:38 AMomo… I forgot that your question is “how to further improve my blog” and “what the reader wanna see here”. 글세요… What I need the most is:
01. tips on learning Korean
02. Korean textbooks / resources
But, it’s still really interesting ( I mean “very” interesting ) to read about:
01. tips / practical info on Korea
02. good places to visit in Korea and the direction, too ^_^
hangukdrama
13 August, 2010 at 1:28 PMyay thank you! ^^ I’ll write more posts soon!
Karen
19 August, 2010 at 1:53 PMLOL… I also thought you were referring to your relationship status. That title really caught my attention. But just like any other relationship, your relationship with Korean language can also be documented this way. Pretty cool way of remembering how long you’ve been persevering in learning the language. I’d like to suggest blog posts on tips in learning Korean, and beautiful places to visit in Korea. I’ve been mistaken so many times as a Korean because of my looks…LOL. It would be fun going to Korea in the future and not being mistaken as a foreigner. I love your blog!
I’m Karen from L-Lingo. I would like to invite you to check out our online application at http://l-lingo.com I have been personally using our application to learn Mandarin, since I’ve always wanted to learn it. The great thing about this is that it’s not boring and it’s so easy to use, not to mention a large bulk of the lessons are free. We would like to invite you to check out our application and give your feedback, because we would like to shape our program to give learners a great learning experience. A lot of the feedback that we get from our users have already been integrated into the program, ’cause we believe that the users should be the one to determine how they want their learning to be like. We would appreciate it if you could check out our free language learning application.
hangukdrama
19 August, 2010 at 9:17 PMHi Karen!
Thanks for leaving a comment! I’ve read your email and I will reply to it soon! Just checked out L-Lingo, it looks like a good site!
I’ll definitely blog more about tips and places of interest!
Leigh
27 August, 2010 at 1:57 AMCongrats on sticking with it!
I’d love to see you do some more book recommendations…it’s hard for me to find native Korean books that are interesting to read and when I try to shop online I get overwhelmed and end up guessing. Sometimes the books and music I buy are boring 🙁 Your recommendations would be much appreciated.
I definitely appreciate your posts and am glad you had such a good time this summer!
hangukdrama
27 August, 2010 at 7:52 PMOkies~! I’ll write more about it! ^^ As for music, Big Bang is the best. haha biased opinion 😛