[meilove]

i've been trying to learn korean for a year. i've taken notes it and everything. but i want to find a more effective way of learning. i've also written down a LOT of words & what they mean. sentence structure is really hard for me. i know the basics but when i try to put a sentence together i don't know how.

same with the reading&writing in korean. besides looking over the notes over n over, saying it out loud, watching korean dramas, and listening to korean music are there ways to speed up the learning process? i'd like to be able to speak it fluently. that's my main goal. i'll focus on reading&writing later.


putting words together to make sentences & things like that.
i've checked out TONS of websites but i'm afraid not all of them had modern korean dialogue OR they had useless stuff like "being in a restaurant or on an airplane"

how were you guys taught&how'd you practice until you knew it by heart?

[IATEYOU]

well, im korean, but i was born in the US and i could have turned out like my older cousins who were also born in the US. my cousins can speak conglish (korean + english) brokenly and cant really read or write it.
for me, although i dont know the latest slang words and whatnot, i am fluent. my weakness is writing it, but you can get the meaning if you read it out loud lol.

when i was little, my mom taught me korean so i wouldnt forget it. i remember starting with alphabet puzzles and learning how each symbol sounded like--a lot like english. and then writing it and practicing forever in this notebook thing. thats where it really started to come together lol

sorry if this isnt very helpful; i think you were looking for non-koreans that are learning korean? well, if you need any help of any sort, feel free to pm me or just ask on this thread? hehe good luck and yay korean pride! xD

[eunhae]

the way i learned it when i was little was by reading the korean newspaper & translating it into english
then, my grandparents helped me figure stuff that i didnt understand
but that might be kind of hard if you're just beginning or something..

[영원한 사랑]

I am korean and I went to korean school for a few years but it didn't help at all for me. lol.

I improved the most through watching korean variety shows and making some korean fob friends.
Watching korean shows really helps ALOTT.
I saw a big improvement in my korean competency when i started watching korean shows often.
Also making some korean fob friends will help you alot too. They can help you learn.

[belle_kd1413]

they say it's easier if you learn the alphabet first...
i'm going for japanese but first i'll study kitakana and hiragana.so yeah, study alphabet~

[DOVAHKIIN]

Korean language discussion should go in here: http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?sho...t=0&start=0

[shenrou]

http://www.langintro.com/kintro
sogang
click korean

try these because they show you how to construct sentances,especially sogang and click

[soo_bak3]

I agree with 영원한 사랑 (on watching Korean shows).

You should probably take classes and maybe get some workbooks/audio books, because its impossible to really learn Korean just on the internet (unless its online lessons). I learned Korean from Korean school, since my parents make me go.

Or, if you're in college, you can study in Korea for one year. You'll learn a lot that way.

[meilove]

i'm planning on doing that when i go to college.. [i'm in high school haha]

thanks for the help so far..i watch a LOT of dramas and it does help a lot!! or when i listen to music sometimes words pop out at me cuz i kno what they mean lol

memorizing the alphabet is hard..do u guys mean the vowels and consanents[sp] ? if so, yeah it's hard V__V

[XIAHT!C]

i don't think you can learn korean fluently if you don't start out with the basics, which are the alphabets. i used to teach at a korean school, and all the kids, who were my age, didn't know anything because they didn't even know the basics. they knew how to remember, but they didn't know what the words meant or what they sounded like. they could follow me about how i pronounce or something, but after five minutes, they couldn't do it by themselves. i always told the principal person that instead of trying to teach them random words because it's on their level, they really should get with the basics.
i went to korean school from 4 and 7 years old, and i have to stay, i learned just the basics. i learned a lot more through korean dramas, music, books, programs, and things like that. it helps the most!
another way that really helps is speaking it. if you just read it to yourself, it seems like your learning, but i think speaking it with someone helps a lot, too. a lot of my friends speak broken korean, and they understand it and all, but they can't speak it well because they talk to their parents in english and stuff. i'm fluent in korean, and a lot of people ask me if i was born in korea, so i think you can trust me on these

[meilove]

^^ thank you that was really helpful
guess i'll grasp the basics first

[DiMpLeZ_X3]

Watching dramas & shows, then practice speaking with people.

I learned most of my basic sentence structure and speaking from watching Korean people speak, looking up words I dont know, and then after hearing it enough you begin to understand the meaning through context. Once you understand certain sentencing and such, practicing what you know and getting corrected by peers or whoever you're practicing with definitely helps retain things in your brain.

Not to mention phrasing and tone becomes more natural and eventually sounds less awkward.

Hope that helps!

--EDIT

Also! Learning Hangeul first makes life easier~ especially when you practice the pronounciation for each 'letter' while writing it. Then, start looking up Korean lyrics to your fav Korean songs in hangeul (if you listen to Korean music) and look up words you don't know...

I did all of the above and my Korean is pretty decent... my mom's family can understand me pretty well and I can make it around Korea fairly easy. It does take time, but what doesn't? heh.

[addickshun]

so you mean you didn't start with the alphabet? o__o"
if you don't do it from the basic it's really difficut.

[meilove]

i did start with the alphabet but i didn't spend too much time on it just glanced at it a few million times. it isn't all memorized yet though =/

i have a question.
the pronunciation. well not really. you know how when ppl speak korean there are diff tones..or when their voice goes up or down at certain times..how would i kno how to correctly say it like that? the words that i DO know how to say correctly it was becuz i've heard ppl said them many times but i can't just continue hoping that ppl'll say words that i want to hear

[DiMpLeZ_X3]

i did start with the alphabet but i didn't spend too much time on it just glanced at it a few million times. it isn't all memorized yet though =/

i have a question.
the pronunciation. well not really. you know how when ppl speak korean there are diff tones..or when their voice goes up or down at certain times..how would i kno how to correctly say it like that? the words that i DO know how to say correctly it was becuz i've heard ppl said them many times but i can't just continue hoping that ppl'll say words that i want to hear

Korean doesn't have tones in the way Chinese does. The only thing that can show difference is accents... which relates to the single and double consonants in Hangeul.

There is G and Gg (ㄱ/ㄲ), D and Dd (ㄷ/ㄸ), B and Bb (ㅂ/ㅃ), S/Sh and Ss (ㅅ/ㅆ), & J and Jj (ㅈ/ㅉ) ( I hope I got them all! ). So bang (방 means room) is different from Bbang (빵 means bread). Does that make sense?

The 'tones' are more just for intonation... different slangs and dialects from different regions will stress certain things differently. The best thing to do for now is to pronounce each 'syllable' or 'grouping' clearly...

You should ask people how to say certain things you want to hear in order to learn... it'll help. ^^*

[BeatLennon]

You can't perfect Korean within a year or five years. Takes a lot of practice to learn. (I'm korean, my dad was a teacher/policeman)

[joolee.]

Do you have any friends that speak Korean? Maybe that'll help you with learning it. If possible, you could always go to school to learn it.

[meilove]

ah, i see. i like these tips.

oh & i see the diff before room and bread bcuz of the korean character..but what about when ppl say it? doesn't it sound the same?

[msjang]

room - 방 - is pronounced with a "p" sound...so its "pang"
but the consonant ㅂ can be pronounced as a "b" when it follows another word that ends in a consonant, like 합방 (the term used in Goong, when ChaeKyung and the prince were forced to sleep together in one room)

bread -빵 - is pronounced with a strong "b" sound, always. So its "bang". ppl will rominize it bbang, to emphasize its a strong b sound

since you already watch kdramas, i am sure with some formal classes, you'll be comfortable w/ korean in no time. And you are in HS right now? you should see if you can take Korean classes at the local Korean church, or if there are Saturday Korean lang. school near you. I think the earlier you learn it, the better. I waited til college to learn it, while I knew that there are church held korean lang classes near me. Tho you will probably in a class w/ 6 or 7 yr olds (the beginners class) you should not feel embarrassed, hey, you are taking the extra step in pursuing something you like, all the more power to ya! And I bet the Korean adults at the school will be very impressed by your motivation and enthusiasm

[DOVAHKIIN]

Korean language discussion should go in here: http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?sho...t=0&start=0

Why do I keep forgetting to close these topics after posting?