My latest posts about learning Korean

• Korean-Style Steak
• Korean Books!
• Talk To Me In Korean Level 3Recently started my Korean studies once again. I starting working on Level 3 at Talk To Me In Korean and have started back with the Sogang series as well. I have enjoyed working my way through the levels but feel that there is probably too much English used in the lessons. The large amount of English used does make the lessons easier, but I wish that they put me more outside of my comfort level. The website does have a few other options that contain little to no English, but these are little bit out of league at my current level.
• Once Upon a Time in Korea...I am using Ku Kim-Marshall's book Once Upon a Time in Korea to practice my Korean reading skills. It is a collection of children's stories that have fairly easy Korean vocabulary. I am currently reading 혹 달린 할어버지 (The Old Man with a Lump) Here is an excerpt:
• Word ChampFellow Korean language enthusiast and blogger Amanda from Amanda Takes Off left a comment about learning vocabulary through WordChamp.com. I started an account last night and can already tell that this is going to be a great resource for studying Korean.

My Journey

I touched down in Korea on July 21st 2005.  I only knew one word, 안녕하세요.(Hello!)  I had grand plans to learn to speak the language.  I delayed learning to read Korean for about 4 months.  After learning to read Hangul, I felt so empowered.  Not only could I tell what I was ordering in restaurants, I even knew which buses to use.

I started using the Sogang books in 2006 for a couple of months off and on.  I put them down and really didn’t start studying again until 2007.  I did pick up a lot of the language when I started dating my wife in April of 2006.   I eventually made my way through the first 3 books of the series. In the middle of completing these, I also tried a few different books and different methods of studying.

My vocabulary has always been mostly passive. Through context and my passive vocabulary, I understand a lot of Korean but my level of speaking is still way too low.

My Plan

Unfortunately, my University doesn’t offer Korean classes.  Since this is the case, I am going to pretend that I am taking 6 credits of Korean a semester.  That means that I am going to” add” Korean to my study schedule for the next two years.

Websites that I use

1. Talk to Me in Korean

I started using these website a few weeks ago.  They have two levels of  lessons that I have been using for review.  They also have random conversation videos and also a set they call 7 Random Korean Expressions.  It is free and you are able to download both the mp3 files and the PDF for each lesson.  I printed off all the PDF files and have found them very useful.

2. Lang-8

I started using this to correct my Korean journal.  If you have never tried this website, I highly suggest you give a shot.  Basically, you correct journal entries in your native language and other members correct your entries in your target language.  There are always entries in English that need correcting and I have never had to wait long to have my entries corrected.  You can check anyone’s journal but I have been concentrating on helping Koreans with their English.  I have found that the more I help, the more willing others are to help me.  You should use caution as sometimes the corrections are not entirely correct. You just need to remember that not all native speakers are grammar experts.

Books that I use

1. The Sogang SeriesI have had a love hate relationship with these books ever since I started using them a few years ago.  It may the books are my dedication to studying the language.  I still think that these are a great way to study Korean and I have both the student books and workbooks.  I am getting ready to re-start 2A.  I made it about half way through but didn’t retain as much as I should have.  Hopefully, I will be moving up to 2B around November or December.

2.Roadmap to Korean

3.  Easy to Speak Korean (I don’t use these regularly)

Websites that I have used in the past

1. Learn Korean Language
2. Learn Korean.Com
3. EZCOREAN

I don’t use this one anymore but it is a great place to find a huge list of Korean vocabulary.
4. Korean Class 101

I really like this website and it is actually not too expensive but started using it prior to the move to Mississippi and wasted a few months because I just had no time to use it.  I will probably come back here when I finish all the lessons on “Talk to Me in Korean.”  Korean Class 101 has a huge collection of lessons with PDF and MP3 files.