Learning Korean… dream or nightmare

I have been in Korea since year 2008. When I came to Korea I didn’t know a word of it, I had only a wonderful book for foreigners that my “boyfriend” sent me with the hope that maybe…. only maybe, if I effort a bit, I could acquired some kind of conversational proficiency…. hahaha.

The book taught me things such us, numbers, colors, where are you from?, how are you?, how old are you? I would like to go to, etc., .. until there I have to say is quite easy…

BUT there is always a “but“.

Learning korean is one thing and managing to keep a conversation with natives is another thing. Not to mention, the language style that you might use while working is just the most difficult thing ever.

Usually you can see in facebook or other social media people asking where or how is the best way to learn korean. I have no specific answer, but I know that studying at the library, all day long, is not.

You need to party, you need to meet friends, go to movies, etc.

S, if you DON’T WANT to be like this:

OR like this:

My formula is –> GO OUT + don’t be SHY+ make MISTAKES= IMPROVEMENT.

I have been in any kind of Korean Institute in Seoul, and I can tell you, it was impossible to learn what I needed to know!! I guess I just got so much stress, because the more I study the less I could’t speak. Also, the homework is overwhelming… How possible we can have more homework than in high-school!!!

It was so fustrating!!! Since then korean is my personal nightmare.

I don’t want to finish this post without sharing with you this feeling that I usually have:

1. I use korean regularly for my working life and, in fact, I do speak korean. But some days I wake up and my skills are very good, I feel big, and I am so inspired. My clients are like….WOWOWOW!!! I feel proud even.

2. But, some other days, I wake up and my korean skills are gone! Looks like my brain has been erased.

3. When I speak with foreign people like me, instead of english I use korean.

4. I use korean expression very often without thinking and my parents don’t understand what I am saying…

5. Only in survival situation my korean is outstanding

What is survival situation?

In my current job sometimes my people don’t understand english properly, STOP! difficult vocabulary is out of the table.When I need to close the deal I need Korea, yes or yes.

Another survival situation would be when, I am with another foreigner in a business meeting and we need to use Korean, so in order to get what we want my korean is needed and I feel confident to use it.

However, when I am with my husband or people who I think speaks korean better than I do, then my brain automatically shut down and my Korean is somewhere lost in the limbo.

Have you ever experience one of all of these situations above?

 

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If you want to learn Korean, let me advice you my best tool for Korean that I have ever had.

 

The www.koreanclass101.com is a website where you can suscribe and dowload a wide range of lessons from basic, intermediate to advance level. It includes dialogs, essential vocabulary for that unit, kanja, idioms and translations. This is the best tool I have ever had!  It could complement your school study very much.

I did it for several months while I was working and I love it!! maybe I should suscribe again…  It is not expensive and it is worthy to spend that little money… give a try! What I spend here is nothing compare to all the money that I spent in University teaching (over 1,400 USD), plus book (20 USD each), plus vocabulary books (from 10 to 30USD, and like this I can go on all day. I might have 1/2 of Kyobo’s Korean language seccion in my home or something ^^

Later on I will publish a entry with the books that you need if you want to study korean on your on.

This year’s wish is going to be –> get a bigger brain with learning a language doesn’t imply to lose the other 3 that I speak.

Fighting!!!

Laura XOXO