Language learning
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Starting my day in Korean
Well, I usually start my day in Korean one way or another by either reading or watching TV, but today I started my day with my first italki lesson in over six months. Thanks to my awesome langugage partner I haven’t really had the need for italki lessons lately, and frankly I still don’t, but…
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When memorization makes sense
Memorization (암기) does not have the best of reputations in Western education. Teachers and lawmakers worship at the altar of creativity (창의성) and critical thinking (비판적 사고) instead. This is all well and good, but where is the creativity if you have nothing to be creative from? And how can you be critical of anything…
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Korean tongue twisters
I’ve always loved tongue twisters. They are fun, and an excellent tool for practicing pronunciation in any language. Who hasn’t tried to say “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” or “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”or “She sells seashells at the seashore” over and over really fast…
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Tips for improving your Korean speaking skills
Once again, I’ve reached a point where I feel that my Korean skills are developing a bit asymmetrically. I’m reading faster than ever, I understand most of what is being said around me as long as the topic isn’t too technical, and I generally feel quite comfortable with the language. So, what’s the problem? Lately,…
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Coming and going in Korean
In English we have separate words for coming and going but their distinction is not as strict as when these words are used in Korean. Since I’ll be leaving for Korea in a few months I can safely say in English “When I go to Korea”, or I can say “When I come to Korea” without…
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Korean speech patterns
The more familiar I become with Korean, the more I’ve started paying attention to how spoken Korean varies from one person to another. In the beginning I didn’t hear any difference at all, Korean to me was just Korean. There was even a time when I didn’t think that the Busan dialect was different from…
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Childish Korean
Since the past week has been spring break, you would think that I would have had plenty of time for studying Korean. Well, think again. On the other hand I have been spending plenty of time with family – both my own and my husband’s. Of course I have been cramming Korean for 3-4 hours…
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Dealing with the language learning plateau
Any language learner familiar with the awesome comic Itchy Feet will probably at some point have seen the one about reaching Mt. Fluency. I feel like that all the time these days. In many ways I do feel fluent in Korean. I mean, I’m able to express myself in almost any situation and when listening I…
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Video post: My second interview in Korean
A few weeks ago I recorded an interview in Korean with Jonson from Spongemind. For those of you who don’t know Spongemind, it’s a bilingual Korean/English youtube channel and podcast about language learning. Jonson’s partner Jeremy also operates the awesome channel MotivateKorean, which many of you may already know very well. In fact, Jeremy was…
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How I improved my Korean writing
누가 도와준 거예요?! “Who helped you write this?!” Those were the words greeting me as I picked up the phone when my LP called to give me feedback on an essay I had sent to him. 제가 알아서 썼거든요!!”No one, I wrote this alone!!” I exclaimed, not knowing whether I should feel offended at his accusation that I would “cheat”…
Sofie to Korea 