Study methods
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Why all Korean learners should learn (a few) Chinese characters
In my interactions with other Korean learners, I’ve frequently heard complaints that Chinese characters (which for the record do not appear often in written Korean) are hard. Using this as an excuse, many people avoid familiarizing themselves with these characters. In my opinion this is probably one of the biggest mistakes you can make as…
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Getting back on track with Japanese
As regular readers of my blog will know, I gave a pitiful attempt at learning Japanese in the fall. Then I got busy with my Korean studies at Sogang, and I didn’t really feel like studying languages in my free time since I felt that it was all I did during the day. I never forgot…
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Entering Sogang Korean
As many of you know, Sogang University is famous for their excellent Korean language program. Their textbooks are sold worldwide, and I’ve heard several Korean learners praise the super-intense language program for the specific focus on building speaking confidence. Since I’m already working at Sogang, I thought it would be a pity to miss out…
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Korean unlocked
To many foreigners, learning Korean vocabulary may be an overwhelming task. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. As most Korean learners know, the majority of all words in Korean are Hanja words. This means that most Korean words stem from a Chinese character. Now, don’t be frightened. Although you may see…
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Same but different
When I was a child, I could easily spend 90 minutes watching a Disney movie just to rewind the tape and watch the same thing all over again. With a child’s enthusiasm I enjoyed the second viewing no less than the first. If anything, I may actually have enjoyed it more the second time because I…
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New Korean books, new motivation
I haven’t been updating the blog for a while, but don’t take this as a sign that I haven’t been studying Korean. In fact, I’m probably studying harder than ever. I recently received books 9 and 10 in the Integrated Korean series. Being the “high advanced” level, they complete the whole series. There are 10…
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Korean inspiration
I love learning something other than just the language when I’m learning Korean. I also find that as my Korean skills continue to improve, I’m able to use Korean to learn about other things as well. A truly satisfying feeling! Among excellent resources for broadening your horizon in Korean, I highly recommend the 세바시 channel…
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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 vocabulary: Going beyond the intermediate level
While I wrote in my previous post that I had enjoyed learning what may be considered quite basic vocabulary from my Korean children’s book, I still want to keep expanding my knowledge of Korean in all possible directions. When it comes to Korean fluency, one thing is sounding Korean and having the correct intonation. Another thing…
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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…
Sofie to Korea 