Language learning
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Goals for 2023
With 2023 being just hours away, I spent some time reviewing my goals for 2022. Like always I have followed through with some, completely abandoned others, and made a half-assed attempt on the remaining goals. A year ago my vision for 2022 were: So with some goals for 2022 met, others abandoned or greatly modified…
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It’s that time of the year again…
For most people, whether they celebrate Christmas or not, this time of year means something special. It’s the end of the year and a time to reflect and make new plans – or if you’re learning Japanese – a time to take the JLPT exam. The JLPT is held twice a year in July and…
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Keep pushing, keep learning
This may sound like the title of a motivational seminar but I’ve actually wanted to talk to you guys about complacency and language learning arrogance for a while. At least since I saw a tweet that really resonated with me: Most of 2022 I’ve been focusing on going from beginner to intermediate level in Japanese…
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New year, new goals
Happy New Year everyone. It’s officially 2022 – or as Stephen Colbert called it – the third straight year of 2020. Anyway, as always I like to create a list of goals and intentions for the new year while keeping in mind that sometimes life happens, and deviating from the goals or even setting new…
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Learning two (or more) languages at once
I can’t believe that we’re almost finished with 2021. A year that started on a hopeful note but turned out to be little more than an echo of 2020. Here’s to a fresh start and hopefully better times in 2022. After I published my JLPT post, a few of you requested that I write about…
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My very first JLPT experience
If you’ve been following along for a while you’ll know that I’ve been flirting with the Japanese language on and off since sometime in 2017. It’s mostly been off though, and I never managed to do anything but learn the scripts, scratch the surface in terms of grammar and vocab, learn a few phrases I…
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What I’ve been up to (feat. my second TOPIK experience)
Hey everyone – It sure has been a while! While I’ve been away from this blog I’ve been happy to see that my readers haven’t. I still get lots of reads and new subscribers every day. Thank you! I guess there must be a few evergreens among my vast library of blog posts 😉 So,…
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Korean pronunciation tips I wish I’d learned sooner
With most of the country in continued lockdown, I’m still confined to my apartment from which all my teaching, class preparation and self studying takes place. In order to feel a sense of progress and purpose I’ve created a detailed study routine for myself with several chapters to be read every single day. If you…
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Korean pronunciation – the struggle is real
As a Korean teacher and lifelong language learner, I can testify firsthand that the pronunciation is one of the hardest parts of learning Korean. The distinct sounds, the double consonants and the countless exceptions to the standard pronunciation rules are enough to make your head spin. When learning the language the best way to get…
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Korean debate patterns
A skill which truly indicates that one is fluent in a foreign language is the ability to debate in that language. When I was studying at Sogang university, the top levels 5 and 6 dedicated quite a significant amount of time to debate practice. Even though it’s been four years since I was enrolled in…
Sofie to Korea 