Speaking Korean
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How to start learning Korean
I’m frequently asked how best to learn Korean and how difficult it is to learn, so I thought I’d post a quick Q&A for all of you who may be interested. Is Korean difficult to learn? No, but it is very different in both grammar and sounds compared to English and other Western languages. That…
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My speaking engagement at the Korean National Assembly
When I’m not busy going all out on Korean fashion shopping in Edae, makeup browsing in Myeongdong, listening to Kpop music (I’m turning into a diehard BTS ARMY girl!), binge-watching Korean dramas, and swooning over anything cutesy Korean, I’m actually a Ph.D. in economics, and I’m currently teaching undergraduate micro and macroeconomics at Sogang University here…
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Awesome Korean slang expressions
I’ve started to become a regular guest at the Playground café in Hongdae. (If you look through their facebook pics, you’ll see proof that I was there.) This café is an awesome place where Koreans and foreigners can get together and exchange languages. This week, I went there on Tuesday and met a couple of…
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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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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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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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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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Korean “self-respect”?
All Korean learners should be well aware of the many different levels of formality in the Korean language. There’s a big difference in how you say things depending on who you speak to or who you speak about. In fact, I have previously written a whole blog post about this particular Korean concept called 앞존법. In…
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A spontaneous language exchange
I had another Korean language session yesterday. It wasn’t planned but one of my language partners texted me and asked if I had time to meet him after work. This rather spontaneous meeting turned out to be an extremely productive one indeed. I got the chance to explain a lot of practical stuff to him in Korean,…
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Uhmm… what’s it called… uh… dealing with Korean speaking paralysis
Once more I’m in the lucky position of having real Korean tutors in my life, and not only do I have one – I actually have three, which really comes in handy in cases where two people end up cancelling. Anyway, I’ve had four face-to-face sessions over the past few weeks and I really enjoy…
Sofie to Korea 