From what I understand, correct me if I’m wrong, you mostly taught yourself Korean. Do you have any study tips or just miscellaneous tips for those of use wanting to learn Korean or any other language?

allforbts:

Omg. So you’re self-taught in Korean, Kylie? That’s awesome!! How did u do it? Give us tips please! I’ve already learned to read hangul but how/where can I learn/improve vocab and grammar?

Do you have any tips for someone who’s trying to learn Korean?

hi!! how did you pick up korean, and how long did it take you? thank you 🙂

Do you have any tips for learning Korean? I really want to start but I am not sure of the best method.

Is there any material you would be able to recommend for an English speaker self teaching themselves Korean? If so, thank you!

Okay, so I’m gonna write a lot write now so be prepared. I’ll break it up into sections.

How I learned Korean (to the level I am at right now):

I started learning Korean naturally during 8th grade (2010) or so. I had a really close friend who would teach me Korean words and by this time I was into a few K-pop groups (mainly SHINee) and watched a few Korean dramas. Out of interest in learning new language, I decided to teach myself how to read and write in Korean. Once I hit the summer before my freshman year, I met another really close friend who introduced me to more and more groups and showed me Korean shows. This is probably when I got really into Korean music, culture, etc. I began finding more shows by myself, became more active in fandoms through Twitter, Tumblr, etc. Before I knew it, watching these variety shows, dramas, videos, and reading lyrics allowed me to pick up the language. I never had a formal education as my school (high school and university) did not/do not provide the language. However because of this, most of the Korean I know is conversational and I am most confident in understanding (instead of writing, speaking). Although I translate, I am by no means fluent in the language, although I soon hope to be!

Tips on learning Korean (or any language):

1. Start off by learning hangul or the Korean writing system (or “alphabet”). You can do this by looking up a table of the characters online. 

2. Begin practicing by reading lyrics, tweets by BTS, whatever you can get your hands on. You don’t have to know what you are saying, but it is important to practice and solidify your knowledge of hangul.

3. Figure out your learning style. If you are an auditory learner, try watching videos in Korean like variety shows and dramas (not historical). Read the subtitles carefully and be aware of the words you are hearing as you are reading. I feel like many people unintentionally tune out the audio of a video when watching videos in Korean. If you stay aware, it will be much easier to pick up the language. This is how I picked up Korean. Other ways to learn are through more traditional methods like textbooks and workbooks. If you don’t want physical textbooks there are many apps and online sites that provide PDFs and even podcasts. I don’t use online sites, but I have heard a lot about Talk To Me In Korean.

4. Stay motivated. I know it is really difficult, especially if English is your only language, but you really have to want to learn the language. If you have no interest or motivation, I’m sad to say this, but you won’t be able to learn the language since there is no teacher to force you to learn as there would be in a classroom setting. 

5. Practice/study regularly. I think all people who have learned a language in high school can say this with confidence. If you don’t practice/study the language regularly, all of what you have learned will just fade from your memory. 

Material for learning Korean:

I always refer to this guide, but Tumblr user hobuing made a post as to how she learned Korean and it has a few links to sites and PDFs [here]. 

What do I do when I don’t know a word in Korean: 

Naturally as I am not fluent, I don’t know all the words that I read. When this happens DO NOT USE GOOGLE TRANSLATE. Google Translate is absolutely horrible when translating (at least for Asian languages). I look up words on endic.naver.com (to find the direct English meaning) or dic.naver.com (to find the Korean definition of a word). As slang isn’t present in a typical dictionary, for slang that I don’t know I often google “____ 뜻" (____ meaning) and read what Korean people say the slang means.

– Kylie