hi! I was wondering, how would you organize the Korean you're learning in a 30 page muji notebook? (should i get a bigger notebook even?) (((also, i'm always loving the vocab lists that you post!! >w<)))
Hi there!! Thanks for asking!! There’s a lot of different ways to organise a language book, so I’ve tried to give various suggestions :)
I would advise using a book with a few more pages!! There’s so much to learn for a language, 30 pages may be more useful for like a quick summary of what you’ve learnt
For your regular learning, I would suggest getting a book with more pages, or a pack of 5 books if you intend to travel light. that way you can just carry the book you are currently working on :)
For vocab you can either make a list based on the particular textbook you’re learning from or rearrange it so that it makes more sense
You can categorise vocab by the type of words, for example into lists of foods, places, colours, etc. which makes it more easy to broaden your vocabulary in a particular conversation.
I find that this way helps you to develop fluency in a language. You’ll be able to express yourself more accurately when speaking about a particular topic.
You can also categorise vocab by words you would use in a particular situation or place, e.g. at a restaurant, at a bank, whilst travelling etc. This is more useful for learning a lot of different topics quickly or reaching a beginner’s level so that you can start using your language of choice straight away!!
This way it’s a little bit more practical, but it makes long term learning more messy, because you don’t have a logical structure or anything.
If mind maps are your thing, then go for it!! they are fantastic for studying new vocabulary because of the way it is similar to how our brains think.
Everything else in between your sets of vocab lists should be grammar points.
I find that it’s best to organise grammar points in a list, just going straight down the page.
Write down the particular language structure, then write down the explanation/English equivalent next to it
Make sure to provide lots of examples that you make up yourself!!
Using your own helps you to form sentences more easily in your target language.
For verb/adjective conjugations, it’s best to put these in a table because there can be so many variations depending on the verb/adjective ending!
Write down the “rule” at the top of the table
Then write down the individual verbs down the first column
After that, use the other row(s) in the table to do the conjugations
I recommend using a pencil for these columns, because then if you want to, you can rub them out and then practice again in the future :D
It’s good to create an index of sorts for all the different grammar points, in case you need to look them up again in the future
I recommend using an index like in bullet journals where you write down the topic/grammar structure, and then write down the page number where you can find more in-depth explanations about it!
You can also organise your vocab lists in the same way!!
I’m studying Korean and Mandarin and have studied Japanese before so this format works well for those languages. I’m pretty sure it would also work just as well for any other language too!
Hope that helps!! Let me know if you’d like any more advice ^__^
