☀ 앰버 한글 팁 ☀
Disclaimer: Everyone has different learning tips and patterns so it really depends how you use there sources. Also this is a really long post. Anyway let’s begin—
Hello! I’ve been constantly asked where and how I learn the Korean language so I am finally making this post to help you, my friends, to get your resources! Before we start, here are some of the things you should know about me aka things I’ve been asked constantly.
I just started learning Korean this year (Jan 2017)
No, I’m not entirely fluent in writing, speaking or reading but I am always practicing.
I went to professional language classes and my 선생 is a native Korean! She’s very nice ;; Now, I am self learning!!!!!!!! I finish my first level and paused for a while bc busy with college (aka gonna graduate soon i gtg)
I am open for questions but do contact me via twitter or curiouscat for fast response lmao I would rarely check this tumblr ask.
Okay, to start off, for beginners (aka the ones that don’t know how to read and write hangul), you really NEED to learn to write and read hangul because that’s like the most basic. Here are some guides & resources to help you!
my tip: learn single vowels (ㅑ ㅕ ㅛ ㅠ ㅒ ㅖ) > single consonants (ㅁㅋㅈㄷㄱ) > double consonants (ㄲ ㄸ ㅉ ㅃ ㅋ)> double vowels (ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ). Keep in mind that even for Koreans, the pronunciation for ㅐ(ae), ㅔ(e) ㅒ(yae), ㅖ(ye) ㅙ (yae) is the same and often pronounced as ‘ae’. But the meaning in context itself is different.
learning hangul x x x x {click on the ‘x’}
audio for learning how to pronounce hangul x x x
practice writing your hangul x x x
* you don’t have to necessary print these guides and can simple practice writing on recycled paper or a empty maths block book ^^
Once you got your hangul down, you should learn the rule of grammars which are your -이에요, -에요, (to be - am, is, are), 이게/저게 (this/that), etcs. Practically they’re grammar rules and quite important??? Here are some resources: x x x
Besides the grammar and maybe if you decide grammar isn’t that important to you (yet), you can start by learning numbers or colours or country names, basically vocabulary! They’re pretty important, if not crucial when it comes to Korean language learning.
my tips: you can really Google for these and learn up whatever you like, really! I would suggest learning vocabulary like numbers and colours if you want to go on a easier route! Grammar can be quite confusing.
When learning numbers, Korea has a two number system which is the sino korean number system (일, 이, 삼) and the pure korean number system (하나, 둘, 셋)! Even knowing when to use them is different.
my tip: If you know Chinese, this will bound to be easy for you! Sino Korean Number System is similar to Mandarin! If you noticed, 일 = 一 ( yī), 삼 = 三 ( sān). There’s a close resemblance to pronunciation so it won’t be as hard. The only way to master numbers is to really practice saying it! A good way to do so it try saying it backwards haha. If you can do that, you’re really good in it already!
I would run through what you should learn and can learn one by one but it’ll take ages to finish this post honestly! I believe everyone has a different style of learning so it’s really up to you in how or what you should learn. Here are some suggestions on how to improve once you’ve got the basic down (aka knowing how to read hangul and write!)
For reading:
beginner > read short articles (pann, dcgall, naver), short text, korean idol tweets, kpop song lyrics, children’s book, manhwa.
intermediate > read korean novels, short stories, poetries, magazines.
advanced > tbh you can read anything you want at this point.
For writing:
copy korean lyrics
write random sentences/dialogues
write short biographies of yourself, your friends or families.
For listening:
watch lots of dramas or variety shows of interest (Hello Councellor, My Neighbour Charles, Running Man, etcs)
listen to radio or podcast (Sukira, NCT Night Night, Jonghyun’s Blue Night, etcs)
listen to Korean songs and try to decode the meaning
** I do not recommend relying on dramas + variety shows conversational talk as your only Korean learning sources because they use a lot of 반말 (informal Korean) + slangs, which can i) leave you in confusion and ii) cause you trouble when you talk to actual Korean because of informality. Remember that they’re strict in formality between age hierarchy so there’s always the formal + informal way of saying something.
If you have trouble still knowing which consonant/vowel, my tip is while you’re writing notes in English, direct translate them to Korean text. I personally do this to practice my hangul reading + writing since I tend to have troubles with my consonant. Do not be afraid if it wrong because the whole point is learning! Here’s how I do it:
1. Sound dialogue > 소은드 다이로끄. (A/N: this is a direct translation. If I were to write sound dialogue, it would 소리 대화).
Practice it like this! It will help you learn to differentiate the consonant + vowel.
Finally, as for apps and books:
For apps, I use Memrise and Duolingo. Memrise is pretty good and it teaches you by level but it mostly immediate conversation based rather than grammars + vowels so it’s not recommended for beginners. But it’s good to use it to learn conversation! Duolingo is a more advanced level since they don’t provide the Korean language in English text yet and to learn it, all the question text and answer are in 100% Korean so it’s again, not good for beginners. You can use them once you’re more familiar with the language or if you wish to challenge yourself!
As for books, I wouldn’t really recommend you getting one? Because the below master posts I am linking will provide you with as much, if not more, with what you need! I do have two Korean language books though but that’s because I got them while learning in professional classes. But if you ever want to consider getting one, I researched before and Ehwa Universities books are really good! But yeah, you should look around here and there. I can’t really recommend much but the book I am using now (which is a beginner level book) is Songang Korean New Series and it’s alright!
Beside all these, for more resources, you can check these other cool master post for Korean language resources as well where they provide a lot of books + pdfs: (1) (2)
