Studying a foreign language is not easy. However. it is fun and enjoyable if it is seen as a hobby rather than being seen as an assignment. Moreover, it will be more efficient to have all the essentials with us so we don’t have to worry about their whereabouts when we are in the studying mode. I feel like the moment we stand up to get something is the moment our motivation goes away. Therefore, when I study Korean or any other materials, I always like to have all essentials with me so I can dive into it for 2 hours straight. And here is the list of all my essentials for my Korean study:
Textbook
The first thing for me is textbooks. You do not need a certain kind of textbook to study. I know a lot of people learn language by watching dramas, reading songs’ lyrics or listening to daily conversations. However, for me, a very unorganized person, I prefer to have a textbook where lessons are planned out and some exercises for me to practice after each lesson. With that, I can easily follow and not miss anything or be lazy :).
The textbook I use is “Talk to me in Korean”. I am currently using TTMIK level 2. YAY. So happy that I finished level 1.
The second textbook is “Korean from Zero” by George Trombley and Reed Bullen. This book covers a lot of grammar in one lesson so I tend to use it as an addition or a supplement for my study. For example, if I want to take a break from TTIMK, I will study one lesson in this textbook. A lesson usually takes me 2-3 days. Moreover, things I love about this textbook are:
-Lots of examples are provided
-Many conversational dialogues are ranging from polite and informal.
-Exercises are at the end
-Vocabulary builder section where new words are broken down to different categories
It is a very good book for those who want to focus on grammar.
And of course, we cannot skip exercises. “Korean from Zero” has their exercises incorporated into their lessons. For TTMIK, there is a separate workbook that you can purchase from their website.
Notebook
Of course. An essential item for me is a notebook. I tend to use 2-3 notebooks for Korean study. One is for TTMIK. One is for “Korean from Zero” and the last one is for miscellaneous things such as songs’ lyrics or new words that I pick up from dramas and variety shows.
I got those notebooks from Morning Glory. I love the store and its cuteness. It carries a lot of cute stationary and you know ... motivation (I am so extra).
Pen
I can’t really choose which pens I like to use because I love buying new pens whenever I go to. I am extremely weird. I can’t resist my attraction to pens, especially colorful pens. I have more than 100 unused pens in my drawer, which is very unnecessary.
My current used pens are Muji pens. Those are the ones I always carry in my pencil case. They are like my on-the-go pens. My friend actually took my dark green pen and never gave it back...
I also use Pentel pencil to write down any definition or side notes. This one has been my favorite one since high school. It is very sturdy and seems very professional in my opinion lol. I have been having this special pen for 2 years.
Post-it Notes
Not necessary but I like to have them with me just to note down any important ideas or grammar points. Sometimes I also use it to write down what I need to do.
And yah. This is the end of my list.
How about you? What are your essentials for studying? :)
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Wow. I just took my Korean final... That was by far the easiest final I have ever taken. There were some things that I wasn’t really sure about, but I’m pretty sure I would have gotten a 4.0 in that class if I would have actually done the work. I bypassed all of the info in that whole three month class in the first week.
Maybe I should have joined a study group after all.
I was asked to type up ten sentences about any topic as long as I used vocab that related to what we learned in the class. I just wrote something like
혁하고 유진은 교실에 있었어요. 혁은, "선생님은 어디 있어요?"고 말했어요. And then they eventually found the teacher in the cafeteria talking to Yujin’s boyfriend about his parents. lol. I think my grammar was probably a little weird, but when I took Korean 1 at this college she was impressed that I could even say 의자가 있어요 lol
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Watch the video to see how to write each Korean consonant:
ㄱㄴㄷㄹㅁㅂㅅㅇㅈㅊㅋㅌㅍㅎ
Something that I didn't really explain well enough in the video is that the ㅇ is just a place holder that doesn't make a sound unless it's at the end of the syllable. Anyways, just keep writing these over and over until you know how to write each letter.
It's pretty easy to get used to, it should only take at the most two days to memorize.
Korean Study Buddy: Present Progressive (~ing) ~고 있어요
Hey, guys. Here's a quick video about present progressive verbs in Korean. It's pretty simple to get the hang of. Wherever you use present progressive in English you can use in Korean (although sometimes it's better to use the simple present in Korean).
The present progressive form in Korean is ~고 있어요. So when you're doing something currently, you take the stem of the verb that you're doing and add 고 있어요 to it.
So as you can see from the video, the way I memorized the Korean consonants was by singing them to the tune of the alphabet song (or twinkle twinkle little star). It actually did help me a lot with memorizing it, and for some reason it even impressed my Korean friends at school.
There’s not really a whole lot else to write on this topic, so I’ll just post the Korean consonants here:
In the song, all of the consonants are paired with the vowel ㅏ (ah). Something to note here, is that the ㅇ doesn’t make a sound when it’s at the beginning of a syllable, so when I say “ah ja cha…”, the ah (아) is only making the sound of the vowel.