Korean - from scratch to B2 in one year

[leosmith]

You *will* have off days, also times when you have nerves or things just don't go well. However if off-days are common, then they're not really off-days but more like average days and as such probably *are* indicative of true ability.

I actually record what I think my performance level is immediately after every session. I recorded A1 and A2 for these sessions before watching the videos. hmm...think I'll invite some others to critique..

[leosmith]

In about 10 days I'm going to vacation in the Philippines for 2 weeks. I'm not going to study at all in that time; hoping to catch a bow wave.

I finished all the studying I intend to do before going to the Philippines. I have a dead day tomorrow, for cleaning and packing, then head out the next day. So I'll have a solid 2 weeks off, and might even extend it a little depending on how bad my jetlag is.

I finally finished reading the first episode 힐러. It was harder than I thought. Although there were a lot less unknown words/minute than the news, there is a lot more empty space too, and imo they are approximately the same difficulty level. It's too bad lingq no longer lists percentages of unknown words; that would be a better indicator.

I managed to pass the half way point of my listening, and come pretty close in the other 2 skills. I'm satisfied with this because, even though I'm nearly 7 months into the 1 year challenge, my conversation didn't start until I was 3 months in. Conversation is the very core of my method, and my most desired goal. So I feel I worked hard for 4 months, made it half way, will rest and regroup for a month or so, then do the final 4 month spurt. By the end of my break I should be even more highly motivated!

[leosmith]

I'm back in town, and still suffering jet lag, but resumed my studies today. Nothing special to report, but I wanted to share my rankings of the dramas I've watched so far. I plan to updated this every time I finish one.

(rank; name; language difficulty; Comments; Reffered by)

1 Incomplete Life 3 Interesting and realistic office drama. tutor (1)

1 Signal 3 Very cool crime drama. Really engaged me. forum

1 My love from another star 1 Great love story. Similar to Goblin in many ways. Although there's a bit too much olden days/fantasy for my tastes, the characters are so well developed that I really enjoyed this one. tutor (1)

2 Heartless City 2 Very violent, sometimes gruesome, crime drama with great fight scenes. If it weren't for a few silly things (every single major bad guy is an undercover cop, for example) I would have rated it higher. review

2 Nine 2 Nice time travel drama. If it werent for the stupid faces made by the bad guy in every single scene he's in, I'd have rated this higher. review

2 Healer 2 Great love story/crime drama, but just a bit too clean and neat and pretty to be believable and get my highest rating. review

2 City Hunter 2 Great love story/crime drama. But the fact they used a pretty boy instead of a martial arts expert was a bit annoying. Also, a ridiculous number of closeup on people's hands. review

2 Goblin 1 A good solid drama, but a bit too much olden days and fantasy to get ranked higher. tutors (3)

3 Iris 2 Although there's a lot of high quality action, the characters aren't developed well enough to make me care what happens to them. Plus the ending is terrible. Also, a ridiculous amount of zooming in for effect. review

3 Coffee Prince 1 Although there were some very good dialogs, I'm not usually a fan of gender benders. Also, I got a bit tired of the breaking up and making up cycle. review

4 Boys over flowers 1 Silly japanese manga turned into sillier japanese drama turned into even sillier korean drama. I watched the whole thing because I watched the original when learning Japanese, so I thought I'd understand more. Now I wish I had those 20hrs of my life back. self

4 Emergency Couple 2 Could only tolerate 2 episodes of this. Way too much of the couple yelling at eachother. review

4 Dear my friends 2 Too many really old people yelling at eachother. Absolutely trerrible; could only handle one episode. tutor (1)

4 Cheese in the trap 2 Only made it through half an episode. Involved some guy totally mistreating women. Maybe it got better later, but they already lost my interest. tutor (1)

[leosmith]

Things you will find in many Korean dramas that you may not find elsewhere:
Slow motion, multiple instant-replay kisses.
Kisses that are incredibly lacking in passion.
Somebody will try to kiss somebody while they sleep, or just get in their face and do goofy stuff.
During the kiss, one person is surprised, their eyes bug out, but with time they relax and close their eyes.
People passing each other in slow motion.
Someone will grab the wrist of their lover as they pass by, and pull them back.
A sleeping or hospitalized person will grab the wrist of the observing lover.
Everybody gets at least one turn in the hospital.
Flashbacks of scenes that were not previously shown are frequently used to explain current scenes. This technique is used much more often by Korean dramas than any other place I’ve seen.
Men crying buckets.
A girl will accidentally fall into the arms of her future lover.
A beautiful poor girl will hook up with a handsome rich dude.
When there’s blood, it will stay caked on for a long time. A lot of attention paid to open wounds, scabs and eventually scars, but it progresses much faster than real life.
Blood is often pinkish.
Blatant advertising, often Subway.
The drama will start by showing a scene from the last episode, or an episode will start by showing a scene from later on in the same episode.
Very little smoking.
Way too much drinking.
Some dude will have an afro.
Lots of dudes will have bangs that are way too long.
A very tough woman with incredible martial art skills in one scene will turn into a weak little girl in another scene.
Often an actor who is in an earlier timeline doesn’t look or sound anything like the present day timeline actor.
Children rarely look like their parents.
The silverback(old dude with a full head of silver hair) is the bad guy.
A lot more emphasis on CCTV and less on forensic medicine than you might expect.
To disguise someone a baseball cap is almost always used.
Rain suddenly starting to fall is used for dramatic effect a lot.
They will often pause and make a big deal over a handshake.
A lot of important stuff will go down on rooftops.
A gurgling stomach means someone is hungry.
Lots of screaming is someone's idea of comedy.
Some people hiccup when they lie.
People like to cuss out the air in some comedies.
Certain people have super natural eating abilities.
There will often be amazing if not ridiculous displays of wardrobe.
In scenes that are shot in a car, they drive incredibly slowly, and other cars will pass them quickly going in the same direction.

[leosmith]

Transcripts for Korean Drama 힐러 (Healer)

[AndyMeg]

Transcripts for Korean Drama 힐러 (Healer)

This looks awesome! Thanks a lot!!!!

[Snow]

If you liked Signal, I recommend watching Tunnel!

P.S. Please make transcripts for Tunnel, too.

[leosmith]

I'm approaching the 8 month mark and sticking with my standard routine for this last 4 month spurt:
tutor (1hr)
new vocabulary (1hr)
anki (1hr)
reading (1.5hrs)
grammar (.5hrs)
dramas (2hrs)
sporadic listening (1hr)
total = 8hrs/day

I feel like I've finally stabilized from the effects of my 2 week break. It seems like my vocabulary took a hit, but my grammar improved a bit, so my overall conversation level is a wash. By the end of the month I expect my vocab to be the strongest it's ever been, and I hope that trend continues until I finish. No change in writing or reading. I was surprised that TTMIK iyagi, somewhere around lesson 90, started getting harder. Much more unknown words per lesson, according to lingq, and I really notice it. Hopefully I'll get on top of those, as well as vastly improve reading the news and the dialogs of 힐러. No change in listening. I'm still understanding 90%+ of what my tutors say, but not nearly as much of news, dramas and radio. I'd say I'm still 10-20% depending greatly on the item. I was hoping to reach 50% by the end of this drill, but it appears to be unlikely at this point. I guess the word brain's estimate of 2000hrs is somewhat accurate in this case.

[qeadz]

I guess the word brain's estimate of 2000hrs is somewhat accurate in this case.

What do you mean by 'word brain' ?

[leosmith]

What do you mean by 'word brain' ?

See page 24 of this PDF.