Re: Korean - from scratch to B2 in one year
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:04 am
Sept 23 – Dec 15, Step 1(b): Learn pronunciation at the sentence level by using Pimsleur. Create Pimsleur transcript, learn Pimsleur vocabulary, do scriptorium using Pimsleur, read all Pimsleur material by using lists and anki after the lessons. Finish Michel Thomas beginner course and Korean From Zero Book 1.
Now you know why I named this step “Pimsleur”. I have written at length elsewhere, most recently here, about how Pimsleur fits into my method, why I like it, etc. So here I’ll merely focus on what I did exactly. First, I should explain my problem regarding editions. There are only 2 levels for Korean for a total of 60 lessons. The day I finished level 1 edition 1, the second editions of both levels were released. Since the change was supposed to be very significant, mainly less formal language, I decided to go back and do level 1 edition 2 before finishing up with level 2 edition 2. So I did 90 lessons in all. I found a transcript for level 1 edition 1, but had to make the others. As you can imagine, level 1 edition 2 was similar to edition 1, so that transcript wasn’t hard to create. But Level 2 was brand new, and this was the first time I had to create a Pimsleur transcript 100% from scratch. Although time consuming, I found the process extremely helpful, so I’m going to write my description of this step as if creating the transcript from scratch is supposed to be part of my method. It’s a good idea anyway; Pimsleur transcripts are getting harder and harder to find these days.
First Run. In the morning I would listen to the opening dialog of a new Pimsleur lesson and type it out. I’d stop the recording where necessary for this first run, which is against the normal Pimsleur rules but unavoidable if you’re trying to create a transcript. After finishing the transcript for the opening dialog, I’d try to do the rest of the lesson as normally as possible, only stopping when they introduced new material, which I needed to add to the transcript. After finishing the entire lesson, I would hand write all the new material as a list with Korean on one half of the page and English on the other. Then I would go sit at my dining room table with the list and memorize it.
Second Run. In the evening I’d review the list, and the lists for the previous two days, then do the Pimsleur lesson again. This time no pausing.
Third Run. The next morning, without any review, I’d do the lesson the last time. I always passed, or felt I got at lease 80%, at that point. Typically I’d get better than 80% the night before, but I felt that was artificially high because of the reviewing. So why even do the pass in the evening? Because I’d learned that I’d sometimes fail, or feel bad about how I’d done, on the next morning pass if I didn’t do the one in the evening. Doing the lesson 3 times was the price I needed to pay to be able to keep the one lesson per day rate.
After the last pass the next morning, I’d start a new lesson by doing the first run as described above, and so the cycle repeats. After that, I put all new items from the previous day’s lesson into anki. I’d do my normal reps, English to Korean and Korean to English, without any writing, but when I got to new material, I’d do scriptorium for all English to Korean cards. Although I made some spelling errors, I never failed cards unless my answer or pronunciation was wrong; I didn’t want to spend too much time on my writing. One thing I forgot to mention was I always read out loud at this stage. In fact I will read everything out loud until I reach my goal, so please know that reading = reading out loud in this log.
Now you know why I named this step “Pimsleur”. I have written at length elsewhere, most recently here, about how Pimsleur fits into my method, why I like it, etc. So here I’ll merely focus on what I did exactly. First, I should explain my problem regarding editions. There are only 2 levels for Korean for a total of 60 lessons. The day I finished level 1 edition 1, the second editions of both levels were released. Since the change was supposed to be very significant, mainly less formal language, I decided to go back and do level 1 edition 2 before finishing up with level 2 edition 2. So I did 90 lessons in all. I found a transcript for level 1 edition 1, but had to make the others. As you can imagine, level 1 edition 2 was similar to edition 1, so that transcript wasn’t hard to create. But Level 2 was brand new, and this was the first time I had to create a Pimsleur transcript 100% from scratch. Although time consuming, I found the process extremely helpful, so I’m going to write my description of this step as if creating the transcript from scratch is supposed to be part of my method. It’s a good idea anyway; Pimsleur transcripts are getting harder and harder to find these days.
First Run. In the morning I would listen to the opening dialog of a new Pimsleur lesson and type it out. I’d stop the recording where necessary for this first run, which is against the normal Pimsleur rules but unavoidable if you’re trying to create a transcript. After finishing the transcript for the opening dialog, I’d try to do the rest of the lesson as normally as possible, only stopping when they introduced new material, which I needed to add to the transcript. After finishing the entire lesson, I would hand write all the new material as a list with Korean on one half of the page and English on the other. Then I would go sit at my dining room table with the list and memorize it.
Second Run. In the evening I’d review the list, and the lists for the previous two days, then do the Pimsleur lesson again. This time no pausing.
Third Run. The next morning, without any review, I’d do the lesson the last time. I always passed, or felt I got at lease 80%, at that point. Typically I’d get better than 80% the night before, but I felt that was artificially high because of the reviewing. So why even do the pass in the evening? Because I’d learned that I’d sometimes fail, or feel bad about how I’d done, on the next morning pass if I didn’t do the one in the evening. Doing the lesson 3 times was the price I needed to pay to be able to keep the one lesson per day rate.
After the last pass the next morning, I’d start a new lesson by doing the first run as described above, and so the cycle repeats. After that, I put all new items from the previous day’s lesson into anki. I’d do my normal reps, English to Korean and Korean to English, without any writing, but when I got to new material, I’d do scriptorium for all English to Korean cards. Although I made some spelling errors, I never failed cards unless my answer or pronunciation was wrong; I didn’t want to spend too much time on my writing. One thing I forgot to mention was I always read out loud at this stage. In fact I will read everything out loud until I reach my goal, so please know that reading = reading out loud in this log.