Evita's Korean and Other Languages

[Bylan]

I really like UBC's grammar dictionary, very thorough.

Really? I don't like it much. First, the grammar explanations are very short and usually insufficient. Second, the example sentences are from native materials and often contain difficult or obscure vocabulary, and sometimes are not even complete sentences. There are also no comparisons of similar grammar constructions.

I usually just google "korean grammar 는 대로" or whatever I need.

Yes, I could see how UBC's grammar dictionary is not user friendly when you're still learning grammar. The better you get, the more you'll find it useful. Just keep it in mind

화이팅!

[Evita]

So, I've finished watching Twenty Again. I can't decide whether to recommend it or not. I enjoyed many of the relationships and plot points, but surprisingly not the main couple once the focus shifted to them in the last few episodes. Overall it was an easy and fun watch, and there were no real villains, and everybody got a happy ending.

I'm happy to report that I'm done with chapter 4 of the Sejong book. I had planned to study more but drama watching interfered with that.

TTMIK has a nice video/radio series where they compare two words with similar meanings and explain the differences. I've watched many of them. Here's one for you:

[Evita]

So, nothing much is going on Korean-learning-wise. My Anki backlog is down to 560 cards, and I haven't added any new Chinese characters.

I can't believe I never noticed that the verb 따르다 (to follow) doesn't follow the '르' conjugation model. I've heard '따라와' so many times in dramas...

I had planned to make this post about my goals for the new year, but my priorities have changed a bit and Korean is going to have to take a backseat for a while (a few months maybe) because there's a website I want to build and it will occupy much of my free time. I'm not abandoning Korean, I'm just not sure how much time I will get to spend on it in the near future so I don't want to make any goals.

[Evita]

I just finished "Basic Korean, A Grammar and Workbook" by Andrew Byon. I read it because I want my Korean grammar knowledge to be really complete. I found out that numbers are considered to be prenouns, and words like 그리고 are adverbs And some other interesting things like how 따르다 is conjugated. But the best thing was the section about the (으)로 particle. Most textbooks only mention two of the usages (direction and means), but this book listed three more:

Selection

저는 바닐라 아이스크림으로 주세요. - I'd like the vanilla ice cream.

Change of State

피터가 회장으로 선출됐어요. - Peter was elected as the president.

Reason

우리는 학교 야구 팀의 승리로 기뻐했어요. - We were happy because of the school baseball team's victory.

The "selection" usage in particular confused me before because it seems like there should be the object marking particle there.
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I also started reading Iyagi #54 and right away encountered the expression "큰 마음 먹고". I didn't know it so I looked it up on the Naver dictionary. Turns out it's used when you buy something expensive or do something expensive that you usually don't do. Like buying a new camera.

[Evita]

I wish everyone a happy new year! In Korean, that's 새해 복 많이 받으세요. Here's the breakdown:

새 - new (it's a prenoun, not an adjective)
해 - year (the native-Korean word for year)
복 - good luck
많이 - a lot
받으세요 - please receive

I had all my family gatherings around Christmas so this weekend is a quiet one and I had time to study today. I took on chapter 5 of the Sejong book and came across this sentence:

한 달만 있으면 휴가예요.

I can't figure out what it means. My best guess is "My vacation will start in a month" but it seems a strange way to say that. And also, shouldn't the verb be "지나다" or something instead of "있다"? I looked at the grammar dictionary and it had "-만 -면" listed as "the minute", which would make this sentence "The minute there is one month, I have vacation". That doesn't sound right.

[Evita]

Are there no Korean experts around to answer my question? Bylan? Well, maybe later.

I decided not to participate in this year's TAC. If there had been a Korean team then I would have, but honestly... I've already been in several TAC's and I know I'm going to keep doing what I do regardless of TAC.

I know I said I don't want to specify any Korean goals, but it doesn't feel right. I've been thinking about it and my main goal will be to keep working with the Sejong textbooks. By the end of the year I should be done with book 6 and possibly also with book 7. I will also keep working with the other textbook series I've mentioned before, but Sejong will be my focus.

In terms of TOPIK, I think I could (maybe) pass level 3 now, and I want to be able to pass level 4 in a year. I think my strongest skill is listening since I've always focused on it. Reading has also improved a lot in the past year. I'm still reading only textbooks, not real books, but I do feel the improvement. My weakest skills are definitely speaking and writing, especially speaking. Working on them is not my priority but I may do a few lang-8 posts if I feel like it. I may also chat on HelloTalk sometimes.

One of my strong points is vocabulary, I do have the Anki deck with the 4700 words that I've studied since 2012. However, as those who read my old log will know, the problem is that I only half-know many of those words. That's because I often press "Good" even if I had forgotten the word. I do it to keep the review count manageable because I forget a lot of words. It's not unexpected, though, it's my preferred way of studying. If I open a textbook and see a text or dialogue with many unknown words, I feel overwhelmed and don't want to read it. However, if I see a text with many words that I don't immediately remember but I know I've studied them with Anki, then it's much better. I look up the words one final time, read the text, and don't forget the words anymore. And this is exactly what I plan to do this year. I will read materials for intermediate students that will contain vocabulary that I already mostly know, and I will internalize it all. Grammar too, of course. There are quite many intermediate grammar constructions that I don't know yet.

That's it about my goals. As for the current situation, my Anki backlog is still 500 cards, but I added 4 new Chinese characters to my Hanja deck and also finished lesson 6 of the Sejong textbook (level 3). I learned some nice expressions like 꽉 끼다 and 체육 대회. And 밀린 일 the previous lesson.

[smallwhite]

한 달만 있으면 휴가예요.

한 달만 있으면 휴가예요 = In just one month 휴가예요.

http://www.koreanwikiproject.com/wiki/% ... 9%EB%A9%B4

[Evita]

한 달만 있으면 휴가예요.

한 달만 있으면 휴가예요 = In just one month 휴가예요.

http://www.koreanwikiproject.com/wiki/% ... 9%EB%A9%B4

Thank you! I didn't know about "time period + 있으면". And you are not even studying Korean

[smallwhite]

And you are not even studying Korean

I just didn't want to admit the fact that I wanderlust'ed.

[AiyaLianxi]

I love the fact you posted all of the resources you've used since you started studying, and shared what works for you, and what didn't. Listening to Yoo In Na's podcast is a lot more fun than the news podcast I used last year.