Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

An area with study groups for various languages. Group members help each other, share resources and experience. Study groups are permanent but the members rotate and change.
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eido
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Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

Postby eido » Wed Jan 09, 2019 7:47 pm

I'll answer my own questions.

Why are you interested in Korean?

At first, I wasn't interested in Korean. Don't ask me why. I didn't hate Koreans. I just didn't really know Korea existed before k-pop. Yes, I knew it existed, because we'd had geography in school. But I didn't know what the language sounded like, or anything about the culture. In senior year of high school, two of my friends decided to be more open with our friend group and show us their k-pop obsession. There I found out about SHINee and other groups I'd never heard of. Later that summer, when we'd all graduated, I watched hours of footage of SHINee and BTS to figure out more about how the industry worked, and while I knew it should be viscerally upsetting, I was still enamored by all the aegyo and stage personalities that all the boys brought to the field. I also fell more and more in love with the language the more I heard it. I decided I wanted to be an "educated", "mature" fan and learn about what Korea's really like, because that's a personal challenge of mine. I don't want to be thoughtless. I thought being a fan of k-pop was a reflection of the worst of me - not thinking and going with the crowd, not having any knowledge about what I like and just liking it, defending myself irrationally. I wanted to change that. And I thought there could be no better way to show I was serious in being different than learning the language, because it's a way of thinking in itself.
What is your goal for this language?

Vaguely, C1. Sometimes I get excited and want C2. But I want to be a translator and talk to Korean friends online in Korean.
Do you have a favorite Korean language song? If so, what is it?

I'm not a huge k-pop fan. I listen to the same stuff over and over. I'm not even a huge k-music fan. But the one constant is I like Key from SHINee. (Though this second song only has a few Korean lyrics.) :oops: Can you all educate me? (And yes, I put two songs.)


What is your favorite feature of the Korean language that you've encountered so far in your studies?

I love the phoneme inventory. Even when I was starting to discover Korean and didn't know a word, I found I loved its music. I still do.
Have anything else you'd like to share about yourself?

I have an abysmal level of Korean for how long I've been flirting with it.
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MacGyver
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Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

Postby MacGyver » Wed Jan 09, 2019 11:14 pm

I am hoping to be more active here this year, and this looks like a good place to start.

A bit of background first... I have been learning Korean on and off for maybe 4 years. The first couple of years I really didn't achieve much, I was doing 20 minutes here and there on weekends, so as you might guess, progress was slow/non-existent.

I started taking lessons seriously on italki in 2017 and have been making slow but steady progress ever since. I'm in my mid-thirties and my job is pretty demanding, so it can be difficult to make time for Korean. I usually manage 30 mins to an hour a day, mainly made up of Lingq and italki homework. I am hoping to increase the amount of time per day I spend on Korean this year... we'll see how that goes... haha.

I would say my level is low to mid-intermediate now. Maybe somewhere between A2 and B1, but who really knows.

Why are you interested in Korean?
No real reason in particular. Travelled to Korea a few years ago almost by accident and just fell in love with the place.

What is your goal for this language?
Ultimately to be C2. I want to be able to watch the news/tv and understand everything. Be able to speak to people naturally and effortlessly.

Do you have a favorite Korean language song?
Nah, I am not into K-pop and all that. However I do enjoy Korean dramas. Signal would be my favourite so far.

What is your favorite feature of the Korean language that you've encountered so far in your studies?
Hmm.. don't know. Just the beauty of Hangul I guess.
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Iceberg
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Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

Postby Iceberg » Fri Jan 11, 2019 7:23 am

Why are you interested in Korean?

I’m interested in Korean for many reasons. First, I will mention its people. Living in Japan, sometimes I have the opportunity to meet Korean people, both from South Korea and North Korea, as well as Korean citizens with status of permanent residents in Japan. These citizens immigrated to Japan a long time ago. Then, there are Korean descendants who may speak bilingually or to a certain degree; there are half-Koreans (Korean-Japanese, Korean-Chinese, Korean-“you name one country”) etc. I like the diversity as I can learn about both Japan and Korea from their perspective.

Second, I’m fond of history. Korean has a very long history, even longer than Japan’s and it is interesting for me, to understand about Korean, Japanese, Chinese, East Asian, World history from Korean point of view.

Third, Korean traditions on philosophy, way of life, etiquette and manners, marriage, funerals, tea ceremony, clothing, mythology, folklore and other beliefs and traditions. I’m also interested in their homes (interior design, garden etc), religion (to a lesser extent). Although it is not my focus, sometimes I read about Shamanism, Taoism, Buddhism and some other religions. I try to understand how they influenced Korean culture and society and how different some aspects are, when compared to Japanese culture and society.

Fourth, art is something that inevitably I read about, I watch videos, try to look for lots of information. I’m interested in Korean calligraphy, flower arrangements, gardens, pottery and porcelain, paintings, Buddhist arts etc. I also like performing Korean music, performing arts, dancing and literature.

Fifth, Korean martial arts or sports are of my interest. I’m particularly more inclined to ssireum, though more popular ones such as Taekwondo is also very interesting.

Lastly, I’m interested in Korean because I can get access to one culture if I learn to read to a high level and become fluent on the language.

What is your goal for this language? That is, would you like to speak at a college with academic level Korean, decode messages for the military with your superior listening ability, or just browse idols' tweets on Twitter?

As of 2019, I’m following the “no goals” approach, as in, I don’t care how much I will improve. My priority is over some other languages. In a long term, however, I’d like to be able to read books and other things of my interest, as well as be able to communicate with Koreans on topics of my interest.

Do you have a favorite Korean language song? If so, what is it? Embed the video in your post if you like.

A favorite one? I don’t have one and only one song. It depends on my mood, but I’ll leave here some that I like to listen from time to time.

1. Yiruma, (이루마) - River Flows in You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7maJOI3QMu0

The version below is with vocals by Yiruma himself. I like both versions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXeValS-RMM

2. Yiruma - Kiss the rain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imGaOIm5HOk

3. A duo with 양희은 & AKMU

This is a very touching song. I really like its lyrics as I can resonate with the words expressed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPzbTJN5wVc

4. 김광석

I'm an old school...He is one of my all-time favorite Korean singers. He was famous on early 90's or perhaps even before, when the Korean society was in another stage or transition to more developed and rapid industrialization, among other changes in other spheres. His songs got popular due to its sentimental lyrics. It touched many Koreans at that time and that generation. Unfortunately he died at a very young age, but I still listen to his songs.

Here are two songs:

김광석 - 이등병의 편지

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbvaYfJh6kM

김광석 서른즈음에
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu5Gbv0e_4c



I really like Nell. Just few songs I listened recently.

넬 - 기억을 걷는 시간)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEElVBPGoJY

넬 - 도쿄
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aYIdZZUX6Y

There are many artists I could have listed here. The list above just represents some of my favorites.

What is your favorite feature of the Korean language that you've encountered so far in your studies? Be as technical as you wish, or just fangirl in layspeak about the logic of the language - we don't care how you express it or what your knowledge base is.

None at the moment. I'd like to learn Korean to identify some differences in the lexicon, morphology, phonology and syntax between dialects from the North and South countries as well as feel the differences on the language or dialect of Jeju one day. This place is on my radar and I might go there to see how mutually intelligible it will be.

Well, actually I like how Korean sounds. It is definitely one of the most beautiful languages I have ever heard.

Have anything else you'd like to share about yourself? Go ahead!
:)
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fjib
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Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

Postby fjib » Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:35 pm

i hated kpop at first, and i really couldn’t understand why people who weren’t korean were so into it, but then in 2016 i accidentally listened to agust d (which isn’t exactly kpop?) and i loved his music, then i found out that he was in bts, so i became a fan of them too

I’m also very interested in North Korea and the Korean war.

at first i never intended on learning anything beyond hangul because i genuinely thought it was impossible, so i learned hangul in like a day, and then after a few months of watching and listening to korean content some words started “popping out” and it really bothered me that i didn’t know what they meant, so i decided to start studying using online resources, but i got lazy and i gave up after a few months lol
Then i started using integrated korean around a year ago, and i felt like i couldn’t quit because i had spent money on the book, and then i just got into the habit of studying every day and now it’s impossible for me to forget to study or accidentally skip a day because i’m so used to it

I don’t really have a reason for studying korean, almost everything has english subtitles, and i feel like most people (but not everyone) who study only to understand dramas/music tend to quit fairly early on because it’s so extremely easy to just turn on the subtitles, i’m mostly studying because i like the process and i don’t really have a specific goal, i’d just like to become as good as i can possibly get

this isn’t exactly a goal it’s just a nice achievement, but it feels really good to finally be able to understand songs that i didn’t understand a year or two ago, i remember feeling sad like 2 years ago because i thought i’d never be able to fully appreciate the lyrics, but now i can! so even though it wasn’t the goal, it really helps my motivation

I love the grammar and how different it is from the languages i already know, and i really like the fact that it doesn’t have genders or anything like that

I’m 18 years old and i’m from Sweden, Korean is the first language i’m actually studying, i never studied English i just learnt it through watching tv shows and the internet, and i didn’t study Swedish in school either, so i had to learn all of those grammar related words recently in order to be able to learn Korean grammar...before 2018 i pretty much only knew what a verb was lol

i couldn’t choose just one song, so here are a few
https://youtu.be/NC_Lo8nRqfA
https://youtu.be/F8wI5ZosdRA
https://youtu.be/639hc_F2TZU
https://soundcloud.com/bangtan/1-hope-world-2
https://soundcloud.com/bangtan/sofarawayfesta
https://youtu.be/xEeFrLSkMm8
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David1917
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Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

Postby David1917 » Mon Jan 14, 2019 8:49 pm

I've been thinking lately about adding Korean and Japanese to my list, and I think Korean is going to win the priority:

Why are you interested in Korean?
I am interested in learning about the DPRK first-hand. I of course am not legally allowed to learn anything on the ground for the time being, but I know there are plenty of resources for DPRK newspapers etc. My overall interest is the history of Marxism and Marxist revolutions, as well as contemporary international relations.

What is your goal for this language?
My goal is to have a reading knowledge of Korean suitable for the news and political works.

Plan of action:
I certainly have already bitten off more than I can chew language-wise, but I'm trying to do as much exploratory work as I can in the next 9 months before I begin graduate school, wherein I can put things on maintenance mode. I just want to get over the first hurdle beforehand. Still, I'll be beginning slow. I'll soon begin to blind-shadow Korean on my walks to work until I have completed some other language goals. Then I'll go at some coursebooks and hopefully be at a point of working through something like Arguelles' Cultural History book or Herrmann's Lehrbuch through Buske (since I understand this to be specifically DPRK dialect) by the time school starts.

I'll probably have very little to offer to this thread for awhile, but I figured I'd go ahead and declare it now to perhaps hold myself accountable in some way.
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Sayonaroo
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Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

Postby Sayonaroo » Mon Jan 21, 2019 3:41 am

David1917 wrote:I've been thinking lately about adding Korean and Japanese to my list, and I think Korean is going to win the priority:

Why are you interested in Korean?
I am interested in learning about the DPRK first-hand. I of course am not legally allowed to learn anything on the ground for the time being, but I know there are plenty of resources for DPRK newspapers etc. My overall interest is the history of Marxism and Marxist revolutions, as well as contemporary international relations.

What is your goal for this language?
My goal is to have a reading knowledge of Korean suitable for the news and political works.

Plan of action:
I certainly have already bitten off more than I can chew language-wise, but I'm trying to do as much exploratory work as I can in the next 9 months before I begin graduate school, wherein I can put things on maintenance mode. I just want to get over the first hurdle beforehand. Still, I'll be beginning slow. I'll soon begin to blind-shadow Korean on my walks to work until I have completed some other language goals. Then I'll go at some coursebooks and hopefully be at a point of working through something like Arguelles' Cultural History book or Herrmann's Lehrbuch through Buske (since I understand this to be specifically DPRK dialect) by the time school starts.

I'll probably have very little to offer to this thread for awhile, but I figured I'd go ahead and declare it now to perhaps hold myself accountable in some way.


I have a lot of recommendations for books about North Korea. I just find it fascinating so I read a lot of books from the library. These are the ones I rated 4 stars or higher on goodreads.

non-fiction
This is paradise – Kang, Hyok
Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee—A Look Inside North Korea -Jin-sung, Jang
The Tears of My Soul = written by a north korean spy/agent who killed a lot people on a plane. It was originally written in korean ( I read it in English). I think the korean book or website about her is on lingq ( there’s audio that accompanies the text) because I recall Steven Kaufman mention it on a YouTube video

A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power

The Invitation-Only Zone: The True Story of North Korea’s Abduction Project

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

memoirs from people who have spent time in the political prison camp:

these are all disturbing and page-turners. It’s like reading books about the concentration camps in the holocaust.

Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s

Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West – harden blaine + the north korean guy

The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag – Kang, Chol-hwan

Eyes of the Tailless Animals: Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman – lee soon ok

Long Road Home: Testimony of a North Korean Camp Survivor- Kim, Yong

———————
more memoirs from north korean people

The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story

Stars Between the Sun and Moon: One Woman’s Life in North Korea and Escape to Freedom

Under the Same Sky: A Memoir of Survival, Hope, and Faith -Kim, Joseph

++++
완전 통제구역 · 안명철
and this memoir/non-fiction book IS NOT availble in English ( I read this in Japanese 北朝鮮 絶望収容所 (ワニ文庫) 安 明哲). This book is really disturbing and scary but it’s the truth. It’s also a page-turner as in I read 200 pages in one day. I literally changed my plans for the day because it was so disturbing. I didn’t get the korean book because it’s out of print, and expensive.

I currently have 3 Japanese books about North Korea in my to be read pile. 2 were translated from Japanese and 1 was written by a korean person who is fluent in Japanese
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noobinvestors
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Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

Postby noobinvestors » Mon Jan 21, 2019 5:47 am

Hello. I am Yichen from Singapore. I am a Native Chinese speaker and meanwhile fluent in English and Japanese.

Why are you interested in Korean?
I work in a Korean company and the boss wants me to speak fluently.

What is your goal for this language?
I was told to deliver a speech in Korean in front of the whole company at end of this year (2019) and in two years time, I am expected to conduct phone call and write business email in Korean (if I am still in that company).

Do you have a favorite Korean language song? If so, what is it?
Recently I fell in love with this song "Battery of Love" and the singer is "Hong Jin Young"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUYkb8O ... rt_radio=1

What is your favorite feature of the Korean language that you've encountered so far in your studies?
I wrote a blog about my learning linked as below:
https://writingofinvestingnoob.com/2019 ... ing-korea/

Have anything else you'd like to share about yourself? Go ahead! I am working as a accountant in a Korean company. Have a family with 2 kids. Nothing fancy about myself haha.
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Christi
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Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

Postby Christi » Sat Feb 02, 2019 7:49 pm

I have been a bit inactive since I've got mid-terms right now. Am planning on studying Korean again this week since I've got an unexpected exam next weekend. Don't think I will pass since I am so behind by 3 chapters and need to write papers.

Anyway, the reason I'm posting here is that I just visited the Dutch study group and saw a member sharing useful expressions, with translations, that he encounters while reading.
I thought that maybe we could do the same here. Share language chunks that can be used in conversation or writing easily.

내 생각에...
In my opinion..

몸이 으슬으슬하다
To feel chilly/sick

나중에 열락할게
I will contact you later

I haven't been studying much lately so I don't have any good examples at the ready right now.
So if you look at the Dutch study group, you will get a better idea of what I mean.
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2020 resolution words learned: 472 / 1000
Pages read at end of 2020: 220 / 1500

MacGyver
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Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

Postby MacGyver » Tue Feb 05, 2019 1:11 am

ロータス wrote:Korean Stories For Language Learners: Traditional Folktales in Korean and English (Free Audio CD Included)

Korean Stories for Language Learners introduces 42 traditional Korean folktales with bilingual Korean and English versions, presented on facing pages, together with detailed notes and exercises aimed at beginning learners of the language. The book can be used as a reader in first- and second-year Korean language courses or by anyone who wishes to learn about Korean folktales and traditional Korean culture.

This elegantly illustrated volume is designed to help language learners expand their vocabulary and to develop a basic familiarity with Korean culture. The stories gradually increase in length and complexity throughout the book as the reader improves their vocabulary and understanding of the language. After the first few stories, the reader is asked to use the vocabulary in speaking and writing exercises. By reading these classic stories, they also are given a window into Korean culture and learn to appreciate the uniqueness of the country—which provides greater motivation to continue learning the difficult language.

Cultural notes and discussion questions further reinforce one's understanding of the stories, and bolster one's language skills. Korean-English and English-Korean glossaries are included as well as an overview of the Korean Hangeul script.

Audio recordings by native speakers help readers improve their pronunciation and inflection.


I found that at a local bookstore last week and brought it. I haven't done much more than thumb through it so far, but it looks very good.
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MacGyver
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Re: Korean Study Group / 한국어 스터딩

Postby MacGyver » Tue Feb 05, 2019 1:15 am

Oh, this is not really language related, but I recommend following "Designersparty" on facebook and instagram. They post photos from throughout Korean (and world) history. Some photos are very eye opening, especially the sets on the Korean war.
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