Chris' Language Log

[chris3spice]

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my learning log. I think keeping this log will help me stay motivated in my learning. I am learning Korean because I do like how it sounds and I like Korean Sign Language (I have a youtube channel where I teach a sign a day). My fiancee is also Korean and so I need to be able to speak to her family. I also like the history of Korea and the old culture. I tend to go through waves but I'm heading to Korea in a few months and need to get in as much learning as I can before then.

First some information about me and my materials...

Materials I (do/don't) Use
K-Dramas
I actually do not like 99% of Korean Drama's (I don't like watching TV in general anyway) but I'm forcing myself to watch some stuff for immersion just takes me forever to find a drama. Most dramas I do like are older drama's and so they don't have Korean subtitles but it does give me listening practice at least. I also tried to find American shows I like that have Korean dubs but have not been successful in that endeavor at all.

K-Pop
I also do not like K-pop and I actually don't listen to music at all. I don't own any music on google play or itunes or have spotify or pandora. I like my peace and quiet. The last and one of two CD's I owned was Spice Girls back in grade school. (23 years ago). If on the off chance I do listen to music then its usually 가야금 or 해금 and there isn't singing so it isn't helpful for immersion. (Looking through my web history the last time I listened any music track was 3 months ago).

Books
Korean from Zero
Korean Made Simple
Korean Grammar in Use

Websites
Naver - Dictionary | Example Sentences | News (I like reading Naver Blogs)
Krdict - Dictionary (lots of simple example chunks)

Software
Anki - Good for mobile and I use it with all cards at the start
PotPlayer - Plays dual subtitles and can loop or jump to parts in the video by clicking on the subtitle

I'm not very good at reviewing my stuff in Anki or SM I don't enjoy the process of reviewing but I do like making the cards.
I think I also have a hard time because I was always a more active person and never enjoyed reading/watching TV when I got a bit older. I also don't like socializing so that doesn't help.

[an onyme]

I actually do not like 99% of Korean Drama's (I don't like watching TV in general anyway) but I'm forcing myself to watch some stuff for immersion just takes me forever to find a drama. Most dramas I do like are older drama's and so they don't have Korean subtitles but it does give me listening practice at least. I also tried to find American shows I like that have Korean dubs but have not been successful in that endeavor at all.
.

The only American show that's dubbed that I've been able to find is How to Get Away with Murder, which I loved. But the reason I love it is because it is a soap opera with a more modern feeling than the present-day Korean ones, so you might not like it. I 've also watched and liked Chappie on Netflix and look forward to Layer Cake and Zombieland. If you can get Korean Netflix or buy DVDs you might have more luck. I watched the dub of Thor: Ragnarok this way.

Otherwise, as ロータス said, you should really be working on listening and speaking since that is the goal. Language exchanges or iTalki. I also dislike socializing so I find it hard to imagine myself going to a meetup or joining a Korean language club, but iTalki lets me use money to get around the parts of socializing I don't like: ambiguity about level of intimacy, anxiety over taking up too much space, when and how to end conversations, and being stuck in a conversation that isn't a good time.

Also, even for just immersion, scripted material might actually be a bad idea if your goal is conversation since nobody in real life actually talks like that. You might want to look into panel shows or however you call them; there are a million of them in Korean. The ones where a bunch of people just talk to each other in casual conversation about stuff.

[chris3spice]

I need to be able to talk to her family in the future. I don't expect to speak to them in a few months other than basic stuff. My finacee can translate just fine for me. I just want to be able to talk to them naturally in the future. I don't have any unreal expectations of being anywhere fluent or even intermediate come this October. (I know you didn't ask just clarifying).

I think I just have a bigger issue I haven't figured out because I've been through all of HTSK, TTMIK, KGIU but still have issues because I should know all of the grammar as I have notes over all of those lessons. I've noticed when trying to do more immersive things it's been helping it stick much better its just hard finding stuff to listen to that I enjoy because I'm used to not talking to anybody for 90% of my day and not listening to any speaking or music.

I forgot about Today's Korean I did use to use it but I have notebooks going from December 2017 when it first started to August 2018. I made an Anki deck a couple times but always hated reviewing it and got behind in reviews and would also just restart from scratch.

I do have the Pimsleur MP3's but have yet to try it so I'll give it a go.

I will have to check out AudioClip as well, never tried it before.

Haven't really found anything on YouTube or AfreecaTV that I enjoy watching other than one Mario Maker Player.

Thanks for all the tips, I'll keep messing around with stuff to figure out what works for me. I did find a drama or two to watch even though I don't have Korean subs to use for subs2srs but I can still listen to them at least.

Actually thinking about it now I might go see a doctor about depression or something because all I do is go to work, come home try to study Korean, talk to fiancee and then kill time on my computer doing nothing or playing random games. Just searching random stuff to kill time even though its stuff I don't like and I sleep like 11 hours a day (my shift is probably a factor in that since I work 3am to 11am). The only time I really recall and enjoy is when I'm Video calling my fiancee on Kakao.

[chris3spice]

The only American show that's dubbed that I've been able to find is How to Get Away with Murder, which I loved. But the reason I love it is because it is a soap opera with a more modern feeling than the present-day Korean ones, so you might not like it. I 've also watched and liked Chappie on Netflix and look forward to Layer Cake and Zombieland. If you can get Korean Netflix or buy DVDs you might have more luck. I watched the dub of Thor: Ragnarok this way.

I can get Korean Netflix because I have NordVPN so I'll try to find those and I'll look for DVD's while I'm in Korea this year.

I unfortunately don't have money for iTalki but I did use it in the past and liked it.

I don't know any shows like that but i'll try to find some and see if I like them. I know I don't like stuff like running man or talent type shows. Like I said I don't really like TV at all, even American TV but I gotta try to find more stuff that I somewhat enjoy.

[Christi]

This would require some social skills but you also look for a tandem partner online (also on Italki or through apps). Sometimes you might get lucky and find someone who will only want to speak Korean with you. Since you don't like socialising, maybe using an app like Hellotalk might work.

And if you like gaming maybe playing games in Korean could work too.

[chris3spice]

2019/07/04

Pimsleur Lesson 1

Read a random article out loud to girlfriend from Naver

Watched Panda and Hedgehog Episode 1

Reviewed 62 cards in Anki

Glanced ahead in the KFZ Book but didn't make any cards as I'm still catching up on that deck

For the first lesson of Pimsleur, I got bored of it but I think it's because I know all the words they taught in the lesson, will keep going forward because it does seem like it'll work for me. I'll probably go through a couple lessons a day until it gets to a part where I don't know all the vocabulary or sentences.

I looked into Naver Daily Korean and found a spot where I started not remembering stuff. The funny thing was though once I put it into Anki all my old memories of the card came back. I think Matt from AJATT/MIA called it context-dependent knowledge. I know the answer just based on how the card looks (length, first starting word) or how the audio sounds. Like my brain has made a shortcut... oh that sentence is this long and the audio sounds like this so this is the answer.

I also remember this happening with Mango Languages. I can pass all their tests but when someone would say something in real life or I saw it written elsewhere (even the exact same sentences) I wouldn't know it. But when I went to do Mango again I know the answers perfectly.

--- Stats ---

Active Listening Time: 1 hour
Passive Listening: 0

[chris3spice]

2019/07/25

Pimsleur Lesson 2 and 3

Watched Panda and Hedgehog Episode 2

Read story from "Korean Stories for Language Learners"

65 Cards in Anki

Listened to JMBC News in background for 30 minutes

Still didn't make any new cards for Anki today, it was a busy day and didn't get much in like I originally wanted to

--- Stats ---
Active Listening Time: 2 hour
Passive Listening: 30min

[chris3spice]

2019/07/26

78 Anki Cards

JTBC News Podcast 30 Minutes (Passive)

Had a really bad migraine today but I managed to get through Anki reviews and 10 new cards studied (pre-put in) and the JTBC News Podcast before it got too bad.

--- STATS ---

Active Listening Time: 2 hour
Passive Listening: 1 hour

[chris3spice]

2019/07/27

Listened to Pimsleur Lesson 4

Watched Panda and Hedgehog Episode 3

Reviewed 39 Anki Cards and learned 25 (still no new added just newly reviewed)

Watched 2 Episodes of Momo Salon (downloaded as well for later review and subs2srs)

No migraines but had a film challenge but managed to squeeze in studying but didn't catch up from yesterday. I was wanting to listen to one more Pimsleur lesson but just wasn't feeling it.

--- STATS ---

Active Listening Time: 3 hours 20 Minutes
Passive Listening: 1 hour

[chris3spice]

2019/07/28

Watched Panda and Hedgehog Episode 4

Reviewed 67 Anki Cards

Watched Korean News Livestream (Passive Listening)

Read short story to Girlfriend

Didn't do Pimsleur today but got some other stuff in and trying to figure out how I want to setup my immersion environment. I can't just stream stuff constantly as I only have 150GB of bandwidth a month.

--- STATS ---

Active Listening Time: 4 hours 20 Minutes
Passive Listening: 3 hour