Date: 05/09/2024
This is my first entry on my journey to learning Korean.
What is my Goal?
Why am I learning Korean?
Let's be honest. Everyone has tried and failed to learn a new language. Me myself, I've done it many times. Chinese in middle school. Spanish in highschool. A brief stint in college to learn Korean. And Japanese after college. The only languages I have successfully learned, are programming languages. So if you consider that a language, then I am a polyglot.
But to be fair, most people don't think that counts :(
My goal with learning Korean is pretty pointed. I want to be able to speak it at a conversational level. Not necessarily high level where I would be able to have a job and only speak Korean, but I'd want to be able to introduce myself, understand common phrases, and be able to communicate with people on the average day.
As for writing and reading. I am less focused on those aspects of Korean. Though, I have learned the Korean alphabet: 한글. It's very easy to learn. The first video I saw to learn Korean was this one:
And it changed my world.
It was actually so easy to learn the Korean alphabet, anyone could do it just by watching this video.
The key is to use mneumonics. One of the most powerful memory tools humans have in their toolbox.
When it comes to the actual words though. I have a lot of trouble with them... Especially when there are several ㄹ characters. However, that is not going to stop me.
Why did I pick Korean? I've always been interested in different languages, but I haven't necessarily been bit by the k-pop or k-drama bug. Although I have listened to and watched Korean entertainment, that isn't why I'm learning it. I'm not a Koreaboo. I determined I finally needed to make a decision on a language to learn. I first thought that language was going to be Japanese, but I decided I will learn Korean instead. The main factor is because I want to learn a language. And another pretty big factor is that my girlfriend speaks Korean. She just came into my life at the right time where I was deciding what language to learn.
I may end up learning a different language as time goes on, but I find that unlikely.
You know what, I'm going to make a commitment here. I will learn Korean, at least to TOPIK grade 2 (advanced beginner level).
Pulling from the TOPIK guide website, they say:
[Beginner level]
1st Grade Use of basic commands of Korean for survival, such as greeting, purchasing, ordering, etc. Expressing and understanding oneself in simple everyday conversation by making simple sentences from 800 basic words.
2nd Grade Discussion of familiar topics employing a vocabulary of about 1,500∼2,000 words. Distinguishing correctly between formal and informal situations.
There we go.
I'd say I'm definitely below grade 1 level at the moment. I started learning slowly at the beginning of this year. I really need to set a schedule up for consistent study...