Problem
I am struggling to learn Korean. I have been using Duolingo. That was the system which got me started with online learning of languages, for free. It works well for me learning, as an English speaker, European languages such as German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. I was so happy when I found they also did the Greek, Hebrew and Cyrillic alphabets (Cyrillic for Russian and Bulgarian). I was equally thrilled when I saw they were starting Korean, Japanese and Chinese.
Chinese, Japanese or Korean
Chinese is the most useful to me. It is spoken in Singapore (where I am a Singapore resident) as well as all over China. Japanese is easier to speak (somehow sayonara, Japanese for goodbye, is easier for me than Ni How?, which is Chinese for how are you, literally you good?
A friend from Toastmasters International who gave me lifts to meetings told me that he was learning Korean in order to talk to his offspring's future in-laws (a Singaporean marrying a Korean girl whose parents speak only Korean, not Chinese nor English). The two men, who had to converse with the aid of their offspring, agreed that they would both spend the six months before the wedding learning each other's languages in order to speak directly to each other.
I immediately thought, ah-hah - somebody else who speaks English is learning Korean. My chance to learn Korean and discuss it with a friend.
Is Korean Easy?
Korean is widely touted as being easy to learn, having fewer letters than other alphabets, as well as using shapes which are supposed to mimic the shape of your mouth when making the sounds. If this is the case, why can't I see it on YouTube?
It would be really helpful if somebody showed the sound on a chart as well as themselves making the sound. If you live anywhere in the world and want to do this, please do it and contact me and I shall be happy to recommend your video.
I regret I have to admit I am not finding Korean easy at all. Korean makes Spanish, Italian and Portuguese seem a doddle. (Oh, dear - doddle - how many hundreds of obscure English words there are! It is amazing that anybody manages to learn another language.)
I am following the forums for the languages I am learning. Often the bilingual speakers get into disagreements over obscure points over words I am never likely to use. But sometimes I get handy links to other sites which explain difficult languages more easily.
I am now making a list of other sites which teach Korean.
The latest site taught me about the blocks of syllables. I now see that vertical vowels, eg those which look like the letter i, are written in pairs or triples like an English word, such as bit. However, those with a horizontal line, the nearest vowel I can think of in English would be the letter e, ae written downwards. So the equivalent of the letters bed with a horizontal vowel would be written like this:
b
e
d
.
The result is that you can look at a syllable in a word and instantly see that the first letter is a consonant, the second to the right or below is a vowel, the third further right or below is a consonant.
Magic. I haven't yet managed to use this information, but it seems like something which will be really helpful.
The website which taught me this hopes you will go on to buy their workbook for about $5. OK. I can remember that when I needed to learn languages and to teach for a living, earning $25 or more for an hour's lesson, I would happily have gone into a bookshop and paid five or ten dollars on a book or any kind to help myself or a pupil. As they say, the price of a cup of coffee.
On the other hand, if you are retired, or in debt, or anxious about spending more money - on the internet you can easily spend five dollars every five minutes and soon be spending more than you earn before tax, and if you are paying tax, spending more than you are earning, you might be very happy to download the first free lesson and not go any further in spending or learning today.
duolingo.com
https://www.howtostudykorean.com/unit0/ (Explains the syllable construction)
https://www.90daykorean.com/. Highly recommended way to learn the consonants and vowels with pictures which look like the lettes.
http://talktomeinkorean.com/
ImTranslator for Firefox or Chrome, or other extensions like Rememberry
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I am struggling to learn Korean. I have been using Duolingo. That was the system which got me started with online learning of languages, for free. It works well for me learning, as an English speaker, European languages such as German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. I was so happy when I found they also did the Greek, Hebrew and Cyrillic alphabets (Cyrillic for Russian and Bulgarian). I was equally thrilled when I saw they were starting Korean, Japanese and Chinese.
Chinese, Japanese or Korean
Chinese is the most useful to me. It is spoken in Singapore (where I am a Singapore resident) as well as all over China. Japanese is easier to speak (somehow sayonara, Japanese for goodbye, is easier for me than Ni How?, which is Chinese for how are you, literally you good?
A friend from Toastmasters International who gave me lifts to meetings told me that he was learning Korean in order to talk to his offspring's future in-laws (a Singaporean marrying a Korean girl whose parents speak only Korean, not Chinese nor English). The two men, who had to converse with the aid of their offspring, agreed that they would both spend the six months before the wedding learning each other's languages in order to speak directly to each other.
I immediately thought, ah-hah - somebody else who speaks English is learning Korean. My chance to learn Korean and discuss it with a friend.
Is Korean Easy?
Korean is widely touted as being easy to learn, having fewer letters than other alphabets, as well as using shapes which are supposed to mimic the shape of your mouth when making the sounds. If this is the case, why can't I see it on YouTube?
It would be really helpful if somebody showed the sound on a chart as well as themselves making the sound. If you live anywhere in the world and want to do this, please do it and contact me and I shall be happy to recommend your video.
I regret I have to admit I am not finding Korean easy at all. Korean makes Spanish, Italian and Portuguese seem a doddle. (Oh, dear - doddle - how many hundreds of obscure English words there are! It is amazing that anybody manages to learn another language.)
I am following the forums for the languages I am learning. Often the bilingual speakers get into disagreements over obscure points over words I am never likely to use. But sometimes I get handy links to other sites which explain difficult languages more easily.
I am now making a list of other sites which teach Korean.
The latest site taught me about the blocks of syllables. I now see that vertical vowels, eg those which look like the letter i, are written in pairs or triples like an English word, such as bit. However, those with a horizontal line, the nearest vowel I can think of in English would be the letter e, ae written downwards. So the equivalent of the letters bed with a horizontal vowel would be written like this:
b
e
d
.
The result is that you can look at a syllable in a word and instantly see that the first letter is a consonant, the second to the right or below is a vowel, the third further right or below is a consonant.
Magic. I haven't yet managed to use this information, but it seems like something which will be really helpful.
The website which taught me this hopes you will go on to buy their workbook for about $5. OK. I can remember that when I needed to learn languages and to teach for a living, earning $25 or more for an hour's lesson, I would happily have gone into a bookshop and paid five or ten dollars on a book or any kind to help myself or a pupil. As they say, the price of a cup of coffee.
On the other hand, if you are retired, or in debt, or anxious about spending more money - on the internet you can easily spend five dollars every five minutes and soon be spending more than you earn before tax, and if you are paying tax, spending more than you are earning, you might be very happy to download the first free lesson and not go any further in spending or learning today.
duolingo.com
https://www.howtostudykorean.com/unit0/ (Explains the syllable construction)
https://www.90daykorean.com/. Highly recommended way to learn the consonants and vowels with pictures which look like the lettes.
http://talktomeinkorean.com/
ImTranslator for Firefox or Chrome, or other extensions like Rememberry
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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