Embarking on a journey to Learn Korean language can be an incredibly rewarding experience. It not only grants you access to a vibrant culture but also opens doors to exciting opportunities. In this article, we'll delve into the question that often lingers for aspiring Korean learners: "How long does it take to become fluent in Korean?" We'll also introduce you to Manjaree Academy, a valuable resource on your language-learning journey.
Is Korean Hard to Learn?
Korean is frequently associated with the complexity of East-Asian languages like Chinese and Japanese. However, it distinguishes itself by being notably easier to grasp. Unlike Chinese, Korean isn't a tonal language, meaning your pronunciation isn't tied to complex intonation patterns.
The Korean writing system, Hangul, might initially appear intricate, but it's designed for simplicity and can be mastered in as little as 20 minutes, making it an excellent foundation for pronunciation.
FSI Estimates for Reaching Korean Fluency
The United States Foreign Service Institute (FSI) categorizes Korean as a Category V language, one of the more challenging languages to learn. FSI estimates that achieving fluency in Korean would require approximately 2200 hours of study or an intensive commitment of 88 weeks. However, these estimates don't consider individual factors such as personal motivation, study methods, or your unique learning style.
How Different Is Korean From English?
For native English speakers, Korean represents a substantial departure from their mother tongue. However, this distinctiveness can be advantageous. The key to language acquisition often lies in comprehensible input, which involves considering context and progressively increasing the difficulty of your learning materials. This approach applies effectively to Korean.
The Role of Previous Language Learning Experience
If you've already learned another language, your experience can be a valuable asset in your Korean language journey. The strategies and techniques you've acquired can be applied to expedite your progress. Nevertheless, if your previous language is similar to Korean, exercise caution, as some confusion might arise.
How Are You Learning Korean?
Effective language learning encompasses four essential skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. While all these skills are important, prioritizing speaking is crucial for achieving fluency. Practical conversation skills are often the gateway to meaningful communication.
How Much Time Do You Have to Study Korean?
Regardless of a busy schedule, there are ways to incorporate Korean into your daily routines. Engaging in small activities such as listening to Korean podcasts or revisiting language lessons can accumulate over time and contribute significantly to your progress.
What’s Your Attitude and Motivation Toward Learning a Language?
Your motivation is a driving force in your language-learning journey. Whether you're studying Korean for language exams, travel, or personal interest, maintaining enthusiasm can substantially expedite your progress.
Can You Learn Korean in a Year?
Yes, it's absolutely possible to achieve proficiency in Korean within a year. However, the intensity of your study regimen can vary significantly. For instance, dedicating six hours a day for a year can yield remarkable results, while committing just one hour daily can lead to fluency in approximately 6.5 years. The key lies in adopting the right techniques and strategies to maximize your learning speed.
How to Learn Korean Faster with Manjaree Academy
For an efficient Korean language-learning journey, consider enrolling in Manjaree Academy, a trusted resource for language enthusiasts. Manjaree Academy offers a comprehensive curriculum and personalized learning experiences that cater to your specific needs and goals. With a team of experienced instructors, state-of-the-art learning materials, and a supportive community of learners, you can accelerate your path to Korean fluency.
Start Learning Korean Today with Manjaree Academy!
Embarking on your Korean language journey is an exciting endeavor. With the right resources, dedication, and support from institutions like Manjaree Academy, you can make remarkable progress and unlock the doors to Learn Korean language. Begin your journey today and discover the richness of the Korean language and culture.
This video is only available to people who are members of Acau's ( 악어 ) Youtube, but one of his fans posted a short clip Acau shared of his and Quackity's conversation testing out the QSMP translator!
language learning is such a personal thing that there is no “right” or “wrong” way of doing it. it’s whatever works on bringing YOU closer to YOUR goal.
you want to watch tv shows but don’t really care for speaking with others? yay!! no speaking practice needed.
you want to learn quickly for an upcoming trip? yay! text book phrases and simple grammar.
you’re a beginner and it’s been 10 years? 2 weeks? 6 months? it doesn’t matter. as long as you are working towards bringing YOURSELF closer to what YOU want to achieve, you have succeeded: you are succeeding; you are doing great.
i find that so much demotivation comes from comparison and/or trying to follow other's advice too closely. if anki decks don't work for you, that's fine! if duolingo works well for you, then use it!
this language learning thing, it should be enjoyed. in the sea full of deceptive polyglot stories and videos on top of videos attempting to understand how to learn languages in "the fastest way possible" sometimes we should sit back and ask ourselves, "when is just learning things, enough"?
with that i hope you all continue working towards your dreams! whether you want to become a translator or just watch a few more movies in your target language, you can do it. i know you have it in you.
Look, I knew five languages by age 19 and now I am learning like 3 more. I work as a language instructor and a consultant. If I can give language learners only one advice, this is it.
STOP LEARNING WORDS ON THEIR OWN.
You're doing yourself a disservice by learning lists of "30 words you must know!" "100 most common words!" like it literally means nothing if you cannot use those words in an appropriate context with proper grammar. So what you actually need to do is learn those words via example sentences.
Of course, sentences have more words so you may think you're learning less but you're actually learning the way to use it in context. That's what's important.
Language is about communication, which also means if you want to learn languages, you have to observe how people communicate with each other universally. Native speakers never have a list of words they know and they don't count every single new word they've learned. So why are you doing it to yourself? What native speakers do is listen to the new word, remember the context they're spoken in, and keep using that word in that context. And that's why people go "wait, you can use that word LIKE THAT?" all the time. So you, a language learner, are also allowed to do that. I'm not even saying those word lists are useless but they're the most useful AFTER you've known most of them and are trying to go over them for practice etc. Native speakers do click on those word lists to check out how many words they don't know or to remind themselves of those words or to learn some facts about each word. That should be your goal as well.
Learn sentences. Learn them in context. Do not fall into the "I must know xx amount of words or I'm a failure at language learning" trap perpetuated by bloggers or youtubers or whatever. Have fun with it!
increasingly "useless" reasons why i like learning languages
@studentbyday said i should re-define "useless" in my mind. instructions unclear. made a shitpost instead 💩
💌: inside-my-phone format is back!🍃 do you agree/disagree with my MTL rankings? what motivates you? 👀
i can be a more empathetic, understanding, and supportive person who makes sure to only cuss people out in languages they don't understand so that their feelings aren't hurt ❤️
i can talk to more people who will probably think i'm an idiot because of how badly i speak their language 👄
i can nurture my self-confidence/-esteem as long as i don't think too hard about how much i don't know 🥰
i can read more books, articles, people arguing on the internet, etc. 📚
i can travel to foreign countries more easily until someone asks me to translate something important and i mess up and land us both in prison or something ✈️
i can unlock new work opportunities until someone asks me to translate something important and i mess up and land us both in prison or something 💼
i can multitask better even though i shouldn't even be doing it in the first place 🤹♀️
i can watch my favorite shows/listen to my favorite songs without subtitles/translations so that my brain rot can continue in peace 📺
i can, on the other hand, stop losing brain cells?? 🧠
i can eavesdrop on more people, probably at the grocery store 🙉
i can show off at work and other places where it is appropriate to show off irrelevant skills ✨
안녕하세요! Hey everyone! I recently got an ask about my old masterlist, which is the same as my broken-down masterlist except it has all of my lessons on one page, rather than on multiple separate posts. Some may find this expanded version easier to navigate, so I’ll keep this up for y’all! My broken-up masterlist, of course, will still be available for those who find that more helpful :)
Hangul Lessons
Consonants
Vowels
Writing/Reading Korean Syllables
Some 받침 Rules
Diphthongs
Stroke Order
Some More 받침 Rules
Irregular Verbs
The Basics
Common Phrases
Numbers
Sino-Korean vs. Native Korean Numbers (Instagram Post)
Sentence Structure and Particles
Present-Tense Conjugations and Formal Language
Adjectives
Questions
Honorifics and Casual Language
Beginner
Negative Sentences
잘 and 못
Past Tense
Future Tense (-ㄹ / 을 것이다)
-ㄹ / 을 까요? (Shall we…? / I wonder…?)
-(으)세요 (Giving Commands / Asking Questions)
Telling Time
-고 ��다 (I want to…)
How to Say “And”
-지만 (However)
아/어/여서 (So…)
Negative Commands
Spacing (띄어쓰기)
Adverbs
ㅂ Irregular
Comparatives and Superlatives
난, 날, & 내가
Upper-Beginner
-(으)면 (If…)
아/어/여도 (Even though…/Even if…)
(으)면 되다 / 아/어/여도 되다 (I can…/You may…)
-아/어도 되다: Asking for and Giving Permission (Instagram post)
-(으)면 되다 & -(으)면 안 되다 (Instagram post)
아/어/여야 되다 and 아/어/여야 하다(Have to / Should)
Present Progressive (-고 있다)
How to Say “Or”
-아/어/여하다
All About 중
How to Use -(으)로
Before & After
-ㄴ/은 채로
Intermediate
Describing Nouns with Verbs (-는 것)
Describing Nouns with Verbs - Past & Future Tense (-ㄴ/은 / -ㄹ/을 것)
Fun language fact: "please take care of me" is a very common phrase in Korea for when you're meeting someone knew, especially if you're under their hospitality
2.18.2024 — 오늘 제 여동생의 방에서 공부해요. 저는 너무 바빠. Besides the chapter quiz, which should really only take 십오 minutes or less, I’m literally taking the day off of work and studying to run errands and clean. 근데, 저는 책상을 샀어요. I’m sort of excited, mostly to decorate my space. It’s pretty small, but I’ll make it my own. Midterms are this week along with normal course work, so here we go!
Love for Love's Sake | Things You Didn't Notice #4 | Fight with Homophobes
Honestly, I wanted to dissect these scenes right away but then we got the rest of the show uploaded and the emotions overshadowed me. But now we're diving into informal Korean speech, swearing and slurs! It's going to be a fun post, let's go :D
Disclaimer: I'll be writing down both English and Korean slurs strictly in educational manner, obviously.
"Fuck. You two are always so fucking close together. (to Myungha) Are you also a faggot (homosekki)? Wow, Kyunghyun's skills are so good."
"Why are you so vulgar? What's wrong with being homo?"
"You're really crazy. Are you criticizing me?"
... (Myungha kisses Tak Junho)
" Ah fu— You damn faggot!"
"We both kissed. I'm not the only one who's homo. You're homo too~"
"You did it yourself, you faggot!"
"Ah, our Junho keeps saying 'homo'. Tss, slurs are forbidden."
"Shut up, you faggot."
"If you call me homo one more time, I can steal your lips for real. (Junho is silent) Ha, afraid you'll be robbed?"
Honestly, I like the translation in subs this time, I just wanted to give you a more technical version (and to show you the difference, because in Gaga subs the f slur is also used by Myungha but it's not exactly that)
So, as far as I noticed, the slur in Korean is a derivative from the term "homosexual" - thanks to the similar sounding, it became "homosekki" (from sekki - asshole, bastard, bitch etc). This is the word Junho keeps using in almost every sentence. And the socially accepted common term is now "gay" (at least, the cast and couple from Korean reality dating show "His Man 2" refers to themselves as 'gay' and not 'homo').
Myungha uses the original term, just "homo", which also gained a negative connotation but doesn't include a 'sekki' swearword. So he keeps saying "homo" to talk back in the language Junho used, only less derogatory. We'll see later but it's amazing, because both Myungha and Sangwon confidently used this word about themselves (Sangwon even went further and proudly reclaimed the slur itself).
Still, Myungha did threaten gangster Junho not to even call him "homo" or any similar terms. And here's the moment which made me laugh: in the next scene with Sangwon, Junho was angry ranting about Myungha, but he caught himself using the slur "homosekki" and quickly changed to the modern and neutral term "gay". LOL
Which is what Gaga subs failed to show it to us. Again, let's see more technical translation:
"I'll go after Tae Myungha and Ahn Kyunghoon soon, just so you know. Those fa– Those gay bastards must die. That fucker Tae Myungha kissed me in the lips, shit. Isn't it fucked up? It was disgusting."
(Sangwon, pouting) "Wow, really? It must've been nice."
"Jeez, you asshole. You're not a victim so you dare talking shit."
"I'm being serious, though?"
(Junho, appalled) "What the hell are you talking about? You're not a faggot."
"I am a faggot, though?"
One, why is it so funny that the first reaction Sangwon had, hearing about Myungha kissing someone in a fight, was: awww :( i wish it was me :((( you so lucky :((
Second, it's hilarious how the gangster ends up the ONLY person who ever uses nice and modern term "gay" once in this show because our protagonists both hit him back with the derogatory terms (Sangwon even attached the slur to himself, when he only liked girls before falling in love with Myungha at first sight, what a legend).
Let's wrap it up with slurs and check out another small detail: informal speech in Korean.
(Sangwon to Myungha)"Why would we fight here?"
(Yeowoon to Sangwon)"Hey, watch your tone (don't use informal speech)"
"Was I talking like that with you?"
"Talk curt (informally) only with me."
"I'm already being curt (talking informally) with you."
This one is definitely a cultural thing that always gets lost in translation (but "being curt" is a nice way of putting it). There are two general styles of speech in Korean: Formal (존댓말, jondemal) and Informal (반말, banmal). Of course, it's a lot more complicated in the language, but I'll paint briefly the differences that are pointed out in the scene.
I talked in previous posts about properly addressing your senior in korean (usually by title/position). To convey respect to your senior, you also use 요 (yo) at the end of the sentences – and both Sangwon and Yeowoon talk politely to Myungha. UNTIL Sangwon uses the rude version of a question, without polite ending ("Why would we fight here?"), to which Yeowoon protests and tells Sangwon that it's banmal, informal speech, and he should only use it with him.
Because with your friends, same age people (Yeowoon and Sangwon in this case) or people younger than you, it's normal to use their names with different intonations (Think Myungha's "Yeowoon-ah, Yeowoon-ie") and talk informally.
(Yeowoon to Myungha) "I asked who it was."
"You're being curt (that's an informal speech)".
Fast forward – Yeowoon loses patience and demands Myungha "I asked who it was", question without polite ending as well. To which Myungha cheekily says "that was an informal speech", reminding Yeowoon of his own remark to Sangwon.
Fast forward again – and now I have to take back my previous statement from another post that Yeowoon never called Myungha by his name because I found the rare case of him doing it xD
"Tae Myungha is so frustrating."
"You're speaking informally more often these days."
Again, a youngster! calling his senior! by his own name! Not using the polite ending! The horrors of informal speech. He's not being too rude but he's sulking therefore he's rebelling. Though I can swear, again, Yeowoon hears Myungha's scolding and resorts back to speaking politely, and from now on, he'll keep using 'senior'.
If you survived until the end of this post, congratulations! The second half probably wasn't needed but in case you're learning Korean or you want to know why these seemingly normal phrases are being considered "curt" out of nowhere, I hope you understand it now a little bit better :)
// Previous messages translation + other language moments here //
google drive of free korean language learning resources
hi everyone! because i put tutoring on hold while i am working full time but still want to provide help to those who want to start learning/want to practice their korean, i am continuously compiling material for free learning :)
resources are totally free!
most are typically aimed at children (which is great for beginners!!)
hangul practice
vocabulary building
printable/downloadable
example of scans:
example of grammar breakdowns:
i will be adding material over the coming weeks and continuously as i come across material! updates may be frequent or slow down at times.
note: resources are free, and they’re totally free to share and use! but please do not repost without credit, and because i buy these from my workplace with my own money and spend time scanning them and cleaning them up and organizing them, please consider tipping me as much as you’d like ♥️
here is the link to the drive! (sorry, can’t hyperlink on mobile currently)
enjoy, and thank you in advance! have fun and feel free to ask me any questions—i am a korean studies grad and was a tutor for the beginning korean classes at my university. i am happy to help however i can!
one thing about learning languages is that yes, learning in itself is fun but what’s even greater is the fact that all your other interests and hobbies can be looked at with another shade of light. I personally love philosophy and to be able to read another language’s nuances and concepts and understand it more than you ever could with a translation? incredible.