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After learning Korean to a fluent level (and working there for 3 years), here's some things that come to mind: - Be persistent. Studying languages is often bor

by crehn 6y ago

After learning Korean to a fluent level (and working there for 3 years), here's some things that come to mind: - Be persistent. Studying languages is often boring, annoying and takes years. Nobody likes memorizing vocabulary. Embrace it. Study every day, even if that means only reviewing 5 words on some days. - Don't try to analyze and understand everything. Communication isn't a science, treating it as such is unproductive and frustrating to the learner. There will be many things that at first sight make little sense, and that's okay; just move on. Language can be very nuanced, but with persistence you'll eventually "feel" the subtleties. - Passive learning is super helpful. Change the phone language, watch movies (whether in the target language with subtitles, or your native language with target language subtitles), listen to music, etc. Doesn't matter if you don't understand. - It can be depressing and you'll want to stop. Even after months of studying hard, go to a party with only natives and see how much you'll understand. Likely very little. Know it's normal, and only temporary. - The hardest part is reaching a level of fluency where your brain no longer actively translates the language. - Study from multiple sources. Most textbooks explain the nuances in natural language badly. - Nearly all dialogue in textbooks is unnatural and robotic. Don't imitate textbooks or you'll sound like one. - Observe and imitate natives. Often, the forced imitations eventually become a natural part of your speech. - Stop caring so much. Don't try to be perfect. Speak a lot and allow yourself to make many mistakes, because you will.

tatrajim 6y ago
- join Peace Corps and work entirely in Korean in a rural health center for two years with minimal English. Or that's how one used to do it. Stressful but effective. - as with all foreign language speakers, the rules are subtly different for outsiders. Just copying native speakers can result in unpleasantness. In Korean, non-Koreans who "misuse" "panmal" (the blunt, informal speech level) by closely imitating friends can come across unintentionally as thuggish. There as elsewhere foreigners are held to higher standards.
- irq11 6y ago
  Can’t comment on Korean, but Japanese beginners worry far too much about politeness. It doesn’t help that the textbooks all start with a relatively stiff level of grammar, but Japanese students often become neurotic about it. If you’re a beginner, no reasonable human being is going to think anything nuanced about your choice of words. When was the last time you judged a non-native speaker of your own language for this level of subtlety? My advice is to do whatever it takes to be understood. You’re going to sound like a rude idiot. Make peace with it.
  - tasogare 6y ago
    You are totally right. This is why I don’t even bother using polite form expect when I really need it: my interlocutor is glad I’m speaking more Japanese than he could speak English or my native language anyway. I would also add that speaking a Japanese that is too good can backfire, as native have then more expectations that go further than language (behavior), especially for East-Asian people. Keeping illusion of semi-(in)competence can be useful.
- newsbinator 6y ago
  > There as elsewhere foreigners are held to higher standards. I've found the reverse in Korea: the tyranny of low expectations. Often Koreans simply refuse to speak to me in any way, saying even a single word beyond, "I don't speak English".
BlueGh0st 6y ago
>There will be many things that at first sight make little sense, and that's okay; just move on Learning to "just move on" has been the biggest game-changer for me, not just in topics that are difficult to understand, but also for topics that are dreadful or simply difficult to focus on with ADD. Language learning is a long enough process that one can simply "put off" learning the difficult or stressful things (for me, numbers and Russian movement verbs) and allow them to absorb naturally through exposure. This has made learning much less daunting for me.

by crehn 6y ago

tatrajim 6y ago

- join Peace Corps and work entirely in Korean in a rural health center for two years with minimal English. Or that's how one used to do it. Stressful but effective. - as with all foreign language speakers, the rules are subtly different for outsiders. Just copying native speakers can result in unpleasantness. In Korean, non-Koreans who "misuse" "panmal" (the blunt, informal speech level) by closely imitating friends can come across unintentionally as thuggish. There as elsewhere foreigners are held to higher standards.

irq11 6y ago
Can’t comment on Korean, but Japanese beginners worry far too much about politeness. It doesn’t help that the textbooks all start with a relatively stiff level of grammar, but Japanese students often become neurotic about it. If you’re a beginner, no reasonable human being is going to think anything nuanced about your choice of words. When was the last time you judged a non-native speaker of your own language for this level of subtlety? My advice is to do whatever it takes to be understood. You’re going to sound like a rude idiot. Make peace with it.
- tasogare 6y ago
  You are totally right. This is why I don’t even bother using polite form expect when I really need it: my interlocutor is glad I’m speaking more Japanese than he could speak English or my native language anyway. I would also add that speaking a Japanese that is too good can backfire, as native have then more expectations that go further than language (behavior), especially for East-Asian people. Keeping illusion of semi-(in)competence can be useful.
newsbinator 6y ago
> There as elsewhere foreigners are held to higher standards. I've found the reverse in Korea: the tyranny of low expectations. Often Koreans simply refuse to speak to me in any way, saying even a single word beyond, "I don't speak English".

BlueGh0st 6y ago

>There will be many things that at first sight make little sense, and that's okay; just move on Learning to "just move on" has been the biggest game-changer for me, not just in topics that are difficult to understand, but also for topics that are dreadful or simply difficult to focus on with ADD. Language learning is a long enough process that one can simply "put off" learning the difficult or stressful things (for me, numbers and Russian movement verbs) and allow them to absorb naturally through exposure. This has made learning much less daunting for me.