Learning Korean

photo courtesy of Seoul by Subway

It started on the late part of 2007 when a Korean boyband was introduced to me. Later on, i got hooked and followed their musical career. Then because of the Hallyu wave in the Philippines, more and more Korean dramas were aired here and dubbed in Filipino. Then i got addicted in Kpop music. But whenever i listen to a song, its lyrics matter more to me than it's melody. So i always research for translations for the Korean songs that i like. But it was such a hassle for me and i can't seem to be contented of reading romanizations ang english translations in the internet. So i decided to learn Korean. I also started to like Korean culture and the Korean people. I really admire them being so respectful and nationalistic. As time goes by, and everyday i discover more about it's beauty, i'm loving Korea more and more. I want to go there someday.

So learning Korean is a must for me because of the following reasons : (1) so i can understand the Kpop songs that i love, (2) so i can understand KDramas better (because sometimes, the filipino dub fails to deliver to viewers a better translation of what the lines really mean) and of course, (3) so that when i go to Korea, i can communicate with them.

Although learning korean is a bit difficult, there are soooo many resources that we can find online. Google is your friend. hehe!

But even though i'm such a newbie in learning Korean [actually i only know common Korean words and i can't converse well in Korean both in writing and in oral], i want to share the following tips that definitely worked for me as a Kpop fangirl who got interested in learning Korean.


(1) learn the Korean alphabet - Hangul - of course, it would be really hard to learn Korean if you don't study its alphabet first. believe me, it's pretty easy. ;)

(2)if you are a Kpop fan, learn Korean through your favorite kpop songs. you probably hear sarang, molla, yeoja, kajima all the time in Korean pop songs. so you can start building up your vocabulary by researching the meaning of the common words that you hear and as you listen to Kpop songs more, you'll be able to remember the meaning of those common words better.

(3)if you are a Kdrama fan, re-watch your favorite dramas using Korean audio and english subtitles, and write down the common Korean phrases or sentences and their English translations. Don't try to put the whole script of an episode on your notes. lol. Just take those that you hear always in their conversations and don't force yourself to learn everything in one sitting.

(4)Research, Research, Research.. Again, Google is your friend. There are lots of Korean resources out there like instructional videos, ebooks, and audio tutorials (in mp3), that can help you in studying the Korean language.

(5)Converse in Korean and Apply. If you have Korean friends or acquaintances, talk to them in Korean. Even though you're not that good yet, don't worry and be confident. That's the problem with Filipinos and the English language. Many of us knows English in writing but cannot speak well in English because they are too shy to try conversing in English and afraid to be laughed at when we make mistakes. But the best way to learn a new language is to use it. That's the only way. :)

Next time, i'll post some helpful sites i found and used in learning Korean.