안녕 친구들!

Hey everyone,

Welcome to my Korean language blog!  I’m hoping to use this as a platform to practice writing Korean, and also promote discussion in Korean with other language learners.  After this post, I’m hoping to keep things entirely in Korean ^^, but sometimes I’ll throw in an English phrase if I’m not sure how to say it the right way.  Because the main purpose of this blog is to generate written Korean, and encourage others to do so–please please please feel free to comment in 한글 on my posts, and if you see any glaring grammar mistakes, or want to give me a tip on wording something more naturally.  I plan on asking my co-teachers to help proofread my posts beforehand, but I’m sure there will always be a better way to say something as well as leftover grammar mistakes that were overlooked.  I’m really hoping my blog entries (which will be styled in a journal format) can lead to others practicing new words or grammar forms in the comments below. Mistakes are perfectly fine, and all levels are welcome so please write back.

Here’s a quick background about me:

My name is David and I am currently a Fulbright grantee teaching English in Mokpo, South Korea.  I teach at an all boys’ middle school, and live in a homestay with my Korean host parents.  I will be here until my grant year ends in July, 2015.

About my Korean language background:  I first started learning Korean in January 2012 while taking Seoul National’s 3 week intensive language course.  After that I didn’t really dabble in the language again until our Fulbright orientation this summer, where we received a round of (6ish weeks) of intensive language instruction from Korea University.

Since then I have been trying to learn Korean with the following methods (some successful, some not):
*Talk To Me In Korean
-This website is amazing!  I try to browse pertinent lessons, watch a video once a day, and I also subscribe to their Korean news service which is a little bit over my head but definitely a good reading / vocabulary boost.
*Music
-I try to listen to a new Korean song each day, and study the lyrics by googling “(song name) 가사 영어” (or some variation of this)
-Some of my favorites so far: J-Rabbit, Sweden Laundry, Neon Bunny, 10 cm
*Memrise
-A really good vocabulary flashcard app.  I follow the TTMIK News course, as well as the SNU Level 3 course.  Another good vocabulary boost, but my weakness is probably focusing too much on this and not other more natural ways of learning Korean (see next bullet.  see: actually talking to people in Korean, and actually writing in Korean.)
*Actually talking to people, and writing in Korean
-The obvious one is chatting with my host parents, who don’t speak much English and are very helpful in repeating things when I don’t understand (sometimes to no avail, but alas).
-Through Mokpo’s Language Exchange facebook group, I’ve been able to find a couple great language partners! We usually meet once a week, and spend 30 minutes speaking English and 30 minutes speaking Korean.  It’s great practice, and it’s been a nice way to meet new Korean friends in the city.
-I try to write in Korean over Kakao Talk, but am hoping this language blog will provide a more substantial way of practicing writing.
*Miscellaneous
-For other learners, I highly recommend downloading a Korean keyboard typing program online.  It’s really not worth the anxiety of not knowing the layout of the Korean keyboard.  If you are a mac user, you can set a shortcut (in my case command + space) to easily switch between the two keyboards.

Here is a helpful link I found for learning how to type on a Korean keyboard:
http://lovingkorean.com/2014/03/26/typing-hangul-touch-typing-korean-with-all-ten-fingers-part-2/

-Keeping a portable vocab/grammar notebook handy for looking over during a commute or when you have some down time.
-Reading real Korean books (even at the children’s level) is a goal of mine, but I have really struggled to find authentic materials that I can handle at my level.  The closest I get is probably TTMIK’s Iyagi / News series, but as far as real literature goes I have a pretty hard time with the most basic stuff.  I’m definitely open to any suggestions on websites, book series, etc.

Anyways, that’s all from me!  Looking forward to seeing how things go from here *game face.

화이팅!

-David