I don't think I really need it. I can read Hangeul OK when the sentences aren't that long. So I'm going to stop the romanization for the time being.
I really need to carry some 4B pencils. They're much easier to write with.
I think the shadowing is so valuable. I'm just thinking about sentences that I can't make individual tracks for. What is the good of shadowing then? I think the maximum benefit is gained from listening to a sentence at least twice ...
I am worried about this then. How am I going to do it? For things like Tintin, you can't really make individual tracks of each sentence. But for things like IL, you can. And also Tintin isn't really a one-on-one translation ...
I think listening to the recordings of Tintin is more for the advanced stage.
I have to work on that. Also, I am not a fast reader of Korean so to keep up with the Korean, I would have to wait until I'm in the advanced stage when I can read reasonably rapidly.
So just forget about it for the time being.
So the stuff that's important to shadow is:
# KGU
# Essential Everyday
# Teenage book
# IL book
# Language books that have exact translations <--- These are actually good sources because they have the exact translation.
# ???? Dictionary (the one with many pictures?) <--- This one might be good to shadow. It has easy sentences and the English translation.
So I think that's enough really.
And of course, I can get readings of the translations of newspaper articles I do ....
I am progressing well like this studying by myself. I am interested in being fluent in Korean, but not only that, be able to read Korean.
If those people in Nepal can become fluent in Korean, why can't I with all the resources that I have?
I think it's a matter of studying HARD and just practicing a lot and going things about the right way.
I would like to finish the grammar study as soon as possible so I can go onto translating newspapers and building up my vocabulary.
I really want to do that. So do the grammar study, shadow KGU for the time being. And then get onto translating.
For the grammar study, I think I need a large notebook. It doesn't have to be very thick, just large in size.
So I'll get that. I think I'll leave the vocab study of the IL for later, AFTER I've started on the translations of the news articles. The news articles are quite good practice.
Once I get a handle on reading Korean news, it will make things a lot easier. I will have gotten over one of the big humps.
I have to get over the Big Humps. It seems slow at first and learning becomes faster as time goes on. In the advanced stage, learning is quite fast. I'm so glad I learned grammar, and advanced grammar at that.
I felt a lack of confidence before when I didn't know grammar. But now that I've studied grammar, I feel more confident when I study. It makes a big psychological difference.
Now, it's just the words that mystify me. There are so many words I don't know. I really don't. I think I had better start learning them!
Say you learn 20 words a day. I really want to report progress to the others at the end of six months. Say in July. I want to be able to converse with them and show my "wonderful" knowledge of Korean and be able to read something fluently. The reading is what stumps me now. I think it's a big hump I have to get over. Once that hump is over, things will get a lot easier. Shadowing isn't that hard to do; it's mainly mechanical - just repeat things over and over until they sound familiar to you. And you can say them in your sleep.
Reading is the big ? I wonder how other students manage with their reading, especially the ones who've become fluent in the language?
I think that "hump" will have been gotten over by the time I read my 100th article. Why 100? I don't know. It just seems like a large number. I hope it won't take more than that.
I might "cheat" by reading short easy articles - the ones found in the lifestyle section of newspapers. And I will read some articles from the 'easier' newspapers. And maybe some articles that are lighter in tone. Not the real heavy political stuff, though I have to tackle those articles eventually.
I will look for short articles. Ones that are three paragraphs at the most. Honestly, some of the longer articles are real killers.
If I'm still not good then I have to read more articles.
If I read 100 articles, there will be an average of fifty words I look up in an article, so that is 5000 words. Maybe not enough. It looks as if I need to read 300 articles to get the 15,000 words I need. What a pain ... Some of the words are technical ... but I still would need to know them, I guess.
I don't think doing all of this helps with fluency. I am not sure about this. It might ... Actually, it will because I will know many more words so can understand a lot of what I hear and so my listening will be improved overall, which will help me with speaking.
So I will try shadowing every now and then while I'm doing the translating and vocab study to see how the shadowing is; whether it's easier to do or not, etc.
I think translating will certainly help improve my grammar.
Grammar is important for writing formally.
I don't know about ban mal. I think that's for later when I interact with people and chat with them informally.
It's not that important to me now.
I think the reason why I felt worried was because most other students of the Korean language are studying in a different way to me. They usually concentrate on achieving fluency first; they concentrate on speaking, and leave reading and writing for later. They do study grammar but it's spread over a wider period. They study with teachers so they kind of are exposed to some 'immersion'.
I think anyone who studies Korean for three years, more or less full-time, should be able to be kind of good at Korean. Enough to converse OK, read a few easy things.
And the people I've encountered who have been good at Korean have studied Korean "full-time" for at least three years. The key is PERSISTENCE. Don't give up. Even if you come against difficulties, a roadblock. And study steadily. I will try and achieve what people do in three years in ONE YEAR. That's my goal. I like to do things fast as people have noticed. I have collected a lot of satisfactory resources now. I am not short of good learning materials, and now it's just a matter of consuming them.
I don't need a teacher right now. A teacher would get in the way I would feel. Later on, a teacher would be great. But I want to learn as much as I can on my own. A teacher will be needed to correct my writing and speaking. Those are the things I will need the most help with from another person but ... I can bring those things up to speed by myself.
I think the chunks, and the NL-->TL idea is great!
