I have to admit defeat. The news articles are just TOO hard. I really do not recognize a SINGLE word in an article.
I am sick of looking up the dictionary for every second word in a sentence. Also, I don't know how the words are pronounced.
So it's very frustrating for me.
I think I had better read easy stuff. But where are the easy things? There aren't many easy things to read ...
Well, there are but they're too easy. I want something a little challenging but not too easy. I think newspapers are JUST TOO HARD. They are for advanced learners of Korean.
The easy stuff bores me. The fairytales and fables I am not interested in at all. I also want ONLINE stuff.
It's better if it's online. I can translate better when things are on the computer.
DAMN! The stuff that's online is TOO hard. Where are the easy Korean readers? I don't want to spend any more money.
Tackling newspapers is really torture. I've got to look up all these words, and still after all that trouble, it STILL doesn't make sense, or I am not sure of the translation ...
Wow, Korean reading is HARD. The phrases are easy to learn but reading and writing formally are hard skills. The Korean sentences go on for so long ....
I definitely think Korean is a hard language. The grammar is so hard. I don't like Korean to be honest. I prefer English. English is so much easier than Korean.
I think I am just tired. I am still suffering from jet lag I think. It's only 9 and I am tired. I really haven't achieved much today.
Anyhow, I've got to finish the book, the Essentials book.
Just stick to shadowing for the time being and don't worry about other things. You have plenty of time to do translating in the future.
So my opinions have changed. Speaking is easy. Reading and writing Korean are hard.
Actually, I am worried. Now that I know how you learn to speak, I am concerned that I am not learning how Koreans chat with each other. I am just learning formal conversation that occurs between strangers in these phrase books, but that is not how people talk with each other in real life.
I don't know where to find this. I can't exactly shadow something that's not available. In three months, I will be good at speaking about things that a tourist might need to talk about but not good at all in having casual conversations with people I know well.
That's why Korean is hard, I guess. There aren't many resources for learning this kind of casual speech.
Unlike English where I had access to TONS of resources, there are very few resources in English.
I wish everything I learned had English word-for-word translations, romanizations and recording of the readings.
Fat chance!
These books even begrudge you word for word translations.
How are we supposed to learn if we have to look up the dictionary for every second word? Can't the author write out the literal translation for us? Why are these textbook writers so stingy?
Anyway ... back to CHUNKS. I need to move away from just phrase book type chunks though those are useful too, and think about the chunks that I employ in everyday conversation ....
I need to think about these chunks.
If I could get them translated and recorded, then that would be great! Translated word for word. However, nothing is ever this easy ... <rolls eyes>.
The only problem with the Essentials book is that it's limited. It's just very basic and covers mainly phrase book like topics. It doesn't cover a wide range of topics. However, what it does teach it teaches well.
So keep that in mind. "Using Korean" might be better for more natural conversation.
I've had a quick look at "Using Korean" and the sentences are really good. The only thing is that the sentences lack context. The sentences have no connection to each other. They are just random collections of different topics.
And I've thought of recording myself reading these sentences but the problem with that is that I hate listening to my own voice and I will probably pronounce everything wrong with the incorrect pronunciation.
I would also like to see the direct English translation under these sentences as this really helps me feel comfortable with the sentence. That's why I feel relaxed shadowing the Essentials book; I trust the translation and the meaning of the sentence, even though the final translation may be highly colloquialized.
I can do it myself I guess, but there isn't much room to write the direct English translation ...
Maybe it's too much work for the gain I get which is the security I feel?
I do like to know what each word in a sentence means though ...
"Using Korean" is good to get the conversation-type phrases that I am interested in learning and that aren't abundant in the phrase books.
I think it would be more helpful if I could get it scanned and have readings made and get the direct word for word translations done.
Actually, I am back to liking "Using Korean".
