Don't stress out!

If people don't work out, they don't work out. It's not your fault and it's not their fault. You can always find more people. You can always put the conversation ad up again. Or just ask people you know .... But I think that I have had enough. I don't think I will do it again after one or two months. I need a break from this. Or I need to get people to all come in the one day ..... 

Anyway, the best thing is to relax. You've let people know what they need to do. Let them talk about what you like. Just gently test out alternative activities and see how they like them. If they don't really take to them, don't push them.

Just have a wide range of activities on hand. And you can always turn on the television and talk about what's on telly.

I think people want to meet you because they rarely get a chance to have a one-on-one with a native speaker. It is different for them. It's a good way to learn. With the poor English speakers, you can do more language exchange. You can teach each other activities. With the good English speakers, you can just let them talk for 40 minutes or so in Korean and then in the last 20 minutes, you can let them talk in English about whatever they like. People LOVE talking about themselves so just give them feeders. Look sympathetic and understanding. Remember, people think you are a good conversationalist if you are a good listener. So just make some small interjections just to show them that you are listening. They love to have an audience. So be a good audience. And this way, they will be happy to come and talk to you and interact in Korean with you.

Try and introduce something fun or topical that matches their interest. Don't be too impatient though and expect miraculous results overnight.  

Just patiently and determinedly and calmly does it. Be focused like a top-notch tennis player. Never lose sight of the goal. Don't let your emotions go up and down like a rollercoaster. Just keep a cool head no matter what.  

I will relax about the conversation sessions

I realize I was stressing myself out too much about the conversation sessions. I think I have gotten myself into a groove now. I know which people I enjoy talking to. I am realistic as to how much Korean I am going to pick up by listening to Korean conversation. So long as I understand the gist of what a person says, it's all good. The learning process is SUBCONSCIOUS. I didn't really comprehend this and got overly stressed. So just relax during these conversation sessions. If I am relaxed, the teacher is relaxed too. I think I had better cancel with some of these people today and not leave it too late. I am confused about the times too. I had better send text messages.

I need to find some interesting topics to talk about. I don't know whether the teachers will accept the "games".  If I can find something like "GardenScape" but in Korean, that will be fantastic. I will pick up vocab fast that way. 

So just pick up something from the web. If the person isn't that interested, don't force it. So long as they talk for 45 minutes in Korean, they have done their jobs. If they need a lot of cueing from me, then drop them. They are not natural talkers and need too much prompting for my liking.

I think 6 hours a week is enough. I don't think I will do more than this. It cuts into my schedule too much if I do more than this. I might cut Mrs Lim down. I will have Seokcheol once or twice a week. The young man once a week. The science teacher once a week. The Sat lady once a week. Mrs Lim once a week. I find I am hassled when I have two hours back to back like I did yesterday ...... I think 7 hours might be too much.

I really have too many people actually. It's hard to remember all their schedules and so on.

 

 

Importance of memorizing vocabulary

I think this is the foundation of learning a language - learning the vocabulary. The vocabulary is the flesh that dresses the skeleton - the grammar. If you have a wide range of vocabulary you are going to learn very quickly. I think I will have to study vocabulary a lot more. But I will learn at a faster pace than what I was doing before. I will learn vocab but not do spaced review. Some of the books have spaced review built in. I find this isn't that helpful and really speeds down the learning process. It is taking ages to learn 300 words from a book with spaced review. It took a few days to learn 600 words from a book with no spaced review.

I will also study vocabulary separatedly when I do reading. I will look up all the vocabulary I don't know and try and learn the words. Then and only then will I attempt to read a passage.

Romanization is also very important. I am remembering things with Romanization. If the Romanization is clear in my head, eg. "sogae" (introduction), then the word is easy to remember. If the Romanization is not clear, eg. jajeongkoh, the word is hard to recall. So I will write the Romanization down in such a way that it will be easy to remember and read, and when I recall a word, I will bring up the Romanization.

This is because I am still not familiar with Hangeul. It takes a long time to read Hangeul for me. Some of the letters are not that easily distinguishable from others.

I have to really concentrate on writing the Romanization of all the new vocabulary and to write the Romanization clearly.

Korean words are difficult to pronounce. They are not like words based on Latin at all. I think it's because some of the words have Chinese origins and others have true Korean origins.

Still people are ringing up about the ad. I think the ad should have been brought down by now. The expiry date has passed. I think I have enough people and I don't want to do conversation practise every day. Maybe I should get them to meet me at Starbucks every day or so. I will have a bottle of juice or something. I will go to Starbucks or Coffee Mama for the lessons.

I will really study vocabulary hard. It will make the conversations easier to understand as I pick up more and more vocab from studying. At the moment, the conversations lack context (I am not learning conversation in a work or school environment) so the vocab I hear will be harder to pick up the meaning of ...... 

So it's a matter of increasing my vocabulary every week.

Of course the vocab that is used by the teachers won't be high level vocab. I will pick up high level vocab when I study newspapers. There are some English translations of Korean newspaper articles (online). These might be useful. But from the grammar point of view, not that helpful as the translators take great liberties when translating.

I would like as exact translations as possible. The fairy tales and Aesop's tales are good for this. I find the translations match closely in these books.

So I will take a break from grammar and concentrate on picking up vocabulary.

I also need to read a lot more. The problem is I need translations still so I am restricted in reading materials.

The Saint Marie books are too high level for me. I also might get the teachers to read aloud to me. I can then get an idea of pronunciation from that.  

I won't accept any more people no matter what.

I won't accept any more people no matter what. These people rang me first so I think I will stick with them. I really won't accept any more people for interviews. I am spending so much time arranging these lessons. I think that's it. I will see these people for lessons once or twice a week time permitting and encourage the ones who are good to come more often. I really want to relax and enjoy myself during these lessons and speak in Korean!!!! I want to listen to Korean and I don't want to work at these lessons. I wonder how these people will take to the suggestion for us to play games. Mrs Lim won't mind. Seokcheol might find it a bit immature. I am a beginner let's face it though, so translating academic articles is beyond me. 

The science teacher might find it funny, fun or strange -- it's hard to fathom with her. The Sat lady might find it weird. The young man who lived in DC will probably like it.

This shows to them what my level is like. I think they think my level is much higher than it is.

I still can't say the days of the week well. I still can't say the Korean numbers well.

I am really low in speaking and in listening. I am struggling with the strange grammar forms that are found in spoken language. The grammar that people are using is quite different to the grammar I have learned in books.

So I am really struggling here. But I am determined to try this experiment and will give it two months before I stop. If it goes well, I will continue. I will find more people by .... advertising again????? I doubt the same people will answer. This is going much better than language exchange. I really found the language exchange hopeless.

I hope I've learned something in the past 7 hours of immersion I've had. Yes, I've had 7 hours so far. I can't notice anything really different ...

But would that be realistic to expect a lot in 7 hours? Say someone did this for 6 months - they would have 26x7 = 162 hours of practise listening and speaking. That is 26 times what I have spent so far. Do you think they would be fluent after that? I can't say. Of course there would be some improvement after six months but I couldn't really say that person would be FLUENT. Maybe I am not watching enough contemporary dramas. They bore me to death. KBS World bores me now. I am not that interested in King Gwanggaeto the Great as I used to be. I don't really watch it avidly anymore when it comes onto KBS World. I don't watch KBS World for anything really. I am sick of reading subtitles and catching bits of silly dramas.

I don't know what to do ... maybe I should take out a Korean movie, but there aren't many good ones out these days. Manwhas are too difficult to read. The language is the most difficult I have come across. Banmal is so hard.

I guess I just have to do more STUDY. I think the study will really pay off. I don't regret studying English vocabulary. That really helped me in the future. So it might be the same for studying Korean vocabulary.

 

 

I think I am happy with the people I have right now.

I don't think I will take on any more people. I think I will get rid of the math teacher and the scouting lady. I am getting confused because there are too many different people. And the good ones I want to see twice a week. I think after this week, I will fire the math teacher and the scouting lady and I will just stick with the two men, Mrs Lim, the science teacher and the Sat lady. That's it. I can give the men twice a week slots or the Sat lady or the science lady extra spots. That is how many people? Five people. I am getting confused by all of these people. I might even cancel before I start with the scouting lady and the math teacher. I think I might ring them up tomorrow and cancel with them. After I hired them, I found the two men whom I am happy with. I don't really want to have a lesson with the math teacher. She didn't speak in Korean with me and really failed the interview. I don't have much in common with the scouting lady and she doesn't want to be paid so it puts her in control of the situation which doesn't suit me.

I will ring them up tomorrow and give some excuse. I will say that on Tuesdays and Thursdays (math teacher) that I really do not need anyone. That I have someone at 9am and that I am busy after 10. I will tell the scouting lady that I am busy on Wednesdays and Fridays in the morning. I will ask Seokcheol to come either once or twice a week: on  Thursdays and Tuesdays, and I will ask the young man to come on Fridays in the morning and Wednesdays. 

I think that's best. So I will ring these people tomorrow. It's best if I cancel before we have a lesson. If we have a lesson and cancel it's more awkward and hurtful to cancel then.

I think I am making the right decision. I don't really need someone who speaks so little English -- it is helpful somewhat as it means we have a lot of immersion but I have nothing in common with her and don't feel comfortable talking to her. 

The math teacher I don't think will work out and honestly she failed the interview. Also, it was arrogant of her to insist that I come to her apartment. 

The teacher who works at hagwons teaching Chinese students made me feel bad the way she related to me so I think it's impossible to continue with her. 

The science teacher doesn't have good English. The Sat lady doesn't have good English. So these people are good enough for that. Mrs Lim is amusing and she makes me laugh and she makes an effort so I will stick with her. I don't mind she is trying to learn English from me. I will just remind her that we are going to speak 100% Korean for the 45 minutes and I will do some structured activity with her. The field trips are good. Although they are more helpful for her than they are for me. But in the future, I can make the field trips more helpful for me. 

We can play games like name the dead actor/actress game. We can do all sorts of fun things. Just try and be inventive and creative. 

It's good I have found these people. But KEEP your distance. Develop the friends you already have. So when the teaching ends, you won't feel so let down. Because remember, there will be a time when the teaching period finishes and you have to move on. It's OK if you become good buddies with them but you have to find your own buddies elsewhere too because these people have their OWN lives. 

It's best not to do language exchange when you are a beginner

There are many disadvantages to doing language exchange as a beginner.

1) Often the people who are doing language exchange with you can speak English better than you can speak their native language. If this is the case, the situation devolves into one where you are speaking English for the majority of the time. In that case, you are giving free English lessons. 

2) You are not in control of the schedule. You have to make compromises and fit that person in as it suits them. 

3) You do not have a reliable language partner. They may not show up or be available suddenly. Or they could suddenly stop coming. 

Even if you DO find someone who speaks very little English, you are not in control of the situation and being in control of the situation is the best thing from your point of view. You have set your goal to do immersion for x number of hours a day and have set the time aside to do this. When people don't show up or insist you do it on their time, it becomes a problem. If you set it up as a job and you stipulate clearly the hours and the times and the work conditions and the payment, they won't apply and waste your time if they are not in agreement with this.

Also, if you set it up as a job situation, you can interview people and eliminate the unsuitable ones early on. With language exchange, you feel awkward about rejecting anyone. 

With language exchange you are wasting a lot of time arranging things to suit them and they may not show up which means you waited for nothing. And also there is a problem that they might want to use you for friendship and so on. If you have a professional relationship with these people, there are no chances of abuses like this.  It's best to be friendly but keep a professional distance. I have to remember this. Keep a professional distance.

So it's best not to do language exchange as a beginner. Only do it when you have achieved a certain level of fluency. 

What do I like to do? Finding teachers who are compatible with you.

I think at this stage I am getting a better idea of what teachers are going to be helpful to me. I have to always be in control of the situation and let the teachers know how I want them to teach me. If they don't need the money that much and want to control the situation, it's best to let them go. Also, I've realized it's important to have teachers you RELATE to well. I am single and find married ajummas a bit boring. The ones with grown up kids are OK but I don't have much in common with those with school age kids. Also, I don't have that much in common with young single women. I get on with men of all ages and with older women with grown up kids. I have a good relationship with those ajummas who are working too. The housewives I don't have much in common with.

It's also important that your personalities are a good fit. I like people who are open-minded, not too conventional, and have a wide range of interests. I like people who are sociable and who are not too conformist. I get on better with people with alternative views.

I don't really get on with ajummas who are too religious, uneducated and who are housewives. 

I don't get on with judgmental people. 

I will be more enthused about the lesson if the teacher is interesting to talk to and has amusing anecdotes. If we can relate our similiar experiences, it's good. 

But I also need to respect the teachers and understand their point of view. They are trying to help me. They also want to pick up English by interacting with an English speaking foreigner. They are curious about what life in a western nation is like. They are under pressure because they know what I require from the ad. They are trying to please me and are trying to treat it like a job. 

Then who shall I stick with? I like Seokcheol (he is interesting to talk to, is intelligent and shares similar experiences to mine, is mature), Mrs Lim (I feel comfortable with her, she makes me laugh, she is accepting of me and not judgmental), the Saturday morning lady (I feel relaxed with her as she is single, but she isn't very outgoing), the young man in his twenties (he is very interesting to talk to but I don't like his teaching methods -- I will have to be assertive and rein him in). 

I don't feel that comfortable with the science teacher -- her world is very different to mine and I think we will run out of topics to talk about. I don't think she will be open to using alternative methods such as playing games, reading manwha, watching TV or videos and so on. But I understood a lot of what she said. 

The math teacher. She didn't perform well in the interview. Perhaps I shouldn't have hired her in the first place. She might sit there and not talk very much. I will let her go very quickly if the first class doesn't work out. Then I can give a second class to Seokcheol or the young man or the Saturday lady. 

The scouting lady. I don't feel I am in control of this relationship because she won't accept money. For instance I feel obligated to go to her home instead of the other way around. She can't speak much English at all which is good and bad. I am not sure I am going to be interested in what she has to talk about. So far she has talked about her scouting activities, her family and some foreigner friends she has in Australia/NZ. This is very boring for me. It will kill me to listen and smile politely pretending to be interested in all of this when it's so banal to me. I think she IS trying to pick up English from me by volunteering to help me. Language exchange might be more useful in this case .... I think it will devolve into this .... it might not be too bad but I just find her too conventional and I might be bored by the topics or fishing around a lot for some topic that I can find interesting to talk about with her. 

I don't have much in common with her so it might not work out from the point of view of language exchange. I think I will drop her. I will find some excuse to weasel out of this. I shouldn't have put ajummas in the ad. The ajummas are really boring ....... I don't really look forward to speaking with them .......

I should not be so harsh. I am quite a boring person when it comes down to it. I am not married and have no kids so ...... What can I offer these people? I don't have amusing stories to tell these people like Seokcheol ..... I guess I can search around for amusing anecdotes to tell but I am a better listener than I am a teller of interesting stories about my life .... I haven't had a happy life so that's a large part of why I don't want to speak about my life a lot with people I don't know that well. 

 

"How to Learn a Foreign Language" - my experience so far

Here are my guidelines, from what I have gathered in the couple of months of attempting to learn Korean, for learning a foreign language.

1) Study a comprehensive grammar book. If the grammar book doesn't cover all the most common areas (Korean Grammar in Use is the main grammar book I use but it doesn't cover banmal), then find a grammar book that does cover those areas and supplement study of the main book with study of this book.

2) Have some easy reading material. Have some readers that have English translations. 

3) Find vocabulary drill books. The children's ones are the best. They cover the most commonly used basic words you need and have fun exercises so you can practise writing the new vocabulary and recalling their meaning. 

4) Find teachers who will talk to you in Korean for a solid hour. Pay them. This is important! Do not rely on LANGUAGE EXCHANGE. When you pay the teacher, you are in control of the situation. They will not use English if you instruct them not to. This is important for language immersion. 

5) Find online games if you can that involve using the target language. Ask your teacher to assist you in finding these games and helping you to play them. 

6) Have a program of fun activities to do: charades (involving drawing pictures on a white board), cooking lessons, skills teaching lessons, card games and any other sort of FUN activity.

7) Watch videos in the target language and watch WITH and WITHOUT subtitles. 

8) Volunteer or join a social group, club or learn some activity outside your home (yoga, dancing, inline skating .....) 

9) Do not stress out! Do not be anxious about finding an immersion environment. If you cannot find a natural immersion environment, PAY someone to talk to you for an hour once or twice a week. If you hire a few people, you may have conversation lessons for seven hours a week. Aim for 5 - 7 hours a week. It will be cheap to find someone if you live in the nation whose language you are trying to learn. There will be many native speakers who want to teach you the target language. Give them 15 minutes of free English speaking at the end of the 45 minutes or the one hour. That way they will be happy to speak to you in the target language for a solid block of time. 

10) Remember all the skills are important. But learning grammar the easy and natural way is by listening to native speakers and picking up the grammar that way. 

11) Make it fun and convenient for you. It is worth paying a little extra money for tuition. Do not stint on hiring people. You save money because they come to YOU at your own convenience. You do not need to spend lots of money and time moving to a remote area where no one speaks English. And by not paying tuition in language institutes, you can actually save money this way. Hiring one on one tutors can actually be cheaper and more cost-effective than paying for a course. One one on one lesson is the equivalent of six hours at a language institution. 

12) Be hopeful and confident. Watch a lot of TV in the target language. Watch many videos and dvds in the target language. Do not despair. And do not compare yourself to other people. Do not let others discourage you. Do not let others' opinions of your language ability make you feel down. You learned your native language so you can learn another language. 

13) As an adult you have resources that can make language acquisition faster. It takes a child five years to become fluent talkers in their native language. You can accelerate this process because you are learning consciously. Instead of five years, you can learn in one year. 

14) Remember that learning a language mainly by reading grammar books is about learning ABOUT the language and not actually learning to communicate in that language.

15) Communication is the key. So long as you understand what people are saying and others understand what you are trying to say, you are making progress. 

16) Review grammar books regularly. 

17) Try and concentrate on vocabulary and grammar separately when reading material. Read for the vocabulary first and then read for the grammar.  Read the material several times if necessary.

18) Read material that is at your level or just a little higher than your level. 

19) Once you have the basics of a language down - speaking, writing, reading and listening, then concentrate on developing proficiency in all of those areas especially writing. But you should try and get the basics down first. 

20) Practise with any people around you that you can. For example, practise with shopkeepers and taxi-drivers. 

21) The best language teachers are the ones who will attempt to speak to you 100% in the target language. Ask teachers to speak slowly, not get you to talk in Korean at first, talk in easy to understand sentences. Ask them not to "teach" you Korean when talking to you, but talk in Korean about topics you are mutually interested in. The best language teachers are the ones who will not only talk in the target language as much as they can but will also do anything they can to communicate with you - that means playing games with you, acting out scenes, drawing pictures, moving their bodies, making gestures and so on. 

22) Initially use the method that suits your personality the best but be careful not to just stick to that method. Move onto using other methods when you feel more confident about your language ability. 

23) Remember that true fluency includes fluency in speaking, reading and writing. 

I am just a beginner so I need to learn very basic elementary stuff
I will ask the younger teachers who are usually more computer savvy to find online games for me that are in Korean then we can play together. I downloaded the game Risk and will try it out with my more adventurous teachers.

Online games for learning Korean
I found some great online games (free) on the Mac for learning vocab but they are for English! I wish I could find similar games but in Korean. There was one game called GardenScapes and it involved finding certain objects in a picture. The words unfortunately were in English so they weren't good for someone who wants to learn Korean. Now if these words were in Korean, that would be a different ballgame altogether. I will ask these Korean teachers to find me games in Korean. And I can even play by myself! This would be a great way to learn Korean -- so fun.