I first became interested in the Korean language when I started watching Kdramas in my early twenties. I had been on a trip to Vietnam and gotten interested in the crazy, hectic tv shows I had seen everywhere there. I couldn’t understand what was happening, but I wrote down a couple of titles to watch when I got home. What started as a simple curiosity for tv shows from other countries changed my life completely.
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| Baby Lily in Vietnam in 2014! |
To be honest, I got a bit addicted to Kdramas. I would start a new series and binge watch in until it was done, then pick a new one! In the beginning I wasn’t even interested in learning the language. I had tried to learn Italian and Spanish and Chinese before and always given up within a week or two. But as I was watching the shows I started to pick up commonly used words. Ahnyeonghaseyo, or ahnyong. Omma and Appa. Eonnie and Oppa. I started to become curious. Was annyong hello or goodbye? They seemed to use it for both. Why are the words for dad and brother so similar? And why are they used so often? What is OPPA?! At first, I was just enjoying the dramas and the occasional new word. Then I came across an infographic on pinterest. ‘You can learn to read Korean in an hour!’ I didn’t even mean to but reading through that infographic made me curious. Could I really learn to read this language so easily?! So I started studying. A tiny bit. Just the alphabet I said. Then, through looking up how to read hangeul, I came across Talk to me in Korean.
TTMIK is an OG powerhouse in Korean language education, and in the mid 2010’s they were still pretty small, and had all their lessons online for free. I thought, it’s free… so I may as well try studying a little bit. Just the basics. I was finishing up my degree so I didn’t have a lot of spare time but I kept watching Kdramas and listening to Korean music. I remember writing the Korean words for the days of the week on my calendar on the fridge. And putting post-it notes on furniture with the Korean words on them. It was definitely not a fast process. I would write out kpop songs in hangeul, then romanize them myself, just to practice. After I had finished my degree and had a little more free time, I decided to motivate myself by buying the first 3 TTMIK books, + Hangeul Master. Actually, the Hangeul Master book was super helpful for learning to recognise different fonts and Korean handwriting. After that, I decided to move to Korea, and really commit to learning the language and culture.
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| Actual insta post from January 2017! |
Once I came to Korea as an English teacher, I kind of thought that my Korean would just get better naturally. For the first few months I didn’t really study very much, and made a lot of excuses. Finally, I decided that enough was enough and I started to set aside an hour or so everyday to commit to studying. Being in Korea made things easier simply because I could go to a local bookstore and buy new textbooks to help motivate me. I worked my way through the TTMIK books, and a few others. I kept watching dramas and listening to music, and even started trying to read Korean webtoons (The first one I read was ‘오늘도 사랑스럽개’, which a few years later was turned into a drama!). Reading webtoons helped me to read faster and practice guessing what words mean in context, rather than translating everything. After that, I took a big jump into studying fulltime.
After a year in Korea I applied and was accepted to study at a Korean university in Seoul. I tested into level 3, barely. I definitely felt a little behind the other students, especially in terms of vocabulary. I wish that I had started studying with a vocab/memorizing app earlier. Studying everyday was really the turning point in my language journey. Using the language everyday, with the teachers, with other students, with the Korean girls in my sharehouse, was a huge driver. It was definitely hard to keep up, and I struggled a lot, but after 6 months I had passed level 4 and could confidently hold conversations in Korean.
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| Covid meant my first TOPIK test was actually cancelled! |
After that, I continued studying by myself. I used apps to learn vocabulary, textbooks to practice grammar, and regularly spoke in Korean with my coworkers and friends. I went to language exchange events and actively participated and practiced my Korean. I read webtoons and books, watched dramas and movies, and also just enjoyed my life. I studied for the TOPIK exam, but didn’t pressure myself to attempt it. I hate taking tests so I decided to wait until I was confident I could get a high score. During the covid pandemic I did a practice test every week, and even took a short TOPIK prep course at a hagwon in Seoul. After that, I felt pretty confident that I could get a high score, so after about 6 years of studying I finally took the test and got a level 6! After that my Korean ‘study’ has mostly just consisted of living my life in Korea, talking to people and engaging with Korean media. I don’t really study grammar or vocabulary, but I do often come across new words and expressions. I still make mistakes and forget things, but I’m happy with the level I have and how I can use it in my life. I plan to speak and use Korean for the rest of my life, regardless of if I am living in Korea forever. And I think that is the kind of dedication you need to have to succeed in learning a language. I hope this blog post helps to inspire you to meet your own goals and study in a way that works for you.
Lily Smith
Korea Kaja.
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