Sentences and grammar

Khatzumoto's 10,000-sentence method is kind of intimidating, but I have a feeling it'll be the best way to combine vocabulary and grammar learning - especially particle use. The trouble is finding places to get sentences. Song lyrics typically aren't complete sentences, and trying to transcribe from Korean film could be laden with inaccuracies. What I really need is Korean movies/dramas with exact Korean subtitles in hangul, because then I could watch it with English subs and every time a good sentence came up, I could pause, go to the same place in the Korean-sub version, and then look up the words and figure out the grammar. And then enter it into my "sentences" section on Anki, which is currently in the single digits. My sentence section wouldn't exist at all if it weren't for some priceless sample sentences on Luke Park's Korean grammar site. "Jun-young runs." "Jun-young drinks water." Are we excited yet, people?!?!!

Korean grammar is so different than English grammar. What's with all these particles? You know how on Facebook there are bumper stickers that say "Bros before hoes?" I want one that says "Particles before articles."

My library is useless! In the whole library system, all they have are a few learn-Korean audio tapes, one Korean textbook, and one or two Korean-English dictionaries. I managed to get one of the Korean dictionaries, but someone else is using the textbook (plus I hate textbooks and it's really outdated), and I don't have any way of playing audio tapes. I don't think they have any native Korean-language materials at all, though I might try to find some Korean children's books at the main downtown library this afternoon.

Downloading Anki

I just downloaded Anki onto my computer so I don't have to worry about times when my Internet stops working. Though the online version has worked wonderfully for me so far, the downloadable version has sweet features, like allowing yourself to learn more than 20 new cards a day. You can synchronize your online and offline Anki and even hook it up to your phone somehow. I normally still use it in the online format because the on-the-computer user interface kind of annoys me. But I synchronize all the time so that if I lose Internet, I'll still be caught up on flashcards.

I create all my own flashcards, but that's because there weren't really any Korean decks that I trusted or that made sense - I want to learn words that I think are useful, not the selections of some random person who's hung up on words like "airplane" and "menu." ("Useful" meaning "recognizable on food labels and in kpop songs I listen to at work.") Plus it's really fast to just type up Korean words since I'm not doing anything with hanja.

On subtitles

On AJATT, Khatzumoto writes that you should not use English subtitles at all. I have mixed feelings about this. I apply this policy to songs: I never watch or look up any English translations of lyrics, because I'm afraid that then I'll just remember the English translation as I hear the song. I want to listen carefully and gradually piece each song together over the course of many, many repeated listenings.

I feel like dramas and movies are a different story. I know so little Korean that I would literally be unable to follow anything that happened - except really, really basic things, like "What's that?" and "Don't go" - which I've only learned through using subtitles as it is. Or things that I could infer from context, like a guy being jealous. This would be incredibly frustrating for me since I love the storylines and can't stand not knowing what's going on. At the same time, I haven't actually tried watching anything with no subtitles yet...

I feel like at this point, it's still better for me to watch with subtitles but still try to focus on listening, because that way I can look up words. Sometimes, when I'm cooking, I play drama scenes I've already seen in the background, with the subtitles cut off at the bottom so I can't see them. That way I have a vague sense of what's going on (since I've seen it before at least once), but can only listen to the dialogue and can't become distracted by subtitles. If I watch the same scene with English subtitles too many times, I end up memorizing the English meaning of the dialogue, which is useless.

But I know that I can't be dependent on subtitles forever, and that they could cripple me before long. The ideal situation would be watching things with hangul subtitles, since then I could look up words and easily mine sentences. Maybe I could watch a movie or drama with English subtitles the first time through, and then re-watch multiple times with hangul subtitles...

A reluctant hiatus

Starting tomorrow, I'll be working all day and into the evening for four days straight for a special program. I imagine that Korean will fall by the wayside. I've entered about 150 words into Anki at this point, and I know most of them. We'll see how I fare after this little workaholic phase. I won't have time to watch any kdrama, so I suppose I'll just have to keep reviewing what I already have in Anki.

K-music on Last.fm

I've started using Last.fm online radio to listen to Korean music. It seems like an ideal choice because it'll automatically select more music for me on the basis of what I like to listen to (as well as what I don't like). I'm starting off with the "F.T. Island" station (F.T. Island is a Korean band that started instrumental and branched out to vocals), which seems to have a nice mix of slow ballad-y songs and faster dance and hip-hop music. It's great to be able to ban tracks - I'm banning Japanese and English tracks right and left.

It's surprising how much English is in a lot of Korean songs. I'm trying to make myself ban those, but it's difficult. The trouble is, if I don't ban them and start to hear them multiple times, I end up with the English running through my head instead of the Korean. I doubt that it'll improve my Korean speaking ability to have "Feels like insomnia" playing back in my head all day. The English is often part of the chorus - loud, memorable, short, frequently repeated sections. Perfect for permanent etching into your memory.

But every chicken has its bones. Maybe I'll ban WheeSung's "Insomnia" a little later, after I get it out of my system...

Two grammar resources

I have found two truly amazing grammar resources. I'm not focusing too much on grammar right now - I agree with Khatzumoto that grammar rules can't fully communicate the logic of a language - but I do think it's important. So far, I'm not pressuring myself to memorize anything, but I look up grammar to understand verb endings I hear in songs, for instance. It's very helpful to have grammar resources to describe, after the fact, the patterns that I see and hear.

Luke Park's Guide to Korean Grammar is a well-organized site with enough charts and tables to thrill any grammarian (like me). But it also has plenty of example sentences, clear explanations, and even some nice audio clips. I find myself referencing this site constantly, and there's enough material here that I know it will be helpful beyond the beginner level.

Luke Park can be almost too concise sometimes, so to fill in some of the gaps, I've been using a Learn Korean Language website. This site offers a lot more explanation about certain grammatical concepts, particularly verbs and the irregular verbs "to be" and "to have/exist." Between these two sites, I've found that most of my everyday grammar needs are being fulfilled so far.

Korean talk radio

I've started listening to Korean radio at work. It's strange to hear a stream of Korean speech for about 7 hours straight, punctuated by Korean songs. It's frustrating to understand literally nothing, but I suppose I'll keep faith in Khatzumoto's insistence that just hearing it is good for you. I have to admit, it's probably a good way to start becoming familiar with what a normal Korean speech cadence sounds like - plus hearing words go by at normal to fast speed, rather than the slow, exaggerated fashion typical of language learning materials. From what I know of Korean speech levels, it sounds like everyone on the radio speaks pretty formally.

I must confess that I like the songs best, and sometimes station-jump to find more music and less talking... Masan MBC FM 98.9 has been a pretty decent station. Seoul Top Radio has a bad habit of playing lots of American songs, but Masan seems to stick with mostly Korean.