kimseokjin

I'm not gonna lie... I started learning Korean because of K-pop. I absolutely adore the music, and it would be nice to not have to look up the translations all the time. Same goes for K-dramas. Eventually I would like to live in Korea temporarily or maybe look for a job there, so it's really handy if I knew that language. I mean, any language is an asset, so I really have nothing to lose by learning it besides time. I've been studying for probably four years now??? But I didn't make a concerted effort until this year when I started taking classes at university.

i mean besides the usual 안녕하세요 or 사랑 해 the first Korean phrase I learned to read/write was actually 슈퍼주니어 haha. I used to be the BIGGEST fan of SuJu

For movies, I highly recommend Heaven's Postman and Miracle in Cell No. 7. Just a tip for Miracle in Cell No. 7: have a box of tissues on hand. I never bawled as much as I did, it's actually embarrassing. As for dramas, it takes a lot to impress me, but of the ones that did are Secret Garden (a classic that's been parodied dozens of times over), Shut Up Flower Boy Band and Rooftop Prince. And if you want to brush up on your satoori, Reply 1997, 1994, and 1988 are a must. In my six years of watching K-dramas, no drama has affected me as much as the whole entire Reply series. It's not overwhelmingly dramatic, which in turn makes it feels more relatable even if you weren't born in the pre-contemporary Korea that it's based around. It's also rightfully suspenseful and the most funniest thing. If you ever want to fangirl with me about Reply, my DM's are open :^)

Korean is by far the easiest to learn of the three since the alphabet system is all phonetic just like ours. I never tried learning it myself, but it seems from the way my boyfriend talks about it that Japanese might be the most difficult. I mean, according to Wiki, it's one of the most difficult languages to pick up because their sentences mixes different scripts and has a large inventory of character type. That said, I think Mandarin would be somewhere between Korean and Japanese. Their writing system is based off of a bunch of radicals (basically root characters), so even though it looks intimidating to learn, it's actually not that bad. And again, they ARE essentially pictographs, so sometimes a little imagination makes learning Chinese easier. If my foreign language inept brother was able to pass Chinese in high school, it's manageable.

It wasn't helpful for me when I had it, but I heard others used HelloTalk to learn Korean. I mean, it's good if you are ever looking for a native speaker to hold a conversation with to test your speaking or writing, but I wouldn't recommend you to start off with the app. On that note, an app that I did like was Memrise, which I've seen recommended by users on these forums as well. For an idea of exactly how useful it was, even after I started learning Korean in a traditional classroom setting, I still associate certain vocabulary with some of the mnemonic devices from the app. One of my favorite sites to use when studying Korean is www.howtostudykorean.com . Everything is so well explained and organized. There are even audio files if you are unsure of how to pronounce a words and additional worksheets that are available for purchase if you need extra practice. It really was my bible when I was still trying to self-study. But even if you are learning Korean digitally, I think it's best if you take notes on pen and paper. It's good reinforcement, and especially for Korean which uses a Hangul alphabet system, it's nice penmanship practice. Best of luck!

Before I decided to finally take language classes, I used to self-study on my own. And for a month, I managed to get an entire lesson in. Like you said, having a good reason to learn a language is a HUGE motivator. It could be for someone you like, a future career opportunity, or, in my case, simply being able to watch a damn show without English subs. I used to set aside at least an hour a day to learn a topic, so I highly recommend a schedule as well. I never tried these myself, but also give yourself an incentive to learn a language, too. Treat yourself if you can memorize "x" amount of words in a week or if you are finally able to grasp that one concept you've been struggling with. Or have study dates if you know anyone else who is trying to learn the language as well. When you actually have to plan to meet up to do something (which entails showering and getting dressed...), I think that'll give you the extra push you need, even if you a lazy ass like me haha.

I think I have a more pessimistic view when it comes to learning languages through apps. They are certainly good supplementary aids, but only if you are already learning the language through a more traditional means. Personally, I need an instructor to physically be there to correct my mistakes and motivate me to work harder. With apps, the responses aren't as immediate and I retain less of the information if I'm not being pressured by a grade. But if getting a language teacher isn't an option, I would much rather recommend a language learning site over an app. I am currently taking Korean in school, but prior to that I self-studied using www.howtostudykorean.com and I can honestly say it has helped. I can barely say the same for some of the language apps I used like Hellotalk.