The official languages of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are Korean and Chinese, respectively (North Korea).
Given South Korea’s strong economy, geopolitical significance, and expanding presence in Asian pop culture, this language is becoming more and more relevant on a global scale, which may be one of the factors driving the unexpectedly high demand in learning it among individuals all over the world.
Additionally, you can communicate with roughly 80 million individuals worldwide by learning Korean. It can help you get ready for the future. The ability to speak another language and the understanding of diverse cultures are also traits that last a lifetime.
Learning the Korean language will provide you with knowledge and understanding that you will use time and time again, whether your interests are in business, technology, international affairs, or simply expanding your mind.
Top Five Korean Learning Hacks To Follow In 2023-
1. Begin with Sounds
Now that you’ve made the decision to learn Korean, it’s time to get started. But where do you even start?
The answer is straightforward: sounds. Even before you begin memorizing words and their meanings, learning how to hear, pronounce, and recognize written Korean sounds is a great place to start.
You’ll need to learn Hangul, the Korean alphabet, in order to do so.
Even though the Korean alphabet may appear complicated at first, it is actually much simpler than it appears. Fortunately, Hangul was designed to be learned and used. Hangul has 24 letters: 14 consonants and 10 vowels. There are also 16 diphthongs and double consonants, for a total of 40 letters. One significant advantage of Hangul is that it is phonetic. There are no hidden sounds like in English or French. Everything sounds exactly as it is spelled!
Korean also employs approximately 3,000 Chinese characters, or Hanja, to represent words of Chinese origin. Fortunately, you don’t need to worry about learning Hanja because it’s only used in dictionaries, academic writing, religious texts, newspaper headlines, classical literature, and family names.
Listen to YouTube pronunciation guides, watch movies or TV shows with Korean subtitles and read along, or use Rocket Language’s Hear It Say It audio recognition to learn to recognize and repeat sounds.
Korean courses or Korean classes are the best ways to immerse in the language.
2. On-the-Go Learning
Let’s face it: you probably have a busy life, and finding time to study Korean is difficult. However, one of the best ways to make the most of your free time is to learn Korean on the go.
The Shadowing Technique developed by American academic and polyglot Alexander Arguelles is an excellent way to accomplish this.
This language learning technique entails listening to Korean through earphones and repeating it aloud while walking outside.
As soon as you hear the sounds, say them. Don’t wait for the entire sentence. In fact, at first, you may only hear a small portion of what is being said and appear to be speaking gibberish.
This may appear silly at first, but the results will astound you. By speaking out loud as soon as you hear Korean sounds, you’ll get a sense of how the language is structured and sounds, even if you don’t understand everything.
Other excellent methods for learning Korean on the go include using your morning subway or bus commute to study flashcards or listening to Korean eBooks or music in the car.
You can also consider the best Korean institute to make your learning easy and effective.
3. First, Learn The Practical Terms
Learning a new language necessitates the acquisition of a large number of new words. There is no getting around it. Many people use “bad memories” as an excuse for not learning a new language, but we have some good news for them (and even those with great memories): you don’t have to know all—or even the majority—of the words in a language to speak it well. You don’t even need to know half of it!
We don’t even use the majority of our active vocabulary on a daily basis, and only about 3,000 words are required to comprehend 95% of common texts. As a result, only 300 words account for 65% of all written and spoken materials.
That is, there are approximately 625 words and their forms that can help you progress beyond the beginner level in any language, and 1,500 that can have you communicating at an advanced level.
You can cut your work in half by learning the practical words first. You’ll be able to communicate more quickly and with less effort.
By joining the best Korean institute in Andheri, you can easily learn the practice terms with experienced trainers.
4. Make Use of Loan Terms
Even though Korean is regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers, this fascinating language has borrowed a few words from English. These words can help you save time when learning Korean vocabulary.
Konglish comes in handy here. The use of English words in a Korean context is known as Konglish, or Korean language-style English. These words are created by combining English and Korean words.
Let’s look at a few of them:
- 아이스크림 – [ah-i-seu-k’eu-rim]: Ice cream
- 키스 – [ki-seu]: Kiss
- 라디오 –[ ladio]: Radio
- 컴퓨터 –[keom-pyu-teo]: Computer
5. Addicted to Mnemonics
As many people who have learned a foreign language have discovered, simply repeating vocabulary is rarely enough. Sometimes our brains need a little extra help remembering difficult words.
That’s where mnemonics come in. Mnemonics are simply stories, songs, or rhymes that you tell yourself to associate with a specific word. For example, one trick for remembering the Korean word (milk, pronounced “woo you”) in Korean is to remember: “He tries to woo you with milk.”
It may appear to be extra work, but you’d be surprised at how effective mnemonic devices are at speeding up your learning. They’re also entertaining!
The key is to interact, speak, and think as much as possible in Korean. This can be done anywhere and at any time. Take advantage of all of the excellent Korean learning resources available and incorporate Korean into your daily life!
Following these five language learning hacks will help you learn Korean faster, better, and more enjoyable.
And don’t forget that if you’re having trouble remembering a word, phrase, or grammatical rule, you can always make your own!
With Korean language classes in Mumbai or Korean language courses in Mumbai, one can easily learn the basics as well as advanced Korean from the comfort of their own home.
