How to learn Korean on your own

These days, many foreigners who speak Korean very fluently appear on multiple TV programs. Particularly, Tyler Rasch, who appears on 'Non-summit Talk(비정상회담)' as the representative of America, often surprises viewers for his Korean skills.

How can you become such a successful Korean learner as him? Maybe the only key is practice over and over. Here's some tips for learning Korean on your own.

1. Learn hangeul using fun applications for starters.
Hangeul is the Korean alphabet system. Sometimes people mix it with the language itself. But it's not. Hangeul is pretty easy to learn. Once you learn the basic consonants and vowels, you can read and write most of the Korean words. If you just decided to learn it, I recommend you the smartphone application PopPopping Korean. You can learn everything about hangeul from the creation principle of the consonants and vowels to the sound of each letter.

Download it here. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.kr.co.eduhansol.poppingKorean

2. Use Korean learning websites or blogs

If you're not in Korea, the best way to learn Korean is to use lots of contents on the internet. For starters, Talk to me in Korean provides different types of free learning materials from grammar instructions to Korean news articles, and you name it. Because the team always tries to teach Korean in a fun and creative way, you will be able to learn a lot of things not taught in a textbook like everyday Korean expressions. And it's also good that they try to interact with the site users using lots of SNS instruments. 


King Sejong Institute is also a well-developed website to learn Korean online, which is operated by Korean government. It offers services in multiple languages such as Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Thai, Indonesian, Russian and French. And you can use or download many materials on the site for nothing. This site is especially good to learn not only Korean language but also Korean culture: Korean lifestyle, pop culture, etc. It recently started to post webtoons of Korean folk stories in different languages. 

If you are a big fan of Running Man, try Wiseinit. You can find many posts about words from the popular variety show. Not only that, it also has lots of posts about hanja (Chinese characters), which is very useful when learning advanced Korean words. The posts are all written in English.

- Talk to me in Korean  http://www.talktomeinkorean.com
- King Sejong Institute  http://www.sejonghakdang.org/sjcu/home/main.do

- Wiseinit http://wiseinit.com - KoreanClass101  http://www.koreanclass101.com

- Sogang University  http://korean.sogang.ac.kr
- K-Pop Korean  http://study.korean.net/servlet/action.app.KpopAction?p_menuCd=m201

3. Subscribe fun Youtube channels

If you like to watch videos on Youtube, subscribe these channels teaching Korean. Talk to me in Korean shares lots of video clips about Korea and Korean language, which are mostly recorded in English. And they make some podcasts spoken in Korean, too.

Another channel that I recommend is Korean Englishman (영국남자), which is immensely popular with young Koreans. The Youtuber is from London, and he's been making videos about his life in England and his love for Korea in fluent Korean. When I fist watched his video, I was really surprised at his fluent Korean since it was still uncommon for me to see non-Asians speak such good Korean. The topics he addresses in his videos are also really interesting, and show current trends of Korea very well. So I guess you can get the sense of many things about Korea from a foreigner's point of view in his videos.

Koreal Story is about Korean culture and the experiences of the foreigners who live in Jinju, Korea. Culture is a very important factor in learning a new language, so the videos of Koreal Story will help you understand Korean culture from the point of view of foreigners.

- Talk to me in Korean https://www.youtube.com/user/talktomeinkorean

- Korean Englishman (영국남자) https://www.youtube.com/user/koreanenglishman

- Koreal Story https://www.youtube.com/user/korealstory

4. Use Korean learning infographic
Learning a new language steadily is not easy. But why don't you break down things into small pieces like infographics? When you don't have time and energy to open your book or laptop, just scroll down your smartphone. 

Dom&Hyo is a blog about a Korean and American couple's relationship and their life in Korea. Thankfully, they give away a ton of interesting infographics, and if you want, you can buy them in a form of poster. Since they draw webtoons, their materials are all cute.

Another site I recommend is Korea Times, which is a Korean English newspaper. It also provides a daily infographic every day. I guess their expressions are quite difficult for beginners. But they are all very useful and everyday expressions, so why not learn them as well?

- Dom&Hyo  http://domandhyo.com/
- Korea Times (Easy Korean)  www.ktimes.com/EasyKorean

5. Watch Korean shows

Korean shows are the best source in learning Korean, I think. They're easy to find, and they're very fun to study with. When I was in Australia, I used to attend a language exchange. I still remember an Aussie guy learning Korean watching Korean dramas. I thought our drama is a bit different from Western culture's, but he really liked it. So my first recommendation is his favorite back then, Secret Garden(시크릿 가든).

Other hit dramas that I recommend you

- Full House (풀하우스, 2004)

- Dream High (드림하이, 2011)
- My Love From the Star (별에서 온 그대, 2013)

- Misaeng (미생/an incomplete life, 2014)
- She Was Pretty (그녀는 예뻤다, 2015)
- Reply 1997, 1994, 1988 (응답하라 1997, 1994, 1988)
- Cheese in the Trap (치즈인더트랩, 2016)

If you go into the site below, you can learn some useful expressions intensively, watching video clips from Korean hit dramas.

- Pit-a-pat Koren

Drama Fever provides free streaming services of Korean dramas, but unfortunately you cannot watch the videos in Korea.

- Drama Fever http://www.dramafever.com

If you'd like to learn a lot of slangs or everyday expressions, variety shows are more useful than dramas because actors in dramas tend to try to speak only exact expressions and pronunciations, which is what people don't usually do.

Current variety shows that I recommend you

- Running Man (런닝맨)

- Infinite Challenge (무한도전)

- Nonsummit Talk (비정상회담)
- Please Take Care of  My Refrigerator (냉장고를 부탁해)
- My Little Television (마이리틀텔레비전)

6. Join language exchange groups

Getting a Korean friend is also a great way to learn Korean. If you want to meet a native speaker of Korean, how about locating a language exchange group around you first. If you live in Jinju, there are a couple of meetings that take place every week.

- Further information