Language Studies Updates

          Originally this was going to be a whole different post, but since the item, I wanted to review has not arrived yet, and the album I wanted to review has not dropped yet, you are getting a language study update...SORRY!

          As you all know I'm studying both Korean and Chinese. I started with Korean on and off, then this year more seriously, and then around 2 months ago I added Chinese to my study schedule. Today I'm going to talk about the difference between studying something because you want too and actually studying something with a more focused thought in mind. 

          Around the end of last month, I decided that what I was doing with Korean and Chinese just was not really working in the way I thought. Where Korean is concerned I had a lot of grammar swimming away in my brain but no real concept of how to use it. I do okay with short sentences but not so great with long ones and while I talk to myself a lot in Korean when my teacher actually talks to me, I draw a blank as to how to answer. I understand what he says...I just can't answer. Chinese is a little better but my ability to recognize the characters that I am studying in Hanja is...lacking. So I thought about it and talked to my teachers about my problems, here is the new plan.

KOREAN:

1. My teacher and I have gone back to the beginning. I'm actually glad about that. I am going slowly at a pace that is just right. Even when I tell my teacher to move on he doesn't unless he tests me and is sure I got the concept down correctly. 

2. I'm continuing my studies in Talk To Me in Korean to continue to get my grammatical concepts however, it is no longer the one I really focus on.

3. I'm in Book 2 of Vitamin Korean and I'm working through it slooooowly because it explains small things that have escaped me the first time around and now I ask my teacher about every little thing that looks weird to me. Just because I understand it because of context it doesn't mean that I understand it, it just means I know what it means vaguely.

4. I'm on Book 1 of Practical Korean and like Vitamin Korean I'm taking it slooooow, rinse and repeat. 

5. WRITE! I'm writing more, in my journal, or even paragraphs to send to my teacher to correct. I need to get used to writing hence also reading.

6. Finally, My teacher told me to work towards a goal, and my goal is that in November 2021 I want to take TOPIK 1 Level 2 at least if not TOPIK 2 Level 3.

CHINESE:

1. My iTalki class is amazing and the book my teacher uses is very easy so I'm studying that as we take classes, after every 5 classes I take a week off to look over my notes and study and review the previous chapters to see if my grammatical concepts are improving.

2. I am working through HSK 1 course from ZeroToHero Chinese online and enjoying the class.

3. I am writing and asking my teacher questions as I go along even if I have to ask the same question 10 times, I'm lucky my teacher is patient. 

4. Like Korean I'm working towards a goal, I want to take the HSK exam in October of 2021, not sure yet at what level I want to take yet but let us say at least HSK level 1 though my teacher says I can go higher.

OBSERVATIONS:

I'm not sure if it is because I studied Korean first but I find that Chinese is very easy for me so far. Certainly much easier than Korean. Though I have to admit I love Korean more. Of course, writing, recognizing, and reading Hangeul is much easier than Hanja...

STAY TUNED: 

I have a thing going on and when it is done I will let you know all about it... so stay tuned!