Language Studies

           I started out the month going easy on myself because I honestly had no motivation to study much but as the month moved on I realized that if I left myself like this I would forget all the stuff that I learned and then I would have to start from the beginning again. So this week I bit the bullet and texted my teacher to let him know that I was ready to go back to taking weekly classes. I also decided to take Korean classes on italki and found a teacher through a series of trial lessons. She wasn't my first choice but my first choice doesn't have the time slots that I need and so I took my second choice. I've scheduled a series of five lessons and I will reassess after that. My Chinese lessons are still on going. 

          I also am focusing on one book at a time where it comes to Chinese and Korean and when that book is done I will move on to the next one. Doing two or more books at the same time was too much load work and made me confused at times. Focusing on one thing and later after it is done reinforcing it with the next thing is much better.

       So now for Korean I am working through Practical Korean after finishing Korean Grammar For Speakers and for Chinese I am working through Developmental Chinese with my Chinese teacher. Quality not quantity is what I am currently going for.

        Basically, when things aren't working change up your routine, don't stop and hope you retain when you have been doing while you get back your rhythm. At least not where language is concerned.

          As you can see from my tracker, there are days when only half a box is filled and that is okay. Half filled means I didn’t do all the tasks in this category but it can also mean I did half of them. I chose to see that I did half of them.

     

          

Language Study Strategies - Summaries

           One of the things that help me retain the lessons that I take with my teachers is to summarize the lesson after it ends. Basically, I summarize the grammar points that we talked about and if there are any new words that I learned in that lesson, I define it. I find that it helps cement an idea or grammar point and helps me find points that I may be shakey on so that I can ask my teacher for clarification or research it on my own. 

          One of the things that help me do that is to have a template for lesson summaries that I can always use. This means that my notes are always neat and I can keep them in one place which helps me find them later. I started out with a predesigned template from www.etsy.com but then found that they just didn't give me enough room to do what I need so I came up with my own version. 

          My template is quite simple. I have a page with the title "new words" where I add the new words that came up in the lesson and after defining them I write my own sentences using these words. This helps me see how that word is used and also helps me memorize it.  I can add as many pages after that as I need. The next page is "summary of grammar points" and this is where I summarize the grammar points for that lesson and write sentences that show how these grammar points are used. Again I can add as much pages as I need to complete my task. The final page is a "questions" page. This is where I add questions that I need to ask my teacher and then record the answers they give. I also add any corrections to my own sentences that they provide. 

          This template also works with self study books and Udemy classes. If you don't have a teacher to ask then you can go onto applications like HelloTalk and iTalki and ask people on there to look at your sentences or ask any questions you may have. I sometimes use these applications anyway because I'll get answers from native speakers and look for the natural organic way of saying something. I hope this helps you with your studies, and if you do use this strategy please let me know about the results.

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!

My New Plan for Language Study

          In my previous post, I talked about my struggles as someone who wasn’t exactly intermediate but definitely NOT a beginner. This month has seen my language studies stutter and kind of stop. They definitely stopped for Chinese and they sort of stuttered for Korean mostly because I have an awesome native Korean language teacher who at least is trying to drum some stuff into my brain. So today (Monday, June 29) I sat down to really look at what is going on with me. Why did I stop my Chinese studies and why is my Korean suffering and it is not JUST about the beginner/intermediate struggle. I found some points which I can take action on. Let me start with Chinese, because this one was easy. 

CHINESE:

I realized I had no specific goal that I am working towards. I don’t know what I am doing or where I am going so I set a goal for myself. This month (to be re-assess at the end of the month) I will be focusing on Pinyin and learning it to the best of my ability. The point is that I can read Pinyin so I can go on to HSK 1 books. I might throw in some character writing but Pinyin is my goal.

To this end, I went on Udemy and bought some courses that focus on that. I am also going to look at YouTube videos.

KOREAN: 

1. I like Talk to Me in Korean books so I am keeping those as-is. So for the next month, I will focus on Level 3 as well as reading Easy Korean Reading. There is also a book that I am slowly working through which is about patterns in Korean grammar.

2. I asked my teacher to give me homework. I told him I wanted a paragraph that I could look at on my own figure out what the meanings of the words were and what the sentences mean then answer questions about in Korean. In case anyone is wondering my teacher is the best, check him out on Instagram. He is just the beat and most patient teacher. 

3. I’m going to watch the Drama 날 녹여주오 (Melting Me Softly). I am currently watching it with subtitles on Vik.com. Then I am going to use their teaching mode which they have on most dramas and just focus on the phrases and the words I don’t know. 

4. Now let me talk about what didn’t work. Ehwa Korean is a great book from a great institute but...like Sogang University books just don’t work for me. So I’ve decided to put them away for now. 

5. I am substituting Korean From Zero books instead of the Ehwa Korean books. If those don’t hold my interest I will try a different set of books, God knows I have tons of them from different Universities 😬. 

This is my plan to revive my language studies. My hope is that sharing my struggles can help others with theirs.