CURRENT MAIN GOAL:

• To be able to understand the spoken language (including dramas, variety shows, natural conversations, and colloquial speech)
  • Curriculum Summary:
    • Watch TV shows while actively listening
    • Build vocabulary bank
    • Make short audio clips of listening materials with Audacity and study them
    • Read out loud, record yourself, and work on pronunciation and accent mistakes
  • Curriculum Breakdown:
    • Watch as much TV as possible (with English subs, Korean transcripts, and without either) while *actively listening*. Don't stress about it, and don't try to absorb every single word. Just pay attention to the words and grammar structures you do recognize, and remember them for the future. Using the English subs actually seems to be more effective than using the Korean when done the right way...read the English sentence first and then listen critically to the Korean equivalent, and to the corresponding words and grammar structures. Also use the Tap Pause method to isolate words.
    • Build your vocabulary bank every single day (HUGE! Arguably the most effective step). The most effective way to memorize seems to be writing the word over and over.
    • Use TTMIK's '이야기' and 'TTMIK Talks' series
    • Read out loud, and record yourself. Focus less on the meaning and more on just getting comfortable speaking the language and practicing pronunciation, accent, and flow. Listening and speaking go hand in hand!
    • Mimic

(Wishlist):

• "Slang Expressions in Korean - Volume 1"
• 이화 textbooks

Tips:

• Whenever you're feeling frustrated or discouraged or pessimistic, remember how much you've learned so far. Remember the things you really struggled with and never thought you'd get but eventually did, and not only that but they became *natural* to you. No matter what you're having difficulty with, if you did it before, you can do it again. The key is to keep practicing.