karaoke-box:

There is this site called Lang-8 and it is pretty handy for those learning new languages. It relies on the users, and each user corrects texts written by students of their mother tongue. So I correct texts from those studying Portuguese, and I get my Japanese ones corrected. It is nice for those studying by themselves, or even for those who cannot ask their teacher questions all the time.

Languages. 

nickryan:

namhanman:

ghostpunch:

I’m trying to teach myself Korean, but I’m just giving myself a headache. I wish I had a friend to teach me. I’m much better when someone physically helps me  rather than staring at words on a screen and not understanding what’s going on. I think I may be better off learning Japanese instead of Korean -sigh-, since I have friends who are also steadily learning Japanese, and it seems like a much more accessible language than Korean. At least for me to learn from an actual person. I know that there are actual classes at schools where I want to go for Japanese and I have friends that I can go to. Oi oi oi! If anyone can help me, that’d be wonderful.

Just for you: some language books in pdf (click on the english titles to download them). Let’s Speak Korean! videos here. Korean words and phrases here, multimedia dictionary here. Very good online korean courses here. I would also recommend some language learning softwares here.

Have fun!^^

Resources #1 

I’m really sorry guys, about the lack of activity on this blog. I’m in the middle of getting creamed by midterms. BUT, they’re almost over and I’m back…-ish. And kinda stuck on what to teach you guys next. Cause learning the alphabet is all well and good, but actually having conversations in another language is a whole other story. So, while I try to write that lesson (it’s currently chilling in my drafts), here are some links that I have been using and will most likely reference to as I get more involved here:

• zKorean: I found this back in freshman year of highschool. It’s an online dictionary, much much better than the free ones like Translate Google and Babel Fish. Back in the day, they let you search an unlimited number of words for free. Now they charge a $4.95 subscription rate, and if you don’t want to pay, limit you to five definitions a day. Still a good site to reference hard to know words, but use your five definitions carefully.
• Korean Google Dictionary: Alright, I know I said that Translate Google’s no good. But this isn’t Translate Google. It’s not even English Google. This is the Korean Google. If you didn’t know, if you type in “define: technical” into the regular English Google, it’ll define the word “technical” for you. This works in a similar way. Click on the link, type in what you want to know in English, and it’ll give you the Korean equivalent. Now the reason why I list it second is I haven’t had a chance to actually test it; I’ve only just found it. But as far as I can tell, it’s on the same level as zKorean for free. Let me know what you guys think of this one.
• KBS World Radio: This is probably my most referenced site so far, although there’s not much about this that stands out. The only thing that makes it good are the lessons and the conversations at the bottom of the page. If you want to learn how to say simple phrases in everyday situations, this is the best place that I remember to do it.
• Basic Korean: A Grammer and Workbook: Alright, I only include this one because I feel obligated to. Honestly, you guys shouldn’t rely on just me for learning Korean. This is an online handbook that basically spells out what you need to know to speak basic Korean. I don’t like this book, for several reasons. It’s wordy, very complicated, and hard to understand. If you’re serious about learning the language on your own though, this is the best free online textbook I’ve found for you to get started.
• Korean @ UCLA: If you didn’t know, there are a few University of California schools that offer courses in Korean: UCLA, UC Berkeley, and I believe UC Davis. I may be missing a few there. Anyway, this is the UCLA course website. I would suggest browsing around it, if nothing else cause you’re bored (don’t lie, you probably are). But there are a few gems there, like the vocabulary lists. I’m going to be using these to make up lists for future topics, at least my ambitious mind says so. But in the mean time, feel free to look at them and you’ll be able find a lot of basic words there.

Alright guys, hope that these are helpful. I’m about to take my final midterm before Thanksgiving in like… 7 hours. Should not have written this actually, but that’s okay. After that though, I’ll be able to give you another lesson.

Quick Note: this next lesson has almost no Korean in it, just so you guys know.