One Month Report
There was a lapse of two days but otherwise, there’s been Korean study everyday for one month. I have records! It looks like I averaged about one to two hours daily. There was also some time importing/sentence mining that could also be added in. That’s easily a solid one and a half hours of reading Hangeul and 10 minutes of reading out loud everyday. I looked at the flashcard stats and its 200 reviews a day with around 1000 cards in the rotation. I’m through one and a half seasons of beginner Koreanclass101.com lessons.
The skilz report after a month? Good. Maybe a step above good even. Probably the best thing about this study method is that it has kept me interested and has kept it fun. The effort involved is minimal. I’ve doubted quite often because sometimes it just feels too easy and I can’t help asking myself, “Am I really learning anything? Really? I’m just reading sentences.” I am reassured though as I explain below.
Reading: It’s more of a feeling of progress than pure evidence. I feel more comfortable reading. It feels faster when I read signs or whatever. Occasionally, I read a word that I just learned. This just happened five minutes ago actually. I was standing at the Buan bus station watching TV for a minute and in that minute I saw the word for French fries. Three days ago, that word didn’t exist.
Listening: Like my reading experience, occasionally, I hear words I’ve just learned while listening to neighboring Koreans talking or even more often, I hear new words from my Korean co-teacher.
Writing: I probably do the most of my writing on my cell phone. And, yeah, probably a little more Korean writing this month than last month. I JUST started (like today I made my first attempt) to make more complex sentences. By more complex I mean, one step above. “I ate lunch.” My sentence was “I’m too tired tonight so I’m going to stay home.” I write Korean words on the board in my English classes for clarification, but I was doing this a month earlier with the same frequency.
Speaking: Words aren’t rolling off my tongue. No, the big change is my attitude towards speaking. If I don’t know a word to say, which is nearly all-the-time, I don’t sweat it. Don’t force it. If I find myself searching for a word. I say F it. There will be another time and at that time the word will auto-magically be found. When I do manage to speak, there’s seems to be less struggle saying the words. Seem is the keyword here. I can’t say for certain. I want to believe it. Maybe in an other month it will become more clear.
One other little note. This ipod touch, I bought this month, kicks donkey. It has been awesome for the studying.