This is my two month report on an experimental Korean Language Study Method.

How do I feel about this study method? I love it. It’s still fun this month. There was a week where the fun factor decreased but I recognized it and adjusted the SRS. I had too many unknowns at a time. I had intermediate material sentences  in the SRS and sometimes I had a sentence with 3 new words and one or new two grammar structures. This killed the fun. The concept of comprehensible input +1 was lost.

As I worked through many new sentence structures this month I became a little concerned there would always be another one to learn. I’d like to think there’s a finite number of ways to make a Korean sentence. The language would seem more manageable. A number like 100 would be fine with me. Is there a commonly accepted number? I would like to get to the point where I’m not learning new structures but only new words to fit into the those structures.

Progress? I can read a little more, I can read a little faster, I hear a little more, I understand a little more. I don’t feel a tremendous gain compared to the last month, but compared to two months ago I feel it.When I pick up a children’s book and start to read, there are still many words I don’t know. But, what I do understand  are the sentence structures that are used, and can gain some meaning from that.

The isle signs at the grocery store have started to become useful. I used to stand and look the signs for what seemed like a lifetime, trying to figure out if what I needed was on that isle. After a few seconds I gave up and just went the isle looking for whatever I was looking for. Now, I feel that’s it’s a close match between reading the isle signs or walking down the isle.

New Tools. This month I discovered  the Naver English Dictionary. When there’s a new word I come across and I want to know it,  I just put the word into the search bar and then hit the sample sentences button and  I have sentences to throw into my SRS. When I feel like writing a few sentences and want to check if my spelling is correct I use Google translator.

Another Study Experiment. In addition to the sentence reading experiment I also started another, to help with my pronunciation. I choose one dialogue from a Korean Class 101 lesson. I listen and repeat, trying to match the prosody. I only spend 15 minutes a day on this one. It’s just 15 minutes while I’m in the shower in the morning.  During this two week trial I’ve noticed a few things.

• It’s easy.
• There’s fun in the challenge to match the speakers voice while showering at the same time.
• It takes me about one week to match the native speed.
• I remember whole sentences without effort.
• When I read completely different material, I’m more inclined to stop and start after certain particles or create similar tone changes.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 8:53 pm and is filed under Korea, Korean Language. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.