I talk to myself constantly in spanish (in my head) having imaginary conversations (all those witty comebacks I'd never have the wit to deliver in realtime). I don't even have to deliberately decide to practice in my head, I just realise that I'm doing it. So now that I'm trying to learn Korean, I have to deliberately decide to have my self-dialogue in Korean. Often in the shower I will try to refine or extend whatever sentence I'm saying in my head.If it works like Spanish self-talk did for me, it will help a lot. When I come across things I want to say but can't because I lack the vocab or grammar, the mental work of working my sentence around the gap in my knowledge, finding other ways to get the idea across, is in itself great practice for me too because 1. it's simply more practice, 2. it increases my curiosity about the thing I didn't know which, in turn, helps me retain the answer once I found it out. I feel like the ease with which I can search for answers sometimes means I retain less
Thanks for these, let me see what I can add: 1. A daily journal at least writing one sentence a day (I also put kdrama notes and other activities (e.g. notes of this lesson) each day) -Been using ChatGPT and Mirinae to verify sentences it's not perfect, but it does help (so that I don't over burden my native speaking friends) 2. To expand on using what is around you idea: when making this a habit, I have found the Korean thought to respond before English, and I let the thought follow through. Sometimes I'll just blurt it out, and it drives my kids crazy. Sometimes I'll follow up with the Korean response under my breath when I say something. When doing a boring job like moving boxes is the best... I may swear, but no one will understand me... Sometimes it sounds like a kdrama scene sometimes haha, but the way I see it... I'm making the most of a boring situation and making it fun while getting more practice in at the same time. 3. For grammar building... I've memorized some Kdrama lines, and when my mind is quiet, I'll play those lines in my mind. I focus on the order of the words as they run through my head, and what I see is a picture of thought between each 는 pause and how that thought gets further defined when 것 follows, the objects are being staged up, and then finally put to action. The order of the sentences has been the hardest mental barrier, but with these exercises I think I'm finally getting it.
Going to sound REALLY strange, but I sometimes imagine having conversations with Korean celebrities I admire. So, if it's a musician, dancer, or chef or someone who works out a lot, I'll imagine talking to them about those things. The introvert in me has entire conversations this way. 🙈
It's not really strange. It's a pretty common trick for media personalities too. I.e.: doing RU-vid or a podcast solo, it allows the vocalization to sound and flow more naturally for most. Radio hosts will do it too.
for me the 2nd tip was crucial. had to realize it the hard way through my own experience before i saw it in this video though haha. as someone who writes heavily poetic stuff (both in my mother tongue and in english) i was naturally drawn to forming difficult sentences. at some point i realized that it's difficult to understand what point i'm trying to get across whenever i write in korean. then i was like - ok, i need to simplify and simplify and simplify and pay more attention to how korean speakers express similar thoughts/ideas to mine in korean that's more natural. thank you for making this video!!! such helpful and insightful tips
Love all the tips, thank you!! What I've been trying to do lately, as someone who enjoys writing as a hobby, I try to come up with short stories (or even just dialogues) directly in Korean and write them down to later on correct them. I don't know if it's a good technique but I do find that after writing in Korean for a while, my brain is more prone to stick to it and so I am much more likely to keep on forming sentences in Korean in my brain for quite some time before going back to my native language
this was actually the biggest way that i learned korean lol you can post them on hellotalk for natives to correct. and its fun to look back on as you advance so definitely keep up with it:)
also, as someone who learned like this... my writing is WAY more advanced than my speaking. so definitely try to say the stories OUTLOUD as well. its weird how the brain (at least mine) operates differently when speaking outloud vs when writing or even speaking in your head. its been my personal downfall honestly haha cause i very rarely speak outloud :/ good luck in your studies~~
@@sm00re2 thank you so much for the tip! I'll try as you say, I think it's gonna be a lot more helpful to "think and speak" on the go! But I'm really happy to know it worked for you, it makes me feel more confident about it 💕
Very good ideas.... I will incorporate them into my daily Korean language learning. I like to watch Men on a Mission. A new one I started watching is Korea N1. I guess I can practice my Korean if I'm tossing and turning in bed when I can't get to sleep.
To start thinking in other languages I’ve started watching content in other languages. Starting with children’s shows and working my way up to college level lectures. I watch them on my smart TV.
tip #2 is the tip i really needed. i catch myself everytime trying too hard , because i know so much more than i can actually produce. it's frustrating.
i replay conversations in my head. like after i have a convo with someone ill translate it in my head and ask a native for help when im stuck. or i will have a completely fake convo in my head and then have a native correct it lol its silly but it helps
I remember when I was still in the process of learning english I un/consciously started trying to think in English and trying to translate whatever I heard/saw into English and gosh it helped sososo much, but as I said it got to the point where it was something unconscious and I literally couldn't stop it even if I tried, it became really REALLY annoying til I guess I learned enough that it wasn't 'this is new, this is new, this is new' but just that my brain actually learned the language lol
I have two fears about learning korean. One, what if when I become fluent in korean, my inner monolouge will change to korean and I wont be able to switch it back. Two, until I become fluent in korean, korean people wont know how funny I am because I wont be able to express myself like a native. 😔✌
fear 1. you will likely have the linguist struggle of "no way, I forgot/don't know what this word is in my own mother tounge, but I know it in korean!" fear 2. start light. no one starts by saying "it's raining bloody cats and dogs, innit?", they learn "It is raining a lot" :) You'll learn the funnier terms eventually