About

Welcome to Hanguk Babble (한국말 횡설수설).

This site might interest you if you are learning the Korean language.  It also includes poetry, nature, books, games, music, and “crash courses” in software.

I started watching Korean dramas in 2012. It felt like I had fallen down the rabbit hole into a whole new world I knew nothing about.  Getting Korean pen pals March 2014 has felt equally like a new world.

I hang out at  Dramabeans chatting with other KDrama addicts, where I am known as Julia the Berkshire Beanie.

What started out as just watching Korean dramas has expanded to include learning the Korean language.  I have no clue what I am doing, so I am documenting all my missteps. ANYTHING HERE MIGHT BE WRONG.  I am just learning.  Correct me please.

I came into language learning a bit reluctantly, after high school Spanish for 4 years failed to teach me much.  So I tricked myself into it by telling myself I was not learning, I was just having fun.  Check out the “not learning” category for the many playful ways I learn.

This blog is a journal of ideas my curious mind discovers.  It includes what I have learned from my Korean friends and what it is like to have a language exchange partner.  It also has information about the Berkshires I share with my pen pals.  Because I am a computer programmer, some times tech ideas will sneak in.  If this is interesting to anyone else, enjoy.

Check out resources on my blog like flashcards, games, quick reference, 6000 Most Frequent Korean words list, grammar rudiments, Follow my Daily Plan, Control Journal, and weekly class routine. Read my Korean Digital Academy class notes, KDA flashcards, list of lectures and KDA vocabulary. See the 600 words tutor says I need for basic conversation. Say hi. Get to know my bookshelf, listen to sound recordings, and follow my language learning progress.

 

Here is a list of resources that new learners of Korean may find helpful.

Resources:

Korean Drama:

Viki, Drama Fever
Dramabeans
Problematic of the Unproblematic

Hey, Hey friends Korean subtitles for American TV shows

Dictionary:

Naver Dictionary
zKorean
Daum Dictionary
Korean Multimedia Dictionary
Visual Thesaurus

Hangul/Korean Language:

Korean Alphabet
Essential Pronunciation Rules

Korean Keyboard:

Virtual keyboards Branah Wandel
Typing phrase: 키스의 고유 조건은 입술끼리 만나야 되고 특별한 요령은 필요치 않다.
Fast Fingers Typing test
Instructions on how to type Korean by installing Korean keyboard
Transparent Korean keyboard stickers
IPA virtual keyboard

Korean Language Software & Audio programs:

Glossika Mass Sentences Korean Fluency
Mango Languages
LingQ foreign text reader
Duolingo

Korean Language Blogs:

Talk To Me In Korean (TTMIK)
Fresh Korean
Professor Oh
Korean Champ
KPOP to KTalk
Catch the Wave – Arirang Radio

Korean Class:

Learn Hangul free in videos 1 & 2 from Korean Digital Academy and see how Rob Julien is awesome teacher 🙂 Big thumbs up recommendation to take this class
Key to Korean Fluency free videos teaching verb conjugation
Korean Digital Academy Members Lounge links to class videos
ROKstars Facebook group for Korean Digital Academy
Learn Korean Online (old KDA site) Video #1: “I’m learning Korean but I don’t know that much yet so I don’t really know what you’re saying.”

Korean Vocabulary:

bab.la Phrases
English Speak – 100 conversations Korean/English, 1000 Phrases
Textivate web app for making games out of text
www.bliubliu.com – read texts according to your difficulty level.

Korean Grammar:

Korean Wiki Project
Korean Grammar Dictionary
National Institute of Korean Language
Glossary of Linguistic terms
Kmaru

Translation: Naver translate,  Google Translate

Verb Conjugation: Dongsa

Language Immersion Trip

Flashcards:
Memrise, Anki Spaced Repetition Flashcards, Quizlet
Subs to Spaced Repetition Source

Chinese characters:

Useful Chinese Characters for Korean Learners book
ChinEasy
YellowBridge Mandarin Chinese-English Dictionary
How to Study Korean Hanja lessons
Chinese calligraphy

Korean Games:  DD Korean Game, GenkiKorean, Bingo Cards, Puzzle

Language Exchange: HelloTalk, iTalki, Pen Pals Interpals,  World Time
mindpasta – Social site for language learners where you can practice writing your sentences while playing games and sharing photos, music, and learning resources.
Video conferencing Zoom, Skype, Google+ Hangouts
Google Docs (for shared document to type in real time with tutor during Skype session)
Language Immersion Trip

Tutoring:  iTalki Woojae Jun and Jeanie

Loving Korean: How to Learn Korean

Korean Books: Hanbooks, Holly M

Libraries:  Boston Public Library,  C/W Mars

Video:
Give It 100 10 second videos for 100 days
Youtube slow for slowing down Youtube videos

Sound/Music:
Korean Children’s Songs on Naver Jr
Soundcloud Make your own recordings
Sony Soundforge Digital audio editing
Forvo Native speakers record words
Korean Traditional Meditation music

News:Chosun Ilbo, Korean Times, Korea Herald, Oh My News, Huffington Post Korea, TEDx talks, CNN Transcripts

Teaching: Instructional Strategies, How to work in Korea

Taekwondo: Berkshire Taekwondo TKD step by step

Polyglots
A Polyglot World
Benny Lewis – Fluent in 3 Months
Judith Meyers – LearnLang
Luca Lampariello – The Polyglot Dream
Anthony Lauder
Kevin – Language Hero
Idahosa Ness – Mimic Method
Benson Hoi – learning Korean in #A1C5
Alex Rawlings – Britain’s most multilingual student
Richard Simcott – Speaking Fluently
David Mansaray
Mike Campbell – Glossika
Language is Culture
Chris Broholm
Polyglot Conference – NYC October 10-11, 2015

There are many Facebook pages worth following.  I like Fresh Korean for their phrase-a-day.

Hanguk Babble (한국말 횡설수설)