Seoul
I am not getting anywhere

I am studying, memorizing, but I feel like i am getting nowhere fast. It is difficult to learn a new language when you do not speak it with others. I am going to sign up for a college course. After 2 semesters I will take a class that is taught in Korean and the students have to speak in Korean. This may better suit me. What do you think? Has anyone taken this route?

Sep 8, 2014 10:42 PM
Comments · 2
2

Hey Seoul, I've been in your shoes.  In my college Korean course, we never spoke Korean in class- we focused on reading and grammar, and when we DID speak, we spoke in very unnatural, short sentences.

 

If you can afford to, hire a teacher or a tutor here on Italki.  Even after just 1 class, I felt like my Korean had improved a lot, because my teacher helped me with my vocabulary and my grammar.  If possible, and I know it's difficult, try to find a language exchange partner that you could speak with.

 

Language learning plateaus are really difficult...I hope you feel better about this soon!  If you need anything, please feel free to message me :)

 

 

September 8, 2014
1

Hi Seoul, I understand the feeling. While you can hire a teacher here on italki, I suggest if you're a cheapstake, (like me), you can talk to natives of your target language for free.
If you look here on italki, you'll find many, many Koreans who want to improve their English.
Most I've talked to have been happy to add me on Skype, and eager to Voice/Video chat with me.
You have no idea how much it helps. 
You can search for partners, just click on the "Community" tab and choose the "Language Partners."
You have to be willing to give some to recieve some, but I personally find it fun and interesting to teach.
It IS a little embarrassing to speak Korean, especially when you are unconfident in it. But, please, go for it! You can't get anywhere unless you try, and you end up making friends in the process. 
I also suggest trying different studying tactics. I have done some silly things to learn the studied material. Act out the words you are trying to memorize, write different subject matter in different color, and most importantly, say EVERYTHING you read outloud. This is very important.
For example when studying numbers, I wrote grammar points using Sino-Korean in blue (because I like it) and grammar points in Pure Korean red (Because Pure Korean is blah)
Goodluck! 

September 9, 2014