It’s been a long time in coming, this blog update. It’ll yet be a long time to completion.
Seollal is your second chance at New Year’s Resolutions
One of my favorite parts of living in Korea is the celebration of the Lunar New Year. This gives me a bit of a runway to get my New Year’s Resolutions going. After all, the holiday season is quite busy.Continue reading Seollal is your second chance at New Year’s Resolutions
Practice Korean Reading with Comics
One of the ways I’ve begun enjoying practicing Korean reading more these days is by reading my son’s comic books with him. One of the most fun things to do it to read the Korean sound effects (onomatopoeia) in suchContinue reading Practice Korean Reading with Comics
Beautiful Bonds: People who spread Korea to the world
Our second giveaway of 2019 is a large 620-page book featuring interviews with 35 special people who have done much to spread Korean culture across the globe. The book features pop stars, musicians, artists, adventurers, farmers, politicians, athletes, writers, translators,Continue reading Beautiful Bonds: People who spread Korea to the world
2019: The Year of FREE Stuff!
In 2019, I’m hoping to GIVE AWAY something different every single Saturday. Stay tuned!
Happy New Year! Are you ready?
Every New Year gives us an opportunity to look back at what went well or didn’t in the previous year, and look forward to what we want to stick with or change in the new year. Are you ready for it?
Site restructuring (2019)
Over the next few months, I’m going to be doing some cleanup on this site to prepare for the “next stage” in its life. A few things I’m going to focus on: Site(s) cleanup – a few people have foundContinue reading Site restructuring (2019)
My Top Twelve Eats in Jeonju
I’ve lived in Jeonju for twelve years, so here’s a list of twelve great eats.
Thoughts are Things
Truly, “thoughts are things,” and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire for their translation into riches or other material objects.—Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich I recently had theContinue reading Thoughts are Things
New Year’s Goals Shouldn’t Be About the Goals
Every New Year, most people around the world like to take stock of their lives and consider new goals (or resolutions) for the upcoming year. But, there are a couple of problems with the way most people approach New Year’sContinue reading New Year’s Goals Shouldn’t Be About the Goals
KIIP Grammar – Level 4
한국어와 한국문화 중급2 Publication Date: 2013.12 The following is a list of all the Grammar Points covered in the KIIP Level 4 classes. The list is provided for quick reference. Your book may be slightly different than the one I used if you’re accessingContinue reading KIIP Grammar – Level 4
KIIP Grammar – Level 3
한국어와 한국문화 중급1 Publication Date: 2013.12 The following is a list of all the Grammar Points covered in the KIIP Level 3 classes. The list is provided for quick reference. Your book may be slightly different than the one I used if you’re accessingContinue reading KIIP Grammar – Level 3
KIIP Grammar – Level 2
한국어와 한국문화 초급2 Publication Date: 2014.2.27 The following is a list of all the Grammar Points covered in the KIIP Level 2 classes. The list is provided for quick reference. Your book may be slightly different than the one I used if you’re accessingContinue reading KIIP Grammar – Level 2
KIIP Grammar – Level 1
한국어와 한국문화 초급1 Publication Date: 2014.2.27 The following is a list of all the Grammar Points covered in the KIIP Level 1 classes. The list is provided for quick reference. Your book may be slightly different than the one IContinue reading KIIP Grammar – Level 1
Expressions #17 – Money Talks
Here are some brief stories about each: #1 Gold rocks This story takes place in the 14th-century Goryeo Dynasty. There are three important people in this story: Choi Young (the saying is attributed to him) – persuaded the King toContinue reading Expressions #17 – Money Talks
Put Yourself on the 10-Year Plan in Life
Last year, I read a really interesting book called: So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love Steve Martin The title of the book comes from advice that comedian Steve MartinContinue reading Put Yourself on the 10-Year Plan in Life
Summer Update 2017
Let me give you a really quick update about me. This may help you understand why this site hasn’t received as much “love” lately. As you may have read elsewhere on the blog, the following have kept me extremely busyContinue reading Summer Update 2017
Work for the Fall
Key To Korean needs an upgrade. After being “away” from the site for a while, here are the first major things I noticed when coming back to it: Design: complicated, cramped, too much information/stuff Colors: not bad, but could useContinue reading Work for the Fall
Advanced Level C Korean Frequency Lists Available
Today, I’ve just put the finishing touches on the final group of Korean Frequency List PDFs – Level C, Advanced, 고급. You can find links to those PDFs below, as well as a few other bundles I’ve created with PDFsContinue reading Advanced Level C Korean Frequency Lists Available
Korean Vocabulary Frequency Lists (Intermediate)
I’ve recently finished creating the PDFs for the Intermediate Level (B) Korean Vocabulary Frequency Lists. Here are the links to all the Frequency Lists and bundles we have available so far: Level B (중급) Full List (PDF) – 2111 WordsContinue reading Korean Vocabulary Frequency Lists (Intermediate)
A Brief Update and Direction for the Future 2016
Hi, and thank you for being a reader of KeyToKorean.com. Let me start off by saying we do appreciate all the support you’ve shown over the past few years as this site has grown from about 40 to 40,000+ monthlyContinue reading A Brief Update and Direction for the Future 2016
120 TOPIK #31 – 1500 Intermediate TOPIK Vocabulary Flashcards
There we go. I updated this Post to NOT use Google Drive anymore to share the file – there were some permissions errors that prevented people from being able to download it. Now it should be no problem. Download andContinue reading 120 TOPIK #31 – 1500 Intermediate TOPIK Vocabulary Flashcards
120 Days to TOPIK #30 – The List of 1500 Intermediate TOPIK Words I Studied This Summer
Inspiration I spent the summer studying 30 new vocabulary words per day, making flashcards for them and going through the Leitner Calendar Spaced Repetition System to make it all work and help me memorize the words long-term. Well, after creatingContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #30 – The List of 1500 Intermediate TOPIK Words I Studied This Summer
120 Days to TOPIK #29 – Let’s Study Some Vocab!
Inspiration So, hi again. It’s been a while. Actually, according to my calendar, I should be writing “120 Days to TOPIK #42” today. So, I got a little behind schedule. My apologies. Sometimes it’s just tough to do EVERYTHING youContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #29 – Let’s Study Some Vocab!
120 TOPIK #28 – Specialized Vocabulary Subjects to Study for TOPIK
Information Vocabulary was my weakness on the previous TOPIK test, so this time I want to be sure to study vocab hard. And I want to study the RIGHT vocab hard. In the TOPIK Writing book I’ve got, there areContinue reading 120 TOPIK #28 – Specialized Vocabulary Subjects to Study for TOPIK
BOOK GIVEAWAY: Essential Korean Vocabulary from Tuttle Publishing
Recently, I’ve run a number of posts on Vocabulary acquisition Flashcard creation Memory upgrading tips In conjunction with this, I’ve also been in contact with a representative at Tuttle Publishing who’s offered to make a number of Tuttle’s Korean booksContinue reading BOOK GIVEAWAY: Essential Korean Vocabulary from Tuttle Publishing
120 TOPIK #27 – TOPIK Writing Spacing Rules Revisited (띄어쓰기)
Information Just as there is spacing in English, Korean also has spacing to help separate words and read things faster. And just as there are spacing rules in English (mostly just separating words with a single space), there are alsoContinue reading 120 TOPIK #27 – TOPIK Writing Spacing Rules Revisited (띄어쓰기)
120 TOPIK #26 – TOPIK Wongoji Writing Rules Revisited
Information A while ago I wrote a few posts about Wongoji essay papers: Take a Look at Some Sample TOPIK Answer Papers (Blank) and download Wongoji essay papers Learn how to write TOPIK essays well using Wongoji writing guidelines Today,Continue reading 120 TOPIK #26 – TOPIK Wongoji Writing Rules Revisited
120 Days to TOPIK #25 – TOPIK Writing Punctuation Marks
Information TOPIK Writing (or, Korean writing in general), pretty much follows the same punctuation conventions as English. Periods mark the end of sentences or abbreviations and separate dates Commas create lists, separate phrases, and mark speech Question marks finish questionsContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #25 – TOPIK Writing Punctuation Marks
120 TOPIK #24 – TOPIK Editorial Essay Writing Standards
Information Although previously this section has always been titled “Inspiration”, I find that as I get further into my studies with TOPIK that “Information” is a more appropriate title. Therefore, I will use the two interchangeably from now on dependingContinue reading 120 TOPIK #24 – TOPIK Editorial Essay Writing Standards