Inspiration

Yesterday, we went to my in-laws’ house at the farm in the countryside. It was a nice time to be able to relax a bit and have a mini-vacation from the normal realities of life (especially since there was no “real” work to be done – we did fill a basket with plums in the afternoon, but nothing difficult).While there, I noticed 4 things:

1. Humans are designed to be outside and enjoy the natural world (recall how your spirit lifts and your mind relaxes when you take a leisurely stroll through the forest or rest on the beach)
2. Korean alcohol was specifically created for farming (it tastes so much better on a farm than in a pub, after a hard day of tough work outside rather than 8 hours behind a cubicle)
3. An occasional break from routine is refreshing IF you take the time and have the presence of mind to really enjoy it (i.e. sit down in the shade under the sun with a cold coffee and DO NOTHING for an hour or two)
4. Even on “vacation” you can be productive if you prepare in advance (inevitably, after some time “doing nothing” you’ll eventually get bored – so if you prepare in advance to be productive – like continuing to memorize vocabulary words – this will be a great opportunity)

Challenge

It’s the summer now (in the northern hemisphere), so many people will be going on vacation and breaking from their normal routines at times throughout the summer. So, your Challenge (and mine) is to:

Prepare a “mobile-friendly” learning/practice kit

Do this so you don’t have to completely skip your study time away from home.

Things to include in the kit:

1. Vocabulary flashcards
   1. Either a (small) box of your own creation OR
   2. Anki flashcards (or another program) on your smart device
2. A notebook and pen/pencil
3. ONE small/thin study book of your own
4. A one-page vocab/grammar cheat sheet
5. An audio/video recorder (like an app on your smart device)
6. A TOPIK (or other) study app (like TOPIK One)

Why create the kit?

1. Your goal to learn 3600 words in 4 months isn’t going to just happen by itself. But, you only need to commit 30 minutes per day to the task (and you can do that over/before breakfast).
2. You’d be surprised at the kinds of new thinking, ideas, and inspiration that pops into your mind when you’re away from home – a notebook will help record those (plus, you could also use it for writing practice or planning out a better study schedule once you return)
3. Depending on the length of the vacation, sometimes, I just like to pop out the book I’m currently working on and review it for 10+ minutes – or if I have extra time, I’ll do a page or two of exercises. I like to stay mentally stimulated, especially on vacation, especially while relaxing
4. A one-page vocab/grammar cheatsheet is also useful if you want to continually practice and memorize those things in a concise format (and if you want our 500 Verbs + 500 Adjectives cheat sheets, here they are at a reduced rate)
   1. 500 Korean Verbs One-Page cheatsheet
   2. 500 Korean Adjectives One-Page cheatsheet
   3. 500 Verbs + Adjectives Bundle cheatsheets
5. You may also want to record yourself orally rehearsing something you’re working on, or who knows? You might be inspired or in the “right place at the right time” to create a new YouTube sensation
6. If your ultimate goal is TOPIK success at the end of this 120 days, then it never hurts to drill TOPIK test question examples as often as possible. With my first TOPIK test, I drilled the questions so much I hardly to figure out how to respond when the time came and passed with flying colors

Over to you

How is your studying going now? Are you on track to meet your goals for TOPIK? Let me know in the Comments below, or share on social media using #120TOPIK.

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