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?

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

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

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

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

120 TOPIK #23 – The Best TOPIK Writing Tips to Improve your Score

Inspiration **Note: These are ALL the tips my Korean tutor has given me about my TOPIK Writing thus far. I’ll continue to update this post as I receive updated info. Bookmark it now if you think it’s useful. First ofContinue reading 120 TOPIK #23 – The Best TOPIK Writing Tips to Improve your Score

120 TOPIK #22 – My TOPIK Writing Stinks – Here’s How I’ll Tackle It

Inspiration My TOPIK Writing stinks. Like, really stinks. Last time I got a 22/100 on the Writing portion (and at least 1.5 times as high on all the other parts). So, I don’t want to repeat that. Therefore, I’m goingContinue reading 120 TOPIK #22 – My TOPIK Writing Stinks – Here’s How I’ll Tackle It

120 TOPIK #21 – A Breakdown of the TOPIK Structure

Inspiration Actually, I like to know the odds. I find it helps me structure what to focus on primarily. TOPIK II Points 300 TOTAL Points 1교시: 100 Listening (50 questions in 60 min) + 100 Writing (4 questions in 50Continue reading 120 TOPIK #21 – A Breakdown of the TOPIK Structure

120 TOPIK #20 – TOPIK Reading Strategies

Inspiration Since I posted last time about Extensive Reading using familiar texts, here’s some helpful advice I found recently about how to effectively read UNfamiliar texts, like on TOPIK. Reading passages. THREE stratgies: Read to find information (charts/graphs/images) Basic comprehensionContinue reading 120 TOPIK #20 – TOPIK Reading Strategies

120 TOPIK #19 – On Hyperpolyglot Cardinal Mezzofanti & Reading Familiar Texts in a Foreign Language

Inspiration Cardinal Mezzofanti was an 18th/19th century (1774-1849) hyperpolyglot who spoke 39 different languages “with rare excellence”. Here’s a list: Biblical Hebrew • Rabbinical Hebrew • Arabic • Aramaic • Coptic • Ancient Armenian • Modern Armenian • Persian • Turkish • Albanian • Maltese • Ancient Greek • Modern Greek • LatinContinue reading 120 TOPIK #19 – On Hyperpolyglot Cardinal Mezzofanti & Reading Familiar Texts in a Foreign Language

120 TOPIK #18 – Language Learning Tips from the Stars of Terminator: Genisys

Inspiration In honor of Terminator: Genisys (which I’ll be going to see later tonight), I thought I’d resurrect two of our old posts that include language learning tips from the major stars of the movie: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lee Byung-Hun.Continue reading 120 TOPIK #18 – Language Learning Tips from the Stars of Terminator: Genisys

120 TOPIK #17 – Hyperpolyglot Kato Lomb’s 10 Do’s and 10 Don’ts of Language Learning

Inspiration After watching Tim Ferriss explain language learning shortcuts that people like he and Cardinal Mezzofanti (supposedly able to converse convincingly in up to 39 different languages) used to learn languages quickly, I started browsing for other language learning tipsContinue reading 120 TOPIK #17 – Hyperpolyglot Kato Lomb’s 10 Do’s and 10 Don’ts of Language Learning

120 TOPIK #16 – Deconstruct Korean Grammar with 13 Sentences

Inspiration Tim Ferriss has some pretty incredible (nearly unbelievable) stories about how he learned various languages. Here’s a brief preview (from the video above) about the amount of time he spent to learn these languages: Japanese: 11 months (while living inContinue reading 120 TOPIK #16 – Deconstruct Korean Grammar with 13 Sentences

120 TOPIK #15 – Pronunciation Tips from Tim Ferriss

Inspiration I recently watched this excellent video from Tim Ferriss about language learning and in the Q&A session at the end, he gave some excellent tips for fixing your pronunciation. Pronunciation tips: Find a native speaker Ask a language exchangeContinue reading 120 TOPIK #15 – Pronunciation Tips from Tim Ferriss

120 Days to TOPIK #14 – Using Tim Ferriss’ Methods for Accelerated Language Learning

Inspiration I’ve been following Tim Ferriss recently and have really been impressed with the amount of things he’s been able to do and learn using a few “hacks” that accelerate his learning. I recently watched the episode of his TimContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #14 – Using Tim Ferriss’ Methods for Accelerated Language Learning

120 Days to TOPIK #13 – Turning Google Images into an Illustrated Storybook

Inspiration The following Comment was left on our 9th 120 TOPIK Challenge called: Learn More Now, Recognize Patterns, Achieve Fluency Faster. In that post, I remarked about how creating 30 flashcards per day was taking me around 2+ hours. Here’s theContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #13 – Turning Google Images into an Illustrated Storybook

120 Days to TOPIK #12 – Vocabulary Frequency Lists are a Language Learner’s Best Friend

Well, after a nice long Independence Day break, I’m back at the grindstone, ready to kick out some more TOPIK Challenge posts. I’ve been continually studying, though not writing, during the break so expect a few posts PER DAY untilContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #12 – Vocabulary Frequency Lists are a Language Learner’s Best Friend

120 Days to TOPIK #11 – What’s the Minimum Effective Daily Dose?

Inspiration In yesterday’s post, I started to talk about the Minimum Effective Dose of Korean work that would help you make exceptional progress without wasting an exceptional amount of your time. I thought it was such a valuable concept (andContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #11 – What’s the Minimum Effective Daily Dose?

120 Days to TOPIK #10 – Reduce, Reuse, and Reward your way to Fluency

Inspiration The 3R’s (and icons) of maintaining a healthy environment and planet can be re-purposed to also remind us how to maintain a healthy, active, and rapidly learning brain. Reduce → Reduce Reuse → Reuse Recycle → Reward 1. REDUCE ReductionContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #10 – Reduce, Reuse, and Reward your way to Fluency

120 Days to TOPIK #9 – Learn more now, Recognize patterns, Achieve fluency faster

Inspiration (Paraphrase from Fluent Forever. I had the same experience.) As a kid, I loved math because everything was connected. If you memorize 3 x 4 = 12, then you know 4 x 3 = 12, and you start toContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #9 – Learn more now, Recognize patterns, Achieve fluency faster

120 Days to TOPIK #8 – Fix your Accent by learning the right WAY to pronounce words

Inspiration An accurate accent is powerful because it is the ultimate gesture of empathy. It connects you to another person’s culture in a way that words never can, because you have bent your body as well as your mind toContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #8 – Fix your Accent by learning the right WAY to pronounce words

120 Days to TOPIK #7 – Increase Listening Comprehension by Training your Brain with Minimal Pairs

Inspiration Korean has three consonants that could be mistaken for a t: ㅌ as in tan, ㄸ as in Stan, and ㄷ, which sounds something like a cross between a t and a d.Fluent Forever Over the next few days,Continue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #7 – Increase Listening Comprehension by Training your Brain with Minimal Pairs

120 Days to TOPIK #6 – Create a Mobile-friendly Study Kit for When You’re Away from Home

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 wasContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #6 – Create a Mobile-friendly Study Kit for When You’re Away from Home

120 Days to TOPIK #5 – DIY Language Learning Beats the Pants off Rosetta Stone

Inspiration No one can give you a language; you have to take it for yourself. To succeed, you need to actively participate. Each word in your language needs to become your word, each grammar rule your grammar rule. – FluentContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #5 – DIY Language Learning Beats the Pants off Rosetta Stone

120 Days to TOPIK #4 – Learn 3600 Words in 4 Months Practicing only 30 Minutes Per Day!

Inspiration In previous posts, I’ve gone over the first 1-3 points in the following list. Today, we’ll tackle number 4-5 with Spaced Repetition Systems (and after learning about SRS, I am MOST excited about getting started with it myself). InContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #4 – Learn 3600 Words in 4 Months Practicing only 30 Minutes Per Day!

120 Days to TOPIK #3 – Lazy Recall: Learn Language Like a Computer Programmer

Inspiration When I was in university studying for a Computer Science degree, there was a pretty common expression that almost all of us in the COSC department were familiar with: A good programmer is a lazy programmer. Why? The FIRST reasonContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #3 – Lazy Recall: Learn Language Like a Computer Programmer

120 Days to TOPIK #2 – Increase Your Memory Efficiency by Learning The Four Levels of Memory

Inspiration Over the next few days, I’ll be taking notes (and issuing Challenges) based on the following 5 principles of memory found in Fluent Forever: Make memories more memorable Maximize laziness Don’t review, recall Wait, wait! Don’t tell me! RewriteContinue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #2 – Increase Your Memory Efficiency by Learning The Four Levels of Memory

120 Days to TOPIK #1 – Gather Resources

Gather your resources! This is one of my favorite parts of any new Challenge because it can be fun to look over the kinds of materials you WANT to use and the kinds of things you WANT to learn (plus,Continue reading 120 Days to TOPIK #1 – Gather Resources

How I Will Study for the TOPIK II in 120 Days (and You Can Join Me)

Well, that was unexpected. I recently wrote a post outlining my plan to cram for the TOPIK II in 30 days. I had been planning to take the test on July 19, 2015. But, I guess plans change. As it turnsContinue reading How I Will Study for the TOPIK II in 120 Days (and You Can Join Me)

RE: 6 Steps to Get Going Again After A False Start

Ever experienced a false start? One of those times you tell yourself, “I’m going to do X” but when you get yourself down to it, you don’t. False starts are most commonly experienced when good intentions don’t measure up toContinue reading RE: 6 Steps to Get Going Again After A False Start

Get Back on That Horse that Bucked You

There’s not much in life more discouraging than failure – except perhaps, the full feeling of failure. Many people fail at something, yet don’t feel like failures. And many other people constantly feel like failures though they succeed greatly. Every lifeContinue reading Get Back on That Horse that Bucked You

The Truth About Memory and Learning (Accelerated Learning Part 1)

They call it “Accelerated Learning” because you learn faster when you’re relaxed, interested, motivated, and learning in your particular Learning Style. But they should really call it “Authentic Learning” because the principles of “Accelerated Learning” aren’t really tricks or hacksContinue reading The Truth About Memory and Learning (Accelerated Learning Part 1)

Learning Korean: Start With Why

I’ve recently been reading a book touted by entrepreneurs and business people as one of the most important books in the last decade. The book has also been followed up with a TED.com talk by the author that’s become theContinue reading Learning Korean: Start With Why

40-Days ALL Challenges

To make it easier to reference all 40 of the Daily Challenges presented in my 40-Day Korean Speaking Challenge eBook, I’ve collected them all here (work in progress): Week 1: The Keys to Korean Gather your resources and share them.Continue reading 40-Days ALL Challenges

Give Yourself Some (More) Time, for Everything Worth Doing Requires It

In my May 2014 review, I talked about how I was in a funk for the majority of the month. That doesn’t mean I was unaccomplished, just much less so than I’m used to, and much less than I’d plannedContinue reading Give Yourself Some (More) Time, for Everything Worth Doing Requires It

Take Your Goal and Persevere WAY BEYOND “Normal” to Succeed

Perseverance. How many people wish this post didn’t start with that word? Perseverance is a lot like eating your vegetables. It’s something we all know we need, but not necessarily something we all want to do. Perseverance is a lotContinue reading Take Your Goal and Persevere WAY BEYOND “Normal” to Succeed

Until Your SHOULDS Become MUSTS, You’re Doomed to Walk the Road of Average

If you want to know the difference in people’s lives, it all comes down to: what are the things in your life that are “MUSTS” versus “SHOULDS”? — Anthony Robbins Should Recently, I listened to an interview with Anthony RobbinsContinue reading Until Your SHOULDS Become MUSTS, You’re Doomed to Walk the Road of Average

KOTESOL Presentation Resources

In the Habit Management Triangle, Reducing Scope is More Important than Modifying Schedule

In this series of posts, we’ve already talked about: The Difference between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation My Personal Habit Creation Experimentation How to Create Habits by Understanding Triggers and Rewards How to Understand Will Power and Make it Stronger TheContinue reading In the Habit Management Triangle, Reducing Scope is More Important than Modifying Schedule

4 Things Perfection is Not, & 4 Things Progress Must Be

Last week, I mentioned the fact that success in any endeavor comes about through PROGRESS and is not achieved in PERFECTION. The main reason for this is simply the fact that Perfection, by its very definition is Unattainable. If somethingContinue reading 4 Things Perfection is Not, & 4 Things Progress Must Be

Understand Will Power and Learn 5 Ways to Make it Stronger

In continuing with our post series on Habits and Motivation to help you live more a more consistent and disciplined lifestyle (i.e. get more things accomplished with less time and energy), today we will be addressing TWO important ingredients inContinue reading Understand Will Power and Learn 5 Ways to Make it Stronger

Understand Habits by Understanding Triggers and Rewards

Habits are the KEY for you to succeed at almost anything. The thing about Habits is, you don’t have to even think about them. They are pre-programmed into your brain and enable you to do routine, complex tasks – skillfullyContinue reading Understand Habits by Understanding Triggers and Rewards

My Experimentation (and Success!) with Habit Creation

Over the past week, I’ve been playing around with habits. Actually, habits have fascinated me for some time – particularly since I started studying them in the book by Charles Duhigg: The Power of Habit. I’ve written a number ofContinue reading My Experimentation (and Success!) with Habit Creation