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
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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGSxss7gWak 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 LeeContinue 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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUMGNknv4fo 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 livingContinue reading 120 TOPIK #16 – Deconstruct Korean Grammar with 13 Sentences
120 TOPIK #15 – Pronunciation Tips from Tim Ferriss
Inspiration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUMGNknv4fo?t=15m37s 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 languageContinue 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
Interest in Learning Korean Survey
We are interested in learning what your experience with learning Korean is. My wife is doing her Master’s degree in Teaching Korean to Foreigners and is particularly interested in teaching Korean to English teachers (and other foreigners) already in Korea.Continue reading Interest in Learning Korean Survey
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
Q&A: How to Make Flashcards for Difficult Words
One of my Facebook followers recently asked a good question about the new approach to flashcards that I posted yesterday. I thought it was a great question so I decided to share both it and my response here. Question: IContinue reading Q&A: How to Make Flashcards for Difficult Words
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