Learning a language opens up a whole new world

Salam, 

today im gonna share my korean language learning journey. I think it might be of benefit to some people who are learning or who wants to learn. its good to have a third language skill. it'll take you far and as they said "a language opens up a new world for you", i now have 3 worlds to juggle with. its fun! totally recommended. *wink*. Im not gonna teach you today (tell me if you want) but im just gonna share my story. 

Before everything else, i have level 5 in TOPIK (Test of proffeciency in Korean Language), and now ive taken some part time jobs teaching, and also do some translations for free from day to day. if you ask me my korean level, i'd say im so-so but my korean friends said im native, they just decided to live thinking im korean. (ni bukan angkat bakul sendiri ye, diorang yang over, geram aku). Anyway just to let you know my current point in my journey. 

How do I start? yes, it starts from kpop but also no. It's not the main reason I started it, but its one of the reason to keep going. I started in June 2021. So hanbin (if you dont know him already he's a korean artist that i like), uploaded a "Study with me" video, it was the current trend that time to upload 1 hour of you "studying" so you're like studying with them. weird, but understandable. It was the everything-online covid era. 

And theyve opened a contest at the same time, saying theyre giving hanbin's signed stationaries to people who study every day for a month and reported it in the comment section every day. I think you know where im going now.  

So ofcourse i wanted his sign!! but i ended my degree and im working at the time so I dont really have anything to study about. being the fomo i am, i really wanted to join (keras kepala) so thats when i decided to learn korean. It was the very first day on 15th of june 2021, everyday until today, I learn korean.

So I learnt every day just for an hour at night after work. I picked up new grammar every day. by youtube. i think youtube is the best method for me because im free to pick my teacher and i can always repeat whats shes saying or i can search for extra video if i dont understand. There's SO much korean learning yts out there btw.

so I kept doing it for a month. And guess what happened when you continue learning consistantly everyday? u got good at it. (TIP #1: be consistant) I was just wanting his sign?? I can make some simple senteces, write (ugly-ly), and read at that time. So the contest ended, i didnt won, but i won a new skill i guess. 

Now that ive studied for a month, i knew a lot, my notebook was almost full, i can't just throw it away? I neeeed to continue on it. So i did. 

So, korean language has a looooooooooot of grammars. Sometimes, they're just conveying the same thing but its 2-3 or maybe up to 10 different ways of saying. And they have a loooooooooooot of vocabs. and, the same, same meaning, have 2-3 or maybe up to 10 different words. The language is so rich. 

i continue to pick up the many new grammars everyday. I didnt really focus on vocabs cause it'll come along the way. It got interesting trust me. Especially when you have somewhere to apply it to. (TIP #2: Use it right away). at that time, i have a, kind of like an online "Diary"? where I write everything in korean and I can read others' posts in korean too. And, oh my gosh you're gonna be sick hearing his name, but Hanbin sometimes come to the site and leave comments on it or sometimes He too will write something on it. 

So I pick up grammars, i wanted to be cool, i keep up to the mostly used grammars and trends, and I apply it to my posts, and I apply it when im reading too. When I saw something I dont know or new, i quickly search and add it into my brain so i can use it later. I just tiru them. (TIP #3: tiru the natives). my skills increased RAPIDLY bcs i write everyday and read something new everyday, and its not study examples, i read actual korean people's writting. you gotta do that, thats the fastest way. and i want to be cool and i want hanbin's comment so..(TIP #4: Have your own drive(s))

oh pls forgive me when i say i want to be cool. 

Fassst forward to september, one day before my birthday after I did my usual diary post on that site and went to sleep, (hanbin always lures around at dawn he's nocturnal) i woke up to "Hanbin left a comment" notification on my phone. What????????? wait what? for real???? i shouted. accidentally woke my sister up. I showed it to her, and she's like, 'wow', and went back to sleep. I was so happy that day I told everyone. I told my parents. They were excited for me too. till now, i got so much replies from him i didnt even tell anyone anymore, they'll be sick of it. I can't count anymore im basically friends with hanbin now lol. so rewarding. SO MUCH. 

I cant help to feel sooo excited to learn more and more and get better everyday it became my hobby (I got obsessed with it). but theres times when im lazy, i just dont. I once have weeks of burn out haha. but its okay, you just rest and dont give up.

I study with youtube videos especially https://www.youtube.com/@KoreanwithMissVicky, and one website that i really love, howtostudykorean.com, but im not afraid to find other resources too. TalkToMeInKorean is good but i dont really like it that much. im not sure about you but you don't need to make pretty notes, semua tu buang masa. but its good to have notes. you do you. but i just dont want you to be pressure by the pretty notes ppl did. sometimes the uglier it is the better.

so i got better at reading and writting so much for just in a year. So i thought i need to increase in my speaking and listening too. thats when i decided to enroll in a twice-a-week korean class. I don't remember where I found it but Ive entered HH Korean Language Center, they provides grammar classes with a korean teacher, and speaking classes with great-korean local teacher (i love my teachers). Its quite expensive for a month but i think its okay. I love it. (TIPS #5: You have to love it) 

Ive learnt so much from there, bcs learning from a native is different. Speaking, most of the time. So yeah, i think i got my confident in speaking there. 

It was great, i just took for a year i think? bcs i got low on budget haha.

oh btw along this timeline i did part time in teaching  korean speaking class for beginners and i got offered a full time position in penang as a korean speaker but my parents didnt let me go haha. 

The classes i took was where i got to know of TOPIK exam. Its an official examination where you'll take a test (reading, writting, and listening) they'll grade your level and will give you a certificate that you can use for work or study. 

So, i said it was my hobby. I didnt have much thinking of using it for work honestly but it somehow got to me that I think i might use this skill to help people and I want to challenge myself.

Funny story, i was so excited to register i sent the application a month before the registration opens. I paid for the exam a month before the registration opens. The officer must be like, "calm down girl" or smth and sent an email back "its not time yet".

I focused on studying for the exam for 3 months? (TIP #6: Focus on the formats), just like every exam in this world, the tips is to study the format and tackle it. but i was SOOOO demotivated by the past papers because its soooo hard. I got lazy. I tweeted everyday, i dont want to study. I thought to myself  im weak....im still not enough....trash...everyday! sometimes i feel like giving up but i cant, ive paid for it, so i just pushed myself through it. The night after the test was when my sister said "this is the most relaxed state of you ive ever seen. selalunya asyik anxious nak study je". gosh, topik really got me stressed i just want it done. Alhamdulillah i got level 5. not bad at all. 

So...fast forward to now, i did not pick up grammars anymore but i pick up words now. I learnt a lot from my korean friends, from hanbin especially, i read korean novels and comics. I dont really watch dramas but youtube korean vlogs. That is now my way of learning now, i just got input from things i do. Korean language has became a part of my life now. I reaaally love it. Looking at the first note i did, that squiggly attempt on korean letters, and the early korean diary posts, i can say i have improved so much. i dont really appreciate and compliment myself so much, i tend to think im always not enough, but im gonna take this opportunity to say i actually did great. ofcourse, there's so much more to learn, but I did great to come to this point. Alhamdulillah. 

obsessed. i ss-ed everything

pls doa for me that I can do my teaching job properly, let my tongue be clear, and able to make the students understand. I hope to use it more for other jobs, or if not, i'll just live in my 3rd world happily. I love it. I love my korean friends theyre so funny. And the novels? are the best. the comics? SO funny. You dont know how happy i am listening and understanding to korean songs easily. And how fun it is to understand their jokes….and how fun it is to understand hanbin’s blabber. haih its so fun. really. 

Conclusion is, i know many have scared you saying korean is hard. even koreans said it is. 

It is hard (not helping). But, if you do it everyday, you'll get it. Actually in anything you want to be good at, just do it everyday, you'll eventually get it. You brain is smarter than you think it is. 

Thats it. Consistency is the key. Study smart, not study hard. and, dont study from textbook, atleast not just that. cause you need to learn how it's applied, its nuances, its tones, how they write, how the talk and everything! 

Korean is sooo fun. Its much much more fun that english. There are so much expressions in korean that are not found in english and there are soo much expressions that are the same in malay. I can say, korean and malay shares the same way of talking. Example, how do you translates "kot" in english without losing its nuance? you can't really but there's the same expression in korean! But BIG tips in learning language, TIP#7 dont focus on translating too much. You have to learn like a baby. Dont let other languages cloud your way of thinking. 

fighting! 

Okay. i really hope for the best for those who wants to learn. Dont give up. I'll always support you. And feel free to ask me anything. Hope it benefits!

“Hanbin” counter: 7