mintislearning

[mintislearning]

멍멍이 and 댕댕이

This is a short one so I’m just gonna insert my story so the post doesn’t seem too boring.

I was out buying food with my friend when we encountered this huge (but fluffy) dog and we were like on auto pilot, immediately overwhelmed by the cuteness and just went “오 멍멍이다!” which means “Ooh! A dog!”.

My friend was… he went on to do a whole song (with wiggly dance moves) like “멍멍이 댕댕이 멍멍이 댕댕이” and I just silently covered my face and got out of there as quick as possible cause “Oh I don’t know this guy”.

Anyway, my curiosity got to me and I turned to my friend and asked him why dogs are called 댕댕이.

Because for 멍멍이, 멍멍 is the onomatopoeia for dog’s barking, so people call dogs 멍멍이 (aside from 개 (full-grown dog) and 강아지 (puppy)) in Korean. But I just can’t understand why 댕댕이.

And then my friend explained to me and I got my biggest “OH! RIGHT!” moment in a long while.

See this video I made for explanation. (The quality dropped like 200%…?)

I hope this post is helpful, especially to those who have the same question as I did.

[mintislearning]

Polyglot Diary Ideas

I recently saw a post (sorry I don’t have your @) about what a good idea it is to keep a diary in your target language. It will help you realize what words you don’t know, you need, and want to learn! Plus it’s great practice!

So I thought I’d drop some ideas/prompts for you to try once a day, or at your own pace.

Keys

Underline words you use often, so you can later look up synonyms!

Write words you aren’t sure you’re using correctly in a different color.

Put a * next to words you’re having trouble memorizing, and put definitions of that word at the bottom of the page. 

Prompts

Introduce yourself!

Introduce your family. 

How many siblings do you have?

What are they like? (Try to use at least three adjectives!)

What do you like to do?

What are your favorite foods?

When you go to a restaurant, what do you like to order?

What year are you in school?

What subjects did you take in school?

What is your favorite season?

Why is it your favorite?

What don’t you like? 

Say something about one of your friends!  (Try to use at least three adjectives!) 

Name a memory with your friend.

What’s your favorite color/animal?

Introduce your pets!

What are they like?

Name a memory with your family!

What is your favorite thing to wear?

What is your favorite type of weather?

What is your favorite holiday?

What do you look like? 

Where do you work?

What do you do there?

What did you have for dinner last night? Who was there?

What is your favorite book/show/movie?

What’s it about?

Recite a poem or quote in your target language! 

What is your house like? (Ex: My house is small. / I have a brown couch.)

How are you feeling?

What was the last thing you read/watched?

 How was it?

What was the last thing you read/watched in your target language?

Do you have any hobbies?  (Ex: sports, knitting)

Who did you last see?

What did you guys do?

Where is the last place you went?

How was your day?

Who is your favorite celebrity? 

Describe something you saw today. 

What did you do yesterday/last week?

What do you hope to do in the future? (Ex: “There’s a concert next week..”)  

This is all I can come up with for now, but remember! You do it how you want to do it! It doesn’t have to be artsy, it doesn’t have to be long, or detailed, your handwriting doesn’t have to be pretty. My first page of a language diary was - “Hello, my name is ___, I am __ years old. My moms’ name is ___, I have __ brothers/sisters. Their names are ___.” It’s not supposed to sound sophisticated, it’s supposed to help you learn as you grow.  Happy Learning!

[mintislearning]

13.

When was my last entry? Long ago, I believe.

But I really have nothing much to write. Actually, I kind of forgot this blog exist in the first place.

How is my Korean langauge study going?

I don't have much time to study these days as my schedule is pretty full with uni stuffs and piling assignments. I still chat with my language exchange partner but I found myself using too much English. I'm trying to use more Korean to chat now, but I do feel like I still haven't been able to use most of what I've learned so far. Even though I'm still a beginner, there are plenty of possibilite sentences I could make, especially when I am just describing my day, or the weather, or what I am doing. So it makes me pretty sad. I could study, but I haven't make it a priority. My body and mind could only handle so much in one day.

I also forgot to use anki flashcards. But I'm not going to blame myself or make myself feel bad for it. I know that I'd be too tired and I need the rest. So yeah :)

How is my uni?

Ugh, I'm in my last year so there are so many things to take care of. I believe I can do this!

Also I actually have more days off than I have ever before, and that definitely makes me feel lazy. I made a weekly study/assignment focus schedule last Tuesday and weekly goal. I made a hourly schedule for a day on Tuesday and while it worked (I feel like I did a lot more than I expected!), I underestimated the energy it consumed. I got tired way earlier than usual and so I have to adjust my schedule.

So that's all. I don't think anyone would read this but it's fun to write things down, I guess. Also so that my future self can read this hahaha 😆

[mintislearning]

running a studyblr as an adult is so strange. i see kids as young as 13 having breakdowns about grades, isolating themselves from everyone because they don’t quite fit in, not knowing how to deal with very real mental health problems… it’s not my place as someone significantly older than you to try and intervene in your personal life, but i hope you all know that if you ever want advice - about studying, dealing with life, or just which colour to change your blog to - or need someone to listen to you when you’ve had an awful day, my inbox is always open. things will get better for you, and you will be okay, i promise.

[mintislearning]

취미 - Hobby

취미가 뭐예요? - What is your hobby?

제 취미는 …이에요/예요. - My hobby is …

배드민턴을 치다 - To play badminton 자전거를 타다 - To ride a bike  등산을 하다 - To hike 낚시를 하다 - To fish 피아노를 하다 - To play piano 게임을 하다 - To play games  사진 찍다 - To take photos  춤을 추다 - To dance

얼마나 자주 - How often 언제나 / 항상 - Always 자주 - Often 가끔 - Sometimes 별로 (+안) - (not) Really/very much 거의 (+안) - Almost (never) 전혀 (+안) - (not) At all 매주 - Every week 매일 - Every day 늦게 - Lately 요즘 - These days 꼭 - Without fail/certainly 그동안 - In the mean time

얼마나 자주 게임을 해요? - How often do you play games? 요즘에 바빠서 가끔 해요. - I am busy these days so I sometimes play. 요즘 배드민턴을 자주 쳐요? - Do you often play badminton these days? 날씨가 좋아서 자주 쳐요. 내일도 쳐요! - The weather is good so I often play. I’ll plat tomorrow too! 

🎃A&R🎃

[mintislearning]

Korean on the Internet

써방 (or 서방) is short for 서치 방지 (search prevention). It’s a word used solely on sites with a keyword or tag search system. Since some KPop idols search their names on social media (specifically Twitter), 써방 means writing the name of an idol wrong on purpose in order for the idol in question not to find tweets related to them.

웃음지뢰 (lit. laughing mine) : when something is so funny that you explode in laughter.

[mintislearning]

if you think you’ve covered everything shown thoroughly then go ahead with intermediate but ive had friends tell me even though theyve finished beginners, the jump to int is pretty rough.

honestly if you havent covered some of the things mentioned then just use this book. so i just recommend building a really strong base for you to go off of later. i know its tempting to advance on after covering things for a long period of time, especially when you feel you know it, (hard SAME yall) but make sure you solidify your core knowledge; it’ll be better for you in the long run. i know a lot of the info in this book from just talking with my friends but i came to this to build up my base which i think you should do too if you see unfamiliar concepts.

briefly review what you know, then study the points you dont until you’re confident. then move onto intermediate. good luck im humbled that im an inspiration to you!!

this is table of contents for intermediate for you to compare:

[mintislearning]

12.

The last thing I learned was about “only (만)” which was four days ago and it makes me frustrated sometimes that I don’t study more. 

But! if you incorporate studying Korean in your daily lives, you would see improvement in areas other than grammar and vocabulary, too!

I noticed that my typing speed in Korean has increased! My mind and fingers had started to get used to where the letters are! Yay! This comes from chatting in Korean daily with my language partners. Sometimes I’d try to make sentences and when she understands it, there is this happy feeling within me. (Especially when I tried to use 만 for practice and it was a bit tricky for me and it was correct so I’m cheering inside! I think it was “아침부터 먹기 만 했어요”.) I do admit, though, I hadn’t been using Korean that much when I chat lately. I should use it more! She had been so nice, too.

I also tried to read some tweets in Korean and when I more or less understand it, I fist-bumped myself. Though sometimes there are words that I guessed so I have to search for it my go-to dictionary afterward (to check if I guessed the meaning and root word correctly. If it’s correct, another fist-bump). Like when I learned English, learning new words from context felt easier to remember. 

That feeling, when you read a whole sentence knowing all the words and meanings, is so motivating! It’s not for nothing, my hard work. Little by little, through small changes, I am improving! :D 

Some things I did that you can try : 

Making a daily, short journal in your target language. Curiosity will make you study new things! It sticks better when you are actually curious about it :D 

Chat with a language partner. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes! They’d correct your mistake or suggest a similar sentence that sounds more natural :D

When watching dramas/shows or listening to music, try to listen if you know some of the words being said. It can motivate you when you realised you know some of them xD It would be better to do this with a drama you really like or have watched more times than you can count (I do have that kind of drama and I need to stop rewatching it lol It’s the drama that motivates me to learn Korean in the first place bcs of its untranslatable jokes). Because when you know the storyline already but you liked it anyway, you can try to focus on the words and dialogue while still enjoying it. 

Try guessing grammar points. I guessed some grammar points and see what it could mean before actually checking it. That way I remember better as I tried to think about it first. I also learned some new grammar points that’s above my levels because I chat with my Korean language partner. If I don’t understand I’d try to search with the "formula” I guessed for it and ta-da! found it. Though I can’t use it yet, it’s good to know. When I actually reach that level I would grasp the concept faster.

I am by no means an expert of this. I had only learn Korean for like, 3 months? But it had been a rewarding experience. I had been interested in Korean language and culture for years but only this year did I get that push to study it seriously. I got new friends, learned new things, made a new blog, can write some journal entry in a language none of my family knows (lol), exchanged cultures with new friends, and understands a bit more ( I can guess what day an upcoming drama is going to air from a korean news titles before trans came out and I’m a happy girl. Yay for mon-tue drama!).

I hope to continue this journey for years to come :) I hope I’ll get as addicted to learning new things as I am addicted to journaling and stationeries :D

[mintislearning]

[App review] — Duolingo (Korean)

**NOTE** It was brought to my attention that this is a public beta release and the course still sin’t totally complete. I saw no indications of that on the app when I started the course, and I feel that many others will likely start the course not aware that it’s a beta. Anyway, even in light of this information I feel like my criticisms are still valid. Once the course is given a final release, I will go back and do a new review.

The Korean Duolingo is finally out. Korean learners and would-be learners have been going a bit crazy about it ever since… pretty much ever since it was announced! If you happen to hang around the Korean subreddit on Reddit, you would know that posts hyping the Korean Duo come up fairly often. I know a lot of people love Duolingo and have great expectations and high hopes for the Korean Duo. So, how does it do?

Have you ever had that feeling like you know you should feel disappointed but you just feel apathetic instead because you weren’t expecting enough to even be properly disappointed? That’s exactly how I feel about the Korean Duo. I had played around with the Japanese Duo and found a few errors and oddities and just a lack of good information about the grammar, to the point that if I hadn’t already had a little background in the language, I probably would have given up far longer before I did. I was expecting a similar outcome for the Korean Duo, but at the same time I really was hoping for the best because, while the amount of Korean learning resources available is increasing, there still just isn’t that much quality material out there. Korean Duo, unfortunately, is not quality material.

I’m just going to take you with me step-by-step through the first few levels (I’m writing this review as I go through them, though I will likely add in little notes and edits when I do my final post clean-up) so you can see what problems cropped up.

Learning Hangul

From the very starting stages, learning Hangul, it fails the learner. First of all, it uses romanization when it could very well just do a sound-symbol pairing… but I won’t waste space here complaining about why romanization is awful when I’ve already done that recently. From the beginning, there is no indication that Korean’s writing system, Hangul, is alphabetic. Instead, it gives you full syllables and you’re supposed to just intuit that there’s a certain formula to building those syllables because they sure don’t let you know. The way they present Hangul makes Korean look like it uses a syllabic writing system rather than an alphabetic one, and as I poked through the levels, I could just imagine some total Korean newbie writing every last syllable down with the romanization to try to remember them individually when they could learn Hangul a lot more efficiently in other ways. Also, some of the syllables that they gave, since they insisted on teaching Hangul with full syllables, could have been taught as vocab in their own right (꽃 flower is one example) but instead, it just had you matching “꽃” with romanization instead of connecting it to something meaningful :/ 

Another thing I didn’t like in the Hangul-learning levels (and just in general) was the awful robotic voice. If you want to teach people how to speak a language so they can, in theory, then go out and use it with other real humans, please use a real human voice for your recording! Especially in the Hangul-”learning” section, some of the vowels of the syllables sound really bad, and in general stringing sound files of words being read in isolation (once you get to making sentences) is not good when you want to approximate how people actually speak. Some of the sentences aren’t completely awful, but they’re still pretty awkward.

Picking up some words

Let’s move on… your first few words are “milk, child, raincoat, and doughnut” and then you get into this weird loanwords section. Maybe Duolinguo got some sponsorship or corporate backing, because after the four words previously mentioned, your next words are “Starbucks, McDonald’s, Samsung, and Hyundai” :] Never mind that the proper English translations “Samsung” and “Hyundai” don’t match the romanization that they just had you using to pair syllables with…?? So I can see a new learner getting confused about why “Samsung” isn’t 삼숭 and why “Hyundai” isn’t 현다이. The next section does give you more useful words, but I’m wondering why they didn’t just start with those in the first place.

First sentences

Once you get out of all the Hangul-”learning” parts, you start with basics, which is simple “X is Y” sentences. They start with 하십시오체, which I will give them props for, but there is no mention of formality levels at all. Also, there is no explanation at all of the nature, usage, and meaning of particles… and they drop a lot of particles in Basics 1 and 2, including -이/가, -은/는, -와/과, and -에. Does something so vital to Korean grammar not deserve teaching? And there is no explanation of 이다 either—you are just given 입니다 as an attachment to nouns to remember that way. I suppose it does fall in line with Duolinguo’s method of just giving you chunks to learn, but that’s not an effective way to learn them at all, especially -이/가 vs -은/는.

Common Phrases

On to Common Phrases… and suddenly we have both 하요체 and 해체/반말 mixed in with 하십시오체??? I had three questions in a row that went from “안녕하세요! 만나서 반갑습니다” to “환영합니다” to “고마워.” No explanation of formality levels, AGAIN. They do introduce 고맙습니다 in the same level but there’s no actual explanation of the importance of keeping your formality levels in check.

Verdict

This is all the material covered up to the first checkpoint. Over the next few days I’ll work ahead more and maybe write a bit more on this, but I just wanted to test the first few levels to see if it provides a decent base for beginners to the Korean language. It falls far short of that, and I wouldn’t recommend that anyone with a serious interest in learning Korean use this as their starting point (if at all). Sorry, Duolingo!

I’ll leave you with what (I think?) was an attempt by the developers to be witty that just didn’t make it there.

Happy studying (just not with Korean Duo, please!)~

[mintislearning]

11.

My language exchange partner used "xD" for the first time today 😂 I used that a lot and when she used it I feel happy. What's cuter is that she used ir after a Korean sentence. Like how I write in English and add "ㅠㅠ"

[mintislearning]

Why are there so many words for day? 일, 날, 하루, how do you differentiate?

Hello, we apologise for our super late response. Hopefully, our answer will still help you!

• 일 used for days of the week, month etc. 

20일 = the 20th day of the month

You can even see it in 매일 (every day) and 내일 (today).

Days of the week: Monday -월요일 Tuesday - 화요일 etc.

Also used for counting days, “4일 동안” means “for four days”.

• 날  has the general meaning of “day”.

 Adjectives are attached to it, used to describe what day it is. For example:

마지막 (last) + 날 (day) = the last day

생일 (birthday) + 날 = Birthday

 • 하루 means “one day” or “a single day”.

하루하루 = day by day/every day.

[mintislearning]

10.

It's been so long since I actually studied Korean. I haven't touched my notes at all, also didn't open anki. None of those.

I just didn't have the time...

I could make the time, but most days I'd be too tired. So much in my mind, it's a tiring semester and it's just the 5th week!

But, I do chat with my Korean language exchange partner every day. I learnt a lot of new words and grammar points (which are actually way above my level, but it's good to know before I actually learn it properly). Our topic has become a bit deeper, too. She asked about my culture because she happened to have a friend from the same country and waa wondering. And I liked that she asked. She even apologized first in case she was rude. But I really prefer for people to ask rather than making any assumptions, right?

She is an open-minded person, too.

Yesterday we hit a language confusion for the first time 😂 She wanted to say something but cannot express it in English while my Korean is still a very beginner level. Thankfully I was able to guess what she meant after like, three sentences as she tried to explain 😂 Yay me!

I also found out our my other language exchange partner likes stationery, too!

Improvement that I noticed is that I'm faster when typing Korean now :D

Oh, those times I used to watch dramas are not time wasted. Other than the fact that I enjoyed them, I also realised I understand more words thus even though I might not be able to use them in a sentence yet, when my partner used it I could somehow guess more or less correctly 💕

[mintislearning]

09.

With my schedules either full with classes or doing assignments all day, I have little time to study Korean these days. I have been chatting everyday with my Korean language exchange partner and it frustates me that I keep on saying the same sentences with my limited vocabulary.

I also feel the urgent need to review the things that I have learned. Maybe I didn't put enough effort on this? I don't know.

I don't want to push myself too hard when I'm so tired either because I need the me-time and rest time, too. But I also wanted to push myself a little bit more, though I feel a little lost. I want to say more things to my friend than just what we are doing and whether we have eaten yet. I want to say more things correctly. I get confused with making sentences these days and I believe it's because I forgot the basic grammar points. I need to study more. Even just a bit more.

[mintislearning]

@maiyataa replied to your post “Hey just wondering but since you are/were in South Korea did you get a…”

just curious, are you korean or did you learn korean? coz im trying to learn korean but its taking a long time for me to learn vocabulary, i was wondering if you have any tips? thanks!!

I’m answering like this because it was too much text for a reply, hope you don’t mind.

I’m not Korean but I studied Korean studies in university so now I’m about high intermediate/low advanced in speech level. But I graduated so now I have to continue on my own. I don’t know what level you’re at but what helped my vocabulary was watching dramas or Vlives with korean subtitles on and writing down every word that I didn’t know. On Viki they recently made a learn mode, where you can enable both English and Korean subtitles at the same time! At first there were a lot of words I had to look up, but over time it really improved. Now I can watch things for a long time before needing to look up anything. 

I enter them in AnkiDroid on my phone, which allows you to study 10 (or more) new words every day, and reviews old words according to how well you know them. I have about 3500 words on there now and I’m still reviewing and learning new words every day. 

I think the subtitle thing is useful when you reach intermediate, but if you’re still a beginner I would still recommend Ankidroid! Really useful to learn vocabulary well.

Good luck with your studies!

[mintislearning]

08.

Downloaded two new apps : Engross and Remented.

Engross

I usually use Forest for this purpose, but Engross has this feature that lets you record if you're distracted. Sometimes I'd just look at my phone when I'm distracted and look at the notifications. With this (at least when I tried it yesterday) I realised I was distracted and get back to work.

Remente

I've tried similar app which was Fabulous. With those apps, they have a pre-set to do list for a better... way of life? Hahaha

But Fabulous nagged me a bit too much for my comfort (lol). Remente let me choose which one I want to do so that's nice. I don't know how long I'd use this but let's try. But it has a nice and cute mood tracker (that Fabulous doesn't have) and some kind of life assessment. Look, you can choose what kind of feeling exactly that you are feeling! I usually use Daylio to track my mood which worked pretty well for me. But I like trying new apps lol (this is somehow my way of procrastinating lol)

About my Korean Language learning, I've been trying to use more Korean in chats because I realised that I used too much English. I tried to ask and use phrases I just learnt. These days I have two people whom I chat with daily. So the tiring (for the mind lol) partner search is finished. I barely open Tandem except if I got new notifications as we chat on KaTalk (way more stable than tandem. Sharing pic is tedious on Tandem).

[mintislearning]

07.01

Just found out Kakao Talk could make a chatroom with yourself xD

This is a nice way for my micro-journaling!

You can use this to give yourself positive messages to read 😁

(Oh, those cute themes!!)

[mintislearning]

07.

I had been skipping taking notes of new grammar rules and haven’t continued TTMIK Lessons. I thought chatting with my language exchange partner would be enough when I’m busy.

But, that’s not the case. First of all, I’m not even that busy. I spent more time thinking what to do than actually doing something (I didn’t even waste my time by watching dramas. I just.... do nothing while thinking with no real goal). Second, I realised I used too much English chatting with her lately!

I had started to forgot how to form some simple sentences because I didn’t use them. And that’s a bad sign. I need to review what I learned!

On another note, I’m so glad I met my language exchange partner. I tried talking with so many people in Tandem but only some actually replied and even less people actually had a conversation with me. And now I’m down to 2 - 3 people whom I chat to regularly. (But Tandem seemed to be a bit buggy, too, though. Sending pictures takes so long. Sometimes it never send the picture and it stays pending forever. So I wonder if my partner was busy or it was tandem’s fault?) I switched to Kakao Talk with one of my most active partner and it had been a way nicer chatting experience, as in, no pending pictures or chat. She actually replied pretty fast? So I’m not sure what it is. hahaha

Today’s achievements : 

- Reviewed Anki verb flashcards (but still avoided the grammar flashcard because oh my, it’s piling up. and I’m not sure if I suited studying with flashcards. I think I’ll just stick with one card deck because two of them makes my brain confused, instead.)

- Almost completed my to-do list. I have to think of my university assignments, since some deadlines are approaching. Time flies so fast!