A Fresh Start & Renewed Energy

 This will be short and sweet. I might even get around to actually designing a blog layout and whatnot. For now, I just wanted to get started.

Motivation Needed!

I'm creating a blog for my Korean language journey... the thought has flitted through my mind several times in the past few weeks, but I finally made up my mind to do it. I figured it would take more time that I could be using to study, but maybe it will be a little added motivation. I need it right now.

Changes Needed Too!

I was studying nicely for weeks. I felt I was making progress. However, the lessons I was doing were a bit scattershot for my taste. I have an extensive writing and editing background and understand grammar well (in English). I decided that I'd prefer to start there.

So, I went to HowtoStudyKorean.com because from what I'd seen, it appeared to be what I was looking for. It has a heavy grammar focus. I was shocked that it had such a huge vocabulary list for each section (my vocab doubled with a single lesson), but I decided to give it a go.

The grammar thus far has been incredibly easy, and I get to skip quite a bit of the lessons, since I know what the terms mean (i.e. I don't need an explanation on what conjugation means-- just how to do it). I would say that, while very different from English in many ways, the grammar seems easier than English overall. The use of markers within the sentences and meaning based on context appeal to me as well.

Why Now?

I had a bit of vacation time last week and studied Korean for hours every day. I lost track of how many hours, as I was enjoying it. When I went back to work, I noticed that I slowed way down. I took a few days off. I started learning just part of a vocab list instead of all 50 words in one day. And I haven't moved on to the next lesson even now.

The 한국어 Plan

I've decided that this is okay. A minor break is fine after studying for weeks! I'm going to do a few words per day and really study the same lesson for a few days. I need to break them down a bit more... maybe 20 minutes a day on the lesson itself rather than feeling the need to finish. Some take longer than others because I want to fully digest it.

And I will continue to do the dictation and application practices at the end of each lesson, however many days that takes. I'm not going to stress. There is no pressure, since I am just learning for fun.

Plus, a bit of immersion doesn't hurt, right? I started watching my first kdrama last week. First ever! It was addictive. So I watched another one. I believe I'll finish my 3rd series today. I think it is helping with my vocabulary and listening skills, since I can pick out lots of words while I'm watching. I still don't know enough words to go look up the ones I don't know. I don't know more than I know. But it's a start.

The Blog Plan

As I move on with this blog, I might fill in some more background on how I got into Korean. Also some more on what I'm watching/listening to. And maybe just, my thoughts on how studying went that day... what I got accomplished. We will see. For now, I hope this is just more motivation to keep going. I feel like a slacker.

Today:

I learned maybe 20 words with Memrise and reviewed the ones I learned the other day. I practiced sentences in plain conjugation. I did the practice and dictation lessons.

Tomorrow:

I hope to finish the words for the next lesson (14 left I believe) and study at least one section of the next lesson. Baby steps. 파이팅!