Before we start, I’m going to be straight forward. This is going to be long, and if you can get through all of this and take something from it, then I’ve done my job. I want this to be as helpful as possible for beginners learning Korean and specifically something I wish I had read when I started. I personally believe beginners to more distant languages almost always overestimate the progress you can make in x amount of time. To a degree, I think beginner me would be ecstatic that at 10 months, I have the ability to read books and watch dramas without help, but if I was told it took 2000 hours (instead of 10 months) I would’ve been disappointed.
Feel free to skim, and if you have any questions, contact me on discord (피어나#7923).
I’m going to cover most bases of what I’ve done during these 10 months. It’s hard to fit in recommendations for what beginners should do in this same post, so I’ll save that for another time.
Please take this all with a grain of salt. What I’ve done isn’t necessarily efficient, and some of it might not work for you, and that’s totally fine. Take what you want from it. I’m not a Korean god (yet), so my opinions might change in the future. Plus, this is the first language I've learnt.
Sadly, I didn’t track monthly progress outside of time tracking, so I can’t tell you where and when I saw improvements in certain things. I can only tell you where I am at now and explain my struggles through the current day point of view. If you take anything from this it is actually tracking your progress. Each month, write something about your progress and how Korean feels for you. Are you struggling to watch a show? Write it down. Trust me it’ll be useful for you as you progress.
Anyway, let's get into it.
A brief summary
Immersion, as I’ll be referring to it throughout this post, is any kind of input that you can learn from in your target language (this case, Korean). Reading, listening, watching content, music, etc. I should state that if you’re using subtitles in a language you already know, that isn’t actual immersion/input. Some types of input are more effective than others (like music basically does nothing).
When referring to my level of understanding in this post, I use percentages. For instance, 20% would refer to knowing 20/100 words. It can change from domain (type/genre of media) to domain and from medium (books, listening etc) to medium, which is why I regularly bring it up.
I have been actively immersed in Korean for 10 months as of the time I hit 2,000 hours. I started in August 2021, which would make it 13 months but as the word “actively” should hint at, I had a 3 month break due to mental health issues and burnout.
As of September 2022, I can understand any drama I watch without the help of English subtitles or lookups but struggle in certain situations such as courtroom scenes or medical scenes due to vocabulary. I can also understand vlogs, vlives etc. My comprehension drops without subtitles, which is what I’m working on now.
My vocabulary’s around the 6k range, almost all of it supplemented with anki.
I have finished nearly 20 novels in Korean ranging from Harry Potter to books for adults (over 1 million words) and read over 20 webtoons (not finished a lot of them since they’re continuous).
I finished all of TTMIK and the first 6 units of HTSK in December 2021.
Grammar
I love grammar. It’s so much fun to read about. I love it to the point that I spent 400 hours studying it between August 2021 and January 2022. Now to be completely blunt, I regret most of it. It was a genuine waste of time. Especially taking notes. I studied grammar intensively but sadly as I got further into grammar books and the grammar became less common, it was harder to remember and therefore most of the grammar I learnt was forgotten.
I remember someone saying something that applies to this situation. If you can’t remember something now, no matter how hard you try, then you’re not at the level for that yet. This applies to grammar too. Just because you’re learning a structure from a series you’ve been following doesn’t mean you’re at the level to utilise it. Basically, if you can’t remember something, you probably don’t need it yet. This is why immersion is important, it is how you learn.
I still learn grammar now, just in a different way. I use it almost as a dictionary. If I don’t remember/understand/know a structure I encounter whilst reading or watching I’ll search it up. Then, continue reading it. I think this is the best way to go about grammar past the high beginner stage (for instance level 6 of TTMIK).
Trying to memorise grammar past the most basic structures will just make you frustrated and take away the time you could be spending doing other more beneficial things. I learnt this the hard way. There’s no use studying a bunch of new structures if you don’t have the time to go and see it (in books, shows, the real world etc) If you want to study grammar, by all means do it, but after a certain point, the benefits that you once saw start to lessen.
My current set up for learning grammar is searching it up on google and looking for HTSK first. If there isn’t an option for HTSK, I’ll look at Hello Native, Billy GO (usually too long though) etc. If it helps you, you can always write down the sentence you found the grammar from and then the basic idea of the grammar structure. You can also make grammar cards for harder, more nuanced structures (I have less than 10).
What I’ve noticed is there is a big misconception on the prioritisation of grammar. One that I fell into myself. After you’ve learnt the fundamental grammar, grammar shouldn’t be a priority. It’s the easiest battle to face, but that also means that when you finish it, everything else you neglected will be so much harder than it needed to be. A lot of people either quit because of this, or end up feeling frustrated, angry, disappointed etc. There are people who spend years focused on grammar only for some kid who's been learning for 5 months to understand more of a drama than them. I focused on grammar to the point where my vocabulary was lacking, I hadn’t read anything in Korean, I wasn’t able to understand 90% of things without subtitles (not that I would’ve understood much more at a beginner level), etc. I personally believe that deliberate grammar study is one of the least important things past the fundamentals.
I also believe that what has helped me the most with grammar is reading. The pure amount of exposure you get mixed with longer, more complex sentences gave me both a bigger variety but it also meant I was seeing the same structures in loads of different contexts. This helped me better understand how certain structures functioned and how Korean as a whole functioned.
Vocabulary
This is the perfect time to talk about vocabulary. I constantly see people neglect it. Heck, I neglected it for over a thousand hours. I’ve only really cared about building it over the last 500/600 hours! Vocabulary is hard and one of the reasons it is so hard is because it is a never ending battle. At least with grammar, there will be a point where you rarely run into new structures when watching/reading something. But that point with vocabulary takes 100 times as long. Why? Because Korean has over a million words and it takes you longer to learn the words that make up a native vocabulary than it takes you to learn all grammar natives use.
I have always struggled with learning vocabulary and what helped me the most was Anki. (Setting up anki for success is VERY important, and I will cover it in another post. Setting it up wrong could make or break how you feel about the program, how you use it, etc) Even just pre-made decks but especially sentence mining when I got to that point. Lists and books never worked for me but Anki basically saved my learning. If you don’t know what Anki is, here is the run down. It is a flashcard app that functions in a way that it spaces out your flashcard reviews depending on how well you remember the card. It attempts to show you cards before you would’ve forgotten them, therefore refreshing your memory and helping that card get into your long term memory.
Vocabulary makes everything easier: listening, reading, writing, speaking, even learning grammar. It will also most likely be your main struggle throughout your Korean journey. It’s frustrating, but if you are able to tolerate ambiguity (not understanding what is said/happening) then it will become easier for you as you learn new words.
Vocabulary works in two ways. Active and passive. Almost all of my vocabulary is passive. Passive vocabulary is vocabulary you acquire from input. All active vocabulary is also passive vocabulary (at least if you understand the word). Active vocabulary is the vocabulary you can use when speaking and writing. Seeing that word a lot makes it easier for vocabulary to become active, but the only way to actually activate it is by using it. As a beginner, your active vocabulary literally doesn’t matter. Only your passive does. Even if you want to talk to natives at the beginning, focus on passive, not active.
What a lot of people misunderstand is how little 6,000 words actually is. I can understand maybe 95-98% of a drama/vlog, but the last 5-2% of words aren’t just another 1,000 words. They could be anywhere from 5,000 words to 15,000. This is the hardest part. Realising that every word you learn past a certain point equates to less understanding than say one of the most common words.
Vocabulary is one of the reasons fluency still takes years to reach even if you’re studying more than 10 hours a day. Vocabulary requires patience as well as being kind to yourself. You will forget things, you will have weeks/months where you feel as though your comprehension hasn’t increased and you will encounter times where you want to speed run it and realise you can’t. Don’t underestimate the time it takes to grow your vocabulary. It’s not an overnight thing, it’s not about hours (to a degree: someone learning for 4 hours a day vs someone learning for 8 hours a day won’t have a drastic difference in their known words more so in their understanding of those words), it’s just about committing for years.
Stick with vocabulary. Keep learning.
Watching with Korean Subtitles
I’ve decided to split up watching with subtitles and watching without into separate categories for a few reasons. Almost all of my time has been used with subtitles and the level I’m at with them is much higher than without them.
So, how much time have I put into it?
688 hours.
Most of this time has been invested into k-dramas without the use of constant lookups (only when I need/want it). To give you an idea of my understanding, when watching 이상한 변호사 우영우(Extraordinary Attorney Woo Young Woo) I was able to follow along all of the storyline and plot outside of courtroom scenes and could somewhat follow courtroom scenes without the help of English subtitles. For refolders, my comprehension was about Level 4, but could occasionally hit Level 5 depending on the scene (this applies to all shows). I’d say I had around a 96%-97% comprehension on 이상한 변호사 우영우 (Extraordinary Attorney Woo Young Woo).
Either way, I can comfortably watch Korean shows, videos, etc with subtitles without any problems.
What I’ve struggled with the most hasn’t been ambiguity or anything, it’s just lack of interest. I don’t really like k-dramas that much, and there are only so many times I can rewatch the same 3 k-dramas before I either hate them or they become less efficient to learn from. I have been able to engage with dramas, it’s just not necessarily fun. You may be asking why I’m watching dramas then. Well it’s simple: they’re more enjoyable than YouTube or other kinds of listening immersion.
Finding content you enjoy is important. Especially when you’re going to have to commit thousands of hours to learning Korean if you want to get good (coming from someone who isn’t good). If you’re into kpop or k dramas, you’re lucky. There is so much content at your fingertips, take advantage of your enjoyment of said content. Enjoyment will get you further, faster.
Watching without Korean Subtitles
When looking at my listening, what I’ve noticed, and what I’m currently working on, is that it is pretty horrible compared to my reading. For shows like Running Man and Move to Heaven (which I have used to improve pure listening when watching media), I would say I can recognize just over half the words used and understand some sentences (I’d say around a 60-70% comprehension). I believe one of the reasons that is holding me back is the speed at which people talk (my brain is slow).
On Youtube videos, without subtitles my comprehension is higher (closer to 85% in certain media). What has helped me the most with the struggle that comes with the lack of understanding is rewatching shows (Move to Heaven) and watching engaging content (Certain episodes of Running Man, some YouTubers, etc). I also watched shows like Pokemon without subtitles ages ago, and could follow along.
As of hitting 2,000 hours. My main priority has been listening. One of my motivations (as of October) has been Overwatch 2. I live in Australia, and am working towards playing with Koreans. That goal alone has helped me a lot in immersing without subtitles during October!
I’ll touch more on my thoughts about pure listening + watching w/o subs later.
Reading
The first time I ever read in Korean was in late December 2021. It was a thriller web novel, way above my ability, in which I probably understood 20% of. Either way, I ended up finishing it (for context there were over 70 chapters, and over 100k words). I believe finding enjoyment in what you’re engaging in is important. Especially with reading, where you are purely guided by yourself. Everyone needs a balance between comprehension and interest. Obviously my comprehension was too low, but I believe that what I gained from finishing that book was more important than higher comprehension. It was a realisation that I could enjoy reading in Korean, despite my poor understanding. It was also the empowering feeling of finishing it.
Personally I wish I did read easier material. Things like graded readers, webtoons, slice of life, blog posts etc. And if you’re looking for where to start reading, that’s what I recommend. But I think if it’s too boring for you, to the point where you aren’t learning from it or you’re not learning as long as you could be, then I think it’d be worth trying something different. Maybe that’s trying new material, even if it's harder, or if you can’t find anything you enjoy, maybe it’s just worth putting it off.
Understanding content can be the make or break of your language journey. If you don’t understand enough you might feel too demotivated to continue learning. If you notice that your progress is “slowing” down, that might also be demoviating. Either way, we need to find a middle ground where we are still inputting but not to the point of demotivation. Input is needed to improve, but you can’t improve if you’ve quit.
Reading makes it a lot harder since usually there are way more words you won’t know. One of the reasons I put off reading was because I found it demotivating and too hard. If you feel that way now about reading, I totally understand putting it off. But I’d also recommend checking out graded readers and material made for learners or even childrens picture books if you really want. You can also just use subtitles as your form of reading for a while, like I did.
Whilst I am bringing up putting off reading, I don’t think you should put off listening and watching.
Now, I’m going to go over where I am currently at with my reading as of hitting 2,000 hours.
I have read around 294 hours of novels and 109 hours of comics, webtoons, manhwa, etc. Personally I don’t find webtoons that enjoyable. They’re basically my mindless immersion. I usually just read without looking up words or creating cards. But I do look up words in novels and create cards with them. Almost all of my intensive learning is done through reading novels at this point. I still occasionally do intensive watching, but not as much as I used to. (I am planning on making a post explaining how I immerse, and giving a basic run through.) This is where most of my vocabulary has come from, either indirectly or directly. I also believe a lot of my general sense related to grammar (understanding what sounds awkward, identifying patterns etc) comes from reading.
Books can vary wildly in terms of the level of understanding. This is usually because of words but occasionally it has to do with grammar or general knowledge on the subject. Because of this reason, whilst I’ve found some books easy to read, there are also books I’ve read in the past that are still hard for me now.
A book most people have read is Harry Potter. Whilst aimed at a younger audience (around the 11-12 range), the series is still a gold mine for a learner of any language. There are around 7,000 unique words in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. When looking back on the book now, I my comprehension can vary across the 90% range (occasionally dropping belong and sometimes hitting 97%-ish). This is much higher than when I first read it (closer to 70% is my estimate). The great thing about the Harry Potter series is that each book is harder than the last as it “grows up” with the target audience.
Outside of Harry Potter, everything else I’ve read has either been targeted at native teenagers or adults.
The last book I was reading as of hitting 2.000 hours was 안락 (Comfort). Picking a random page, I have around a 90% comprehension (this is based off of 80 words (so 8/80 unknown), for all I know it could be way lower). Whilst to a degree, this is significant, at the same time compared to what I was reading at the start, 90% comprehension is great. For context, 안락(Comfort) is a book aimed at adults and covers more heavy, family-oriented topics.
I believe I have improved in reading fairly quickly. Even with unknown words, I don’t necessarily struggle with reading, nor is it a hassle. If anything it’s relaxing and fairly enjoyable. (Which might be why it’s been so hard for me to do listening input as of recent).
For those interested, I do believe one of the hardest parts about reading is finding a middle ground (as I mentioned earlier). Something you enjoy but also something you can actually comprehend is extremely hard to find at a beginning stage. When you add on the addition of sentence mining, it gets tricky. 90% comprehension in a book you enjoy is pretty good, but mining with 90% comprehension is hard. Figuring out what you want to take away from your book is important. That includes setting goals. I’ve started to implement that more into my reading and general learning now. For instance, Harry Potter is the perfect series for extensive reading (where you just read, no lookups etc). But I had been intensively reading it, which isn’t ideal. If you’re interested in reading, I think it’s great to read multiple books at the same time, but each book has a different goal in mind. For instance, one book you read to improve comprehension, and for the sake of reading. Another you read intensively, where you’re looking up most (if not all) words, creating anki cards, etc. It’s also always great to reread things extensively.
My basic recommendation for reading novels (and short stories) targeted at natives is picking something you’ve read (or seen) before. It can make up for the lack of comprehension and if you know the story well enough, it’s a great environment to progress fast.
Reading vs Listening - What is actually important at the beginning?
I didn’t plan on doing anything like this, but I feel as though a simple explanation should be added to this post.
The short answer is reading. Watching content with subtitles in Korean improves your reading more than it improves your listening. This is important to realise. I’m specifically talking about listening with no subtitles vs reading anything.
It honestly doesn’t matter how much time you dedicate at the start to listening. You should dedicate some time, but realistically, the gains you get from listening is less than what you will gain once you have a good foundation in reading (even if it’s subtitles). This has to do with vocabulary but also just general exposure to the language. It’s easier to learn and remember vocabulary, grammar, language patterns etc, when you have the aid of subtitles (and the ability to go at your own pace). It’s harder to grow the vocabulary needed to properly learn how to hear Korean when you don’t have a good vocabulary base in the first place.
I would personally say that there should be a focus on watching with subtitles at the start, with a supplement of pure listening (watching/listening with no subtitles/transcription) and when that person is ready, starting to read things like graded readers, webtoons, etc.
Basically pure listening should be done, but not be the focus until you are at a level where every other part of your Korean is strong. Aka, around where I am (or maybe even a bit earlier). Personally I’ve had insane listening gains in such little hours compared to when I started because of my foundation in Korean.
My Main Takeaway!
This stuff takes a while. But that’s okay. I think because of the time I commit to learning, coming to accept the reality that this will genuinely take way longer than anticipated to touch a native-like level has been easier than it might’ve if I was only committing a few hours.
Closing Thoughts, Future Plans, Goals and Everything Else!
I’m hoping to write semi-regularly and have some ideas planned already. This includes talking about burnout, recommendations for beginners, No NL November and going through how I learn (tools I use, my setup etc). If you’re interested in that, be sure to stick around :). Any questions are appreciated! If you have any recommendations, my DMs are also open! I hope that I can be helpful to all learners, and let people use my mistakes and experiences to better improve themselves and their learning.
Also, for anyone doubting their ability to actually put in 2,000 hours. You can definitely do it. If you play video games, look at how much time you put into that and how that flies by. Same with any other hobbies. As you improve, it becomes easier, more fun and time flies faster. Don't underestimate your ability.
Now, closing thoughts about my learning.
Personally the only real regret I have is allowing myself to get out because of perfectionism. This set me back a lot, but at the same time, I’m thankful for the experience, as now I can properly prepare and stop it.
I think my lack of efficiency was made up by my hours, but going forward I hope to be more efficient, especially with exams coming up!
I think one of the ways I can make immersion more efficient is my environment. I believe having a dedicated area (and maybe even time) where all my focus is just on learning will be very beneficial. Currently I think this might come in the form of a comfy chair lol.
I need a bigger vocabulary, and to actually prioritise it. As I’m writing this, it’s late October. Almost all of my focus this month has been listening and I have barely made any new cards or learnt any new words. Whilst listening is important, and will drastically improve my skills, I also want to grow my vocabulary bigger for the sake of more enjoyment and reaching fluency faster. This leads us into goals:
I want to spend at least an hour a day, completely focused on growing my vocabulary through immersion.
Adding more immersion through my life. November will be the test of this. If it goes well, I might genuinely reorganise my life to be set up for success. I want to properly AJATT at some point because that will help me the most.
Start outputting. There are a few ways I want to go about this. One of them being talking to gamers in voice chat or discord servers! I’m currently focused on the domain of OW2, which I plan on using to output :). Purely because of the Korean fanbase. I have no set time frame for this, just that it will happen eventually. Though I do want to wait to speak until I can make one of those clickbait videos lol.
Hitting 35 Korean books and 500 hours of pure listening by the 3,000 hour mark.
Final takeaways
Just. Immerse. Bro.
Extra
Following the tradgety in Itaewon, I felt as though I should say something in this post. I hold the deepest condolenses for the victims and those affected. I hope all the family, friends, coworkers, partners, and anyone who knew the victims as well as the survivors eventually find peace and heal. May the victims rest in peace.
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