I can’t believe it has been over six years since my last Korean study diary. Kind of regretting not recording my learning progress more diligently, but what’s done is done. I am proud to say that I am still studying Korean, nearly seven years since I first started learning the language, though I do use the term “studying” quite lightly in that I haven’t been doing that much active studying as of late. Anyhow, I thought with it being the new year and all, it would be fun to reflect on my Korean learning journey. Alrighty, let’s get started!
Back in early 2016, I learned Hangeul (the Korean alphabet) using a book that wasn’t all that great. If I were to learn Hangeul all over again, I would probably go with TTMIK’s Hangeul Master or Darakwon’s Korean Pronunciation Guide. Then, I started working through the TTMIK lessons. Around July or August, I started taking formal Korean lessons, three hours per week, at a language academy. I continued attending that academy till around May of 2021. If I remember correctly, we had gotten to the final few chapters of Yonsei Korean 4. During the second half of 2018 and 2019, I took an additional Korean class, two hours per week, at my university’s extension school. This class was fully in Korean and labeled as a level 4-5 course and more discussion-focused, so it did take some getting used to. We also had writing assignments semi-frequently and my Korean improved quite a bit during that period. Unfortunately, that class was discontinued on account of having too few students.
Like many other Korean learners, I have taken the TOPIK exam multiple times. The very first time I took the test was in April of 2017. To prepare for TOPIK I, I studied with a TOPIK I vocabulary book and grammar book and did several practice tests. Ironically, I never reached the same level of dedication when preparing for TOPIK II. Anyways, I ended up scoring 97 on the listening section and 96 on the reading section, which gave me a boost of confidence at the time, only for that confidence to come crumbling down when I took TOPIK II for the very first time six months later. Granted, I was woefully unprepared and the only test prep I did was a quick skim through a practice test the day before the exam. Needless to say, I found the actual exam to be extremely hard. I vividly remember that during the second half of the listening section, it felt like I was listening to an alien language instead of Korean. Pretty sure I had no idea what I was doing during the writing section as well. As for the reading section, I was not able to finish all the questions within the time frame. Somehow, I managed to scrape by with a Level 3 (L58, W26, R54). Nearly two years later, I decided to tackle the exam once more. I was pleasantly surprised to get Level 5 and quite happy with my listening and reading scores. Considering the fact that I didn’t do any serious test prep, I chose to view it as tangible proof that my Korean listening and reading skills had improved significantly. However, the fact that my writing score had barely improved was quite sobering and reflected the little time I spent on my writing skills.
Flash forward to the summer of 2020, I signed up for the TOPIK exam once again. And once again, I did little studying outside of my regular Korean classes. As exam day neared, I was convinced that I would do extremely poorly on the test and seriously considered not showing up for it. I did end up taking the test, after all the test is not cheap, which fried my brain and made me even more certain that I would get a lower score than on my past attempt. Thankfully, my overall score increased and I even got full marks on the listening section, though my scores and the other two sections left much to be desired.
Towards the end of 2020, I was starting to feel even more stagnant than usual in my Korean learning and then a casual conversation with my Korean instructor left me embarrassed at my inability to fluently communicate why I had come to class earlier than usual. Therefore, I finally worked up the courage to sign up for lessons on iTalki to work on my speaking skills. With time, I was able to hold my own in an hour-long conversation albeit while using some words incorrectly and making grammatical errors along the way.
Come summertime, the urge to sign up for the TOPIK exam struck again. But, this time, I decided to do it properly i.e. with the help of a TOPIK instructor because I clearly could not be trusted to prepare for the exam on my own. Less than two months before the test, I began taking two TOPIK prep classes per week on iTalki. My teacher had me do one full practice test per week plus extra writing assignments since writing was and still is my weakest skill. Then, we went over the questions that I got wrong or had trouble with during class. As a product of an educational system that loves its standardized test, I’m well aware that it is in my best interests as a test taker to familiarize myself with the test structure and question types beforehand. But, I never did this for the TOPIK exam, probably because I’ve always viewed studying Korean as a hobby instead of an academic pursuit. So it came as no surprise that a large part of my score increase in the reading and writing sections had to do with knowing the exam, as well as my strengths and weaknesses, better.
Finally, I achieved level six on the TOPIK exam, more than five years since I first began learning Korean. Compared to many Korean learners, I’m not the most motivated or diligent language learner, but does it really matter? I started learning Korean because I wanted to be able to enjoy Korean media without having to rely on translations or subtitles. Obviously, I still have much to learn and naver dictionary is still a good friend of mine, but for the most part, I can enjoy Korean media without subtitles (not including historical dramas) and managed to read two and a half online novels in Korean last year. As I’m writing this post, I really wish that I had documented more of my Korean learning journey but what’s done is done. Then again, there’s no time like the present and many say that the real learning starts after you reach level six so here’s to learning more Korean and documenting the process in the New Year!
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