Living in South Korea as a long-term resident, is an amazing experience. However, it can sometimes be challenging, especially if you don’t speak the language. You can easily find a plethora of Korean language programs, at various prices, in different universities. Still depending on your ressources these programs can be quite pricey. You must be thinking: ”Betty, what can I do?” Then let me introduce you to 3 ways to learn Korean language for free!
Global Centers
Global Centers are places where foreign residents, (foreigners who have their Alien Registration Card) can go and take free Korean classes. Seoul Global Center is the main facility. When you go on the Seoul Global Center’s website, by clicking on the tab ‘’village’’ you can locate all the centers in Seoul who also offer free classes.
Usually, the registration takes place twice a year, and the enrollment are on first come first served basis. The classes are taught in Korean. You will have to buy a Korean language book, in order to follow the course. There are classes through out the all week .
As you can see, the schedule is pretty light but if you are motivated it will enough for you to get the basics. In addition, these centers also offer legal counseling, workshop for new entrepreneurs, advice on how to adapt to living in South Korea, and they also offer various activities. I can hear you thinking: ”all of this is still possible with that virus still around?”
Don’t worry the classes and the activities can be held online! Just check from time to time the Seoul Global Center’s website to see the updates.
Watch Movies and TV Shows
Practice your listening skills! Watch TV shows, movies, dramas, music videos (with subtitles in Korean, if you can already read). I used to believe this didn’t help. I was totally wrong!. This makes you learn new words. Besides you can see outside of the classroom (if you take classes), how the sentences and all the grammar you’ve been learning are used. Even if you don’t take classes, learning by listening and watching audiovisual materials, in order to see in which context some sentences and words are used, will always be helpful.
If you watch your videos on YouTube with the extension ‘’Language Learning with YouTube BETA’’, you can watch your Korean shows or videos with Korean subtitles and the subtitles in your native Language. This extension can help, just remember to be careful about romanization, as it does not always convey the right pronunciation. Therefore using this extension can be okay, if you already know the alphabet and how to read. That way you won’t rely on the romanization.
Join Exchange Language Groups
Speaking is the hardest part while learning a language, and it’s also the most important part if you want to improve. You can find many Facebook groups online who offer meetups, where you can go to practice your Korean skills. Don’t be afraid to go and talk! You don’t have to be perfect, practice makes perfect! So just speak, speak, and speak! The more you speak the more you can get corrected, and the more you get at ease to use the all the words you have learned. Learning a language is a journey. Sometimes it’s hard as you can’t seem to see your progress, and you want to stop everything. It’s okay, take a rest. But don’t give up, step by step you can do it!
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Read more: Improve your Korean & make Korean friends! – HelloTalk app
