I am still going strong with finding a new resolution to do every month! And most of the time, I end up continuing that resolution after the month is up. For me, I suppose it works better when I set a goal for the near future, rather than a whole year. After I do it for a month, I realize that it’s possible to maintain the goal. Baby steps work for me.

My new resolution for July is to study Korean more. While I use Korean every day, I haven’t been as dedicated to using my study books and work books to actively learn new vocab or sentence structures. In order to continue my learning and not just maintain what I have already learned, I will open my books once again.

I know myself too well to set a specific time for each day for studying, so I will just leave it as a vague determined amount of time. While I know half an hour each day is feasible, for some reason, I don’t respond well to strict time limits like that. Even if it’s self imposed. So I will commit myself to studying more than I do now, which is the whole outcome of this resolution.

If you are studying Korean and want some tips, I can let you know that I use and how I study!

• Watching Kdramas – not only is this fun, but you can also work on your listening skills. It’s really helpful to hear how things are naturally pronounced, and you can pick up on phrases here and there as well! I use Viki a lot because they have a lot more dramas compared to Netflix, and sometimes they also have the a learning mode, where Korean subtitles above the English, so I can read it in Korean as they say it!
• I text a friend from Korea every day in Korean. You can use the voice to text option, which helps your fluency and pronunciation in speaking.
• Once a month I video chat with this friend as well, which is like a mini test to see how fluent I am in every day conversation. This is probably what I struggle with the most. It’s much easier for me to read or listen and understand than it is to have an hour long conversation in Korean!
• I spend at least 15 minutes each day during the week on Duolingo. While I don’t think this platform works well to teach new things, it does help me learn new vocabulary and practice what I already know. If you are competitive, this might be a good option for you. Each week, you participate in a competition with other users, and the XP from your own studying function as points in the game.

Even though I use all of these resources almost every day, my focus will be on using my study books more. In case you are looking for good resources, I will share what I have used, and what I like the most!

Right now, I am using Integrated Korean, Beginning 2, which includes the textbook and the workbook. I think this has a good combination of vocab, sentence structure, writing, reading and listening practices. I also used Beginning 1. The only thing I wish it had was the answers in the back of the book. They are on the website, but I believe you have to pay for them.

I have also used the textbook and workbook from Talk to Me in Korean. This is a fun series, but I didn’t think the course set up worked very well with my learning style. In my opinion, new sentence structures were not taught in great detail, so I was generally confused with new rules. They do have a podcast series on Spotify though, which helps if you have longer commutes!

When I first arrived in Korea, I took Korean lessons for a while from my supervisor’s friend, who taught English to Korean students. We studied using this series, which is from a university in Seoul. I liked this series. It was very similar to the structure of the Integrated Korean books, and had the answers in the back. I just didn’t like that the audio versions were on a CD rather than online. This also has a workbook to go with it!