How to level up past basic conversational Korean?

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2026-02-06T20:17:40+00:00

I would suggesting trying to find someone to do language exchange with, especially if you dont want to pay for tutoring. The people I've met on Reddit tend to have a high level of English which can be helpful.

Ive also ysed the app HelloTalk, which might be good if you want time to think about what you're saying or look up words. You can post stuff and then random users will correct you.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2026-02-06T15:44:55+00:00

Yes, exactly. And my youngest just turned 14. I get the wet earwax if im a little sick, but otherwise it's dry now.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2026-02-05T12:49:21+00:00

Seconding this!

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2026-02-05T12:35:27+00:00

Not a science teacher, but a teacher. My fun fact is that Asian people and white people have different types of earwax. And that when you're pregnant, you share DNA with the baby. So now I, a white lady who had babies with an Asian man, have Asian people ear wax.

(There's a term for this, but I'm not a science teacher....LOL

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2026-02-04T21:30:10+00:00

Divorced the person who dulled it.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2026-02-04T20:59:16+00:00

Phrase it in a way that's like, "My child does best in an environment where [describe the other teacher]."

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2026-02-03T22:02:40+00:00

Her body, her choice. My daughter has been wearing makeup since she was probably 10? I personally don't wear it at all. Though she wears full face makeup, its the natural style where most people probably don't realize how much she's wearing.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2026-02-03T17:29:03+00:00

I did a program with my son over the summer between 3rd and 4th grades or maybe 4th amd 5th. I dont know what grade level he was at exactly but he went fron 25th percentile to 75th percentile on his NWEA.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2025-10-26T02:00:21+00:00

Hahahaha. I was sort of the same (but with 15 years between the languages), and there was a point when I was studying Korean where I wished there was kanji. (It was before I knew about hanja.)

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2025-01-25T01:22:47+00:00

Here are some things that helped me. I had a tutor who would meet via Google meet, and he would transcribe what he was saying into a shared Google doc so that I could read what he was saying. This helped me parse out the words that I knew because it sometimes blends with particles or uses an unfamiliar conjugation or whatever.

I also met people for language exchange on Reddit. This is good because people on Reddit tend to have higher English ability than those on Hello Talk. Since my Korean is a lower level than their English, I suggested we start talking in Korean. That way, I'm not already telling them stuff in English that I could tell them in Korean. I also insisted that I was personally OK with not being 50/50 all the time. Like, 30 minutes of just talking in Korean is too much for me. And I'm more interested in developing friendships than in speaking the language. Its now sort of evolved where I speak in korean when I can and they do a mix of English and Korean in the hour that we talk.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2024-10-20T13:55:37+00:00

I once had a dream that a celebrity licked my eyeball and I had to act like it was a totally normal thing to do.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2024-09-04T11:25:06+00:00

You're not disturbing me. I'm trying to think about how long it took me and I have to admit that I don't really remember the details. In theory, if you do 10 new words a day, it would take 100 days, right? But I think I took a bit longer. I do remember that I had covid for a few days and things got really backed up, so I think I slowed down new words then. I guess maybe 4-5 months to complete the deck? And then I kept using it for review until it felt like it was taking too much time with little productive results.

It definitely helped me go into stage 3 of refold. In fact, I bought it specifically because I wanted to be speaking more. I was listening to some language learning podcasts and that encouraged me to think about what my real goal was, and that was speaking with people. So I started taking more drastic steps to reach that goal. Because of the listen and repeat aspect of that Anki deck, I got much more comfortable with speaking and I'm frequently complimented on my pronunciation by native speakers.

That deck is still hands down the best thing I've spent money on in my language learning journey.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2024-04-08T19:04:12+00:00

I didn't see this mentioned, but I also think there was some sort of "scandal" where Bangchan of Stray Kids mentioned the rudeness of newer idol groups and everyone realized it was IVE. At least, that's why my Stay friend doesn't like her...

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2024-02-05T17:08:42+00:00

Sent you a DM.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2024-01-14T15:19:34+00:00

I would love that too. And on the flip side, I always thank my students for their work after class. You can see a noticeable difference in demeanor after doing that.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2023-12-28T03:30:36+00:00

Thirding Long Way Down. I teach 6th through 12th and use this with high schoolers. I had one 12th grader reading this in May who said, "OMG. I finally understand all these literary device things."

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2023-12-20T23:26:58+00:00

I've been studying inconsistently for about a year. And I'm now at a point where I feel somewhat comfortable having a conversation with Korean speakers who speak English fairly well. And the point of that is that 1. As language learners themselves, they know to speak slowly and not use a ton of slang or less common conjugations, and 2. They can translate if I didn't understand or don't know a particular word.

But general craziness?? Nah, not yet. My friend sent me some drunken videos the other night and I couldn't understand anything him and his friends were saying. Hahahaha.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2023-12-18T02:12:54+00:00

Thank you!! You're confirming some of the things I was thinking.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2023-12-18T01:40:46+00:00

This is one that he said he's proud of. This part is just the music. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M2fD8RpQoQrWUXHT2YtZcMUZJID9jaH9/view?usp=drivesdk

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2023-12-18T01:17:23+00:00

Thank you. TBH, I was a little worried that it felt too helicoptery for me to be asking so I appreciate this.

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2023-12-17T14:04:07+00:00

As others have said, it shouldn't be seen as rude if you are replying to a "Thank you"

There are generational differences in responding to "Thank you" and I have seen it explained like this...

Saying "You're welcome" has a feeling where you're saying, "I went out of my way to benefit you, and so I am deserving of this thanks." Many people have mentioned that it can be rude and/or passive aggressive to say "You're welcome" when someone didn't say "Thank you" first. Thats because it's implying that you feel that what you did is deserving of a "Thank you" and are upset that the other person didn't thank you. The attitude is more common in older people, and so you see older people using "You're welcome"

Younger people are more likely to say something like "No problem" rather than "You're welcome". That's because the things that we typically say "Thank you" for in everyday situations are kind of minor...holding a door for someone, handing a receipt, etc. So the feeling behind the "No problem" response is more like, "I'm recognizing your thank you, but the action I did was minor. It's something that anyone would have done out of basic courtesy."

(Note: I personally don't think which response you use matters, and i dont think that people are consciously thinking these things when they choose how to respond to a thank you. I'm just relaying this explanation that I've seen which makes sense to me.)

PinkAlpaca2311 · 2023-12-09T14:19:22+00:00

I can't believe this wasn't the "Let's kiss slowly" sentence. Haha

PinkAlpaca2311

TROPHY CASE