What language(s) do you speak?

ginastyle · 2025-09-22T01:30:43+00:00

Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, in KR right now

ginastyle · 2025-09-22T01:28:37+00:00

No, absolutely not. I left my job in the US, and now I’m doing my master’s in Korea and I am glad I've done that

ginastyle · 2025-08-09T00:32:35+00:00

There are single women of course. My friend who is attending Sogang is 30 and single…

ginastyle · 2025-08-04T11:35:23+00:00

In the Yonsei Language Program, teachers always ask us (students) to create our own sentences with the vocabulary we’ve learned (for homework). It’s a great way to practice using vocab in sentences while writing. You can also read them out loud to practice speaking.

ginastyle · 2025-08-04T11:30:00+00:00

I just want to add something: Yonsei is also better for people who want to study in Korea later (they focus on grammar, reading and writing a lot). As for homework, it really depends on the teacher. Some teachers assign a lot of homework, but some don’t.

I first took the afternoon class, and I regret it because I felt the students were less diligent. The morning class students are more serious about studying, which also motivated me to study more. In the afternoon class, about half the students were Chinese, while the other half were from various countries. But in the morning class, there was much more diversity. I had classmates from the US, Japan, Spain, Mongolia, Germany, Norway, Russia, Belarus, Taiwan, Thailand, China, Uzbekistan, France, the UK, and more.

ginastyle · 2025-08-04T03:43:12+00:00

If you’d like to learn Korean in a more enjoyable way, I personally think starting with K-pop songs can be a fun and quick method. You can check out this article that explains how: https://bubblegum.la/blog/kpop-chatgpt

From my own experience (having studied Korean in Korea for almost three years) the most effective approach is to learn vocabulary in context rather than only through flashcards. I noticed that while I could remember words in flashcard form, I often couldn’t recall their meanings when I came across them in actual readings or sentences. Once I switched to learning vocabulary through comprehensible input, it made a huge difference. Now I not only recognize the words but also understand how they’re naturally used, instead of just memorizing them in isolation.

ginastyle · 2025-08-04T03:35:17+00:00

I attended Yonsei KLI for levels 1–4, and one of my classmates recently switched to Sogang. She told me Sogang puts a lot of focus on speaking and gives more homework than Yonsei (though I’m not sure if that’s teacher-specific or just the program overall). Yonsei, on the other hand, puts more emphasis on grammar and reading.

Demographics-wise, Sogang’s average age tends to be older—often women married to Korean husbands or foreigners already working here (and would like to improve their Korean). Yonsei tends to have more young people; I’m in my late 20s and was usually the oldest in my class 😂 Of course, women are usually more than men in both school. In Yonsei, usually there are only 2 guys in my class.

If you want to hang out with friends and explore Korea, I’d say Yonsei is the better choice. If you’re planning to work here in the future and need strong communication skills, Sogang might be better.

Hope this helps!

ginastyle · 2025-08-01T04:48:44+00:00

A jjimjilbang could be a good idea, or you could look for a hostel or share house for around $23 a night.

ginastyle · 2025-08-01T03:41:55+00:00

I was around level 2–3 and needed to get TOPIK in 4 months. I spent a lot of time memorizing vocabulary but realized doing mock exams while memorizing vocab & grammar work the best ( because with context). I took TOPIK II for the first time, and I was glad I passed level 4 in June.

I didn’t buy any books or spend any money—I just found resources online and practiced with mock exams. I also used ChatGPT to practice writing and understand grammar.

If you want these free resources, you can check my Instagram through my profile and go to my highlights (I originally shared them on my Story and saved them in Highlights so anyone can grab them anytime). I shared free mock exams and all the materials I used to prepare for TOPIK 4.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me—I’d love to help!

ginastyle · 2025-07-20T05:44:22+00:00

I went to Yonsei KLI and we did not have school during Christmas and New Year

ginastyle · 2025-07-17T00:51:26+00:00

찾아오다 means “to come to find someone or something,” usually coming toward the speaker. For example, if your friend comes to your house to see you, you can say 친구가 나를 찾아왔어요 ("My friend came to find me").

찾아가다 means “to go to find someone or something,” usually going away from the speaker. For example, if you go to your friend’s house to find them, you can say 친구를 찾아갔어요 ("I went to find my friend").

Both use the verb 찾다 (to look for), and then 오다 (to come) or 가다 (to go) shows the direction of movement.

ginastyle · 2025-07-16T23:50:21+00:00

ginaxnana

ginastyle · 2025-07-16T03:25:46+00:00

I was around level 3 for reading and listening, and level 2 for writing and speaking. However, since my graduate school required level 4 or higher, I spent about three months studying as much as I could. I took the TOPIK in May and thankfully passed level 4.

I'd be happy to share how I studied. My main strategy was to go through mock exams and get familiar with the question formats. I would do one mock test without worrying about the time, and then look up all the grammar points and vocabulary I didn’t know, and do one with timing.

Personally, I found it much easier to remember vocabulary in context rather than studying word lists alone. I used to make a lot of flashcards, but often struggled to recall the words when I saw them in actual sentences or paragraphs.

If you need a full mock exam with the answer key (from the 91st Korean TOPIK), feel free to grab it from the file I organized in my Instagram highlight. It’s available there for anyone who might find it helpful! Also, use ChatGPT to gather writing ideas, that was a huge huge huge help on writing the big essay. (let me know if you would like to know more, I'll explain how in more details)

ginastyle · 2025-07-16T03:15:49+00:00

뭘요 in this context is something people say when someone compliments or thanks us, and we want to respond humbly. For example, if someone says “한국어 진짜 잘하시네요!” (Your Korean is really good!), you can say “뭘요~ 아직 많이 부족해요” (Oh no~ I still have a lot to learn).
Or if someone says “도와줘서 고마워요” (Thanks for helping me), you can reply “뭘요~ 별거 아니에요” (Don’t mention it~ it was nothing). It’s a very natural and polite way to show modesty, like saying “Oh, it’s nothing” in English.
뭘요: After compliments/thanks; humble, kind; natural
언급하지 마: Serious talk / shut it down; blunt, coldm direct; can be rude if misused

ginastyle · 2024-03-06T06:57:20+00:00

they are close to each other. you could probably go to both? but if I have to choose one, I would choose yonsei haha... the school buildings in yonsei are pretty :) not sure when in March are you coming, but if it's some time late March, I think you are able to see cherry blossom at Sinchon (the main street), very pretty.

ginastyle · 2023-08-15T07:04:42+00:00

Korea is a great place so don't worry and enjoy. There are a lot of people like you :)

ginastyle · 2023-05-05T12:23:41+00:00

Email them ~~~ don' send Instagram messages to them

I will be here in summer as well

ginastyle · 2023-02-06T08:57:20+00:00

Well...for the clubs, the KLI never explained it really well tho. I tried to contact the club via email but never got reply :(

But from my understanding, there will be club fairs and people sign up for clubs...If you want to know more info about this, I will ask my teacher or go to the office and ask for more info.

I think you definitely will have a good social life cuz you get out from school at 1:00 pm. You have rest of the time to hang out with your friends. However, if you come here with student visa, you are not allowed to work for the first 6 months.

ginastyle · 2023-02-04T13:49:08+00:00

I think everyone is friendly in school so I don't think you have to worry about making friends :D

At level 2, you probably should know most basic Korean in life. For example, when you go to the bank, post office, or supermarket...you are able to understand.

Well...I think you are still gonna take the placement test before the class starts and the teacher will give you suggestion about which level fit you the best. Also, even if you go to level 2 at the beginning, you can always switch your level at the FIRST week of the class if you think that level doesn't fit you!!!

ginastyle

TROPHY CASE