Korea is becoming a country with a large number of Vietnamese students living and studying in Asia. With the conditions of learning environment and high quality of teaching, international students can access advanced knowledge at an affordable cost. In addition to getting acquainted with Korean through training classes at foreign language centers, Vietnamese students also learn Korean at home through the secrets passed down by their “seniors” or self-study through online lessons on social networking platforms. Today, C-Korea will show you the 5 most effective and accessible learning tips for those who want to start their journey of learning Korean to create a solid foundation for future learning. Let’s explore with C-Korea!
1. Master the Korean Alphabet – Hangul
The Korean alphabet, also known as Hangul, is divided into 4 groups:
- 10 single vowels: ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅠ, ㅡ, ㅣ
- 14 single consonants: ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ,ㅂ,ㅅ,ㅇ,ㅈ,ㅊ,ㅋ,ㅌ,ㅍ,ㅎ.
- 11 double vowels: 애, 얘, 에, 예, 와, 왜, 외, 워, 웨, 위, 의.
- 5 double consonants: ㄲ,ㄸ,ㅃ,ㅆ,ㅉ.
When approaching the Korean alphabet, we should memorize each group and practice writing the correct strokes of that character. This will help you quickly remember new letters and supplement your ability to recognize when reading Korean words and texts.
2. Learn how to write and pronounce Korean correctly
2.1. Learn how to practice writing Korean
When we come into contact with a new language and start learning how to use it, we will practice getting used to it like children who are learning to write for the first time, each character is written over and over again. And we must always follow the principle of writing strokes from top to bottom and from left to right.
During the writing process, you need to remember all the Korean characters. Set up your own implicit rules to remember and not confuse the characters. Because when you start learning basic Korean, you see these characters are quite similar, only different in the order of strokes or number of strokes.
2.2. Learn to pronounce correctly
For learning a foreign language, pronunciation is also an extremely important skill. When you pronounce correctly, you can listen well and others can understand exactly the content you are conveying.
Start practicing pronunciation with vowels and consonants by listening to the teacher’s instructions, observing the mouth shape, listening over and over again and writing to recognize the letters. Then, practice pronouncing each letter until you are fluent. A tip for learning pronunciation that C-Korea shows you is to record the letters you pronounce, then listen again and compare them with the pronunciation of the teacher. At the same time, watch your mouth shape in the mirror so you can correct it promptly right from the start. This is a prerequisite to lay the foundation for your entire Korean learning process.
2.3. Learn Korean vocabulary every day
Vocabulary is considered the capital of communication, so the effective way to learn Korean is to diligently study vocabulary to equip yourself with a certain amount of words. You should start learning vocabulary according to the topics you like and your daily life. First, you prioritize your own interests: family topics, movie topics, sports topics,…
You should set a goal for the number of vocabulary words in a day according to your ability and review regularly (3 days, 1 week, 1 month). Remember to pay attention to the presentation and writing of Korean words because it is very important in the learning process. To speak and write well, you must first learn new words and grammar well.
Another basic way to learn Korean is to try to practice making a complete sentence with the words you have just learned when speaking or writing emails to remember them more easily. Don’t be afraid when new characters make you confused, practicing hard is the fastest way to learn Korean that makes you feel your improvement.
You can even learn new words on billboards, signs or anywhere that impresses you. Use a notebook to quickly write them down and memorize them, this is an easy-to-remember way to learn Korean that most beginners have successfully applied.
You can also use sticky notes to write down the words you have learned and stick them in the most visible places such as: refrigerator door, desk,… to not forget vocabulary.
3. Learn grammar and simple sentence patterns
You learn and memorize simple daily communication sentence structures, including additional suffixes. Then master the sentence structure (affirmative, interrogative…) and how to conjugate verbs in sentences. When the theory is solid, start practicing right away. Practice making sentences gradually, from simple sentences to compound sentences, speak a lot and don’t be afraid of making mistakes because only when you are wrong will you know what is right.
4. Practice listening and speaking skills every day
Listening and speaking skills are extremely important skills, they determine whether your communication will be successful or not. Koreans often speak very quickly, so keeping up with their speaking speed is not an easy thing for beginners.
C-Korea will reveal to you an effective method of learning Korean to improve listening and speaking skills, which is to record your voice. Follow these steps:
- Analyze the sentence: Analyze the meaning of the sentence, the grammar used in the sentence.
- Listen to sample speeches of Koreans regularly.
- Practice, imitate the intonation of the sample speech.
- Record.
- Listen to the recording again and evaluate your ability. For points where you have not spoken correctly as in the sample, practice many times to improve.
In addition, you should apply the knowledge you have learned to communicate with friends every day and the relationships around you. You will be confident and always feel the most obvious progress when communicating fluently in spoken language.
You should take advantage of the time studying at free language centers, practice speaking as much as possible even though the sentences have simple structures. Because the more you speak, the longer you remember the lesson, creating quick reflexes in similar situations. In addition, it also overcomes the fear of making mistakes and shyness of yourself.
5. Practice reading and writing skills
The Internet is the easiest tool to help you learn Korean. Because it is easy to find reading materials on the Internet: from articles, news sites, or conversations,… You can practice your reading skills, vocabulary and update daily news.
Besides, you can buy and read stories and books in Korean.
If you want to write well, you have to read a lot, diligently read newspapers, news, Korean books, etc. It will help you update the world situation and improve your vocabulary as well as the writing style of native speakers.
If you do not have the opportunity to read Korean newspapers or articles, you can look at the TOPIK exam questions, because these sentences are written in standard Korean style, so they are very suitable for you to practice. This is also a good suggestion for the question of where to start learning Korean that you should consider.
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