What Knowing A Second Language Is Like

You know you’re doing an English Major when an essay question is to analyse a 50-word long poem with a 2300 word limit. 

~brianna

just think about how grateful your future self will be if you keep going. how glad you will be for having worked so hard. it will all be worth it.

apprendre une nouvelle langue | to learn a new language arrêter de fumer | to stop smoking arrêter de se ronger les ongles | to stop biting your nails boire moins d’alcool | to drink less alcohol moins dépenser | to spend less dormir plus | to sleep more faire plus de sport | to work out more lire plus | to read more manger mieux | to eat better obtenir un meilleur emploi | to find a better job passer moins de temps sur Internet | to spend less time on the Internet passer plus de temps en famille | to spend more time with family perdre du poids | to lose weight profiter de la vie | to enjoy life rire plus souvent | to laugh more often se coucher plus tôt | to go to bed earlier se faire de nouveaux amis | to make new friends se remettre en forme | to get back in shape trouver l’amour | to find love voyager plus | to travel more

At a crossroads

So here I am, sitting on the couch in my parents’ living room wondering how the hell I got here. Now that I’m out of college, I feel like that one shot in The Matrix where Neo tries to follow his mentor by jumping across the roof: moving forward but in slow motion. I just jumped from a ledge desperately trying to figure out whether or not I gave myself enough momentum to reach the other end. 

I’m taking a year between undergrad and grad, but now I’m starting to wish I had just sucked it up and applied during the fall semester of my senior year. I’ve got a good support system (thank goodness) and a job lined up for the summer but I am just so nervous. 

I feel like Evee, so many ways to evolve. Am I scared? probably. Am I gonna study for the GRE’s and take them anyway? hell yeah! Will I listen to a lot of kpop while I do it? Undoubtedly. 

I am so grateful to be where I am right now, but I don’t know how to leap into the unknown. And I don’t think anyone really does. I think that’s why I’m here, in slo-mo between two rooftops, one too far behind, and one almost too far ahead. 

Sorry for the rant, y’all! I love you, keep working hard, and rest when you can. 

And don’t worry, I’ll be okay 

Peace,

Lisa 

(ps. this is an accurate depiction of Kim Namjoon pulling me out of my own fear)

Korean resources masterpost updated

Online resources Korean Class 101 How To Study Korean Sogang Korean course Introduction to Korean (Futurelearn) First Step Korean (Coursera) Talk To Me In Korean Naver dictionary 90 Day Korean blog Intermediate College Korean Naver web novels Naver webtoons Pronunciation Korean pronunciation guide for IPA Forvo for typing in a word Articles, videos or posts Korean false friends Korean slang Easily confused Korean words Lingodeer app review YouTube Channels Natalia Garza (teaching Korean through Kpop) Korean Unnie TTMIK Go! Billy Korean Minji Teaches Korean Conversational Korean KoreanClass101 Shameless self promotion of my own channel  Other blogs Hangukdrama Shining Korean Korean Language Notes Korean Grammar Differently Meloncreme Podcasts, radio and music KBS World Let’s Learn Korean Stream Korean radio Podbbang KBS News app Red Book Cafe My Kpop playlist on Spotify My K-indie playlist on Spotify My K-Rap and Hip Hop playlist on Spotify

what is the january mood?

me: i should discover new music

me to me: no no, u gotta listen to shinee

Integrate Language Learning into your Daily Life: a Handy Guide

Reading

Internet is your friend! Fill your social media feeds with content in your target language: follow blogs you like, news outlets from other countries… The occasional absent-minded scrolling can thus turn into a more productive experience!

Treasure the little things: when I was a kid, I would read literally anything I happened to lay my eyes on… which included cereal boxes at breakfast time. While not overwhelmingly exciting per se, nutritional values, ingredients (and somewhat troubling warnings) often come in more than a language; small occasions like these are more common than you’d think in our daily life, and grabbing them is definitely worth a shot!

Books you know, stating the obvious since 1997: if given the choice between reading a novel in its translated version or in the original language, I usually go for the latter. Goes without saying, but: don’t overdo it. Challenging yourself is great, but if you tackle Crime and Punishment two weeks into learning Russian the whole thing will hardly end up well. Choose books suited to your level that you feel comfortable about, that will neither bore you to death because of their easiness nor drain your vital energy with their killer prose.

Listening

What’s not to love about music, right? Thanks to YouTube (plus numerous streaming services), the average learner has decades of songs from all around the world at their fingertips. Browse through playlists, try different genres, and enjoy a resource you can take with you anywhere!

I was never the type to listen to the radio all that much, but I must say I’ve had to change my mind: many international stations provide web broadcasts that can prove extremely useful in your learning journey.

Needless to say, YouTube is a gold mine: look for interesting content in your target language and enjoy! An additional tip if you want to work on your speaking as well: pause the video every once in a while and try to mimick the pronunciation.

Eavesdropping isn’t normally a habit to be encouraged, but we’ll make an exception for language learning: trying to catch glimpses of conversations half-heard on the bus or while walking around the city can be very stimulating, and is a good way to train your ear.

Watch TV shows and movies. Others are firmly against using subtitles if you’re doing it for learning purposes, but I’ll have to disagree: while I get that it makes you focus less on pronunciation, they can be vital to fight the initial disheartenment that could turn the whole experience into a self-inflicted chore. Depending on your level, I’d suggest you start out with subtitles that are in your native language, then abandon them as soon as possible to move on with subtitles in the target language (and then, when you see it fit, get rid of subtitles entirely).

Writing

This doubles as reading: translate a lot, both from your target language into your native one and the other way around. The object of your translation doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s something that holds some interest for you: songs are usually fast and fun to do (also, check out this website: https://lyricstranslate.com/), but this can be applied to anything, really.

Most people will recommend you try keeping a journal, and I must say I agree. You don’t have to write something every day, but as you start to get the hang of it you’ll find out how useful that can be: having to look for the words to express your very own thoughts effectively will provide you with vocabulary that could be crucial in later interactions.

Chat: Tumblr, discord and Telegram, among others, are good places to find fellow learners, and if you don’t feel like actively studying having a chat in your target language is definitely better than nothing! Besides, you’ll probably end up learning a bunch of useful slang words, plus some essential colloquial expressions that will make you sound more natural.

Speaking

Sing in the shower. Really, do. There’s nothing like a little karaoke session to get a hang of new sounds!

Talk to yourself (preferably when no-one else is around, but ultimately you do you). Pick a random topic and ramble freely. Recording yourself is also a nice trick: you’ll be able to spot the things that don’t sound quite right and work on them with a better focus.

Read aloud, and, once again, record yourself while you do it: you can check out later terms that were new to you (and, if need be, their pronunciation).

Don’t fear the natives! It’s easier said than done, I know, but if you try to grab any opportunity you get to speak your target language the overpowering dread will later give in to a pleasant sense of satisfaction, and you’ll end up looking for a chance to speak far more often than you’d think!

Bread is pain.