Should I learn Hangul and then the Korean language, or the other way around?

InKursion said:
I think he means learn the new alphabet and the language at the same time.

Japanese is the easiest language for a Westerner to learn, out of the Asian languages, afaik. Mostly because of the quite simple pronunciations of words.
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I'm not sure about this. Yes Japanese sounds are simple but that also means there are tonnes of homophones to get around. Also the grammar is fairly complicated and that's before you even get to Kanji!

Chinese languages have characters too of course and it's tonal which is alien to us but the actual grammar is easier than Japanese once you get past the tones.

Korean avoids all the problems of having to learn Kanji and has fairly similar sounds to Japanese, which aren't too difficult. However because Korean doesn't have kanji to differentiate meaning from spelling, the homophone problem is actually even worse. Context can help you some of the way, as it does in Japanese, but it's still a barrier to start with.

acme15 said:
Isn't this Japanese?
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Yea it was, it says you're welcome.
 
Van Hellseek said:
Because?


Also there are two versions as far as I'm aware. It isn't simply "Korean", there is "Sino Korean" and "Native Korean", and both are used commonly in Korea iirc.
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nah I'm just messin, i heart korean..

as for the second bit, not quite right...there are sino korean and real korean words..some even have a sino korean and a real korean word for the same thing :noes:
 
acme15 said:
I have started to learn Korean, and at the moment I am taking all of my notes in romanised Korean with a view to learn Hangul either afterwards or at a later date.

Is this the right way to approach this or do you think I would benefit from learning Hangul and writing my notes in Hangul as well?
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Unless you are planning to live in S.Korea (or N.Korea?!) for the rest of your life, what exactly is the point?
 
Learn Hangul. It's actually one of the least complicated of the Asian Character sets. Only 16 character parts if I recall.

I learnt a little bit of it last year, mostly just pleasantries and DPRK place names in Hangul so I could read road signs.
 
Lil old me said:
I'm not sure about this. Yes Japanese sounds are simple but that also means there are tonnes of homophones to get around. Also the grammar is fairly complicated and that's before you even get to Kanji!

Chinese languages have characters too of course and it's tonal which is alien to us but the actual grammar is easier than Japanese once you get past the tones.

Korean avoids all the problems of having to learn Kanji and has fairly similar sounds to Japanese, which aren't too difficult. However because Korean doesn't have kanji to differentiate meaning from spelling, the homophone problem is actually even worse. Context can help you some of the way, as it does in Japanese, but it's still a barrier to start with.



Yea it was, it says you're welcome.
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Something-something about synthetic versus analytic languages, no?
 
kgi said:
Unless you are planning to live in S.Korea (or N.Korea?!) for the rest of your life, what exactly is the point?
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It's a good gesture to try and speak the native language? English arrogance to assume you 'won't need' it, or that it's 'useless'. Besides, what's wrong with trying to learn a new language? It's all personally and culturally enriching. What's the problem, exactly? Does it really need an overt point?
 
InKursion said:
It's a good gesture to try and speak the native language?
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So, learning a whole new language just because one may go on a trip there? I think that extends way beyond pleasantries. You can always learn a few words for that.

English arrogance to assume you 'won't need' it, or that it's 'useless'.
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It's being conscious of time and resources. One needs to spend a lot of time, money and effort into learning a language, so it's not an endeavour to be taken lightly. Therefore, unless there is a specific benefit you are aiming to achieve then it is indeed useless.

Saying that I'm learning a language 'just because', for fun, is a bit silly considering what it takes to do so, you are better off spending your time and resources into something more valuable to yourself and that will advance you even further culturally than a language you will use once or twice during holidays.

Besides, what's wrong with trying to learn a new language? It's all personally and culturally enriching. What's the problem, exactly? Does it really need an overt point?
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There is nothing wrong, never said that.

When it comes for someone to do something unusual there is a reasonable curiosity to understand what is the reason because one does not usually go so far out of their way.
 
Ive found that most people who ask about learning korean are going there to teach english. They always talk about learning the language but 99% never do :o 99% of the british english teachers over there don't know much more than '2 beers please' and even that they get wrong most of the time.

I would be super happy if the OP was serious about learning. Its an awesome language.
 
kgi said:
Unless you are planning to live in S.Korea (or N.Korea?!) for the rest of your life, what exactly is the point?
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Who said anything about wanting to live there..? I don't have to live somewhere to want to learn the language :p

I'm learning it cos i love South Korea, i love Korean history and South Korean culture (i use the words 'love' and 'korean history' together loosely for a few of the more unsavoury events during and after the korean war of course). Plus South Korea are a major exporter of electronic components, microchips and robotics. Its a good way to make connections, and it will hopefuly be useful...

Also I have always wanted to learn a second language, Korean seems to do it for me, I like it :p And I like Korean music too. I was a fan of PSY way before Gangnam Style went viral haha :L

As for which part of korea I would be likely to live in (unlikely) or visit (north or south) i'll let you figure that out for yourself :rolleyes:
 
I like to think that I am serious about this, I am learning it on my own and I listen to a 15 minute lesson every evening,take notes, then spend a good half an hour every evening trying to force it in and sort out my pronunciation. Then when I am done, I review all of the previous lessons and try to apply the grammar and word order rules to the new words and rules I have picked up.

I will look at Hangul as soon as I can. I have a lot of free time in the evenings because I tend to stay up late, so time is not an issue (for the moment at least) I also occasionally use Korean during the day because when somebody finds out I am learning it, they ask me to say something in Korean. I dont know enough to say anything adaptive or interesting yet, but I know enough to string a couple of basic sentences together. Bearing in mind that I only started to pick this up last week :p
 
ic1male said:
Plus Koreans are hot. :D Have you seen Brown Eyed Girls? LOL
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Not a fan of BEG myself, but I do love MIRYO. Especially "Dirty". Some people moaned about it because they were expecting serious rapping, but personally I loved it because it showed off her awesome sense of humour. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjr485xFf7A

acme15 said:
Kim Hyuna <3 :o
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Hyuna is probably my favourite current Kpop artist (and not because of "Gangnam Style").

But for kpop noobs, who are purely looking for something to drool over, I recommend this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0qPeeU1UkE

Anyway, back to the topic... which is something about language IIRC... :p
 
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