I thought some of you might find it useful to have a list of some good resources that I like to use for learning Korean. Of course, there are many more out there. But these are just the main ones that I use.
1. TTMIK (Talk To Me In Korean)
This is a very well-known website that a lot of Korean learners use. Despite this not being the first website that I used to start learning Korean, I would say that this is the best website that I have discovered and use to learn grammar. They explain concepts in a very clear and concise way that is easy to understand.
You can learn Korean without having to pay for anything. Their free essential courses take you right from the beginning. So it is an excellent place to start learning Korean. However, it would be ideal to know how to read and write 한글 (hangul) (the Korean writing system) before starting. Often, people say you can learn it all within an hour. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that teach you the letters. But I found that it took me a little longer to get used to and remember all of the letters. Thankfully, TTMIK has the romanised versions of words until level 4 of their free courses.
They also have a wide range of books types for all levels. At the point of writing this, they have the free essential courses from level 1 to 9 in book form. They also have workbooks that work alongside their free essential courses to help you practice the grammar. Additional to these, they have books full of example sentences, conversations and vocabulary. They offer most of them as physical copies and ebooks. I purchased the ebook versions of ‘My Weekly Korean Vocabulary Book 1’ and the workbooks for level 3, 4 and 5. I have found them to be beneficial. But by all means, you do not need to feel like you have to buy their books to learn Korean.
Here is the link to their website: https://talktomeinkorean.com/
Here is the link to their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/talktomeinkorean
Here are the links to their podcast: Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud, Google Podcasts
2. How To Study Korean
This is the first website that I used to start learn Korean. The reason I moved over to TTMIK was because I found it a little difficult to understand the grammar concepts that they were trying to explain. Often, their explains are a little lengthy too. That being said, having learn a lot of grammar from TTMIK and understanding how I learn Korean best, coming back to this website helps me fill in a few little gaps in my knowledge. They are very minor.
The thing I like about this website is that at the beginning of each lesson, they offer a list of vocabulary as well as using a wide range of vocabulary in their example sentences (of which there are plenty of). I find that TTMIK uses a lot of the same vocabulary. So this website helps to widen your vocabulary range.
Here is a link to their website: https://www.howtostudykorean.com/
Here is a link to their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWwkebe58DeuZw-Lf1QRC7g
3. Papago
This is a translation website and app that is owned by Naver. Naver is like the Korean version Google. The thing that is special about Papago is that it “uses a neural machine to learn from its mistakes and learn what type of translations the user requires” (Wikipedia, 2020). I actually found out about this through BTS’s 전정국 (Jeon Jungkook) from a V Live. He uses to help him learn English.
The main thing I like about this translator is that it takes the words that you type in and links them to the Naver dictionary underneath. If you click these links, you can see a more in depth explanation with examples of that word. I find this to be very useful for verbs as some of their verbs are very specific, such as 감다 which means to close one’s eyes or to wash one’s hair. Or when a word has more than one meaning, such as 바람 which means wind and also wish, dream or desire.
Here is a link to the website: https://papago.naver.com/
Here are the links to the app versions: Google Play Store, Apple App Store
4. Duolingo and Memrise
These are apps that I have heard a lot about and often seen adverts for them. Some people say these apps and websites are very good. But I should warn you that they do not teach grammar as it suggests in the adverts and on their websites and apps. I would recommend using them as a way to practice grammar, hearing other people speaking the language and practicing and learning vocabulary. Rather than using theses resources alone, I suggest to use them as a support for other resources. The apps are good for on the go, such as on the bus, for quick practices. Please do not rely on these only as they only teaches you phrases – you will not learn the speak freely with these only.
Here are the links to the websites: Duolingo, Memrise
Here are the links to the Duolingo app: Google Play Store, Apple App Store
Here are the links to Memrise app: Google Play Store, Apple App Store
5. Korean Hamin
Hamin is a fairly new discovery of mine. I first found him on Tik Tok. His content is great for learning and understanding the pronunciation of words. You can also do duets with him on Tik Tok to practice your convocations. He also has an Instagram account with similar content and YouTube channel where he goes into a little more depth about grammar. He is a really great person to listen to as his voice is very clear. I am also very impressed by him as he is in his early 20s.
Here are his links: Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube
6. Flashcard app
One thing I struggle with a lot is remembering vocabulary. When I started, I had several lists for new words I found: verbs, adjectives etc. But I found that I would write them down and forget to look at them. Then I discovered some flashcard apps. But one stood out to me called dA Flashcards. I do believe that is to only on the Google Play Store. I like that you can sort them into folders and add tags to them. So I have verbs, adjectives, nouns, adverbs, verb endings and a few more. But the thing I like the most is that every 15 minutes (if I look at my phone), a new card is show as a notification. So throughout the day, I can be reminded of a range of different words and grammar points.
Here is the link to the app: Google Play Store
References:
Feature image: https://pixabay.com/ko/photos/%EB%B0%94%EB%9E%8C%EC%B0%B8%EC%A2%8B%EB%8B%A4-%EC%97%AC%EC%9D%98%EB%8F%84-%ED%95%9C%EA%B8%80-603698/
In My Seoul 