Congratulations to Alexis Bartlett on winning the GRAND PRIZE of the Mail Bag Contest II!

We gave her 12 months of FREE Premium service for sharing a truly inspirational and touching story.

Alexis grew up feeling a bit disconnected from her Korean heritage and through studying the language and the collaboration of the KoreanClass101 community she was able to discover more about her ancestry and become truly passionate about learning the language. This is what she wrote us:

“I started learning Korean because it’s a part of who I am. I was adopted to Sydney, Australia almost straight after I was born, in 1983. I grew up feeling like I wasn’t interested in Korea – the language, culture… anything! But since I was a teenager, I began to grow very curious… I was asking myself more and more… “who am I? Where DO I come from?”…

Since then, I began my endeavours to learn about Korea, and of course, to learn the language. I began learning through a bought text book and from looking at websites on the internet…But I gave up quickly, because I didn’t know any other Korean people with which to communicate with, and it became very difficult trying to learn something as huge as a language simply from reading random material. I got bored. It all began to feel hopeless.

But then I found Korean Class 101! I downloaded a couple of the podcasts, and visited the website, and I was hooked! Not only did the hosts sound really enthusiastic and passionate about Korean, but they also knew a lot and had a lot to share with people! They always sounded so happy, and excited to be passing on their language and knowledge of a culture and country I feel so connected to. FINALLY! A way to learn Korean from PASSIONATE PEOPLE, not just some boring words on a screen or in a book!

I signed up quickly and since then, I have been going through the beginner lessons. In a very short period of time, I have learnt more than I ever have before! I’m so surprised, and I’ve been going to bed every night, somewhat shocked at the amount of things I can say and understand in Korean!
Korean Class 101 is a daily affair for me! I find it SO useful to be able to take my Korean lessons with me wherever I go! I travel around quite a bit, often going away for weekends to see family. Since I have been learning Korean from KoreanClass101, my family has also witnessed my increase in the Korean language. They have even listened to and watched some lessons with me and learned a bit themselves, simply by listening to KoreanClass101’s lessons! Aside from going away on weekends, I listen to the podcasts at home (often with a computer and the PDF’s close by), on public transport, when I’m driving, and simply when I’m out and about. I also often listen in the middle of the night!

Korean Class 101 has helped me learn Korean in all the right ways! Korean Class 101 is very comprehensive. I haven’t found/seen another service that is THIS comprehensive and includes so many learning tools. I have also thoroughly read through the interactive forums and learnt a lot, not only from the people who run KC101, but from other people who may have more knowledge than me. This interactive approach to learning has broadened my understanding of all things Korean, and is why I am on the site quite often everyday!
Because Korean Class 101 caters to varying ability levels, I have also taken the liberty to even listen to some of the more advanced lessons they have to offer! I’ve listened to some of 현우’s audio blog, and even though I don’t understand a lot of it, having the PDF right next to me means that I’m still able to pick up on things, even though I don’t know all of it.

As my profession, I am a teacher myself, and I know and understand that every individual learns very differently. I have found that Korean Class 101 caters to ALL SORTS of learning styles and methods, which is fantastic. I also love being able to interact and communicate with the people who host the podcasts!!
Korean Class 101 has so many features, but I think the main ones that have helped me learn would be: the ways in which everything in the lessons are explained so fully. I sometimes go into a lesson thinking ‘oh my goodness, I wouldn’t have a clue about any of this!’, but I come out really feeling as though I know more now than I did 30 minutes ago! It’s a great feeling – to feel like I don’t need to go away and learn things by rote. I also love the interactivity of the site and the ability to communicate with the teachers and other students. This has definitely helped me pick up on much more! I check not only the forums, but each individual lesson after I have listened to its respective podcast, as people there

I find myself actually being excited to listen and to learn. I love that I’m learning about my own heritage so quickly. Personally, I have a knack for giving up on things pretty soon after I’ve started. But it’s been a while now since I started KC101, and I definitely have no intention of quitting anytime soon!

To sum up my feelings, Korean Class 101 has really helped me not only learn about Korea and its language, but it has made me excited, passionate and proud of my heritage and background – a feeling that I didn’t really have growing up. I hope I can continue using Korean Class 101 and I hope the people who make it continue to make more lessons. They are very useful, fun and informative!”

Thank you for sharing that with us Alexis!　We hope your story can inspire and motivate someone who may have felt similar to you.

Have a great story to tell? E-mail us or write it in the comments field!

Annyeonghaseyo listeners!

Welcome to the new section of our blog, The Mail Bag. This is where we’ll share stories from our listeners in the endeavors with Korean. We hope stories from fellow students can help motivate and inspire you to learn Korean or give you that extra needed push and renewed sense of strength when you think it’s impossible to get become more proficient in Korean!

This week we’d like to introduce you to the recent Mail Bag Story winner… Shanna Tan , age 19 from Singapore.

Shanna had this to say about her studies:

“Korean was not the first language I had in mind when I pondered over taking up a new language 2 years ago. Spanish was higher up my list of ‘languages interested in’ then. However, the first spark of interest in the language came when I watched Princess Hours 궁. For a lot of people (including me), the first spark of interest came from watching entertainment such as songs, dramas, movies etc. It was one year ago (8 Jan 2007) that I started my first Korean lesson at

Singapore Korean School. I quickly fell in love with the language, always eager to learn and absorb more than what the lessons taught.

This was when I first came across ‘KoreanClass101.com’ when I googled ‘online Korean lessons’ sometime in February. Wow, that was perhaps the most organized online learning site that I come across so far. Since then, I have been faithfully downloading and listening to all the podcasts. I started out with the beginner series, progressing on to the intermediate series, audio blogs and I’m proud to say that I’m currently listening to the advanced lessons right now – all within a span of a year! Well, I spend around 2 months going through ALL the past lessons and even all the comments for each lessons. (I find that there’s a lot of valuable information and new stuff to learn there too 😀 )

(I really find this site so useful, that I stopped taking Korean classes after completing Beginner 2. From then on, I have been self studying, using materials from this site and other books.)

When I was a beginner, I appreciated how the dialogue is repeated slowly (한번 또 천천히) and the English translation. I could repeat the section over and over again to improve my pronunciation.

When I progressed on to intermediate, the longer dialogues and various dialects and tones used proved to be more challenging and yet a pleasure to listen to.

The audio blogs and advanced lessons proved to be the best in this site. It’s rare for other sites to offer entire lessons in Korean and I’m really glad that KoreanClass101.com is doing it. The audio blogs proved to be as interesting as it is informative. I loved the chit-chat and jokes of the hosts and I’ve learned so much more about Korean Culture. KoreanClass101.com’s podcasts have become part of my daily life, and it feels weird to spend the day without listening to one or two lessons.

I feel that the best selling point of the site is the helpfulness of the hosts, especially 현우씨, who would correct our sentences and answer all queries, even though they may not be directly related to the lesson. As a non-subscriber (I really wanted to, but my family doesn’t believe in having credit cards).

Wow, what can I say, but amazing! We hope your new direction in life as a linguist will continue to make you happy as you learn Korean, Shanna! Keep up the good work!

This is an ongoing project, so please share your stories! You may send these to contactus@koreanclass101.com with the subject line: “Mailbag Story.” Our favorite stories will win one month of free premium service and be posted here to be shared with others!

Until next time, 화이팅 (fighting)!!!!