How is your Listening?

[Alexis]

OK so I just finished Beginner II! Yay! Well... I sort of did.

After listening to the podcast several times now, I'm extremely frustrated: when I listen to the dialogue at normal speed, I still have trouble understanding. Like... it still seems so fast to me. By now, should I be able to EASILY understand that whole dialogue? Should I not go onto Beginner III til I find it EASY to understand? I still find it hard UNDERSTANDING stuff. Why is it that fluent Korean still seems so fast to me??

ARGH! I'm frustrated!!!

[manyakumi]

Why is it that fluent Korean still seems so fast to me??

So does it to me with English as well.

[Alexis]

So it's not just me? It's OK that I'm still finding it fast even though I've already completed two beginner series?!

[kyuree]

So it's not just me? It's OK that I'm still finding it fast even though I've already completed two beginner series?!

I don't know about Beginner Series II especifically but I think that my listening comprehension is rather good and there are dialogues from KC101 that I find quite fast.
Does that make you feel better?

[holdfast]

from everyone i have ever talked to, listening comprehension is always the hardest part of learning a language.

for me, i am just now getting really comfortable in listening at a native speed without having to think about it (like, i can watch tv now and understand what they are saying without having to rewind it like 15 times).

but i wouldn't stop moving forward because you don't understand everything by listening.. when i first started studying i was always listening to korean talk radio even though i didn't understand anything, just so i would get used to hearing korean at a native speed, and eventually i started understanding more and more. so don't be discouraged if you don't understand everything - just keep listening and you will eventually understand more. i would recommend listening to different people talking too, because different people and different voices are different, and that will help you understand everything better in the long run.

^^

[matthew254]

Alexis, first and foremost, congratulations!

Keeping in mind that language acquisition is divided into four main categories (listening, speaking, reading, writing) and generally follows a prescribed order of acquisition. But, I can say that in my case, if I were to self-evaluate my Korean skills at this point, I would say that from highest to lowest, it's gotta be listening, reading, speaking, writing.

This isn't terribly uncommon but it might differ from other students. So, if you find yourself being pushed at a comfortable level "uncomfortable" level, so to say, then you're doing great, in my opinion. I feel that at the level you're describing, you needn't be 100% proficient in Beginner I to move onto Beginner II.

Either way, keep up keeping track of your progress as it helps to motivate all of us! Here's to fluency one day!

[shanshanchua]

I'm going to start working on Beginner 4 lessons soon, but I still find some beginner dialogues too "fast" and I don't understand it right away. If I have the transcript usually I do better. But when I listen to Newbie lessons at normal speed I have no problems understanding them. So my listening comprehension (at native speed) is probably one series below the series I'm currently working on!

But I would also say, keep moving on! Maybe listen to more KOrean at normal speed. That's why I think k-dramas are actually very helpful cos you sort of match what they are saying to both the subtitles and the acting/context, and you pick up vocab and grammar patterns that way. Sometimes I hear something and go "hey, that's something I learnt in kc101" and go back to my notes to check it up.

[kohlcoa]

I can totally relate to you! Just today while watching the Korean talk show "미수다" I became frustrated because I could only pick up on certain words the women were saying. I also grew jealous, wondering why those 외국 여자 speak so quickly and how long it took them before they were able to have a long conversation and laugh and understand jokes in Korea. TT___TT It's so depressing at times but I know I can't turn back now. Fluency is something I want and eventually my brain should make connections. It's just a little harder for us because we're not babies or children anymore so our brain makes connections at a slower pace. 화이팅!! 아싸 아싸 아싸!!!

[Alexis]

Thanks everyone! As usual, you guys are so helpful! I feel much less discouraged now!^^ I think I'll definitely continue onto Beginner III now, then! But I'll probably continue to listen to the previous series. I was, however, surprised the other night - I randomly listened to one of the Advanced Audio Blogs and was surprised to realise I understood tiny bits here and there! So I feel like I'm making progress, but it's SO SLOW!

matthew254: I think I'm almost opposite to you! I think from highest to lowest, I'd be: reading, writing, listening, speaking. (My speaking FAILS. Which is partly why I haven't made any videos lately - I'm too scared! T_T)

I don't actually find that watching Kdramas helps all THAT much. It's helpful, in that it gets me used to listening to native speed, but it doesn't really help that much when it comes to learning new bits and pieces. Dunno. Maybe that's just me.

[jintana23]

My listening comprehension is improving. My problem is speaking. In my class, I can understand what my teacher says but when she asks me questions, I cannot complete my sentences. I feel bad every time.

[matthew254]

@jintana23 - But, it can only get better with time, practice, and hard work. Just ask holdfast

@Alexis - As for the dramas, for the longest time, I felt the same way. But, it started with a word or phrase or two per episode (the rest being that the episode was just entertaining and had nothing to do with my studies). Then, it started being that each episode would introduce something new and reinforce a handful of older phrases and concepts. Them, a couple of new concepts and a whole lot of reinforcement. All this well within two years. I can only imagine what the future holds.

@kohlcoa - But don't you know that those women started out in the same places as we are now? When one looks at their language progression as non-static, always changing, then it's encouraging to think that one day, that could be you, too. Those women on 미수다 don't have any special mutant powers that enable them to understand Korean jokes or come up with (sometimes) witty answers. They worked hard for their language skill and so do we. Give it time

[kyuree]

About learning through dramas...
I seriously learnt a lot of words through dramas.
But when I watched my first drama (상두야,학교가자!) completely (not only a few episodes like I did when I had to rent VHS tapes from the food shop...) I was already in a lower intermediate/upper beginner level.
Yet, even if you're not I think listening to a language more often makes you get used to the sound/melody/stresses of the language. If you can "feel" where one word ends and the next starts (you couldn't in a language you don't know) it already helps. If you get a feeling for the way ppl express their feelings with the melody etc.

Just like Matthew said with time I recognize more and more vocab, grammar patterns etc. and if I don't I just enjoy the show.
Often, though, they talk about a specific topic and repeat the vocab for it, then I try to write it down in Hangeul and in English, then later I go check in a dictionary. If I don't write it down I might forget the word again.

The words I mostly learnt through dramas are words that describe relationships, feelings, titles (like section chief etc.).
to marry is one of the words I learnt through dramas etc.
"get out of the way" another


By now I already know some words around dating and marriage in Japanese hahaha

[Alexis]

Yeah... I'm able to pick out random words here and there. However, when it comes to dramas, I also find that I rely on the subtitles TOO much, and so I can't really tell whether or not I'm understanding things correctly or not! I think it would be different if I tried to watch a whole ep of something without subtitles!

matthew254: Yeah, I do find it somewhat interesting - the more I continue learning, the more I can understand in Kdramas. It's a very slow process, but it's still interesting to see.

Oh well. Hopefully I'll pick up more as I continue to learn. I spose sometimes I just get frustrated at how slow a process it is! I don't know how people like HyunWoo learn multiple languages so efficiently and quickly! I don't think I could do that...!

[javiskefka]

Those women on 미수다 don't have any special mutant powers that enable them to understand Korean jokes or come up with (sometimes) witty answers. They worked hard for their language skill and so do we. Give it time

I'm still hoping for that bite of radioactive kimchi.

Maybe the next time that South Korea sends an astronaut to the International Space Station, they should take the space kimchi out on an EVA so it can be exposed to a higher concentration of cosmic rays, and...

Anyway, I would rank my skills the same as Alexis: reading, writing, listening, speaking. That applies to English as well as Korean, so it's nothing about the difficulty of Korean that makes listening and speaking practice more difficult than reading or writing.

I find that when I'm speaking Korean with somebody, or when I am listening to someone speak Korean I have to concentrate solely on that language. If there's much switching back and forth at all, I just get lost. It's like I almost have to adjust my ears into Korean hearing mode. Otherwise, I'm just hearing a wall of random sounds.

[shanshanchua]

Yeah, I"ve often wondered how Hyunwoo does it too! And I think his English is very good for someone who's learnt it without living overseas. Many Koreans speak English with a "Korean accent", but he doesn't really have that.

Hyunwoo: if you're reading this, please share some of your language learning experiences with us.

It's easy to compare ourselves with someone else and feel frustrated that we are not progressing as much. But I've stopped doing that cos I know I don't have as much time to study and I don't have many opportunities to speak Korean. It's more important to measure our own progress relative to where we were before.