Comments on: Q&A: Estimated time to become fluent in foreign language? http://www.greedaudiodrama.com/blog/2011/07/13/qa-estimated-time-to-become-fluent-in-foreign-language/ Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:15:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: verygoodjokes http://www.greedaudiodrama.com/blog/2011/07/13/qa-estimated-time-to-become-fluent-in-foreign-language/#comment-11 verygoodjokes Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:41:15 +0000 http://www.greedaudiodrama.com/blog/2011/07/13/qa-estimated-time-to-become-fluent-in-foreign-language/#comment-11 check out this site too, it has a lot of tools and resources to help you learn Korean. http://www.sayjack.com/ good luck to your korean learning career! check out this site too, it has a lot of tools and resources to help you learn Korean.

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good luck to your korean learning career!

]]> By: Erin http://www.greedaudiodrama.com/blog/2011/07/13/qa-estimated-time-to-become-fluent-in-foreign-language/#comment-10 Erin Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:00:27 +0000 http://www.greedaudiodrama.com/blog/2011/07/13/qa-estimated-time-to-become-fluent-in-foreign-language/#comment-10 I've learned German for 3 years now and I feel like I know quite a lot, but I'm still a long way off being fluent. I know someone who is in their 7th year of German and they are pretty much fluent, but not quite, so say 8-ish years to become really fluent. But if you actually go to the country your knowledge of vocabulary will increase because you'll constantly be seeing new words every day. I’ve learned German for 3 years now and I feel like I know quite a lot, but I’m still a long way off being fluent. I know someone who is in their 7th year of German and they are pretty much fluent, but not quite, so say 8-ish years to become really fluent. But if you actually go to the country your knowledge of vocabulary will increase because you’ll constantly be seeing new words every day.

]]> By: Orla http://www.greedaudiodrama.com/blog/2011/07/13/qa-estimated-time-to-become-fluent-in-foreign-language/#comment-9 Orla Wed, 13 Jul 2011 06:08:49 +0000 http://www.greedaudiodrama.com/blog/2011/07/13/qa-estimated-time-to-become-fluent-in-foreign-language/#comment-9 As a matter of fact Korean is a very difficult language - one of the most difficult there is. At first Korean looks simpler than Japanese and Mandarin, since it uses no tones and has an alphabet. But as you progress you enter a maze of grammatical complexity and discover that the alphabet is supplemented by an ideographic character system of Chinese origin. Despite the attractiveness of South Korea culturally and economically, advanced learners report that it is difficult to use the language since nobody will correct you if you make a mistake and people will volunteer to speak in English whenever they can. Time needed: You can reach basic written and oral fluency within 12 months of study at one hour a day. From this stage up the learning curve becomes flat and you are looking at several years of study before you master all the politeness forms and the hanjas you need to read newspapers or watching the tele! There are two levels of difficulty in learning Korean. If you want to be able to read Korean on the Internet, send emails and have basic oral fluency, the language is much easier than Japanese or Chinese and can be rated - difficult to learn. If, however, you want to read newspapers, books, street signs and have complete fluency - the language is probably the hardest you can find, harder than Chinese or Japanese. It deserves - very difficult to learn. Pronunciation When compared to Chinese, Korean seems at first an easy language to pronounce, as there are no tones in Korean. However, as the student progresses he discovers that there are many, many unique sounds in Korean, and that they escape our ear. You can listen and listen for hours to pairs of contrasting consonants and hardly get the difference - not speaking of reproducing it. As a matter of fact Korean is a very difficult language – one of the most difficult there is. At first Korean looks simpler than Japanese and Mandarin, since it uses no tones and has an alphabet. But as you progress you enter a maze of grammatical complexity and discover that the alphabet is supplemented by an ideographic character system of Chinese origin. Despite the attractiveness of South Korea culturally and economically, advanced learners report that it is difficult to use the language since nobody will correct you if you make a mistake and people will volunteer to speak in English whenever they can.

Time needed:
You can reach basic written and oral fluency within 12 months of study at one hour a day. From this stage up the learning curve becomes flat and you are looking at several years of study before you master all the politeness forms and the hanjas you need to read newspapers or watching the tele!

There are two levels of difficulty in learning Korean.
If you want to be able to read Korean on the Internet, send emails and have basic oral fluency, the language is much easier than Japanese or Chinese and can be rated – difficult to learn. If, however, you want to read newspapers, books, street signs and have complete fluency – the language is probably the hardest you can find, harder than Chinese or Japanese. It deserves – very difficult to learn.

Pronunciation
When compared to Chinese, Korean seems at first an easy language to pronounce, as there are no tones in Korean. However, as the student progresses he discovers that there are many, many unique sounds in Korean, and that they escape our ear. You can listen and listen for hours to pairs of contrasting consonants and hardly get the difference – not speaking of reproducing it.

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