I speak Polish, German, Swedish and English. 3 of them are Germanic languages so they were easy to learn because they are so closely related. Polish and German I learned as a child so it was kind of automatic.

Now I have to learn Korean and struggle so much! After 3 months I have learned about 100 words. Any tips how to get to the first 1000 words Ina reasonable time? Especially in a language where none of the words seem to resamle anything from my previous languages.

  • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
    1·
    2 years ago

    The key to adquire vocab is to find a method that you’re comfortable with, and that you don’t mind repeating in a timely manner. Two that I personally like are:

    semantic map

    As you learn a new word, you write it down, with an explanation (translation, drawing, up to you), and then connect it to words that are conceptually related, that you already learned.

    So for example. Let’s say that you were learning English instead of Korean. And you just learned the word “chicken”. You could do something like this:

    You can extend those maps as big as you want, and also include other useful bits of info, like grammar - because you’ll need that info later on. Also note what I did there with “(ptak)”, leaving a blank for a word that you’d be planning to learn later on; when you do it, you simply write “bird” over it and done, another word in the map.

    It’s important to review your old semantic maps; either to add new words or to review the old ones.

    flashcards

    Prepare a bunch of small pieces of paper. Harder paper is typically better. Add the following to each:

    • a Korean word
    • a translation in a language that you’re proficient with (it’s fine to mix)
    • small usage details, as translations are almost never 100% accurate
    • some grammatical tidbit (e.g. is this a verb or a noun? If a verb: stative, descriptive, active, or copulative?)
    • a simple example sentence using that word
    • [optional] some simple drawing

    Then as you have some free time (just after lunch, in the metro, etc.), you review those cards.

  • Paragone@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 years ago

    TTBOMK, there are 3 things which change-the-rules, significantly.

    1. Pimsleur. Get the Pimsleur app, get the all-languages subscription, & do 1 session per day.

    2. Flashcards, or Anki, to get the visual imprinted into your automatic-mind, for any language you are trying to learn

    Later…

    1. Tandem, where you find a speech-learning partner, you help other people learn your languages better, other people help you learn your target-language better.

    Begin with Pimsleur & with some yt videos.

    ( they have no Sanskrit, which is the one I want, unfortunately )

    Do well!

    _ /\ _