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  • All Documented Language Learning Projects on Eurolinguiste

    All Documented Language Learning Projects on Eurolinguiste

    Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to complete a variety of language learning projects. I aimed to sit the HSK 4 exam after a year of studying Chinese. I’ve sought to see how much Icelandic I could learn en route to the country without learning a word of the language prior. I’ve also completed several Fluent in 3 Month Challenges and have studied languages as a part of 90 Days with Drops.

    I’ve documented many of these, but before now, they weren’t easy to locate or follow. With this collection, I hope to change that.

    Now, you can find all of my documented language learning projects in one place.

    My Language Maintenance Project

    Learning Persian with Drops

    Raising My Kids In My Second Language

    My Hebrew Project

    My Hindi Language Project

    My Icelandic Project

    Learning Hungarian with Drops

    Korean for the Fi3M Challenge

    Japanese for the Fi3M Challenge

    Bonus: 100+ Conversational Words & Phrases in Japanese

    Korean Language Project with Lindsay Does Languages

    Bonus: 100+ Conversational Words & Phrases in Korean and Video

    Learning Russian

    Bonus: 100+ Conversation Words & Phrases in Russian

    Learning Mandarin Chinese to Pass the HSK 4 Exam

    Bonus: 100+ Conversational Words & Phrases in Chinese

    Italian Language Refresh

    Learning Spanish

    Croatian for the Fi3M Challenge

    Bonus: 100+ Conversational Words & Phrases in Croatian

    What about you?

    I’d love to hear about your language projects in the comments below. 

    September 26, 2020 • Language Project, Language Resources • Views: 690

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  • Martial Arts Vocabulary in Korean: How to Talk About Taekwondo in Korean

    Martial Arts Vocabulary in Korean

    A few years back, I was really into martial arts. I practiced a branch of kung-fu, but ended up having to take a break. When I was ready to start up again, my school had closed. I didn’t start looking for a new school right away and a short break slowly became a long break. 

    As you know, I enjoy food, so it soon became clear that I needed to start doing some sort of exercise again to balance things out. I decided to start practicing martial arts again. 

    I found a new school, but it wasn’t kung-fu. Instead, they taught a combination of Japanese and Korean martial arts – hapkido, taekwondo, karate… 

    I went in for my evaluation to see if I could stay at the same belt level I was at in kung-fu. As the class lined up, the Master called out “차렷!” and I was like a deer in headlights. Wait, what?

    As the evaluation proceeded, I quickly realized that this class wasn’t just a physical learning experience for me, but also a language learning experience. Depending on what we worked on in class, commands were given in either Japanese or Korean. 

    Kinesthetic learning – tying learning to movement – can be a powerful way to learn a new language and this was my first opportunity to try it out. But not following commands in class meant push-ups, and I hate push-ups. So I decided to do a bit of preparation on my own. 

    I found a list of taekwondo vocabulary in Korean and started working with my tutor to learn and use it my very next lesson. 

    If you’d like to learn Korean-specific words like these, Drops recently released several hundred Korean culture-specific words. You can become a cultural inside and learn lots of new Korean words for free with Drops.

    Taekwondo Vocabulary in Korean

    The Korean word Taekwondo in Hanja, or Chinese characters, is 跆拳道. This literally means “to stomp / fist / way, discipline”. It’s name is a clue to it’s style! 

    But before we get into specific vocabulary, first, let’s learn the basics! Here are a few branches of Korean martial arts in Korean.

    Types Korean Martial Arts Vocabulary

    • Martial Arts: 무술 (musul)
    • Taekwondo: 태권도 (taekwondo), a martial arts focused on self-defense
    • Taekkyon: 택견 (taekkyon), a martial arts that involves a focus on tripping or unbalancing your opponent
    • Hapkido: 합기도 (hapkido), mostly focused on grappling with some striking

    Keywords for Korean Martial Arts

    And here are a few more key terms including, the Korean words for those who practice martial arts, the locations, etc.

    • Master Instructor: 사범님 (sabeomnim)
    • Student: 학생 (haksaeng), also 제자 (jeja) depending on the system
    • Senior Student: 선배님 (seonbaenim)
    • Dojo: 도장 (dochang)
    • Uniform: 도복 (dobok)
    • Belt: 띠 (tti)
    • Belt grades (before black belt): 급 (keup)
    • Belt grades (after black belt): 단 (dan)
    • Kiyah!: 기합 (kihap), this is yell done by martial arts practicioners when striking or kicking to help with power)

    Taekwondo Commands in Korean

    • Attention: 차렷 (charyeot)
    • Begin: 시작 (shijak)
    • Continue: 계속 (kyesok)
    • Ready: 준비 (junbi)
    • Stop: 갈려 (kalryeo)
    • Return: 바로 (baro), used when you need to return to face an instructor at the end of a form
    • Bow: 경례 (kyeongrye)

    Body Parts Used in Taekwondo in Korean

    Basic Taekwondo Technique Nouns in Korean

    • Block: 막기 (makgi)
    • Breaking: 격파 (kyeokpa)
    • Dodge: 피하기 (pihagi)
    • Forms: 품새 (pumsae)
    • Grab: 잡기 (jabgi)
    • Jump: 뛰기 (ttwigi) 
    • Kick: 차기 (chagi)
    • Punch: 지르기 (chireugi)
    • Push: 밀기 (milgi)
    • Sparring: 구르기 (kureugi)
    • Stance: 서기 (seogi)
    • Horse Stance: 주춤서기 (suchum seogi)
    • Strike: 치기 (chigi)
    • Thrust: 찌르기 (jjireugi)

    Basic Taekwondo Technique Verbs in Korean

    • To block: 막다 (makda)
    • To dodge: 피하다 (pihada)
    • To grab: 잡다 (jabda)
    • To jump: 뛰다 (ttwida)
    • To kick: 차다 (chada), I kick is 저는 차요 (cheoneun chayo) listen to this phrase
    • To punch: 지르다 (jireuda)
    • To push: 밀다 (milda)
    • To spar: 구르다 (kureuda)
    • To stand: 서다 (seoda)
    • To strike: 치다 (chida)
    • To thrust: 찌르다 (jjireuda)

    Directions for Taekwondo in Korean

    • Back: 뒤 (dwi)
    • Front: 앞 (ap)
    • Side: 옆 (yeop)

    Combine Directions with Techniques in Korean

    By combining the direction with certain techniques, you can get more detailed vocabulary. Here are a few examples: 

    • Back kick: 뒤차기 (dwichagi)
    • Front kick: 앞차기 (apchagi)
    • Side kick: 옆차기 (yepchagi)

    More Kicks in Korean

    • Axe Kick: 내려차기 (naeryeo chagi)
    • Crescent Kick: 반달차기 (bandal chagi)
    • Hook Kick: 후려차기 (huryeo chagi)
    • Push Kick: 밀어차기 (mileo chagi)
    • Roundhouse Kick: 돌려차기 (dolryeo chagi)
    • Front Roundhouse Kick: 앞돌려차기 (ap dolryeo chagi)
    • Back Roundhouse Kick: 뒤돌려차기 (dwi dolryeo chagi)
    • Scissor Kick: 가위차기 (kawi chagi)
    • Spinning Hook Kick: 뒤후려차기 (dwi huryeo chagi)
    • Jump Kick: 뛰어차기 (ttwieo chagi)
    • Jump Front Kick: 뛰어앞차기 (ttwieo ap chagi)
    • Jump Back Kick: 뛰어뒤차기 (ttwieo dwi chagi)

    Punches & Strikes in Korean

    To get the terms for most strikes in Korean, you combine the body part or part of the hand with the word for “strike” as in the following:

    • Arc Hand Strike:  아금손 치기 (akeumson, literally “arc hand strike”
    • Elbow Strike: 팔꿈치 치기 (palkkumchi chigi)
    • Knife Hand Strike: 손 칼 치기 (son kal chigi)
    • Palm Strike: 손바닥 치기 (sonbadak chigi) 
    • Back Fist: 등 주먹 (deung jumeok)

    Now it’s your turn. Practice these words and expressions, and if you’re in taekwondo, see if you recognize any of them! You can also look up instructional videos for taekwondo in Korean to test your new vocabulary. This will help you instill these terms in Korean. 

    If you’re ready to take what you’ve learned to the next level, you can combine these terms to talk about combos in taekwondo. And you’ll get to chat about one of your hobbies – martial arts – in Korean. 

    What about you? Are there any taekwondo-related words or phrases you’ve picked up in Korean? Let me know!

    And if you’d like to learn more words like this in Korean, check out Drops. A fun, engaging way to learn new Korean words in just 5 minutes a day. Don’t forget, you can now learn several hundred Korean culture-specific words–pick up new vocabulary to chat about everything from K-pop to traditional Korean culture.

    May 14, 2020 • Language Resources • Views: 2069

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  • So We Meet Again… My Second Attempt to Learn Korean & What I’m Doing Different

    My second attempt learning Korean and what I'm doing differently

    I recently announced that I am revising a language that I studied in the past – Korean. 

    My first time around with Korean was a struggle. At the time, I was between Japanese and Korean as my next language project, but when my good friend Lindsay of Lindsay Does Language expressed interest in learning Korean alongside me, I chose Korean over Japanese.

    During those six months, I struggled with almost every aspect of the language – the pronunciation, the writing system, the grammar, and nothing seemed to stick. When Lindsay told me she was ready to move on to other language projects, I decided to set Korean aside. I planned to use the time to think about what I wanted to do about Korean – tackle it again or give it up.

    Getting Re-Started with the Korean Language

    Initially, I was certain that I would end up giving up Korean. It seemed as though the language and might not have been a good fit, so I spent a year working on several other languages, including a few new ones. It gave me the chance to experience a couple of big language learning wins and remind myself that just because I wasn’t able to learn Korean, I wasn’t a bad language learner.

    I started trying to convince myself to let Korean go. I had already done it with German and Arabic, so doing it again shouldn’t have been hard. But there was just something about the language that led me to feel as though I should hang on to it. I couldn’t make a decision.

    Recently, I started learning Japanese – a language that is often compared to Korean in terms of difficulty. My experience with Japanese wasn’t anything like my experience with Korean. I poured over my notes from my time with Korean, trying to figure out why — and then it hit me.

    When I started seriously studying Japanese, I began taking lessons almost right away. When I studied Korean – I did all of the same things except lessons. I never really used the language with someone else. Instead, I convinced myself that my weekly meetings with my study buddy (which were in English) were enough. And while they kept me accountable and helped me find the motivation to study every day, everything that I learned was relatively meaningless because I wasn’t putting it into practice.

    So I decided to give the language a second chance and to do it “right” this time. I’d do exchanges, take lessons, and start speaking the language sooner rather than later.

    My Early Efforts at Learning Korean Weren’t For Nothing

    To be completely honest, I was worried that the first six months I spent studying Korean were a total waste. Outside of a few basic expressions – hello, thank you, and goodbye – I remembered nothing. All the vocabulary, grammar, and practice I had done disappeared the moment I stopped studying the language.

    I was convinced that everything that I had learned was gone – that I really didn’t remember any of it. 

    But when I started back up with the language, it quickly came back. Things made sense much more quickly and I often found myself thinking, “oh yeah, I remember that.” The information was still there in my head – it was just buried.

    And not only was it still there, but it also helped me to pick up new concepts and vocabulary much faster than I had in the past.

    Tackling the Korean Writing System

    When I first started studying Korean, I remember spending countless hours on Memrise trying to learn the alphabet. But no matter how often I reviewed the characters, it seemed like I couldn’t piece it all together. When I decided to start over, the first thing I returned to was that particular Memrise set. I reset my learning statistics and began studying from zero.

    Memorizing the Korean writing system was suddenly as easy as other learners always claimed it to be. Yes, I still struggle with the more complex vowel sounds (particularly those with w), but after only a few hours, I could sound out entire words and phrases in Korean even if I couldn’t understand them. 

    The Conversational Approach to Language Learning

    As I said before, using Korean is very important to me this time around. When I studied the language before, I did try to use the language whenever I went to the doctor. I thought it made sense, but looking back, I realize that it really didn’t. My doctor appointments were important and it didn’t make sense to try to use Korean in them when I needed to have important discussions with my nurse and doctor. It also didn’t make sense because what I needed to know in that particular setting wasn’t useful to me at all in any other setting.

    This time, I’m diving right in with tutors and exchange partners and I’m going to try to record more videos on Instagram – much like I did with Japanese.

    The Resources I Plan to Use to Learn Korean

    To start, I am using Memrise to pick up new vocabulary and keep the writing system in front of me. It’s my go-to resource for every language because I can customize my own decks (I add new words to my private deck after lessons) and study pre-made flashcards. I always have it with me since it’s loaded on my phone, so I can study anytime, anyplace. I’ve also found the Memrise Korean course (the course that Memrise itself makes for the language) to be extremely useful 

    From there, I plan Korean Made Simple as my first course book and Pimsleur as my first audio program.

    Eventually, I’ll add Assimil into the mix for both its book and its audio. On the side, I’m watching the Easy Languages Korean episodes as well as some of the KoreanClass101 video lessons. I’ve also had my first few lessons on iTalki.

    To Sum Up

    Much like with Japanese, I have a few different resources I’m interested in trying out, but as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t like to work with more than 3-5 language learning resources at any given time. It gets overwhelming and I find I’m not able to make as much progress when I study. As a part of the Fi3M Challenge (and just for my own records), I plan to make regular videos on Instagram and Youtube– so be sure to follow me there.

    In the meantime, if you have any tips for me as a newish Korean language learner or if you have any resource recommendations that you couldn’t have lived without, please let me know in the comments below. 

    I look forward to hearing from you!

    May 14, 2018 • Language Resources • Views: 2560

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