Make Listening Your Priority! Learn a Language Like a Native

Learn a Language Like a Native

At the moment, I am being immersed in Korea with a Korean wife and two children, so therefore you can be guaranteed there is an influence in my daily life. I have on and off, been studying for the best part of four years in Korea. My job as an English teacher means, for the most part, of the day, there is only a fraction of an influence of Korean. This coming from my students. The rest of my day is spent at home with the family where my eldest boy (six years) can speak Korean better than me. This is to be understandable as his immersion is much more than mine.

So far so good.

My methods so far have involved simply learning the most general words to get me through. The other words, therefore, have come from personal experiences. I am not much of a believer in burying my head in a text book or having flash cards, but to be in a more natural learning environment. A problem I hear many times is when people read a word in another language, and subsequently say it differently than what a native would. The situation afterwards gets more frustrating when you hear the native person using it, and you say, "that's what I just said."

Over the years, I have therefore built up a fair stock of words, the issue then, is to reply to somebody. Saying all this, I did have a small pocket book that I carried around with me (back in the UK) with which I would try to learn the best part of 20 words a week. Obviously, this was done to the factor of not remembering 100%, but to be immersed in a small way.

My issue now, is as I previously mentioned to learn via listening to people, I then, can say examples such as: yes, no, please thank you, that one there, how much, etc. As I see it; you can learn and learn about a language, but when it comes a real situation, and they're speaking at you, then you do what exactly?

So my main rule is to listen first and understand then reply back with small sentences. There are obviously trial and error involved in this, as success at what people are saying to you in another language is not going to be that high for a while.

Immersion is key.

For many, this is not always easy. I am living in Korea, but I am not as involved as others in the language as I am married to a Korean, which does shelter me somewhat. Therefore, I do not experience the same elements as a single person.

Now I study mainly listening to K Pop (Korean pop music). That might sound strange, but it is actually quite easy to pick up. If you go online and find the lyrics to print out including both Korean and English, it helps to follow it through via sounds and definitions. For me, this is like an 80's revival. I grew up with synth-pop and electro such as Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, KLF, etc. So now, hearing music from Korean artists like Big Bang adds another fun element to learning.

Good songs to learn Korean with:

PSY - Gangnam style
Bigbang - Lovesong
Bigbang - Monster
Wondergirls - Like this

If you have any better ideas for learning better, then, please leave your comments. or contact me at http://www.effectiveaspects.com/company/

Thank you.
Nigel Openshaw

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