Amanda Takes Off...

I'm not a huge advocate of television watching, and I actually never watch television per se (shows I like I watch on the internet) but that being said, you can at least exercise your listening comprehension by watching korean movies and tv... Poor substitute for actual personal interaction, I know, and also one might question the quality of choices one is faced with... or another thought comes to mind, watching english or otherwise dvds but using the korean subtitle or language option...

We don't even have a TV, so we watch anything we want on the internet. Unfortunately Law and Order isn't online yet.

I do love some of that terrible cheese known as "우리 결혼했어요...."

"like the coolness factor of learning an Asian language (sad, but true),"

Don't judge your reasons. They are good ones.

Can you start with an hour on one day a week for Korean-only? Then maybe build up to more. That could help.

Personally, I've begun pestering Min Gi every five seconds to explain what something in Korean is. Nothing quite like having a personal expert around when you need him.

Other than that, encourage Good Man to speak to you in Korean, even if he thinks it would be easier to say it to you in English. Like I know you don't want kids, but it's what people do to raise bilingual children, each partner speaking only in their native language. Since you can understand it usually, or you can ask for clarification...

I am 1.5 generation Korean. I immigrated to the US when I was 10 years old without a single knowledge of English. Not even ABCs. You can imagine with an Asian parent, it was not going to fly so I was emerged into English day in and day out.

I grew up without a single Korean friend all throughout middle, high, and first two years of college. Therefore, my Korean slowly faded away.

I really got into Korean around Junior year of my college life and I wasn't really determined but it helped with speaking Korean.

My two piece of advice in learning Korean (by experience of course) was I watched a lot of music videos and I hung out with the Koreans.

I hope this helps a little.

I'm assuming Good Man wants to learn as much English as possible so this may be difficult. The best method I have found is to have a few days a week where only Korean is spoken in your home. Perhaps decide a certain grammar structure or scenario you want to learn more about and center the speaking Korean only evenings on that. Also, the TV thing is a very good idea. Anytime you have the chance, download a Korean movie so you get that extra Korean listening practice. These things worked and continue to work well for me with another language that I have no chance to hear on a daily basis. If nothing, it at least ensures you don't forget what you already know.

Hi,

I've been reading your blog for a while now . . . I have some ideas.
1. Join an online chat group with Kyopos and ethnic Koreans.
2. Video chat with Koreans back here in Korea.
3. Watch tons of Korean movies and TV shows--like Good Man said, he watched American Idol to learn more English.
4. mp3 files in Korean: news, radio, songs, and other content. Burn CDs to listen to while driving. Buy CDs or have them shipped to you to listen to.
5. I'd be shocked if there weren't some Koreans living somewhere nearby . . . have you tried to find them?
6. Are there any ESL training centers nearby? There might be some Koreans who'd be totally freaked out to become friends with an American who they could practice English with, and you Korean with them.

Good luck,
Jason
aka
kimchi-icecream

I mostly lurk on your blog...I think I found it through a Korean blog list. I am also white/married to Korean-Korean who speaks Korean and lived there. I totally get your feeling of not fitting in anywhere. And it's bizzare. It doesn't make sense to most people. You just get to pull the best from both worlds and move on despite the feeling of being totally untethered.

I watch Korean dramas and try to maintain Korean friendships (for both myself and my toddler). I sometimes listen to language tapes in the car (helps with my loathing of driving). But mostly it falls by the wayside. Then I pick it up again when we are back in Korea. You'll muddle through-don't worry!

How often do you eat Korean Food? Can you tie eating Korean to speaking Korean - even during food prep? Just a thought.

For me...as bad as it may sound it is the Korean stuff on the internet...
Easy stuff is the dramas and variety shows. Harder stuff which takes some mental power is the Korean news/tabloids. I.E. Naver...

Something you might not like, but what about joining or visiting a Korean church? Or this really isn't PC, but either open or go to a dry cleaners!??! Maybe bring some pants to loose?!? Okay that wasn't nice...

Wow, now I know how to get the lurking, non-commenters to come out...just ask a question.

OK, I'm going to try and loosely go in order (except for Jonathan, because it's already answered).

Diana, I ask Good Man to explain things all the time and get, "Um, I'm not sure, it's really hard." Actually, he did a pretty good job with 모모하면 vs 모모하다면. I'm still not 100% sure of the difference, but I think I've mostly got it. The one day a week thing is good, but we've tried it and it hasn't worked, so I'm not sure how to make it work! As for him speaking Korean, the times we do speak Korean, *I* am usually the one speaking Korean, and he answers in English. BLUE FROG! He's such a blue frog!

Annie, I did get some new songs to listen to, and I do enjoy it, so I'll look into that. As for meeting Koreans...we've met a few through Meetup, but not many so far. Unfortunately, most of the Koreans I've met...want to practice English, not Korean. Oh, I do speak Korean a lot with Special Forces Instructor, but I haven't been able to go to class because of the toe. And thanks for the comment. I think this is your first?

Kristen, you've got it. Good Man's English is very good, but he does want to practice it more, which makes the Korean-Only Day(s) plan not work out. Maybe I just need to be a bigger Blue Frog than Good Man is.

Jason. Chat groups, good idea, except it's hard finding websites where people speak Korean and not K0r3^n. Know what I mean? I'll try to find one, though. Video chat, we'll see if Sister and Mother can get webcams. I do watch one show I like. MP3s in Korean--Good Man found a Korean channel for me on Screamer Radio, and I can record directly from it, so I have been doing that! I like it a lot because I can listen to the same thing over and over again. Meeting Koreans, see above. ESL centers, good idea, haven't looked for them, feels too much like a job, but will keep it in mind. ;)

Karen, falling by the wayside isn't what I wanted to hear ("Noooooooooo!") but it's reassuring that it comes back.

Robbin, I cook Korean food at home at least once a week it seems (EXCLUDING ramyeon; I made spicy rice cakes last night). I have thought about getting a Korean-language cookbook.

Jin, if I could make tons of money and look like a complete jerk for losing pants...maybe. It's an idea. ;) As for church, if I weren't an atheist, I'd consider it.

Wow, thanks so much for all the comments, folks. I have an idea for this weekend, but I'm going to keep it under my hat until I see if it works. Thanks!

you know i share your love for 'we got married.' i find that it's not only entertaining but a great learning tool as well. did you ever watch korean dramas? i watched a series over the summer and learned SO much, with english subs to help me (of course). and korean songs. i mainly learn them to keep up with co-workers at noraebang, but still, learning things little by little.

did you mention before that there is a korean grocery store nearby (or just a general asian one)? can you find someone there? do like a language exchange type thing...

also, tagged you on my blog. feel free to ignore it.

~w