Resources

Here are the resources I'm planning to use.

Grammar: I'm starting with a site called How to Study Korean as my "textbook". Since there's huge holes in my knowledge of the language and I don't know what I (don't) know, I'm starting from the beginning and working my way through as much as possible. This will also provide lots of vocabulary. I like this site because it's comprehensive, contains audio for most of its examples, and contains lots of examples for the concepts it talks about. I'll focus on using the site for lots of examples of good Korean in progressing complexity, over trying to memorize every grammar rule like a robot.

Vocabulary: There are a number of frequency lists online that I'll use to jumpstart my vocabulary. Aside from that, I'll just pull vocabulary from Korean media and Korean learning sites, depending on what I happen to be interested in.

Tutors: Whenver possible, I will find tutors in person. Living in Boston is a mixed blessing. On one hand, there's a large international population here, mainly because of all the colleges. I know my school has lots of Korean students, and I'm sure some of them would be willing to help me learn. On the other hand, Boston's Korean community is almost non-existent. Aside from college students, there's almost no Koreans or Korean Americans here (which also means no good Korean food...sad). All the Korean stuff in the area is in Cambridge. I don't have a car, so it takes a hot minute to get over there. Sad.

I'll look for tutors in my area especially during the school year when Korean people are around. But when I can't find any, I'll use italki to find online tutors.

Speaking partners: Similar to tutors, I'll look for speaking partners in my area in Boston, especially my school. I'll use tools like Meetup and Facebook to find partners too.

Video: I have Netflix, and there's tons of movies and dramas on it. There's lots of historical movies and action films that look fun. I imagine a lot of it will have Korean subtitles as well. Woohoo! And Korean cinema has been putting out lots of hits in recent years that even some American audiences have heard of like Oldboy and Snowpiercer, which I'll be sure to check out.

There's also Korean Youtube, which seems like it has a thriving community. Koreans like the Internet. There's lots of clips from variety shows that are pretty popular in Korea. I also found a Youtube channel called "GO! Billy Korean" for Korean learners. I haven't seen many videos yet, but I heard him speak and his accent sounds pretty good.

Audio: I'm not a big fan of K-pop, so I'll try to find Korean jazz/funk/soul/R&B with lyrics in it. Once I feel confident with listening without visuals, I'll look for Korean podcasts to listen to on the go.

Reading Material: At home, there's a stack of Korean children's books. I'll try to get my hands on them first. Then, I'll just search the wide world of news and articles on the Internet.