The tip: Copy down (entire) passages of text
Why it works: You get WRITING SKILLS since you are writing down every word. You become familiar with the spelling, grammar, different writing styles, script (if you are unfamiliar with it), etc. You get READING SKILLS because obviously you are reading, exposed to the written text in context. You can even incorporate SPEAKING and LISTENING SKILLS by listen to the audio format (you can try google translate audio if you find nothing else) and/or read it aloud to yourself. Since you are limited by the speed of your writing, you will pay more attention to pronunciation. *Also, everyone knows you retain more information when you write by hand.*
How to:
1. Select a text. Make sure it is appropriate to your level and desired new vocabulary set. If I want to know more political vocabulary, I will read a news article. But for colloquial language/slang, I will read a YA novel.
(Btw you can find tons of texts for novels online if you search: “title name” + pdf)
2. Get a paper and writing utensil (you can dedicate a notebook to this if you want).
3. Don’t stop until the text is done or your hand hurts
4. Limit looking up vocabulary. If the text is more challenging for you, allow yourself to look up about one word per paragraph. If it is at your level, then wait to the end of the session to open the dictionary. Chances are, you’ll figure out the word’s meaning a few lines later.
4. Go back to the text later to review and/or make vocabulary lists from what you learned (flashcards like anki or memrise would be great especially if you put the sentence on one side with the word indicated and a representative picture on the other side
Ex. Side one: I planted a *rose* today
Side two: picture of a rose in a pot)
**btw I don’t know if this is an “undiscovered” method. I used this to learn spelling and writing structures in my native language when I was little. I would even put the writing right in my picture books**
주소 - Address
화장실 - Bathroom, Washroom
갈등 - Conflict
일상 - Daily life, Everyday life
우울증 - Depression
꿈 - Dream
친구 - Friend
욕심 - Greed
기요틴 - Guillotine
머리 - Head
주저 - Hesitation
아이돌 - Idol
상상 - Imagination
인생 - Life
기억 - Memory
정신 - Mentality, Mind
괴물 - Monster
강박 - OCD
자신 - Oneself
부모님 - Parents
오염 - Pollution
자존심 - Pride, Self-respect
정신과 - Psychiatry clinic
랩퍼 - Rapper
현실 - Reality
롤렉스 - Rolex
근원 - Root, Cause
잠 - Sleep
가끔 - Sometimes
성공 - Success
시간 - Time
도쿄돔 - Tokyo Dome
누구 - Who
걱정 - Worry
청춘 - Youth
Ominous positivity
General:
The Five-Paragraph Essay
Using Punctuation Marks
Deadly Sins Checklist
Formatting Your Paper
Writing About Literature
Basic Essay
Revision Checklist
Planning and Organization
Editing and Proofreading
Latin Terms
Essay Structure
Tips on Introducing Quotes
Academic Writing Tips
Introductions:
Introductory Paragraphs
Introductions
Writing an Introduction
Preparing to Write an Introduction
Introduction Strategies
The Introductory Paragraph
Writing Effective Introductions
In The Beginning
Introductions and Conclusions
The Introductory Paragraph
Writing Introductory Paragraphs
How to Write an Intro
Body Paragraphs:
Paragraph Development and Topic Sentences
Transitions
Transitions
Transitions
Four Components of an Effective Body Paragraph
Writing Paragraphs
Paragraph Development
Body Paragraphs
Body Paragraphs
Strong Body Paragraphs
Body Paragraphs
Writing Body Paragraphs
How to Write Body Paragraphs
Writing the Body
Writing Body Paragraphs
Body Paragraphs
Body Paragraphs that Defend a Thesis
How to Write Body Paragraphs
The Perfect Paragraph
Topic Sentences:
Topic Sentences
Writing Topic Sentences
Topic Sentences
Topic Sentences
The Topic Sentence
Paragraphs and Topic Sentences
The Topic Sentence
Topics, Main Ideas, and Topic Sentences
Writing a Good Topic Sentence
Good Topic Sentences
Conclusions:
Writing Effective Conclusions
Introductions and Conclusions
Conclusion Paragraphs
Conclusion Strategies
Conclusions
Tips for a Strong Conclusion
The Concluding Paragraph
Ending the Essay
Types of Conclusions
Writing a Strong Conclusion
How to Write a Conclusion
Writing Conclusions
Guide to Conclusions
Thesis Statements:
The Thesis Statement
Thesis Statements
Writing a Thesis Statement
Thesis Statement
Tips and Examples
Writing a Thesis
Writing the Thesis
How to Write Your Thesis
The Thesis
Thesis Statements
Guidelines for Writing a Thesis
Thesis Statements
Thesis
Thesis Statements
The Thesis
Create a Strong Thesis
How to Write a Thesis
Developing a Thesis
Guide to Writing Thesis Statements
Thesis Statements
Citing:
When to Cite
APA Documentation
MLA Documentation
Suggestions for Citing Sources
Research and Citation Resources
Citation Information
MLA Guidelines for Citing Poetry
MLA Style for Poetry
How to Format Your Paper
Argumentative Essays:
Argumentative Essays
Argument
Argumentative Essays
Persuasive or Argumentative Essays
Argumentative Essay
Argument/Argumentative
Argumentative Essays
How to Write a Good Argument
How to Write an Argumentative Essay
Writing Conclusions to Argumentative Essays
Argumentative Essay
Persuasive Essay Writing
Writing Concluding Paragraphs
Constructing the Argumentative Essay
Writing About Poetry:
Writing About Poetry
Writing About Poetry
Writing About Poetry Q & A
Poetry Explications
Writing About Poetry
Writing About Poems
Explicating a Poem
Writing About Poetry
Writing a Thesis Paper About a Poem
How to Start a Poetry Introduction
Poetry Essay Structure
Poetry Explication
Expository Essays:
Structure of a General Expository Essay
Expository Essay Examples
Sample Expository Essay
Expository Writing
Expository Essay Model
Elements of Expository Essays
Expository Writing Information
Expository Essays
Writing Expository Essays
How to Write an Expository Essay
Tips on Writing an Expository Essay
Expository Essays
Essay Map
Writing Expository Essays
How to Create a Strong Expository Essay
Expository Essay Writing
The Expository Essay
Research Papers:
How to Write a Research Paper in Literature
Writing a Research Paper
The Research Paper
How to Write a Research Paper
Five Paragraph Research Paper
Sample Research Paper
Writing a Research Paper
Tips for a Research Paper
How to Write a Research Paper
Writing a Scientific Research Paper
Writing Research Papers
Research and Writing
Research Papers that Rock
How to Write an Effective Research Paper
College Application Essays:
Application Essay Tips
Application Essays
Tips
10 Tips
Application Essays
How to Write a College Application Essay
Tips for an Effective Essay
Do’s and Don’t’s
College Application Essay
How to Write a College Application Essay
Narrative Essays:
Narrative and Descriptive
Narrative Essay Writing
The Personal Essay
Narrative Essays
Narrative Essays
Writing Narrative Essays
Narrative/Descriptive
Narrative Essay
Writing a Narrative Essay
Tips on Writing a Narrative Essay
for: @91silk
It seems to me that …- A mí me parece que …
In my opinion, …- En mi opinión, …
I am of the opinion that …- Soy de la opinión de que …
I take the view that …- Soy de la opinión de que …
My personal view is that …- Mi opinión personal es que …
In my experience …- En mi experiencia …
As far as I understand…- Por lo que yo entiendo …
As far as I can see…- Por lo que yo puedo ver …
As I see it, …- Como yo lo veo, …
From my point of view…- Desde mi punto de vista …
As far as I know…- Por lo que yo sé …
From what I know …- Por lo que sé …
I might be wrong but …- Puedo estar equivocado, pero …
If I am not mistaken …- Si no me equivoco …
I believe one can safely say …- Creo que se puede decir con seguridad …
It is claimed that …- Se dice que …
I must admit that …- Tengo que admitir que …
I cannot deny that …- No puedo negar que …
I can imagine that …- Me imagino que …
I think/believe/suppose …- Creo / creo / supongo …
Personally, I think …- Personalmente, creo que …
That is why I think …- Es por eso que creo que …
I am sure/certain/convinced that …- Estoy seguro / seguro / convencido de que …
I am not sure/certain, but …- No estoy seguro / seguro, pero …
I am not sure, because I don’t know the situation exactly.- No estoy seguro, porque no conozco la situación exacta.
I am not convinced that …- No estoy convencido de que …
I have read that …- He leído que …
I am of mixed opinions about …- Tengo una opinión mixta sobre …
I am of mixed opinions about on this.- Tengo opiniones variadas sobre esto…
I have no opinion in this matter.- No tengo ninguna opinión al respecto.
I believe that…- creo que…
I think that…- pienso que…
I think that…- opino que…
I think that…- me parece que…
what do you think about…?/ what’s your opinion about…?- ¿Qué opinas de…?
what do you believe about…?- ¿Qué crees de…?
what do you think about…?- ¿Qué piensas de…?
what do you think about…?- ¿Qué te parece…?
I like- me gusta
I prefer- prefiero
I love- me encanta
I don’t like- no me gusta
odio- I hate
detesto- I hate
de acuerdo- alright
vale- okay, fine
estoy de acuerdo- I agree
no estoy de acuerdo- I do not agree
de ninguna manera- no way
Aburrido/a-Boring
Afortunado/a-Lucky
Antiguo/a-Old
Barato/a-Cheap
Bueno/a-Good
Caro/a-Expensive
Decepcionante-Disappointing
Desagradable-Unpleasant
Difícil-Difficult
Distincto-Different/distinct
Duro/a-Hard/difficult
Emocionante-Exciting
Entretenido/a-Entertaining
Espléndido/a-Splendid
Estúpido/a-Stupid
Extraordinario/a-Extraordinary
Famoso/a-Famous
Fascinante-Fascinating
Favorable-Favourable
Fenomenal-Great
Genial-Brilliant/great
Horroroso/a-Terrible/awful
Importante-Important
Impresionante-Amazing/incredible
Inseguro/a-Insecure
Inútil-Useless
Malo/a-Bad
Moderno/a-Modern
Nuevo/a-New
Posible-Possible
Precioso/a-Lovely/beautiful
Profundo/a-Deep/profound
Regular-Regular/average
Seguro/a-Sure/secure
Sorprendido/a-Surprised
Tonto/a-Silly/stupid
Único/a-Unique/only
Aceptable-Acceptable
Agradable-Pleasant
Apropiado/a-Suitable
Bonito/a-Pretty
Decepcionado/a-Disappointed
Desafortunadamente-Unfortunately
Diferente-Different
Divertido/a-Fun/entertaining/funny
Económico/a-Economical
Encantador-Charming/delightful
Especial-Special
Estupendo/a-Great
Excelente-Excellent
Fácil-Easy
Fantástico/a-Fantastic
Fatal-Awful
Favorito/a-Favourite
Feo/a-Ugly
Hermoso/a-Beautiful/lovely
Ideal-Ideal
Imposible-Impossible
Increíble-Incredible
Interesante-Interesting
Malo/a-Bad
Maravilloso/a-Marvelous/wonderful
Negativo/a-Negative
Perfecto/a-Perfect
Positivo/a-Positive
Preferido/a-Preferred/favourite
Raro/a-Strange
Ridículo/a-Ridiculous
Sencillo/a-Simple/modest
Típico/a-Typical
Tranquilo/a-Quiet/calm
Útil-Useful
Viejo/a-Old
¡Totalmente! — Totally!
Estoy (completamente/totalmente) de acuerdo — I (completely/totally) agree
Estoy contigo — I’m with you on that
Por supuesto — Of course!
Tienes razón — You’re right
No estamos de acuerdo — I don’t agree with you
No lo veo (tan) así — I don’t (really) see it like that
No creo — I don’t think so
Saying you’re unsure or showing partial agreement
Estoy de acuerdo hasta un cierto punto — I agree with you up to a point
Tal vez, pero… — Maybe, but…
No estoy muy segura/o — I’m not really sure
Nunca lo pensé — I’ve never thought about it
No tengo la menor idea — I have no idea
If there’s any questions about any of this, let me know!
NOTE: some of these terms do not translate directly; this is because I based myself off of the vocabulary employed by each website. What they consider equivalent vocabulary might differ from what you might find in a dictionary.
Social media – Las redes sociales – Les médias/réseaux sociaux (m.)*
*Previously, in French, the expression Web 2.0 was also used, but nowadays it is being replaced more and more with the former term.
Home – El inicio – L’accueil (m.)
Message – El mensaje – Le message
Notification – La notificación – La notification
News feed – Las noticias – Le fil d’actualité
To search – Buscar – Rechercher
Post – La publicación – La publication
Photo album – El álbum de fotos – L’album photo (m.)
Shortcuts – Los accesos directos – Le raccourci
Ad – La publicidad – La publicité
Event – El evento – L’évènement (m.)
Friend list – La lista de amigos – La liste d’amis
Profile – El perfil – Le profil
About – La información – L’information (f.)
Comment – El comentario – Le commentaire
To comment – Comentar – Commenter
Invitation – La invitación – L’invitation (f.)
Birthday – El cumpleaños – L’anniversaire (m.)
See more – Ver más – Afficher plus
Page – La página – La page
Game – El juego – Le jeu
To share – Compartir - Partager
Like – Me gusta – J’aime
To add – Añadir - Ajouter
Friend – El amigo – L’ami/e
Poke – El toque – Le poke
Tumblr
Dashboard – El escritorio – Le tableau de bord
Follower – El seguidor – L’abonné (m.)
Post – La publicación – Le billet
Activity – La actividad – Le trafic
Draft – El borrador – Le brouillon
Inbox – La bandeja de entrada – La boîte de réception
Account – La cuenta – Le compte
Text – El texto – Le texte
Chat – El chat – La discussion
Quote – La cita – La citation
Blog – El blog – Le blog
Reblog – Rebloguear – Rebloguer
Note – La nota – La note
Settings – La configuración – Le paramètre
App – La aplicación – L’application (f.)
Username – El nombre de usuario – Le nom d’utilisateur
Bio – La biografía – La biographie
Block – Bloquear – Bloquer
Tweet – El tweet – Le tweet
To tweet – Twittear – Tweeter
Mention – La mención – La mention
Reply – La respuesta – La réponse
To retweet – Retwittear – Retweeter
Trend – La tendencia – La tendance
To unfollow – Dejar de seguir – Se désabonner
To suspend – Suspender – Suspendre
Poll – La encuesta – La question
Hashtag – La etiqueta – L’hashtag (m.)
Suggestion – La sugerencia – La suggestion
To pin – Destacar – Épingler
I’ve tried learning a few languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean and a bit of Mandarin) by self study and class study. Here’s what I’ve worked out does and doesn’t work for me. Take it with a pinch of salt!
1) Learn grammar, but don’t sweat it too much. There’s a debate about whether to ignore grammar completely and pick it up, or whether to rigourously study it. Do what you want, but in my experience, learning the concept, then constant application is best.
For example: Learn a new structure, make your own example sentences and then get a native speaker to check them. You’ll end up hearing the grammar too, which can be helpful
I tried the “just pick it up method” for Spanish and French, and it kind of worked, but I made a ton of mistakes with grammar and couldn’t work out how to correct them until I actually learned the concept
2) Don’t just use flashcards for vocabulary learning. They are a great tool, but not alone. Application again is really useful. For example, go through a deck on Quizlet and learn the words. Once you’re sure you’ve memorised them, look at the translation in your native language and write example sentences with those words in your target language, and again check them with a native speaker. This method could also pair with your grammar studies. This is just a recommendation, but try and find a way to apply the vocab.
3) For getting native speakers to correct you, there isn’t always a native or advanced speaker at your disposal. Apps like HiNative or a language exchange app like Tandem is good for this.
4) It’s so easy to get discouraged when you watch a TV show and you struggle to understand, or you read a book and don’t understand every other word. With harder sources, be a little lighter on yourself. Put on subtitles in your target language, or look up every word you don’t understand, then re-read the passage, glancing back at your vocab list. Eventually it will get easier as long as you keep doing it
5) Another way to learn vocabulary is to just look up words that you can’t translate as you come across them. This is how I learn the majority of my Italian vocabulary. I read an article or a text, and I annotate words I don’t know with the translation, then read over the text again. I don’t review the words, I just look them up again if I don’t recognise them the next time I see them. This is great for when you feel lazier or not in the mood to memorise. I used this method with Japanese song lyrics too, and it even helped me with Japanese sentence structure
6) Output>Input. Speak and write whenever you can. Speak to yourself, write a diary, write with a language exchange partner, repeat phrases you hear watching TV.
7) ^^ That being said, give yourself as much input as possible. Listening to music is my favourite method for this, but I’ve started watching a series in Spanish and Italian, which I recommend for intermediate learners. Reading books is also good for intermediate learners. Beginners, I recommend music and children’s books, but still check out stuff for intermediate learners if you wish.
8) When you hit a stump with grammar or vocabulary, or you feel like you can’t speak at all, target that for however long you can. Repetition of phrases and methods should help you. Check different sources for different explanations or a different method. If that really doesn’t work, revisit it in a week or so.
That’s all I can offer. Please message me if have any questions or queries, and I’ll happily answer!
Tell a story. It’s a great exercise to improve not only your speaking, but also your grammar and vocabulary. Think about what happened to you or anyone else, that you would talk about to your friends or family. Then tell a story out loud using only your target language. Telling stories is a huge part of our everyday talks, so it’s really important to practice that.
Talk about a book, a movie or whatever you want. Imagine you’re convincing someone to check out (or not to check out) a book you have already read. Review every movie or TV series you want, and don’t worry about spoiling anything or offending someone. If it’s a piece of shit, learn how to say that when talking to Queen Elizabeth II, and how to say that when chatting with someone you’d meet at the bar.
Discuss an important topic that is interesting to you. You can choose from anything: society issues, politics, economics, science, environment, culture… First try to explain it and then tell your own opinion on the subject. It’s different than the second exercise since it develops the specific vocabulary.
Read an article and summarise it. Find an article in your target language that interests you and talk about it. You can do it like you would when asked about it in school, or you can do it in more of a “sharing knowledge with my friends” manner.
Et c’est tout! You can call it “act like a youtuber” exercises. If you want, record yourself while speaking. Remember that work is the key to success.
me: i should discover new music
me to me: no no, u gotta listen to shinee
This is just a playlist of some slower, emotional, or soothing tracks for studying, relaxing, or whatever you want to do (I recommend baking!).
Note: This is super kpop heavy, but because I can’t really understand every single word, it helped my tune out the outside world and focus on my work. I wrote a whole lot of essays to this playlist.
For my fellow Shawols: Hi friends, we’ve been through a lot lately, huh? Jjongie’s music appears on this playlist and I wanted make sure to give you a heads up, just in case you aren’t super comfortable listening yet (and that’s okay).
Even if you aren’t studying, I hope this playlist can give you all some peace of mind and some comfort too.
Enjoy! ~Lisa <3 (ps. Got any recommendations for more songs? Let me know!)
Online resources Korean Class 101 How To Study Korean Sogang Korean course Introduction to Korean (Futurelearn) First Step Korean (Coursera) Talk To Me In Korean Naver dictionary 90 Day Korean blog Intermediate College Korean Naver web novels Naver webtoons Pronunciation Korean pronunciation guide for IPA Forvo for typing in a word Articles, videos or posts Korean false friends Korean slang Easily confused Korean words Lingodeer app review YouTube Channels Natalia Garza (teaching Korean through Kpop) Korean Unnie TTMIK Go! Billy Korean Minji Teaches Korean Conversational Korean KoreanClass101 Shameless self promotion of my own channel Other blogs Hangukdrama Shining Korean Korean Language Notes Korean Grammar Differently Meloncreme Podcasts, radio and music KBS World Let’s Learn Korean Stream Korean radio Podbbang KBS News app Red Book Cafe My Kpop playlist on Spotify My K-indie playlist on Spotify My K-Rap and Hip Hop playlist on Spotify