DmXas:
The vocabulary is tragic in Duolingo...
Yes. I feel Memrise app is better as they have selected good vocabulary that actually comes in handy. And you can also see all the words you've already learnt and the ones they will introduce in future. Something that duolingo lacks badly.
The worst parts in Duolingo for me so far were trying to figure out all the grammar, the endless counters and the honorific speech. Words are completely new when using Honorific Speech and not just the conjugations. I feel like it should have been held off for longer as a beginner would not need this.
Beni Hime:
I'm also learning in duolingo but I'm still in level 2 (path) which is vowels/consonants. At least from that I feel like I'm learning and associating well but some recordings of the pronounciations sound a bit "fishy". I haven't got to full phrases yet so I'm a bit uncertain in engaging full conversations just yet. Any tips?
Where have you reached now? I am currently practicing creating sentences with a friend.
1. Write down new words. Or all the words you feel you will forget. I have made a list where I will write all the versions of a word. Formal/Polite. Since they have started to introduce past tense, I'll write present and past tense of the same word together.
2. Click on discussions when you don't understand something. Discussions for every sentence links to the old forum discussions and people have explained different rules. I discovered it quite late into my lessons. But the further you get in the course, the rarer those discussions are which sounds like the drop out rate for their Korean course is pretty high.
3. Don't depend solely on Duolingo. Check youtube videos or search for answers to your questions. Follow a few Korean teachers on instagram (if you use it). A lot of them teach useful language versus just textbook Korean. There's a nice youtube channel called Prof Yoon's Korean Language Class. Though I haven't watched his grammar videos, the beginner ones related to Hangul are pretty good. You can also download TOPIK 1 pdf file to learn any words that interest you rather than waiting for Duo to introduce them. There are some free older Talk To Me In Korean pdfs available which a lot of students love. I haven't followed it as religiously as Duo but I've gone through several lessons/units and it's easy to follow. Plus they explain the grammar that Duo has removed from it's lessons.
4. Build your own sentences. I have seen some Korean learners write notes where they practice building sentences. You can do this when you build a bigger vocabulary. So for example:
I go
I go to school
I go to the school today
I go to the school in the bus today
I go to school at 7am in the bus today
I like
I like pizza
I like chicken pizza
I like spicy chicken pizza
When you learn like this, you will end up learning much faster and you will get a hang of how sentences are formed. Plus, you won't have to think harder by arranging words in your head because you'll be used writing and saying these sentences and your speech will be more natural. And since they are sentences you are creating rather than learning how clever the duolingo owl is, you will be able to communicate what you actually want to.
5. Use AI or friends to discuss what you are learning. I have seen people use chatGPT and other AI chat to help with language learning but they are not always correct. You can ask them for a source to confirm what they are teaching is correct or not. If you can find a study buddy then they can also help you and you can discuss whatever your doubts are. If you need help, you can DM me. Although I am not fluent but I can help with the basics and some of grammar you've already encountered as I'm assuming I'm further ahead of you in the lessons. :)
These are just the things that have helped me. Hope you find them useful.