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Korean via Duolingo?

ColourMePurple

Is there anyone currently learning Korean via duolingo? I would love if we could share notes.

As for anyone who is currently thinking of learning Korean, I would not recommend Duolingo as the main source. They have made huge updates to their apps and websites and changed the way people used to learn. 

Previously a tree system allowed you to choose what subjects you prefer to learn about. Now, they have a path format and everyone has to proceed along a linear path. Also the grammar rules/tips are missing so you will need another source to understand why words are conjugated the way they are. The word bank along this path is not very helpful. In the first few units, a lot of the words are useless. For example in unit 10, they are teaching names of animals which one would hardly ever use in daily conversations as opposed to words related to music, movies, work, school, hobbies, etc. Unless, of course, you work in a zoo. The lessons could have been organised better according to useful vocabulary. 

Another useful feature of forums was locked so now it's impossible to ask each other for help on the site itself.

There are benefits to using the site as it allows you to practice reading, listening and writing sentences. It's good if you prefer structured learning and it gives you the impression that you are making progress. It is just better supplemented with other sources in the areas that it lacks.

For this reason I was wondering if there is anyone else who is already learning via duolingo (it's okay if you have other source materials as well), it would be helpful to learn together and share the missing information or clear doubts to make it easier. 

Since I don't know of any other place to find duolingo learners, I thought I'd ask here since this was first where I heard of duolingo for Korean.

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lylyth6661

I tried using DuoLingo for Japanese and Korean. It was not helpful at all. I started using a site called mylanguageexchange where it links you up with native speakers of the language you are wanting to learn. I like that a lot better.

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ColourMePurple
 lylyth6661:

I tried using DuoLingo for Japanese and Korean. It was not helpful at all. I started using a site called mylanguageexchange where it links you up with native speakers of the language you are wanting to learn. I like that a lot better.

Is it truly free? This sounds good but with a word bank of only 500 words approximately, I'm still a bit shy in speaking Korean. I am not sure if it'll be helpful if I can't get past basic phrases. Might be annoying to the native speaker. What do you think?

How far did you get in duolingo for Korean btw? They claim they can get you to an A2 or B2 level. I'm not sure. I just feel a bit annoyed with the vocabulary at times. 

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lylyth6661

To be able to message directly with others through the website you have to pay for gold membership.  And honestly I really didn't retain anything from duolingo. The person I'm talking to from there is super patient with me. It all depends on who you link with.

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ColourMePurple

A good study partner is crucial when it comes to learning. I'm glad you found a good match. Did you pay to connect with them? I was searching through the list of language learners and there seems to be a lot of people waiting to match with partners.

I've also heard of Tandem from a youtube video but don't know much about that app either. But it serves the same purpose. You match with someone who wants to learn your native language.

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DmXas

The vocabulary is tragic in Duolingo...

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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?

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ColourMePurple
 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.

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kinocharlley

i used duolingo to learn japanese and spanish;
with japanese i falied miserably but for a moment i could read some words in hiragana (slowly and i didn't understand them but i could). but in the end the heart, system really stressed me out and i wouldn't actually do the new lessons just quick exercises on prev ones in order to not loose the strike

spanish gave me good basics but eventually i switched to textbook and i learned more and actually had proper grammar explanations (tho i stopped studding spanish because i lost interest  🥲 and i have zero cultural conneticon to spanish; movies, youtube ect)

i plan to study korean and tbh based on my prev expriences i will just use it to learn hangul and then switch to textbooks + notebook
(i would say the same about thai but duo dosen't even has thai course and mandarin seems like shoot in a knee to be learning it there)

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ColourMePurple

Spanish is supposed to be one of it's best supported courses but I have never tried it and I don't know if it'll be worth it after how they have dealt with Korean.

I also read that those who were studying Japanese were very angry as Duolingo recently updated the course and removed the Hiragana. I have never tried to study Japanese so I don't quite understand the issues but it sounds like they made it very hard and those that felt like they were actually learning feel like they've been set back.

Don't bother to learn Hangul with Duolingo. I would suggest using Youtube videos. There are many which teach it well. Duolingo doesn't even explain the pronunciation rules. Their method is that they will introduce concepts and you have to learn it intuitively. The only benefit duolingo has for me is that I do it almost every day (streak freezes help when I miss a day).

And I totally relate to doing easy lessons to not miss a streak. If I forget, I do easy ones because a regular lesson will introduce several new words and I can't complete it on time if I'm already close to midnight.

If you feel you can keep yourself motivated then don't use Duolingo which is the only thing it has going for it at this point. I think they are updating their Korean course as well but it hasn't reflected for me but those doing earlier lessons have different vocabulary than what I've learnt.  At the end of the day, we all have our unique ways of learning. Duolingo's one-size fits all policy is certainly not the best.

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kinocharlley

ColourMePurple  thanks for letting me know about hangul! I managed to study spanish for about half a year it textbook (2-3 times a week) so we will se how it will turn out with korean
i guessed that since hiagrana on duo worked on me it would work the same way with hangul but when to think about it i would love to know how to properly write it so i guess i will mix some youtube and textbook+notebook to learn it

not teaching hiagrana is a bad idea because it's like one of the basic thing you need to know 😭

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ColourMePurple

Yes! That's why so many Japanese learners are upset. There is a reddit thread where they were discussing the issue.

If you need help with Hangul, I can recommend some really good videos. You'll get the hang of it very quickly. Hangul is actually very easy. They do have a stroke order but the script is so easy that it'll take you max 3 days to understand the letters and the basic pronunciations.

Hailey - Your Korean Friend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKIpTxarmeI

Prof. Yoon's Korean Language Class (playlist covers all the basics)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnXu1PSeI_c&list=PL6D-YTosvGYoi-eplvljZksq2I2PAKdiC

Miss Vicky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85qJXvyFrIc

Tammy Korean (I couldn't find the video I had originally watched about the pronunciation rules but this seems more basic which might help you)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLRn5RtJkdk

I found these videos really excellent. 

If you need any further help, you can DM me in case I don't see the thread).

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kinocharlley

ColourMePurple thank you! I haven't gotten around yet to choose my materials and reasearch what textbook im going to use so I know where to start

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ColourMePurple

Most welcome! Hope you have a fun journey! Don't let it stress you out if you get stuck. You will still be learning. You'll realise when you start to understand a few words at a time. :)

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Chun Mo Rionnag

I only used Duolingo to learn Hangul, as an additional resource to TTMIK's book "Become A Hangeul Master: Secrets of Reading Korean Handwriting".  After that, I switched to the Teuida and Busuu apps for additional materials to the TTMIK books, and their Discord server.

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