We often consider the Korean language one of the world’s most difficult languages to learn, especially for English speakers. It has a reputation for being tough and can be scary for learners.
Is this a myth, misconception, mental barrier, or a well-known fact backed with solid research and evidence? And how complicated and easy it may be?
Maybe the allure of K-dramas and K-movies has piqued your interest in Korean. It’s even possible that you’ve picked up a few words from the catchy K-Pop BTS songs and are eager to study more.
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Despite not being widely spoken outside North and South Korea, learning Korean is helpful if you study, visit, work, or live there.
And it also opens up a wide range of Korean language jobs. And it even assists you to change your career in various fields if your current one leaves much to be desired.
Isn’t that enough inspiration and incentives to explore the mesmerizing world of the Korean language? If so, let’s roll to the next section!
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Do you want to learn just enough Korean to understand music and watch TV shows without relying on subtitles? Perhaps you like to study Korean to watch movies?
For example, you can learn the alphabet “Hangul” in one day, which can help you read some text in a few days!
But, if you want to reach semi-fluency to watch K-Dramas without subtitles, or become a Korean translator, may take a few or many years of study.
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Many other factors also determine how hard or easy Korean will be. Like your mother tongue, inspiration level, techniques you follow, and how much you study.
Many sources claim to place language learning in a definite time frame, but learning Korean takes time. It is a lifelong process, to be perfectly candid.
The beauty of linguistics lies in the fact that it is constantly changing. New words are added to a language every year, while some words become obsolete over time.
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Your personal circumstances will shape your language learning journey. This includes your approach, engagement, and exposure to the language. Plus, your passion and motivation to learn also play a vital role.
So, if you already know Chinese and Japanese, you are in luck. But only to a small extent because of geographical proximity and historical roots.
As a matter of fact, all three are distinct languages. Korean is the most common language isolate. This means it has no traceable connections to any other language.
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If English or one of the European languages is your first or native language. In that case, you may have to work a little harder than the others, as the similarity is almost nothing.
The same conundrum flummoxes many people. So before diving into the language, it’s natural to wonder if Korean is a complex language to learn.
There’s no denying that having a basic understanding of Korean will help you immensely enjoy the latest K-drama you’re watching. Perhaps the latest K-Pop song you’re listening to is on a loop.
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As per the widely acknowledged FSI research, Korean falls under category IV for native English speakers. They classified it as a “super-hard language.” This category includes Arabic, Chinese — Mandarin and Cantonese, and Japanese.
As a result, to speak Korean fluently or achieve levels like TOPIK VI, one needs to study for about 88 weeks or around 2, 200 hours.
To put it bluntly, Korean isn’t impossible to learn, but it’s not a walk in the park either. So, to sum up, it is difficult but doable!
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If I had to summarize the difficulty level of Korean accurately. Well, I’d say that it is not a language that should be taken up ideally, or on the side, with the expectation of going far in it.
People frequently make the mistake of committing to a language before becoming acquainted with it. This means both fundamental and intricate aspects.
Apart from its very different grammar style from other languages, it also uses extremely foreign vocabulary. Plus, there are honorifics and delicate nuances to its conjugation. As a result, this makes it more confusing.
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Learning a new foreign language with a completely different alphabet system can be difficult. This is specifically for learners whose native language does not follow the same script.
Hangul (한글), the alphabetic system used for writing Korean, differs vastly from English. It contains 24 alphabets, 14 consonants, and the remaining ten are vowels.
Hangul’s origin story is rather unusual. Most other alphabetical systems have developed naturally. Instead, they invented Hangul with the sole intention of increasing literacy among Koreans.
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At first glance, the digits in Hangul appear to be very similar to Chinese and Japanese characters. Still, upon closer inspection, you notice Hangul employs circular loops that are absent from both writing systems.
Although Japanese and Korean have incorporated Chinese characters into their languages. But, they have altered the pronunciation to accommodate their respective sound systems.
Hangul is effortless to memorize logically. However, its appearance and writing style make it a little problematic. This usually happens beyond the initial level.
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They do not assimilate us with these unfamiliar symbols. The style of writing alphabets arranged compactly in dense blocks is an entirely alien concept to us.
For example, in Korean, the order is SOV —“subject-object-verb.” As a result, the entire system feels inverted when compared to English. But, if you already know French, Spanish, or Italian, you won’t find it uncommon!
It may not appear to be a problem in simple sentences. Still, it causes confusion in more difficult sentences as the language progresses. When it comes to phrases with a long subject or relative clauses, this method of forming expressions takes some practice.
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The struggle stems primarily from the fact that this structure needs a different way of thinking. But don’t worry, even such a structure will become second nature with time and practice.
We English speakers find this notion peculiar because we state the person or thing we’re talking about right at the beginning of a sentence. In this way, we have already established the subject before providing the additional details.
The opposite is true in Korean, where all descriptions are there before mentioning the subject. As an outcome, until the sentence nears its termination, no one knows what Koreans want to say.
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The Korean language employs an honorific system. This means that the words, forms, and sentence tone change to reflect. It also recognizes the speaker’s social relationship with the listener/subject.
Korean pronouns change according to the level of formality. Therefore, it is critical to use the proper pronouns in Korean culture when speaking to someone in a higher position or with a higher social status.
It is strongly discouraged to use inappropriate pronouns to address the person you interact with during a formal conversation. Basically, the idea behind the language hierarchy is to use humble markers to lower oneself.
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This honorific system also refers to someone of higher status, not just with. There’s even honorific vocabulary, which uses entirely different words to show more tremendous respect.
So, for instance, if you’re having a casual conversation with a friend, bring up your father. Then, the honorific infixes will come into play to show him respect, even if he isn’t physically present.
Aside from honorifics, speech levels also play a role. For example, there are seven levels of formality in Korean. In fact, the verb endings of these seven distinct grammatical rules differ as well.
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These rules are complicated and tricky to apply, even for people in the intermediate level. Unfortunately, this concept is one of the most difficult phases in everyone’s language learning journey.
And that is one of the reasons NIIED introduced the TOPIK speaking test. This measures candidates’ verbal ability, which was missing till now.
You may have mastered reading and writing, but speaking, ideally, is an entirely different ball game. Korean sentences also have a unique cadence that can unsettle non-Korean speakers.
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Every learner must make an extra attempt to apprehend this concept. People may find it challenging to understand you if your cadence is off.
The Korean language is full of short, or monosyllable words and their differences are often minutes. There is a fact. Many Korean words are homonyms, which does not help the learner’s case either.
A major stumbling block everyone faces while learning Korean is that many words sound identical. As a result, many simple words get mixed up.
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Consider the following rule. A particle that does not follow words that end in a consonant will swallow the final consonant’s sound. This implies that the entire sound will not be pronounced.
On their own, vowels and consonants are pretty easy to pronounce as difficult letters. But when used in a sentence, their sound blends and is exceedingly tough to distinguish.
These are the sounds that accustom English speakers on the surface. However, keeping the subtle distinction between the sounds and consonants is tricky.
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The vastness of the Korean vocabulary is frequently a source of contention among learners. This is because there aren’t many common words between Korean and English, aside from a few words like sauna, radio, and so on.
Korean has borrowed some English and other language loan words. Still, most of them have a different meaning than the original English word. And as well as Korean-influenced pronunciation.
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