korean learning log #3

my book haul today!! yonsei 3-1 and 3-2!! can't wait!!

notebook picture :)

new method of learning vocab thanks to naver endic + new color pens

Words of the Day

Hi guys, the words of today come from eps 5& 6 of Youth of Flowers (Iceland) :)

And obviously they have a very... backpacking through Iceland theme to it haha. 

I'm currently trying to sub YOF iceland and am... one minute through thus far. Haha. 

Word of the Day

Was checking out the newest ep of WGM (the new couples of Eric/ Solar and Jota/ Kim Jin Kyung), and I realised that I learnt many new words from just the captions alone! So maybe the start of a new series haha :) 

D -188 to topik I :)

according to the ksis klc website, the 49th TOPIK will be held in sg on 20th nov 2016. Aiming for a level 2 TOPIK! 

korean learning log #2

at chapter 6 of sogang 2a now! learning the ~ ㄴ데요/-는데요 grammar point today :) 

also downloaded the topik one app on my phone which is proving pretty useful 
actually to be honest with topik practice i'm still learning new vocab i didn't know HAHA rather than testing my skill, but at least i can sort of understand what the qn is asking!

 a pic from the grammar portion of my korean notebook showing the "ㄷ" irregular ending (taken from korean grammar in use for beginners)

[Review] ezSAM Korean Language Centre

Background: I'm currently taking Basic 3 classes at ezSAM Korean Language Centre, which I'm enjoying a lot! I've done Basic 1 &2 at ezSAM and am halfway through basic 3 now.  

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First off, a pic of the interior! I really loved this picture of the textbooks with the early morning sun shining into the classroom. That's my sogang 1a workbook and textbook on the first day of class haha. 

Teachers: My teacher is really patient and nice! She's good at explaining grammar points, the light and bright sounds of the vowels and so forth. As Ezsam uses the Sogang books til level 3 (then changes to Yonsei, but I haven't experienced classes with the Yonsei books yet), the classes include a lot of conversation where we practice the dialogues with our partners, and the teacher will go around and ask us questions too :) She sometimes randomly quizzes us on stuff we learnt in previous lessons e.g the days of the week, the counting systems etc. 

Materials: A big plus for this one! They have their own ppts which are really well designed and thought out. They also have handouts for each class which neatly summarise the grammar points and with spaces for us to practice writing the new words. 

Textbooks: Sogang 1a for Basic 1-3, 1B for Basic 4-5

Location: The location is really central, in the heart of Orchard Road. 

Costs: It cost me $225 in total for my Basic 1 class, breakdown is as follows:

- $170 for 6 classes (2 hours each class so 12 hrs total = $14/hr) 

- $10 for registration

- $45 for Sogang 1A workbook + textbook + attached grammar book 

Overall experience: Overall I enjoy the classes, learning a new language is a good break from work/ studying, and the bright environment of the classrooms as well as the Saturday morning sunshine feeling always makes me feel happy when going for classes hahaha. They have quite a good balance between reading/ writing/ listening/ speaking. I also really love the Sogang books which they use :) There are probably about 8-9 of us in the Basic 3 class, so it's not too crowded and the teacher can give you individual attention if needed. At the Basic 1 stage there was a few basic classes per week so there was make up lessons available but now for Basic 3 there's only 1 class running at a time so we usually just go earlier for makeup lessons prior to class if we miss any classes. 

korean learning log #1

my beloved sogang 2a workbook & textbook :) i'm currently at chapter 5

trying my hand at TOPIK I for the first time~ downloaded and printed the 34th TOPIK I, ie the last beginner paper before they changed the format. I can do roughly one quarter the qns of each portion HAHA. not bad considering i only started properly studying korean formally 3 mths ago :)