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A short text: I like studying foreign languages
Hello! It’s your host of Korean study café, Vanessa. 잘 지냈어요? How have you been?
As some of you may notice, the Korean Study Café podcast has changed the format in Season 2, where we alternate each episode between using dialogue and a short text/manuscript to help you learn Korean.
Today, we will listen to a short text written by us regarding speaking or learning foreign languages.
Then now, shall we listen to the text?
저는 한국 사람이에요. 그래서 한국어가 모국어예요. 사실 저는 외국어 공부를 좋아해요.
I am Korean. So Korean is my mother tongue. Actually, I like to study foreign languages.
그래서 한국어 외에 영어와 스페인어를 할 줄 알아요. 그리고 지금은 프랑스어를 배우고 있어요.
So, besides Korean, I can speak English and Spanish. And now I am learning French.
한국어는 영어와 많이 달라요. 그래서 처음에 영어 공부가 많이 어려웠어요. 하지만 지금은 영어에 많이 익숙해졌어요.
Korean is very different from English. So, it was challenging to study English at first. But now I’m very used to English.
매일 조금씩 공부해서 실력이 계속 나아지고 있어요. 외국어 공부는 정말 재미있어요.
I study little by little every day, and my English has continued to improve. Learning a foreign language is really fun.
How was it? Were you able to understand it? It was about languages the author has learned and is currently learning.
Now let’s break down some valuable expressions together.
저는 한국 사람이에요. 그래서 한국어가 모국어예요. 사실 저는 외국어 공부를 좋아해요.
저는 한국 사람이에요, she said she’s Korean. What’s the other way to say “I’m a Korean” in Korean? All right. That’s 한국인. There’s no difference in meaning or nuance.
So to say your nationality, what you have to change here is only the country’s name. For example, Americans 미국 사람, Taiwanese 대만 사람, Japanese 일본 사람, German 독일 사람 and etc.
And to say a language, just change the country or the language name, and add 어 which means language, like Korean 한국어, Vietnamese 베트남어, Spanish, 스페인어. But as some of you probably know, English is the only exception. According to this rule, English is supposed to be 영국어, but it’s just 영어. So please be aware of this.
The writer said that her mother tongue is Korean 한국어가 모국어예요. This is a good expression. So what’s yours? Have a moment to try to say, “My mother tongue is so and so” in Korean.
I’m going to give you 5 seconds—하나, 둘, 셋, 넷, 다섯.
Great! Let’s continue. Also, she told us that she likes studying foreign languages like us. Hmmm, Yes, we all love learning foreign languages, right? For me, being able to communicate with locals is the biggest reason to like foreign languages.
What about yours? Please share it with us on the script post of this episode. All right, then let’s move on to the next part.
그래서 한국어 외에 영어와 스페인어를 할 줄 알아요. 그리고 지금은 프랑스어를 배우고 있어요.
Here the writer said she speaks English and Spanish apart from Korean, and she’s learning French. 프랑스어를 배우고 있어요.
These two sentences are suitable to utilize for many cases. I will give you a few seconds to try to say your case in Korean. Well, before that, let’s hear this part again to remind you of the expressions.
그래서 한국어 외에도 영어와 스페인어를 할 줄 알아요. 그리고 지금은 프랑스어를 배우고 있어요.
Try to state your mother tongue and the languages you speak, and then the language you are learning. All right, then I will give you 10 seconds. Let’s start now!
하나, 둘 셋 넷 다섯 여섯 일곱 여덟 아홉 열!
All right, how was it? Don’t worry if you can’t finish the sentence; try practicing it again after listening to this episode.
Now, we will take a look at the next part
한국어는 영어와 많이 달라요. 그래서 처음에 영어 공부가 많이 어려웠어요. 하지만 지금은 영어에 많이 익숙해졌어요.
Hmmm, she said 한국어는 영어와 많이 달라요. Korean is a lot different from English. Do you agree with this idea? Well, I agree with this.
Of course, Korean and English are very different as it was created from another root and fundamentals.
Also, she said that’s why studying English was very difficult at first. Well, she used the verb 어렵다 to be difficult in the past tense as 어려웠어요. This is an irregular verb. As you know, in Korean, there are lots of irregular verbs, so it’s impossible to memorize all of them. Therefore try to get used to conjugated forms by learning examples. It’d be a lot more effective.
Lastly, she said, but now she got used to speaking English a lot. And the verb in this sentence is “익숙해지다 to get used to something.” The form in this sentence is past tense 익숙해졌어요. So, for example, you can use this expression and say, I got used to spicy foods —저는 매운 음식에 익숙해졌어요.
All right, now that you know how to conjugate the verbs used in this part, let’s move on to our final part!
매일 조금씩 공부해서 실력이 계속 나아지고 있어요. 외국어 공부는 정말 재미있어요.
Well, she gave us a hint to improve our foreign language skills. What did she say? Do you remember it?
Yes, she said 매일 조금씩 공부해서 영어 실력이 계속 나아지고 있어요. Since I’ve studied little by little each day, my English ability has kept improving.
매일 조금씩 means each day or every day little by little. Yes! That’s the key to learning the language, studying it consistently. Well, it’s hard; it’s a definite way to improve.
Lastly, she said, “Studying a foreign language is really fun.” I agree with this statement now. However, if you asked the same question when I first started learning a foreign language, I would not have agreed with this statement.
Back then, the reason for learning foreign languages was to get hired rather than having personal desire. So, I did not enjoy studying. But later, I realized that is not the way to learn and keep myself learning consistently and effectively, so I changed my perspective, and now I have come to love learning foreign languages.
What about you? I hope you find a personal, inner motivation that is strong enough to keep you studying constantly.
Well, yes, it seems like this is it for today!
I hope you found it interesting and helpful. Since we talked about just a topic, it should be a perfect opportunity to learn associated expressions and terms.
So if you want to check out the transcript of today’s text, please visit koreanstudycafe.com/podcast.
Also, we upload some grammar points and expressions related to this topic on our Instagram “koreanstudycafe.official” and our Twitter “koreanstudycafe.”
Also, if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact us using any social media platform or directly through our website.
그럼 오늘도 들어주셔서 감사합니다. Thank you for listening today—다음에 또 만나요. See you again soon. 안녕~~~!
