Review: Talk To Me In Korean Lesson Books (With Video)

23926http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mezzoguild.com%2F2012%2F11%2F11%2Ftalk-to-me-in-korean-book-review%2FReview%3A+Talk+To+Me+In+Korean+Lesson+Books+%28With+Video%292012-11-11+14%3A33%3A30Donovan+Nagelhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.mezzoguild.com%2F%3Fp%3D2392 Written by Donovan Nagel on November 11, 2012 – 2:33 pm

안녕하세요!

If you’ve been studying the Korean language for a while then there’s a good chance you’ve already heard about the site Talk To Me In Korean.

I’ve been following their lessons almost religiously since I moved to South Korea just over a month and a half ago working hard to rapidly pick up fluent Korean.

The TTMIK team have been tremendously helpful by providing so much useful content and I owe a lot of what I’ve learned already to their lessons and videos.

Friends of mine who run other blogs and websites for language learning have asked me for advice in the past on ways they can improve what they’re doing and I’ve always used TTMIK as my shining example of extremely high quality content and devoted community engagement.

No other language site or blog that I’ve seen anywhere on the internet so far compares to the work Hyunwoo Sun and his team are doing for Korean learners all over the world. As well as the brilliant content, they always seem incredibly eager to respond to, assist and meet with readers which I think is fantastic.

Today I’ve put together a very short video review of their latest books that are based on the highly popular lessons available for free on the TTMIK website.

Here are some reasons why you should head over to My Korean Store and check these books out:

Each book is currently selling for only about $15. Pocket change.

The grammar explanations are very short. High frequency parts of the language are taught by example using clear sample dialogue that’s easy to understand.

The design and layout of the books are simply gorgeous. It’s really easy to read and find what you’re looking for unlike many other books on the market.

Unlike the free lessons on the website, the audio that comes with the books doesn’t have any English chatter but is rather pure Korean dialogue. For impatient people who don’t want to sit through lots of English chatter, this is an improvement (I actually enjoy listening to the audio on the website though! )

*All these videos are in 1080p HD quality (click the gear icon).

**I said there are 8 levels in this video but it seems that are actually 9 or 10 which I’m assuming will become available for purchase over time.

These awesome books can be found here: My Korean Store.

Do you use the Talk To Me In Korean site to learn Korean? 

Make sure to let us know how much they’ve help you below and please share this post too if you found it helpful.

This was written by Donovan Nagel.

Do you use StumbleUpon, Reddit, Pinterest or Digg? A quick upvote, like, pin or diggwill make my day! Thanks. 

Comments: If you’ve got something you’d like to add to this or some constructive criticism you can do that at the bottom of this page. Just please be respectful. Any abusive or nonsensical comments will be deleted.

How To Go From Basic Fluency To Mastery In A Foreign Language Using The Chunking Method

238013http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mezzoguild.com%2F2012%2F11%2F04%2Fbasic-fluency-to-language-mastery%2FHow+To+Go+From+Basic+Fluency+To+Mastery+In+A+Foreign+Language+Using+The+Chunking+Method2012-11-04+03%3A33%3A27Donovan+Nagelhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.mezzoguild.com%2F%3Fp%3D2380 Written by Donovan Nagel on November 4, 2012 – 3:33 am

Today I’m going to share a video with you demonstrating one of my simple, routine methods for learning any language.

This is a highly effective strategy that will push you toward native-like fluency in a way that does not involve tedious grammar rules or hours of wasteful book study and is therefore something that the majority of us with work or family commitments can manage around a busy schedule.

I talked about my own approach here but I’ll sum it up again for you:

You don’t need to study grammar to learn a foreign language.

Grammar rules are there as a guide to help improve literacy skills (reading and writing) in a language that you’re already a fluent speaker of. You learned the grammar of your native language several years AFTER becoming a fluent speaker of it.

The language we speak is just a collection of unoriginal chunks that we plug in like lego blocks to form new sentences. These can be single words, expressions or whole sentences.

We hear and learn these chunks as a series of sounds and intonations from infancy – like the lyrics of a familiar song – we recognize it instantly when we hear it and after enough exposure are able to reproduce it effortlessly.

The more you try to cram, the less you’ll learn. Small amounts at a time is key.

What I’ve demonstrated in this video is especially useful if you’ve finished all the foundational stuff and are stuck on a learning plateau. It’s one of the most frustrating places when learning a language as it can often feel like you’re not moving forward anymore.

The point I make toward the end of the video is vital in terms of the content you choose to work with too:

Make sure you understand most of what you’re reading or listening to and don’t work with content that you don’t enjoy.

For anyone interested, the book I’ve used in this video is from the Kalimni ‘Arabi series (I wrote about it here) and it ranges from beginner through to higher advanced level.

If you find this video useful or interesting, let me know in the comments section below and I’ll continue to make more.

The best way you can support this blog is by sharing this on Facebook, Twitter or StumbleUpon (only takes a few seconds using the share buttons below the video).

**My videos are in 1080p HD quality (click the gear icon).

This was written by Donovan Nagel.

Do you use StumbleUpon, Reddit, Pinterest or Digg? A quick upvote, like, pin or diggwill make my day! Thanks. 

Comments: If you’ve got something you’d like to add to this or some constructive criticism you can do that at the bottom of this page. Just please be respectful. Any abusive or nonsensical comments will be deleted.