I’ve been wanting to learn the Korean language since I was in high school (that’s about 5-6 years ago). But I didn’t have access to Korean language learning materials or language lessons back then.

As far as I can remember, I only wanted to learn the language then so I could watch Korean movies and dramas without relying on subtitles. But here’s the thing: I got tired of Korean dramas and movies, and I didn’t even attempt to learn the language.

Now that I call myself a lingua geek, I decided to learn the Korean language.

I don’t watch Korean movies and dramas anymore. And I don’t even listen to Korean pop music. But I am fascinated by the Korean language (especially its writing system) and culture in general.

Signs in Korean (Photo by kristajo)

I decided to finally study and learn Korean (after learning Spanish and Italian) because of the following reasons:

• I want to learn an East Asian language.
• I want to learn a language that doesn’t use the Latin script.
• I want to learn a language that I can use when teaching English.
• I want to interact with Koreans.
• And most of all, I need to know how to read Korean restaurant menus correctly without making a fool out of myself!

I am doing self-study right now with the help of the My Korean 1 textbook and the Talk to Me in Korean podcast. I am also planning to enroll in a formal Korean language class when my schedule permits me to do so.

I am half-way through the book and I am enjoying my lessons so far. I can read hanggul, but I still need to improve my handwriting.

I hope to take and pass TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) someday.