Looking to get more Korean speaking done during your study sessions? In this post, we are going over all the ways you get in some Korean speaking practice.
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Make sure you’re speaking during your study sessions
This is key. You will not be able to have a conversation in Korean if you never practice speaking. You may be thinking that you need to have a native speaker there to correct you. Or you feel like you have trouble with pronunciation so you don’t want to learn the wrong way to say a word.
Either way, you have to get over it. You will pronounce stuff wrong, and you will not always say things right. But that shouldn’t stop you from attempting and trying to speak out loud.
You should be reading all the hangul in your lesson out loud. See hangul? Take a second and read it out loud.
Also, a good way to see if you are pronouncing a word correctly is by using google translate. Type in the Korean word, in hangul. Then click the little audio button. Listen to the way they pronounce it and repeat it after it. I do this a lot when studying vocabulary. Moral of the story: You should be speaking a lot during your study sessions.
Also if you are struggling to learn Korean vocabulary, you should check out my post, How to study Korean vocabulary without Flashcards, and my post How to study Korean vocabulary with Flashcards. Both are super helpful!
Make friends on language apps
There many language exchange apps that you can use to make friends in your target language. Personally, I’ve only ever used HelloTalk.
You can ask questions to native speakers and they will respond. Also, you can also send voice notes and native speakers can correct you or help you with pronunciation. And you don’t have to do this in a private message. You can do this in the general community forum and people will have the chance to respond.
Then you can make friends with the people who responded to your community post.
Once you find a good group of friends or a friend, you can do phone calls. A phone call here and there with a native speaker will help your speaking soooooo much. And if you make multiple friends, you can call one a day, as to not tire one person out. This is a great way to get some Korean speaking practice in!
Make sure you are being careful on these apps. Don’t give out any personal information. Make sure you are paying attention to red flags. There is always another person to befriend on the app. And a lot of people try to use this app for dating purposes, so when you get those types of people just move on. Use your own discernment when it comes to these types of social apps.
Plan out days that are just for Listening and Korean Speaking Practice
In my language study routine, I have one day blocked off focuses on improving my listening and speaking skills. I actually have a post that details my study routine and how you can make your own! If you want to check that post out it’s called, How to Create a Korean Study Routine.
On my speaking day, I use Talk To Me In Korea’s Iyaki podcast on Soundcloud. I will first listen to the 5-minute podcast. See how much I understand. Then read out loud the Hangul script for the podcast. (To get the Hangul script/English translation you have to pay for a premium membership with Talk to Me in Korean).
After I read the Hangul out loud, I would play the podcast, and see if I can understand more since I have the Hangul script now.
Then I will read the English script. Now that I fully understand what the podcast is about, I will just listen and then try to speak at the same pace as the Korean speakers.
It’s simple but takes time and allows for me to really practice my speaking and listening skills.
Use Italki.com
Lastly, sometimes having a paid instructor can be very helpful. I personally like to use Italki so that I can get one on one attention from a Korean tutor. A tutor who will be able to break down the language for me and help me learn the language better.
While HelloTalk and language exchange buddies are cool. Regular native speakers sometimes have a hard time explaining the mechanics behind the language. Which is why having a virtual tutor is amazing.
All I have to do is schedule a lesson online and then show up to my virtual lesson. I can ask whatever questions I want, or just practice speaking with them. I honestly just enjoy the convenience of it.
What I love is that the lessons on Italki are pretty cheap, most lessons are $5-15 USD. And you have the option to choose between 30-minute, 45-minute, or even 60-minute lessons. I usually do 30-minute lessons because they’re cheaper and allow for me to get a lot of speaking in.
It’s a great online resource to have in your back pocket and can/will really improve your speaking if used properly.
So that’s all the tips I have for you today for getting in some Korean-speaking practice! But here are some other blog posts you may be interested in:
- How to Study Korean for Speaking Purposes
- How I Find Motivation to Study Korean
- Top 4 Free Online PDF’s of Korean Textbooks
- Must-Have Korean Study Supplies
- 7 Tips for Improving Your Korean Study Sessions
- How I became Intermediate in Korean
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