My practice story from just yesterday: I grab random sentences my wife or kids say and try to translate it using my current vocabulary. We were in the car and my daughter said "I smell soup". I know how to say soup, but I don't know smell. I DO know "nose" and "to see", so I blurted out "I see soup with my nose" in Korean. My wife looked at me like I had a seizure, but then laughed and texted that sentence onto her family. They had greater difficulty figuring it out without context, but when they got it they had a good 5 minutes of belly laugh out of it. So now, my family will only see things with their nose. I don't even need to learn "smell", because they've decided we won't be saying that anymore.
Hyunwoo's tip about skipping things that you won't need is really important. Also applicable to vocabulary. Don't focus on learning words you barely use. Try learning common words koreans use and words you frequently use. This is important in the intermediate stage. If you're into makeup, learn the vocabulary and terms for that in Korean. How would you say: foundation, toner, brush, eyeshadow, etc.
This collaboration is hands-down the hottest of this year within the Korean learning community. You guys are truly amazing for what you do. Keep it up! 그럼 다음에 또 봐! ㅋㅋ
the positive energy of this video is a wonderful thing! i actually love how many other channels hyunwoo collabs with. he is a great role model for people who do similar things working together rather than being competitive.
As a 2nd generation Korean American, I appreciate both channels and have a new found respect for my mother land. Hope the 3rd generation respects it as well.
A great interview! I agree with everything you guys said except for one. I think asking yourself if this is worth your time (too much) is actually detrimental to language learning. It gives you an excuse NOT to put in the time. It makes you keep looking for a better way to learn, a better material to study, etc. Learning a language is like building relationships. You can't skimp on time and expect the relationship to develop. The pursuit of efficiency is the biggest enemy of relationship AND of language learning. If we want to deepen the relationship with the language (or your significant other ^^;;) we should stop thinking about how to save time. Instead we should start thinking about how to spend MORE time.
Yeah, I was thinking that too. Even if you're a vegetarian, what if you're out with some non-veggie friends and you want to order food for them too? Or just recognize popular meat dishes.
SpongeMind TV Actually, it's the other way around for me. Because learning Korean is hard there are moments when i want to give up. Out of frustration i ask myself "Why am I stressing myself to learn this? Is it even worth it?" And that is when I think of my goal. I remind myself what i want to accomplish by learning the language and i suck up my complaints and start studying again hoping to reach that goal. So, yeah, that's what i think. Without a goal it's easy to give up
Well there are certain components of language that is a waste of time if you know you will never really be using it in most life situations. For instance , if I am watching a medical Korean drama, I am not going to look up every medical term I don’t recognize. Because even without that , there is already so much other areas to learn as it is that will continually require our focus and time. I see no benefit to going out of your way to learn elements of Korean language that will not really be applicable to your life as a general rule.
@@SleeplessinOC That's not true because you never know how life will happen. What if you end up in a hospital and you need to ask some stuff? I say one should learn as much as possible even if it seems 'useless' at the time
Great interview! If it weren't for the hard work of people like you and Hyunwoo, I probably wouldn't know any Korean at all! You are both amazing teachers!!
That was so motivating! It's been 2 months since I've started studying korean. I was taking classes but I had to quit some weeks ago... however, I decided that I'd try my best to learn the language by myself. I was kind of unmotivated after hearing people say that it would be really hard to learn without any teacher, but after finding your channel, talk to me in korean and watching this interview, I feel way more confident. Thank you so much!
Focusing on what you'd actually use/speak, rather than just learning random words that won't sink or you don't retain it is very helpful. I hadn't thought about that. 감사합니다 I've just recently started, I know 한글 but still have trouble remembering compound vowels but I know where to go next once that's more concrete.
You're lookin a lot better these days Billy. The haircut really suits you !! Lovin the style. Do you actually like the checkered shirts though or have you pigeon-holed yourself into having to wear them now :P
It would be cool if ttmik or anyone would come up with a chat room for Korean learning so that we can just talk to each other and learn together haha. Every once in a while a teacher could help us or something like that lol. But j go on twitch and try to talk
Sumi 수미 I love the idea!! >< Tho I think that it's really difficult for them to accomplish. Anyway, who doesn't like challenges, uh? :D We'll hope for the best x3
It makes me feel really good especially in this pandemic kind of situation, 2 of my favourite people get together and talking about language learning. Love both of you.
Probably 7 or so years ago, I started to see Asian dramas pop up as "suggestions" on Netflix once in a while. At first I thought watching something in subtitles was going to be a total pain but I actually watched one suggestion and really got into it. At first I couldn't find but one foreign drama at a time on Netflix, so for a while I lost interest. However, I checked back some 5 years later and saw that over time they had developed quite a selection. A couple years ago when I started watching Asian dramas again, I soon realized that the Korean dramas had become my favorites. It wasn't long before I outpaced Netflix with my Korean drama consumption, so I switched to DramaFever maybe a year ago. I had looked at DramaFever once a couple years ago, but they didn't seem like a big deal at the time like they are now. It makes me think their popularity has grown a good deal in recent years as well. Anyway, all that to say that I have wondered a time or two if Netflix's decision to try including some foreign dramas among their offerings had something to do with a recent increase in Americans being interested in learning Korean.
That's definitely important. I realize that sometimes I don't stop and analyse if some things I'm trying to learn it's really necessary or if I'm doing the right way. From now on I'll definitely put these advises in mind to improve! Thanks for helping us with great tips! 다음에 또 봐요~~
ahh i love this! i very recently started learning and i used billy's videos to learn hangul, and just received vol. 1 of the ttmik textbooks today! i'm so excited to learn this beautiful language :D
This is really helpful both as a Korean learner but as someone who's learning English and got stuck in a plateu. I'll take your tips into account while studying. Thank you 💜
I started with Billy & after this i checked TTMIK and wow i love all the resources! Definitely will use both of them for my learning! So excited 😍😍😍😍😍 im learning the language cause i fell in love with how it flows and im into their beauty culture skincare dramas and friendliness! And i want to learn more of the culture and travel there annually 🥰
I just came back from Korea and I feel like I’ve wasted my opportunity to practise because I was too shy to use the little korean I learned with talk to me in korean and only used English :(
this was worth watching. I've been getting the urge to want to study and learn new words and wanting to make sentences yet I'm afraid to make mistakes. I've watched a video Hyunwoo did saying it's ok to make mistakes and I have to get use to the idea that I"m not going to get it right the first time and there's not much other there that's going to give me the exact or best thing for me to understand something about the language or pronounciation so maybe I'll try to get into Hellotalk or something like that and see how that would be once knowing enough or whatever it be
I have a lot of comments but as an experience learner, I want to simply agree. People should practice and make mistakes. To be able to transfer your thoughts in your own words in a foreign language is the most important thing. And to understand what is being said or implied. Aka to communicate. I also started Japanese before Korean and I have the same experience as the guy. I didn't speak for the first two years but once I started to use the language than I felt like I was really learning and developing my language skill. Shout out to all the people learning any language: don't be afraid to use the language or make a mistake! Be brave and learn in practice. No one should judge you for making a mistake in a foreign language. The important is that you are a person who took an effort to learn a new language and about another culture. That is something that should be valued and appreciated rather than judged.
Language learning has become very popular in my school. Only 3 languages: German, Korean, and Arabic. So many kids practice all 3 so often, everyone in school knows at least 10 words from each language
My interest in Korean language started from the fact that I like Mr. Park Hang-seo, who has led the Vietnamese national football team from success to success, and from recent watching some K-dramas including the OSTs....
I really like listening to you and watching your videos.Its fun and I understand stuffs easier .most importantly it helps me remember them . Same with hyunwoo .
I know you're based as a Korean instructor but... Could you do a video on tips for learning Japanese? I'm trying to learn both languages so it would be really cool to see the perspective of a native English speaker's take on learning those two :)
Yesterday I watched a video which taught me 30 helpful korean verbs and their basic conjugation. I haven't reached the lesson which teaches me verb conjugations yet, but I wrote down everything in that video anyway. I observed, then I tried to conjugate a verb by myself.. and I was wrong. I took a closer look at noticed "Ah, it is like that because there is a consonant!" I made that mistake another time, but then I started to watch out and I didn't make it again. Everytime a conjugation was different than I expected, I looked for the reason why I think doing this will be very helpful in my journey of learning Korean
Nice video!!! I'm vegan and taking Korean as a personal enrichment class. The amount of time people spend talking about meat is soooooooo annoying! It's a turn off and one of the reasons why I'm playing catch up for my final exam in a week. I tend to procrastinate so I don't need any more reasons to put off studying.
Exactly...most stuff books try to teach first are a total waste of time! AND Korean books teach phrases and words that real people don't use. WHY? I think TTMK is a great thing. However, one of my many "false starts" was trying to learn by listening to the TTMK level 1 lessons. I was so annoyed by the useless banter (in English) between the teachers that I stopped listening and gave up trying and learning again. Now I realize that I might have learned if I had picked a system...almost any system...and stuck with it, even blindly. As it turns out, I was so annoyed by something in every system and book that I tried, that I still haven't learned more than the most basic survival phrases. And after years of surviving in Korea without knowing much of the language, it is very hard to find any practical reason to learn...the only motivation is guilt...and guilt is not fun. This, I believe, is the primary reason most English teachers never learn much Korean; the initial learning curve is too painful, and there is no practical reason or apparent benefits to enduring the pain.
![Hyunwoo’s Tips for Setting Language Goals [TTMIK] | Glass with Billy](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3KWLP2st5BA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Hyunwoo’s Tips for Setting Language Goals [TTMIK] | Glass with Billy](/img/tr.png)
this feels like one of those Disney crossover episodes lol
Truuue
I swear
Omgigi why do i relate
oie zi cierto
Lol ikr!
My practice story from just yesterday: I grab random sentences my wife or kids say and try to translate it using my current vocabulary. We were in the car and my daughter said "I smell soup". I know how to say soup, but I don't know smell. I DO know "nose" and "to see", so I blurted out "I see soup with my nose" in Korean. My wife looked at me like I had a seizure, but then laughed and texted that sentence onto her family. They had greater difficulty figuring it out without context, but when they got it they had a good 5 minutes of belly laugh out of it. So now, my family will only see things with their nose. I don't even need to learn "smell", because they've decided we won't be saying that anymore.
Omg-
What an adorable incident!
Omg, I thought u would say smth like : I grabbed a dictionary and found a word for it. But well, it's not, and it's awesome :)
One thing that is extremely underrated is the beauty of the language. I'm learning it cause it's one of the most beautiful lanaguages I've heard.
Beautiful in what way?
The phonetic soundings of the vowels and countless idioms blend well into aesthetic musical notes energising the room....🎤🎵🎵🎵🎶🎶🎶🎼
Essentially unique patterns found in all languages cultures and music...
Weird af
@@disethan2933 😂
It’s astounding how good Hyunwoo’s English is, he sounds like a native speaker
Hyunwoo's tip about skipping things that you won't need is really important. Also applicable to vocabulary. Don't focus on learning words you barely use. Try learning common words koreans use and words you frequently use. This is important in the intermediate stage. If you're into makeup, learn the vocabulary and terms for that in Korean. How would you say: foundation, toner, brush, eyeshadow, etc.
And if you are interested then you can always go back to what you skipped and learn it later, just learn what is necessary for you first
all of those makeup stuff are just konglish words in korean haha but I agree
So nice to see two teachers as good as you guys just casually chatting, I love and follow both channels. 화이팅! : ))
This collaboration is hands-down the hottest of this year within the Korean learning community. You guys are truly amazing for what you do. Keep it up! 그럼 다음에 또 봐! ㅋㅋ
the positive energy of this video is a wonderful thing! i actually love how many other channels hyunwoo collabs with. he is a great role model for people who do similar things working together rather than being competitive.
i've always wondered, does he wear the same shirt in every video or does he have multiple of the same shirt
I have several of these. I also do wash them every time I wear them :-)
@@GoBillyKorean Yasss! We love a humorous Teacher Billy. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
As a 2nd generation Korean American, I appreciate both channels and have a new found respect for my mother land. Hope the 3rd generation respects it as well.
It's like seeing a crossover of two of your favorite tv shows. lol. Love you guys.
Hyunwoo Sun is a well of wisdom and knowledge.
he reminds me of Dumbledore... of course he doesn't look like him but every single word that comes out of his mouth is so frggen wise woah
A great interview! I agree with everything you guys said except for one.
I think asking yourself if this is worth your time (too much) is actually detrimental to language learning. It gives you an excuse NOT to put in the time. It makes you keep looking for a better way to learn, a better material to study, etc.
Learning a language is like building relationships. You can't skimp on time and expect the relationship to develop. The pursuit of efficiency is the biggest enemy of relationship AND of language learning. If we want to deepen the relationship with the language (or your significant other ^^;;) we should stop thinking about how to save time. Instead we should start thinking about how to spend MORE time.
Yeah, I was thinking that too. Even if you're a vegetarian, what if you're out with some non-veggie friends and you want to order food for them too? Or just recognize popular meat dishes.
SpongeMind TV Actually, it's the other way around for me. Because learning Korean is hard there are moments when i want to give up. Out of frustration i ask myself "Why am I stressing myself to learn this? Is it even worth it?" And that is when I think of my goal. I remind myself what i want to accomplish by learning the language and i suck up my complaints and start studying again hoping to reach that goal.
So, yeah, that's what i think. Without a goal it's easy to give up
Well there are certain components of language that is a waste of time if you know you will never really be using it in most life situations. For instance , if I am watching a medical Korean drama, I am not going to look up every medical term I don’t recognize. Because even without that , there is already so much other areas to learn as it is that will continually require our focus and time. I see no benefit to going out of your way to learn elements of Korean language that will not really be applicable to your life as a general rule.
That's a really good point.
@@SleeplessinOC That's not true because you never know how life will happen. What if you end up in a hospital and you need to ask some stuff? I say one should learn as much as possible even if it seems 'useless' at the time
Great interview! If it weren't for the hard work of people like you and Hyunwoo, I probably wouldn't know any Korean at all! You are both amazing teachers!!
That was so motivating! It's been 2 months since I've started studying korean. I was taking classes but I had to quit some weeks ago... however, I decided that I'd try my best to learn the language by myself. I was kind of unmotivated after hearing people say that it would be really hard to learn without any teacher, but after finding your channel, talk to me in korean and watching this interview, I feel way more confident. Thank you so much!
Hey hows it going with your korean?
That’s great. I’m trying to teach myself korean as well! How’s it going?
Focusing on what you'd actually use/speak, rather than just learning random words that won't sink or you don't retain it is very helpful. I hadn't thought about that. 감사합니다
I've just recently started, I know 한글 but still have trouble remembering compound vowels but I know where to go next once that's more concrete.
I WANNA SPEAK KOREAN SO I CAN UNDERSTAND THOSE KOREAN ASMR ROLEPLAYS!!!
Well, that's the first time I've ever heard that... 😂
Lmaooooo you should subscribe to YoungJay he's very much a vibe!
Hyunwoo is so well spoken. Great advice and so genuine!
You're lookin a lot better these days Billy.
The haircut really suits you !! Lovin the style.
Do you actually like the checkered shirts though or have you pigeon-holed yourself into having to wear them now :P
I originally wore the shirt in my daily life because I liked how it looked. I still like it a lot, but now I only wear it in my videos.
Oh man, my two fav UA-camrs and teachers. What else can you ask for?
You guys both are very important!!👍👍
"I dont know why Korean has surged in popularity"
Ahem.......... K-Pop, K-Dramas, and Korean Barbecue
I doubt it's Hyunwoo but some people in Korea still aren't aware Korean media is being consumed a lot outside of Korea.
I forgot about the food lol.
this was lowkey so cute im-
It would be cool if ttmik or anyone would come up with a chat room for Korean learning so that we can just talk to each other and learn together haha. Every once in a while a teacher could help us or something like that lol. But j go on twitch and try to talk
Sumi 수미 I love the idea!! >< Tho I think that it's really difficult for them to accomplish. Anyway, who doesn't like challenges, uh? :D We'll hope for the best x3
There's on on reddit (/r/Korean)
Sumi 수미 there was but TTMIK closed it because it's popularity died down pretty fast.
+Nuhnya, I just checked and it let me log on. Super slow though...not many people chatting
I have a KakaoTalk chat group but there are no teachers there just learners (45 people currently)
Aww. My two favorite people together.
my two fav teachers together!!
MY TWO FAVOURITE 선생님 IN ONE VIDEO
Hyunwoo is awesome! Not many people can learn English without actually going to an English speaking country
It makes me feel really good especially in this pandemic kind of situation, 2 of my favourite people get together and talking about language learning. Love both of you.
Thanks to both of you and all your other guests. Please do not stop making these videos.
Probably 7 or so years ago, I started to see Asian dramas pop up as "suggestions" on Netflix once in a while. At first I thought watching something in subtitles was going to be a total pain but I actually watched one suggestion and really got into it. At first I couldn't find but one foreign drama at a time on Netflix, so for a while I lost interest. However, I checked back some 5 years later and saw that over time they had developed quite a selection. A couple years ago when I started watching Asian dramas again, I soon realized that the Korean dramas had become my favorites. It wasn't long before I outpaced Netflix with my Korean drama consumption, so I switched to DramaFever maybe a year ago. I had looked at DramaFever once a couple years ago, but they didn't seem like a big deal at the time like they are now. It makes me think their popularity has grown a good deal in recent years as well.
Anyway, all that to say that I have wondered a time or two if Netflix's decision to try including some foreign dramas among their offerings had something to do with a recent increase in Americans being interested in learning Korean.
My faves collaborated 😍😂 Thanks for being such great teachers 👏🏼👏🏼❤
OMG!! My two best teachers together!! 😊
That's definitely important. I realize that sometimes I don't stop and analyse if some things I'm trying to learn it's really necessary or if I'm doing the right way. From now on I'll definitely put these advises in mind to improve! Thanks for helping us with great tips! 다음에 또 봐요~~
You guys rock! Thanks for investing in our futures! 고마워요!
The advice near the end is so important about how being comfortable is a problem as I see this with my other friends studying languages
ahh i love this! i very recently started learning and i used billy's videos to learn hangul, and just received vol. 1 of the ttmik textbooks today! i'm so excited to learn this beautiful language :D
This is really helpful both as a Korean learner but as someone who's learning English and got stuck in a plateu. I'll take your tips into account while studying. Thank you 💜
When your korean teaches meet and you are in heaven
Why are people learning Korean more? 2 things - KPop & KDramas LOL
cheri teleri yes
We love korea
u forgot the rare case of some koreans not knowing thier own language LMAO
K-awareness.
And kvariety shows
I started with Billy & after this i checked TTMIK and wow i love all the resources! Definitely will use both of them for my learning! So excited 😍😍😍😍😍 im learning the language cause i fell in love with how it flows and im into their beauty culture skincare dramas and friendliness! And i want to learn more of the culture and travel there annually 🥰
could you pleaaaaase make a video about intermediate -advanced learning tips??
thanks you for the good tips 감사합니다 😊
Two of my favs.... Yass.. Earlier i watched your video on TTMIK's channel and now here is another video.. I am so happy ✌😊
Thank you Thank You. 감사합니다 . 훌륭한 일
Aww seeing my two favourite teachers in the same video, and great tips 선생님! 👍🏽
Can I request a video or two from you two 😁?
1: how to memorise and prioritise words
2: how to make a notebook
Billy you toooo funny!! That was how I enjoy learning Korean with your channel!
I watched my first Korean drama on Netflix 5 years ago. Excellent story telling. Beautiful scenery. Love them all. I own many DVDs now.
Seeing you two together is just awesome! I hope to meet you in person Billy, during my next trip to Seoul.
my fav korean learning duo🙌🏽
I like both of you and your lessons. Thank you for helping people like me to learn Hangul easier
I just came back from Korea and I feel like I’ve wasted my opportunity to practise because I was too shy to use the little korean I learned with talk to me in korean and only used English :(
Thanks for all the tips! You two are amazing teachers! :)
Thanks Billy! My 2 favourite youtubers on the same video aylmao! Thanks a lot for this tips! :)
this was worth watching. I've been getting the urge to want to study and learn new words and wanting to make sentences yet I'm afraid to make mistakes. I've watched a video Hyunwoo did saying it's ok to make mistakes and I have to get use to the idea that I"m not going to get it right the first time and there's not much other there that's going to give me the exact or best thing for me to understand something about the language or pronounciation so maybe I'll try to get into Hellotalk or something like that and see how that would be once knowing enough or whatever it be
I have a lot of comments but as an experience learner, I want to simply agree.
People should practice and make mistakes. To be able to transfer your thoughts in your own words in a foreign language is the most important thing. And to understand what is being said or implied. Aka to communicate.
I also started Japanese before Korean and I have the same experience as the guy. I didn't speak for the first two years but once I started to use the language than I felt like I was really learning and developing my language skill.
Shout out to all the people learning any language: don't be afraid to use the language or make a mistake! Be brave and learn in practice. No one should judge you for making a mistake in a foreign language. The important is that you are a person who took an effort to learn a new language and about another culture. That is something that should be valued and appreciated rather than judged.
Billy's right hyunwoo is very important I'm basically a hyunwoo fangirl not gonna lie
junhui's nose ; same
Samee
junhui's nose ; same
“Why korean has exploded” ExCuSe MeH YoU DoNt KnOw HoW BiG KpOp AnD KdRaMaS ArE!?
Both of you are Great enthusiastic teachers!! 나는 배우는 것을 좋아한다. 고맙습니다.
With my two and a half months worth of Korean that means : I learn very well
Does it ?
I just love them 💕💕
My tip for learning; Stay curious!
Hyowoono is the best Korean teacher...♥
I like ttmik so much
Me:- Opened UA-cam and saw this video.
Also me:- Oh Wow!! (Clicked)
And that's me😂
My Favorite Teachers. 우리는 당신을 사랑합니다. ♡♡♡
Take care.
Oh Billy knows Japanese too! ^^
😍😍😍wow!! I am student of both of you 🙈
Wow!!You're really great 선생님들.모든 것에 감사 합니다💕
So inspiring!! I love you guys
Language learning has become very popular in my school. Only 3 languages: German, Korean, and Arabic. So many kids practice all 3 so often, everyone in school knows at least 10 words from each language
my two faves in one video!
My interest in Korean language started from the fact that I like Mr. Park Hang-seo, who has led the Vietnamese national football team from success to success, and from recent watching some K-dramas including the OSTs....
I really like listening to you and watching your videos.Its fun and I understand stuffs easier .most importantly it helps me remember them .
Same with hyunwoo .
you two are great! hopefully i can speak korean well as you guys
Appreciate the tips! 👍
this was so motivational!! 😄
I know you're based as a Korean instructor but...
Could you do a video on tips for learning Japanese? I'm trying to learn both languages so it would be really cool to see the perspective of a native English speaker's take on learning those two :)
Great advice
Yesterday I watched a video which taught me 30 helpful korean verbs and their basic conjugation. I haven't reached the lesson which teaches me verb conjugations yet, but I wrote down everything in that video anyway. I observed, then I tried to conjugate a verb by myself.. and I was wrong. I took a closer look at noticed "Ah, it is like that because there is a consonant!" I made that mistake another time, but then I started to watch out and I didn't make it again. Everytime a conjugation was different than I expected, I looked for the reason why
I think doing this will be very helpful in my journey of learning Korean
What video is it ?
I love you guys so much..
감사합니다 선생님들 🙏😍
„The avengers endgame is the greatest crossover event in history“
This video: Hold my topic particles.
love this!
I want to learn about Korean hand games if you know some popular ones!
I'm learning cause I want to learn and hopefully after Korean I can learn more languages
Not having Korean subtitles is a big problem for Kdrama
Armys keep streaming!!!!! BTS NEEDS US.
2 idolssssss
Why almost all korean guys have such a shining aura?
THATS THE MAN IN TALK TO ME IN KOREAN RIGHT?
I WAS RIGHT ITS THE GUY FROM TALK TO ME IN KOREAN
재밌었어요
immer shön = 항상 예쁘다 = always beautiful ㅋㅋㅋ
My Korean online teachers hyun woo, Billy, Lisa and Jenny.
I don't really have a goal... I just have so much fun learning it😅
선생님ㅜㅜ
존경합니당
Nice video!!! I'm vegan and taking Korean as a personal enrichment class. The amount of time people spend talking about meat is soooooooo annoying! It's a turn off and one of the reasons why I'm playing catch up for my final exam in a week. I tend to procrastinate so I don't need any more reasons to put off studying.
Finally!
I also learned English without going abroad and my country is not even close to any English speaking country.
According to this Korean placement test I did, I should start learning intermediate Korean, wasn't I already doing that ?
I wanna go to Korea one day. I also want to meet bts and Korean people and I heard its safer than America so I would like to travel there
Exactly...most stuff books try to teach first are a total waste of time! AND Korean books teach phrases and words that real people don't use. WHY? I think TTMK is a great thing. However, one of my many "false starts" was trying to learn by listening to the TTMK level 1 lessons. I was so annoyed by the useless banter (in English) between the teachers that I stopped listening and gave up trying and learning again. Now I realize that I might have learned if I had picked a system...almost any system...and stuck with it, even blindly. As it turns out, I was so annoyed by something in every system and book that I tried, that I still haven't learned more than the most basic survival phrases. And after years of surviving in Korea without knowing much of the language, it is very hard to find any practical reason to learn...the only motivation is guilt...and guilt is not fun. This, I believe, is the primary reason most English teachers never learn much Korean; the initial learning curve is too painful, and there is no practical reason or apparent benefits to enduring the pain.