I feel like learning English is hard too. There are so many words that sound exactly the same but have different meanings. There, their, they're or flour/flower. Two/too. Write/right.
+TheTinyninja17 That's so true! English has a lot of confusing homophones! On the other hand, I've noticed that Korean has its fair share too: 배(bae) = stomach, ship, & pear >D
+Carol Lima lol our study abroad coordinator took us to busan and was like "there are 9 bitches in busan" and we were all silent for 1 second and then burst out laughing 😂😂
Korean is really easy when you are starting, reading hangul and learning some sentences and frases is super simple but when your start adding grammatical rules and honorifics is when it becomes harder...but as everything if you like and really want to learn it nothing can stop you XD
I reckon English is more diffcult than Korean or Japanese because English is different words depending on the regions. Ex)lift,elvator / cell phone,mobile etc...Hum... just in my opnion no offence
@@AmericanoToeic No dude, lift/elevator are just two different but similar words. Everybody would understand you anyway. Not like in Korean, where if you spell it wrong, nobody will get what you mean.
-I didn't do my homework today? -You didn't do your homework today? -Yes. English is my first language and I always thought this was normal. 'Cause the answer is in the context: yes, you're understanding correctly, I didn't do my homework. The answer is in response to the question. If it was "Yes (I did do my homework)", then the answer is to the opposite of what was asked by the question... Haha. Never mind. I just always thought it was understood like this.
waat, no i believe its... "you haven't done your homework?" "no, i have not" i think people just get lazy with speaking and dont expand on what they actually mean
OMG THE YES/NO THING MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW!!!!! I was born and raised in Canada but I'm korean so I'm only allowed to speak korean at home. I've always had trouble answering with Yes and no's in school so in some contexts I would say the wrong one and the teacher would think I'm being rude or we would have a miss communication. I never really understood why I had such a hard time with yes's and no's but now it makes so much sense!
I'm french Canadien and I'm learning Korean and i noticed many words in korean sound like french but the meaning is really different for exemple ''개새끼야'' means son of a bitch in korean but in french is the contraction of what's up (Qu'est-ce qui à or quesquia). In french, we have two ways to adress people the formal and the informal way but in Montréal if you use the informal way to talk to elder people maybe they'll find you rude but they'll understand if your first language is not french. Finally, for me the hardest thing in korean is the double consonant. Thank you and have a nice day:)
I think the most difficult thing in Korean for me as for a student is actually the grammar that has so many different tones or variations which you can understand only if you hear it in situations like for example 김에 which has no correct equivalent in English or grammar like 갈게요 갈거에요.
+Sofiya W 1. 갈게요, 할게요 : key words or phrases (I promise I will ~) -> ex) "I promise I'll do it for you", or I promise I'll be there. 2. 갈 거예요, 할 거예요 : key words or phrases (may or going to) -> ex) "I'm going to be there"
+Sofiya W -(으)ㄹ 거예요 is attached to a verb root to indicate a plan to do something or that something will happen in the near future. -(으)ㄹ게요 is attached to a verb root to indicate the speaker's will to do something. -(으)ㄹ 거예요 is more about 'plan', -(으)ㄹ게요 is about 'will' :)
+Dylan Choi are you korean? i dont think so. it's not like that. my korean friend have explained it to me and he said if we can know the different by using it in everyday conversation. both are came from different basic form. so its different, and its not just 'a short form'. cmiiw.
Dayeong Anna Oh '할게요' 는 상대방에게 강력한 어조로 "꼭" "반드시" 하겠다라는 늬앙스가 있는 반면에, '할 거예요'는 "언젠가" "때가 되면" 할 것이에요의 늬양스적인 표현임. 왜 모르면서 딴지를 거는 사람들이 이리도 많을까? 제발, 아는 척 하지 맙시다.
+Jimlyni HA! My husband isn't Asian, he's Scandinavian-American. The "unh" sound Kyuho makes is what millions of husbands all around the World do when engrossed in whatever they're doing and 1/2 listening to their wives..."Honey, do you want more coffee, what do you want for dinner"...etc. etc. and the "unh" sound..in whatever form it takes per language, "hmn", "eh", "huh"et. al, is what you will hear as a reply. It's a "husband" thing....in Human format. Young lady, don't worry about it, you will learn about it AFTER you walk down the aisle......lol......it's all good though. Ask your mother.....;-)
The double consonants were hard for me to learn as well, but I was able to get the hang of them after studying in Korea. The best thing to do in order to pronounce them correctly is to break apart the double consonants into two syllables. For example, separate 아빠 into 압바. Now you can read it like "ap ba" and it becomes easier to distinguish from something like 아바 which would just be "aba". Same with 어때. Try changing it to 얻대 and then pronounce it like "ut day". Let me know if that helps, Sarah! 😄
Kevin Gineman Korean consonants have different initial, medial, and final sounds depending on their location in the the word. For your example, the ㅉ in 짜장면 has a tensed j sound. (It's hard to explain but if you just stick with the regular English pronunciation of j, you'll be understood just fine) If the word started with a ㅊ then it would have an aspirated ch sound. If it started with a ㅈ then it would have an unaspirated ch sound. For 진짜 it is pronounced like cheent-ja (but the ch sound should not be aspirated. It's like a soft ch sound.) Hope that helps to make the difference clearer
I'm currently learning Korean (basic beginner level) so far everything is going well, especially because Korean is similar in some ways to my native language (Arabic). And Korean culture with the whole respecting elders and parents is quite similar to my own Arab culture. Best of luck you two 💕
Loved the video! I'm studying Korean on my own right now but I'm planning on going to Sogang University in June this year for their Korean immersion program! For me, learning Hangul was pretty easy. I took my time and managed to learn to read and write within a month going at a slow pace. I've started to learn simple phrases and words now but I feel like I've hit a brick wall. There's such a big difficulty gap between learning to read and write vs stringing sentences together since you have to know all these different little things like subject particals, sentence structure differences, and politeness levels. And not to mention.... trying to learn enough vocab to even be able to create a few sentences to say haha. Anyway that's what troubling me the most right now with Korean but I still love the language and will keep trying hard to get better. I'd love to meet you two in Korea one day!
My wifes Korean family were very kind to me. I call them Appa, Omma, and her siblings by their first names. Easy Peasy :-D What i find most difficult about learning Korean is studying it while here in Australia. I think to fully learn it would be a lot better and quicker while living in Korea.
I remember the first time when I started learning Korean , it wasn’t hard at all as I was so surprised that I’ve memorized Hangul alphabet and being able to write it in less than an hour! That made me really curious to know more and try to find a reason why people are saying ‘it’s so hard!’ Well, if we do compare the Korean alphabet and the English alphabet for example which is just one of many languages based on the Latin script, the Korean alphabet is honestly easier to write! I do speak different languages and dialects (fluently) and I know others (understanding only and speaking a little), so if I have to compare the French writing system which is also based on the Latin script but still there’s some difference with English, in French there’s an italic old way to write the letters - especially at the beginning of the text which are sooo twisted ^_^ with the uppercase and lowercase in different style (something inexistent in Korean), just because we grow up studying/learning that style of writing since a very young age, we became used to it that looks easier, but if we do an honest comparison Korean is much simple! When I wanted to know how to say 'thanks' in Korean... Wow!!! I discovered so many different ways to say it, that I was wondering why on earth there are too many/ or we need many words to just say thank you!!! Then I knew that there’s up to five level of speech depending on the person you are talking to or the situation (ex. work), I was like Wow!! That’s really challenging as among the languages that I know the highest one is up to three! But I liked that and I was thirsty to know more…the hardest thing for me at that time was to find a great resource of learning with enough explanation… the key to save time (whatever the language ) is to know the sentence structure and to give your brain some time to adjust to the new structure form especially with Korean, because if we compare English and Korean sentence structure it’s totally opposite to each other, so let’s say for example if you are used to think from left to right, with that new language your mind will start to think from right to left! You will not only need some short breaks to absorb the new information but also to adjust to that change of structure; personally it wasn’t so difficult for me as in comparison with native English speakers, they are the ones who find it extremely hard, Spanish speakers/learners not that much - for ex. speaking about what was said in the video 이거, 그거, 저거 = ese, este, aquel in Spanish and they are in four forms: masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, feminine plural (which is not the case in Korean), so for Spanish speakers/learners, they way how they will view that particular subject in Korean will be so easy and simplified! - similar thing in Arabic language. Personally, speaking and knowing different languages including cultures made things easier for me in learning Korean and the culture, I didn’t find it at all foreign or so different as they are many exact to similar things…still languages based on Latin script helps in some ways, I’ve found Hindi language which is based on Devanagari script (writing), Urdu language which is based on Arabic script with very few Persian letters included ( you can say that Hindi and Urdu spoken language is 97% the same except a slight difference in the vocabulary but people do understand each other very well, but will not know how to read if they don’t know each other written script) with their sentence structure and Arabic language especially speaking (pronunciation) exactly like the double and strong consonant in Korean, and to an extent in writing helps a lot (ex. the ‘sukun’ (a circle-shaped placed above a letter) works exactly and it is like ‘ng’ the circle-shaped consonant (ㅇ) in Korean - no sound), then I understood after being surprised why some Koreans were able to learn quickly Arabic and express themselves with it comfortably in only one year of learning. Both are similar in many ways, they are both rich languages but the difference is that Arabic is compact/compressed but at the same time incredibly deep and expressive, you always have to refer to the content and context, while Korean is a way similar but opposite in the sense that you have to learn sooo many things, which means more time to learn. Based on all that, the learning process of Korean was smooth and the main difficulty I may say at the beginning was the topic/subject/object particles that are very special and unique to Korean language but you get used to it with practice. Korean helped a lot in writing Devanagari script because if you look at it, it’s really a mix between Korean, Urdu, Arabic and few Latin letters, just beautiful! Personally if I have to use the word ‘hard’ in saying: ‘it’s hard to learn Korean’ honestly it will mean in the sense that the language is so amazingly rich, it expresses things in so many ways and in different levels that needs extra time to learn, but isn’t hard in my opinion!! I think when we learn a language we just want to speak with it rapidly, something that we will not be able to do with Korean language, that’s why many people say it’s hard! It’s only hard to speak with it ‘fluently’/expressing yourself comfortably in a short period of time because there are so many things to learn indeed - a rich language but not hard to learn! There’s a huge difference ^_^ That’s my personal experience and how I feel it, I really enjoy so much learning Korean ^_^ a very rich and beautiful language, worth it! Great video!!! Thank you !!
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You think could translate 이거, 그거, 저거 as this, that, and that over there in English
Spanish uses demonstratives the same way! Este is like 이거, used for objects close to the speaker, ese is like 그거, used for objects closer to the person they're talking to and aquel is like 저거, used for objects which are far away from both. So when I was first learning them in Spanish, I told myself they translated as this, that and that over there, but context helps too, of course!
Such a great video, guys~ ^_^ I speak English and French and learning Korean is quite difficult - it's a slow process, especially since I don't have any native speakers anywhere near where I live - so thank you for being so informative!
A lot of these issues are the same with Japanese and with many other languages really. The last one you talked about - we have the same issue except SHE'S the one who doesn't pick which option she means! And I (the guy) get frustrated~
Learning a new language is just like a habit, it needs to be part of your daily life. I understand how hard it can be, because you still have a full-time job, but I'm sure you'll be able to make it! Good Luck!
Thanks for sharing :) Actually, i'm learning Korean on my own through the lessons on youtube. I wasn't able to take any course, yet. But if i'm comparing Korean to other languages (English and Russian) which i've been learning so far, it was easier than i thought. Maybe, it's because of my own language (Mongolian) which has a lot of similarities with Korean, i think. (for example: some grammars and destination of word in sentences are more likely similar to our language). That's why, it is a little bit easy to understand for me. But i'm fully agree with you guys in terms of difficulties between formal and informal things especially if it's for older people than you (i find it really hard)... Sorry for my bad English kkk. Anyway, Have a great week for both of you :D
I'm finnish and even though we have alot in common with korean language it's sometimes hard for me to pronounce. Not like double consonants because we have them too in finnish language but basically every word with "y" and "u" that also includes letter "b" because we don't use that kind of combinations almost at all. Also, korean has ALOT of thank you and greeting words that cannot be translated into my own language and to learn those I actually had to study about situations that you use them. Like for example "잘 부탁드립니다"
The titles or way of addressing someone is not really a difficulty but more of a culture difference. Sure, learning what you can call someone can be difficult at first but once you get to understand the culture and everything, it's fairly simple. Personally, the hardest for me is knowing how to switch between 반말 and 존댓말. Also, I have a super hard time understanding the usage of 은, 는, 을, 를, etc. All those little bits of a sentence I have a hard time understanding how they work. Pronunciation is extremely easy for me, reading is easy, learning new phrases is easy but sentence structure and grammar is something I really want to improve on.
I enjoyed your video, I am learning Hangeul because my son is going to Seoul, Korea this coming fall to study digital media and animation. I am struggling but your video was inspiring. Thank you
I was going to start studying korean but I really found it so difficult !! it's so different from my language in everything so I don't even know how I should start !!
Depending on your English dialect double consonants can be found in English naturally. For example, when English speakers say the words sky, spy, stye (I just picked words that rhymed) the k, p, and t are all naturally tense because of the s in front of them. In English we think of them as the same phenome as c p and t in car, par, and tar but they are in fact different sounds-just not in English (Those are aspirated). That also explains why sometimes on Korean shows English speaking idols sometimes pronounce things in an English way and it is different than the Konglish equivalent. For example the Korean way to write the word style would be 스타일 but most English speakers using an American dialect would say the word closer to 스따일. So for me learning 3 of the tense consonants were alright but the double j and the double s still remain difficult for me to produce since those don't really have English equivalents.... hope this helps.
Just found your channel! I am an English-First-Language speaking Canadian, and my boyfriend is Korean who speaks English as a second language, and I am just starting to learn Korean (which I find very hard haha) and it's interesting to see some of the language issues that you're experiencing learning Korean. My boyfrined's Enlgish is very good but we do come accross small barriers once in awhile, especially when he is directly translates sayings or proverbs from Korean to English and they completely lose their meaning haha
I'm Korean American and although I'm conversationally fluent in Korean, I struggle with many of the language problems you guys talked about so this was interesting :)
Just finished the video. Besides not knowing how to speak to adults I think I struggle the most with spelling in Korean and where to place spaces in between words (if that makes sense). Because in English there is simply a space between most words but it seems to be a little different in Korean..
I'm Spanish living in England for 16 years now, started learning the language when I was in year 8. I still have problems to understand certain accents within London, or even Scottish people. I could say I continue learning everyday :)
Again Sarah, I completely agree on what you said in the beginning!! When I first came to America, people were like "Do you not like______?" I would say "yes" and they would think I like the thing when I meant I don't like it. I was so confused...hahaha
Love the video! Also, I read something about the difficulties in learning English. It made a point about how in English the same word can have two different meanings based on the accented part. For example, CONtract and conTRACT. With learning Korean, I have difficulty with the honorific endings as well.
Im not formally learning Korea but I've noticed and realized that thanks to watching a lot of Korean dramas I've taken a grasp of how these barriers for you guys work. and until now that you guys mention it, I've realized that's there's such difficulties. Anyways super interesting video love it!
Thank you so much for making those videos!!... Im korean and i was adopted by a italian family in canada when i was only 2. Now im 33 and I never came back to korea... so im really glad to know about my origins with your videos . i watch them all last week :)
Sarah, I grew up speaking Korean in the States, and I've been in Korea for over 10 years now. My Korean still sucks! And yeah.. that 'ㅆ' is a killer. I think having a girlfriend that speaks English so well makes it that much more difficult for me to improve. Maybe it's the same for you~
I'm learning korean for about 2 years it's a self taught, just because I wanted to learn another language and that's how I stumbled with your videos. I have fallen in love with the culture and food. I could understand and speak a little bit. I wish one day I could visit korea someday. love you guys so much more power to you guys. Please keep making videos I love them it's feels like I'm there in korea.
I feel like the hardest part of Korean is knowing when to use formalities. Maybe it's because I'm still in college and everyone is similar age, but there's never really that conversation of what to call each other, and even though we ask age, no one has ever really bothered to explain much more than "oppa" is female use for older male, "unni" is female use for older female, etc. Maybe you could make a video about that to help (me) out? ^^
hi! :D in spanish just as korean we use diferent specific words to refer to an object near me, near another person and other word for objects far away from both of us. Also when I started studying korean, the "yes" and "no" confused me a lot XD Additionally, in Mexico when you speak with the parents of your significant other you do it formally ( eg calling them mr and mrs and speaking formally) but I think is more than anything to impress out of respect :p later on, depending on how well you get along you can call them however you want ^^
Haha, that was a very interesting video, guys! ^^ We have the same kind of situation with answering yes/no in Bulgarian, also - double negatives ("I don't have nothing") which confuses some people :D However, don't give up, I'm sure you're trying your best! I recently started learning Korean and I am so fascinated and enjoying every second of it! I love watching your videos! Greetings! : )
The pronunciation really gets me. But I'm starting to get it. I haven't really started grammar and vocabulary yet... so that will be my next difficulty. haha
Wow that was really informative! I'm trying to juggle learning both Korean and Japanese (I'm kind of bitting off more than I can chew). But I do have the time and resources so I thought I would learn. One thing I found hard is the whole "here, there, over there" format for both. It's definitely a learning process that is very hard but also rewarding!! ^^
I think of the double consonants as "spring loaded", because you have to tense your tongue somewhat before releasing the sound. It's easiest with the double giyeok, double digeut, double bieup, and double Jieut, I think. Harder for the double shiot. But I can finally (I think) hear and correctly pronounce the difference between the S sounds in sipda and SSi. I heard or read somewhere that there are 5 different Korean S sounds. But so far, I can only hear three of them. For me, verb conjugation is really challenging, especially when you have to account for the fact that what we call adjectives in English are actually verbs in Korean ("descriptive verbs"). The different levels of formality and when to apply them are daunting, too, as is remembering the rules for irregular verbs and those that masquerade as irregular, but actually aren't.
I have a huge problem with wanting to use the word "You" in Korean. I hear the Korean language doesn't really use the word "you" but we use it so frequently in English.
I agree double consonants, titles of people and formal language/grammar(?) is probably the hardest. But reading, writing and understanding is easier not so much for the speaking... but then again I’m not very exposed to the language (apart from the basics; Music, Kdrama & online korean friends) it probably makes it 10 times harder living in an only English speaking country. (호주/Australia)
Im happy I have found your UA-cam channel before coming to South Korea, you guys are so easy going about showing and talking about SK :) and yea the language might be easy to just learn basic Hangul and words, but there's definitely more detail in Korean language. Sarah! I'm happy to know your from Canada, I am too but I live by the Rocky mountains. Wish I was able to come across you guys in SK :) -Take care, keep creating good content. 👌
I'm so glad that you made this video! I am bewildered and overwhelmed by Korean. (I fail my heritage) The double constants throw me off all the time ʕ•͡-•ʔ the formal language throws me off as well, and the age groups....too many things to wrap my head around. At least I can understand the objects where one to near you and one is far away since in Spanish we have those...scenarios. Thank you for making this video! ᵔᴥᵔ ᵔᴥᵔ ᵔᴥᵔ
Really, really enjoyed this video. When we moved as a young couple from New Jersey to Oklahoma, I felt like I had landed in a foreign country somewhat. So many words I hadn't heard before and of course, regional accents. I know there are regional accents in Korea as well. Such a challenge to learn the nuances of a language but once you've been immersed for awhile, does it seem like it's "seeping" in? The German language also has "high" aka "formal" and "low" aka "informal". Had to make sure my letter to a great aunt was written in high German until she responded in low. Thanks for your explanations!
Love the interaction between the two of you. Agreed about everything you said about the Korean language. I also find it very hard to study especially the pronunciation as some are very specific yet subtle, so it's not easy to differentiate them. The formal and informal thing is also something very confusing to me. Kindly share with us more on this kind of stuff as I can totally relate lol! Btw Sarah, did anyone tell you before that you look like Rebecca Hall?
I incidentally watched this video while surfing youtube and was awesome!wish i had a friend like sarah who can share two different languages freely.1. Like i wrote, i think the 'subjunctive' mood is one of the most difficult grammars in english(though other romance languages have more complex ones).In Korean, we don't have to use different tense to express hypothetical hope. We just say it. As a consequence, though koreans spend a lot of time studying subjunctive mood, they usually rarely use it in everyday life.2. It just came up to mimd while writing this that Koreans frequently use "we" where english native speakers would use "I",especially when he/she is talking about where they belong to. For example, "our school/my school", "our family/my family".Think i'm going to enjoy your videos!
I agree with the double consents and the formal differences in the language. I am just begining my journey in learning Korean, but I can tell that those will be the hardest parts for me.
I'm living in Kor and slowly catching on the language, but what's helped me TREMENDOUSLY is watching Korean reality tv shows with eng subtitles. Reality shows express real life scenarios and show how many different people actually speak or react to things, and I just absorb it all right away! ^^
I had trouble with double consonants too, but this is what I learned: A single consonant has a "sneaky H", as my tutor calls it. The consonant is aspirated, you exhale while you say the letter (creating a very subtle sort of "h" sound"). E.G. The word "sal" sounds like "s-h-al" With double consonants, there is no aspiration - no breath release while you say it. E.G. "SSAL" sounds like "sal", more like the English pronunciation of the letter S. Hope that helps?
Just found your videos, thanks for sharing! Yes, I feel your pain with double consonants; I have such a hard time with those and I worry that I'm going to say something really offensive one day. LOL I'm studying Korean now in preparation for moving there to teach English later this year. You mentioned that working full-time made it a little more difficult to study, but I hope to learn more/better after getting there (but hopefully when I arrive I'll have enough to communicate basic things :P). Off to watch more of your videos now! ^^
I usely more like never react to video's, but I just have to say that you guys are such an adorable couple. I live in The Netherlands, but by watching these video's it just feels like I am there too. In a few months I am going to Canada myself for an internship and I hope that I can go to Korea one day too! Your video's make me so much more exciting! I just randomly found your channel and already watched 9 video's :$ thanks for making video's and special greetings from The Netherlands
Thank you so much for this video it was so useful to me because i have been studying Korean on my own and i don't go any course just learning by writing. So my Korean prouncation isn't good. I can write better but i can't talk with people by writing,right :D And Korean is so difficult language for learning by myself but i'm trying to do my best 😞 Thank you again and Have a nice day ❤❤❤
+Ree' White I have been trying to learn Korean but apart from being so difficult is the little time i can dedicate to it. however, there is a place you can check, "talktomeinkorean" I bet it could help you a lot... and its free :) as far as I know. There is also "Italki.com", but I haven't checked that one out yet, and you have to pay... Hope that is helpful
The last point about when you ask him an option question and his response really reminded me of my boyfriend. I'm also Canadian and my boyfriend is Korean and he does the exact same thing. It's so confusing when he does it and I always have to ask him for clarification!
This video was so interesting as it's all so true! The double consonant thing is always so difficult and my boyfriend picks up on it whenever I'm trying to say those kind of words. I find speaking way harder and just trying to get into more complex sentences, there's so many nuances to understand. Also the point about just saying yes in response to a choice is defintely a Korean thing, my boyfriend does this also!
I'm from Mexico and I'm currently in Busan studying Korean, not only the language can be kind of difficult to grasp but also the little things, like the existence of 만 as in 10,000, it makes counting very confusing since I'm not used to call 10,000 a thing of it's own. And I totally get the replying yes or no to a no or yes question... They get me confused and in return I confuse them by answering the wrong way, haha. Greetings.
I'm learning Korean right now and these are the exact same observations I've made too, when it comes to the difference in English language/culture and Korean bu,. it's also what I love and what makes it really fascinating!
I lived in Korea in '85 and I remember taking taxis and using the wrong word for over there and the brakes being hit quickly. I'm glad I'm not the only one who was confused. I'm enjoying seeing video of the many changes since I was there. Thank you.
I always watch your video with smiling:) thank you! You guys are so cute:) The last one must be only규호's thing lol, cuz I never do it as a Korean. Also, I would like to compliment your English! Both of your English is so clear that it could be even used for English education material!! I'm a university student studying English Education, and I've seen so many natives who actually break English grammar in the name of slang.... When it comes to the question you put above, I've learned English for 13 years (10 years at public school, a year in the UK, 2 years at University, but I'm still struggling with speaking English. In Korean, you don't actually need to care about stress, rhythm, and intonation other than showing your emotion, on the other hand, In English, every vocabulary has at least one stress, and every sentence should have main and minor stress, otherwise, it doesn't make specific rhythm and becomes not native-like English. Also contrary to Korean that has a few accent(or dialect), English has too many versions of it because it is a global language. For example, in the UK, I was freaking out at first due to the strange accent: an immigration officer, staffs at a coffee shop, a taxi driver all of them have a different accent. There was no one who speaks in British English that I've known, other than my class teachers. Black people's English.... That goes without saying, you know.. I'm planning to study for Master's degree in TESOL in the US, but for these reasons, even I still struggling with English as an EFL learner...
I have sooo much trouble with double consonants as well! But I've been self studying for almost 4 years without any formal education so I think it's been harder. My Korean level is intermediate but hearing and saying double consonants is hard. I'm going to a program this summer to learn Korean and I really hope they teach me proper pronunciation lol Formal language also stresses me out! At least formal language that you'd use with parents, elders, people who're much older. I don't have to use it much now because all my friends and I either use informal language or casual formal but when I go to Korea one day I'm sure it'll get me.
it's really hard learning Korean because not only don't I have someone to explain what I don't understand, I also don't have someone to use what I learned with. so I end up talking with myself so I won't forget...like a crazy person. 😰 Not only does the double consonant confuse me but also using ㅅ where i thought ㅌ would be used. for example 있다. for the longest time this confused me. i have also seen it dont with ㅈ to but i cant remember the situation in which it was use. To round off everything, in my opinion identifucation and existance words (in polite, deferential and honorific/deferential) are the hardest! 이에요/에요, 입니다, 이십니다, 있어요, 있습니다, and 겨십니다. even after reading the chapter many times, i still dont get them. I think there are so many aspects of Korean that is difficult to understand but it still doesn't beat the feeling when you do finally get it. I hope what I said made sense.
it really depends what is your base native language. for me, anything that has a phonetic alphabet similar to english makes it easy for me. all of the latin-based languages are easy for me since i learned spanish for 5 yrs. japanese is somewhat easier than korean because of the standardized romaji system. swedish and dutch are different but so far isn't that difficult to understand. for the reason i mention above, the southeast asian languages with a completely different alphabet and independent writing system make them way harder. i'm part chinese, japanese and i still find chinese writing way too hard. i can understand and speak conversationally but cannot write the words by hand. they are not related to the alphabet wtf!? luckily on the pc, i can type them phonetically and i can recognize which character to choose. just started learning korean seriously and it's alright. this is one language where i recommend learning the writing and speaking together bc you can then distinguish how phrases are formed rather than a long string. among multilinguists, almost everyone agrees chinese and russian are the hardest.
Hi there guys, idk how but i started watching your videos and its quite funny cause my gf is korean (i am spanish) and A LOT of the things you guys say in your videos had happened to us, its like, i showed her the videos and she was like "theppak" haha. Thank you for these funny moments, now i know its not just me the one who has these situations lol
great video:) i used to study japanese too and ot helped me a lot with learning korean later with grammar and so on.. still remember when i started with korean 8 years ago and i was like aha 이거 그거 저거 have same difference as japanese これ それ あれ :D
I've been learning japanese and I noticed that most things that seem weird in korean language also exist in japanese. I don't know if this is because these countries had been exposed to each others cultures, like we greeks did with turks (so for instance we have numerous same words), but I guess this is a reason why they are able to learn each others language easier than learning english. Anyway that was a really interesting video :3
Thanks so much for sharing :) it was interesting to see what even a primarily English speaker who's lived there for several years even has trouble with! I am slow with my Korean study because I'm not around a lot of Korean speakers so it's hard to practice. 한국에서 진짜 가고싶다 그리고 공부해요ㅠ I find I have difficulty with the endings or conjugation of the Korean words. The particles. Like 은/는 이/가 을/를. I just don't know where to put them or when!!
actually i got no problem when i'm learning korean since my language is likely korean except the formal form and the structure. i'm Indonesian. you know, what they said in number one, i called it as 'answering style'. about 'yes' and 'no', Indonesian have same style with Korean which is really different with English. If i'm not mistaken, Japanese and Chinese have same style too with Korean. and, not like English that we can say 'you' to all people, and call their name, Indonesian have that kind of title too, but it's simpler than Korean. sometimes in Korean i got confused too like 'what should i call him?' 'what should i call her?'. in English, when we talking with our mom, we just can say "Mom, are you going tonight?", but in Indonesian or Korean, we say it as "Mom, is Mom going tonight?". but that '응' thing, i think it's just about feeling ㅋㅋ i understand it but i cant explain it.
hey , I am Canadian and my Wife is also born in Korea. I can relate to EVERYTHING you talked about. There have been countless times i ask "what does _ _ _ _ _" mean and she cant explain because its difficult or the word just doesn't exist. Also everyone just assumes i speak fluently because she is korean or "you are so lucky, you get to practice korean everyday". But we never speak korean at home, If i can convince her to only use korean it is a slow process and she has to use english to explain different things.
I studied Korean and thought that was the hardest language to learn...until I studied Slavic languages xDDD theres different ways to say every verb and noun depending on what case your using and how often you do said verb etc etc. I love Korean language much more now !!!
+에 A크리스티 Kristie I don't know which language you are studying, but I'm Croatian and I can understand how hard it must be. If you are trying to learn it to communicate with others, then don't worry about cases, we understand it even if you don't always say the right case :D But I also know foreigners who have managed to learn it, so it's definitely possible, don't give up :))
Korea is very old country, so they have hierarchy system and each hierarchy class can have different way to address people - this still being influence when you communicate in Korea. Also bare in mind Korean is a SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) language.
I'm also working full time and trying to learn Korean, thankfully I have people who can help but it would be easier if I were immersed in the language.
The "yes no question" is also the same in Indonesian. The simple rule is: When we say yes, it means that we agree to the previous sentence. A: You didn't do your homework B: Yes. (it means yes I agree to your sentence that I didn't do my homework) But we are taught to distinguish the two styles in our English class, although sometime we slip.
hi guys! I'm actually rather fond of learning languages so that's a good de stressor from academics for me. But having learnt English and Hindi since childhood, learning chinese and korean came as a serious challenge for me. but personally I picked up korean faster than chinese, but struggles you have highlighted are real. so darn real! I'm trying to learn Russian now. God bless me hahaha! take care you two! :)
I feel like learning English is hard too. There are so many words that sound exactly the same but have different meanings. There, their, they're or flour/flower. Two/too. Write/right.
+TheTinyninja17 That's so true! English has a lot of confusing homophones! On the other hand, I've noticed that Korean has its fair share too: 배(bae) = stomach, ship, & pear >D
+2hearts1seoul oh Lordy. You can't escape it anywhere eh! :)
+2hearts1seoul 차 tea/car is the one that used to get me
like bitch and beach
+Carol Lima lol our study abroad coordinator took us to busan and was like "there are 9 bitches in busan" and we were all silent for 1 second and then burst out laughing 😂😂
Korean is really easy when you are starting, reading hangul and learning some sentences and frases is super simple but when your start adding grammatical rules and honorifics is when it becomes harder...but as everything if you like and really want to learn it nothing can stop you XD
*phrases
shy gondry
thank you! I was thinking in spanish, I guess XD
I reckon English is more diffcult than Korean or Japanese because English is different words depending on the regions. Ex)lift,elvator / cell phone,mobile etc...Hum... just in my opnion no offence
@@AmericanoToeic No dude, lift/elevator are just two different but similar words. Everybody would understand you anyway. Not like in Korean, where if you spell it wrong, nobody will get what you mean.
Yeeeea I've been telling everyone Korean is damn easy... then I realized I can't teach or explain shit haha
-I didn't do my homework today?
-You didn't do your homework today?
-Yes.
English is my first language and I always thought this was normal. 'Cause the answer is in the context: yes, you're understanding correctly, I didn't do my homework. The answer is in response to the question. If it was "Yes (I did do my homework)", then the answer is to the opposite of what was asked by the question...
Haha. Never mind. I just always thought it was understood like this.
waat, no i believe its...
"you haven't done your homework?"
"no, i have not"
i think people just get lazy with speaking and dont expand on what they actually mean
You see, if you were to ask me that question I would respond with "Yes, I have not."
I am pretty sure that you are correct and that it is "YES, I haven't done my homework" because of the "you DIDN'T do it?".
OMG THE YES/NO THING MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW!!!!! I was born and raised in Canada but I'm korean so I'm only allowed to speak korean at home. I've always had trouble answering with Yes and no's in school so in some contexts I would say the wrong one and the teacher would think I'm being rude or we would have a miss communication. I never really understood why I had such a hard time with yes's and no's but now it makes so much sense!
규호thing이 무슨 말인지 알겠어욬ㅋㅋㅋ 그거 "피자 or 치킨먹을래?" 이런 문장에서 "응" 이라고 답하는건 한국에서 생각할때 둘 중 하나(아무거나) 먹을래? 라고 생각하는 것 같아요!
Aww you guys are goals
trueㅠㅠ
I'm french Canadien and I'm learning Korean and i noticed many words in korean sound like french but the meaning is really different for exemple ''개새끼야'' means son of a bitch in korean but in french is the contraction of what's up (Qu'est-ce qui à or quesquia). In french, we have two ways to adress people the formal and the informal way but in Montréal if you use the informal way to talk to elder people maybe they'll find you rude but they'll understand if your first language is not french. Finally, for me the hardest thing in korean is the double consonant.
Thank you and have a nice day:)
Interesting! :)
go on
+Andréanne Cédras even 세탁기 ca veut dire machine a laver mais ca send comme c'est a qui
Lol
+Jisun Myung Oui ^-^
I think the most difficult thing in Korean for me as for a student is actually the grammar that has so many different tones or variations which you can understand only if you hear it in situations like for example 김에 which has no correct equivalent in English or grammar like 갈게요 갈거에요.
I bet that makes communicating over text even more difficult than in, for example, English.
+Sofiya W 1. 갈게요, 할게요 : key words or phrases (I promise I will ~) -> ex) "I promise I'll do it for you", or I promise I'll be there. 2. 갈 거예요, 할 거예요 : key words or phrases (may or going to) -> ex) "I'm going to be there"
+Sofiya W
-(으)ㄹ 거예요 is attached to a verb root to indicate a plan to do something or that something will happen in the near future.
-(으)ㄹ게요 is attached to a verb root to indicate the speaker's will to do something.
-(으)ㄹ 거예요 is more about 'plan', -(으)ㄹ게요 is about 'will' :)
+Dylan Choi are you korean? i dont think so. it's not like that. my korean friend have explained it to me and he said if we can know the different by using it in everyday conversation. both are came from different basic form. so its different, and its not just 'a short form'. cmiiw.
Dayeong Anna Oh '할게요' 는 상대방에게 강력한 어조로 "꼭" "반드시" 하겠다라는 늬앙스가 있는 반면에, '할 거예요'는 "언젠가" "때가 되면" 할 것이에요의 늬양스적인 표현임.
왜 모르면서 딴지를 거는 사람들이 이리도 많을까? 제발, 아는 척 하지 맙시다.
As for your last question, Sarah, that's a HUSBAND thing. My husband and I do the same thing when I ask him things too, so don't worry. lol!!!!
+Jimlyni HA! My husband isn't Asian, he's Scandinavian-American. The "unh" sound Kyuho makes is what millions of husbands all around the World do when engrossed in whatever they're doing and 1/2 listening to their wives..."Honey, do you want more coffee, what do you want for dinner"...etc. etc. and the "unh" sound..in whatever form it takes per language, "hmn", "eh", "huh"et. al, is what you will hear as a reply. It's a "husband" thing....in Human format. Young lady, don't worry about it, you will learn about it AFTER you walk down the aisle......lol......it's all good though. Ask your mother.....;-)
LOL, you know, I think you're right! I guess it has nothing to do with what language it is! 😂
세라씨 같이,까치 발음 아주 좋으세요! 또 규호씨가 세라씨의 고충을 이해하고 알아주는 모습이 참 좋아보여요:)
한국어에는 손 윗 사람이 손 아랫 사람을 존중해주는 존칭이 있지요. 이를테면 규호군, 세라양 처럼요.제가 생각해도 한국어 높임말과 존칭 및 호칭은 한국 사람이 아니라면 정말 헛갈릴 것 같아요.
The double consonants were hard for me to learn as well, but I was able to get the hang of them after studying in Korea. The best thing to do in order to pronounce them correctly is to break apart the double consonants into two syllables. For example, separate 아빠 into 압바. Now you can read it like "ap ba" and it becomes easier to distinguish from something like 아바 which would just be "aba". Same with 어때. Try changing it to 얻대 and then pronounce it like "ut day". Let me know if that helps, Sarah! 😄
u r so fucking genius.
how about 짜장면, 진짜?
Kevin Gineman Korean consonants have different initial, medial, and final sounds depending on their location in the the word. For your example, the ㅉ in 짜장면 has a tensed j sound. (It's hard to explain but if you just stick with the regular English pronunciation of j, you'll be understood just fine) If the word started with a ㅊ then it would have an aspirated ch sound. If it started with a ㅈ then it would have an unaspirated ch sound. For 진짜 it is pronounced like cheent-ja (but the ch sound should not be aspirated. It's like a soft ch sound.) Hope that helps to make the difference clearer
I'm currently learning Korean (basic beginner level) so far everything is going well, especially because Korean is similar in some ways to my native language (Arabic). And Korean culture with the whole respecting elders and parents is quite similar to my own Arab culture. Best of luck you two 💕
Really? Interesting. I didn't know about Arabic culture. Thank you!
yes i totally agree with you ^^
yes i totally agree with you ^^
same its kinda similair tot arabic
i'm arab i understand what you mean, and you're right actually, but i speak french with my fam lol
Loved the video! I'm studying Korean on my own right now but I'm planning on going to Sogang University in June this year for their Korean immersion program! For me, learning Hangul was pretty easy. I took my time and managed to learn to read and write within a month going at a slow pace. I've started to learn simple phrases and words now but I feel like I've hit a brick wall. There's such a big difficulty gap between learning to read and write vs stringing sentences together since you have to know all these different little things like subject particals, sentence structure differences, and politeness levels. And not to mention.... trying to learn enough vocab to even be able to create a few sentences to say haha. Anyway that's what troubling me the most right now with Korean but I still love the language and will keep trying hard to get better. I'd love to meet you two in Korea one day!
My wifes Korean family were very kind to me. I call them Appa, Omma, and her siblings by their first names. Easy Peasy :-D What i find most difficult about learning Korean is studying it while here in Australia. I think to fully learn it would be a lot better and quicker while living in Korea.
Language is so fascinating!
I remember the first time when I started learning Korean , it wasn’t hard at all as I was so surprised that I’ve memorized Hangul alphabet and being able to write it in less than an hour! That made me really curious to know more and try to find a reason why people are saying ‘it’s so hard!’ Well, if we do compare the Korean alphabet and the English alphabet for example which is just one of many languages based on the Latin script, the Korean alphabet is honestly easier to write! I do speak different languages and dialects (fluently) and I know others (understanding only and speaking a little), so if I have to compare the French writing system which is also based on the Latin script but still there’s some difference with English, in French there’s an italic old way to write the letters - especially at the beginning of the text which are sooo twisted ^_^ with the uppercase and lowercase in different style (something inexistent in Korean), just because we grow up studying/learning that style of writing since a very young age, we became used to it that looks easier, but if we do an honest comparison Korean is much simple!
When I wanted to know how to say 'thanks' in Korean... Wow!!! I discovered so many different ways to say it, that I was wondering why on earth there are too many/ or we need many words to just say thank you!!! Then I knew that there’s up to five level of speech depending on the person you are talking to or the situation (ex. work), I was like Wow!! That’s really challenging as among the languages that I know the highest one is up to three! But I liked that and I was thirsty to know more…the hardest thing for me at that time was to find a great resource of learning with enough explanation… the key to save time (whatever the language ) is to know the sentence structure and to give your brain some time to adjust to the new structure form especially with Korean, because if we compare English and Korean sentence structure it’s totally opposite to each other, so let’s say for example if you are used to think from left to right, with that new language your mind will start to think from right to left! You will not only need some short breaks to absorb the new information but also to adjust to that change of structure; personally it wasn’t so difficult for me as in comparison with native English speakers, they are the ones who find it extremely hard, Spanish speakers/learners not that much - for ex. speaking about what was said in the video 이거, 그거, 저거 = ese, este, aquel in Spanish and they are in four forms: masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, feminine plural (which is not the case in Korean), so for Spanish speakers/learners, they way how they will view that particular subject in Korean will be so easy and simplified! - similar thing in Arabic language.
Personally, speaking and knowing different languages including cultures made things easier for me in learning Korean and the culture, I didn’t find it at all foreign or so different as they are many exact to similar things…still languages based on Latin script helps in some ways, I’ve found Hindi language which is based on Devanagari script (writing), Urdu language which is based on Arabic script with very few Persian letters included ( you can say that Hindi and Urdu spoken language is 97% the same except a slight difference in the vocabulary but people do understand each other very well, but will not know how to read if they don’t know each other written script) with their sentence structure and Arabic language especially speaking (pronunciation) exactly like the double and strong consonant in Korean, and to an extent in writing helps a lot (ex. the ‘sukun’ (a circle-shaped placed above a letter) works exactly and it is like ‘ng’ the circle-shaped consonant (ㅇ) in Korean - no sound), then I understood after being surprised why some Koreans were able to learn quickly Arabic and express themselves with it comfortably in only one year of learning. Both are similar in many ways, they are both rich languages but the difference is that Arabic is compact/compressed but at the same time incredibly deep and expressive, you always have to refer to the content and context, while Korean is a way similar but opposite in the sense that you have to learn sooo many things, which means more time to learn.
Based on all that, the learning process of Korean was smooth and the main difficulty I may say at the beginning was the topic/subject/object particles that are very special and unique to Korean language but you get used to it with practice. Korean helped a lot in writing Devanagari script because if you look at it, it’s really a mix between Korean, Urdu, Arabic and few Latin letters, just beautiful!
Personally if I have to use the word ‘hard’ in saying: ‘it’s hard to learn Korean’ honestly it will mean in the sense that the language is so amazingly rich, it expresses things in so many ways and in different levels that needs extra time to learn, but isn’t hard in my opinion!! I think when we learn a language we just want to speak with it rapidly, something that we will not be able to do with Korean language, that’s why many people say it’s hard! It’s only hard to speak with it ‘fluently’/expressing yourself comfortably in a short period of time because there are so many things to learn indeed - a rich language but not hard to learn! There’s a huge difference ^_^
That’s my personal experience and how I feel it, I really enjoy so much learning Korean ^_^ a very rich and beautiful language, worth it!
Great video!!! Thank you !!
You think could translate 이거, 그거, 저거 as this, that, and that over there in English
* I think you could..
this . that . those
+석호박 those is plural. Just like these. Those is the plural of that and these is the plural of this.
+Edgar Hernández Gallegos 이거, 그거, 저거 = this, it, that
+Edgar Hernández Gallegos That's how it was translated for me.
Spanish uses demonstratives the same way! Este is like 이거, used for objects close to the speaker, ese is like 그거, used for objects closer to the person they're talking to and aquel is like 저거, used for objects which are far away from both. So when I was first learning them in Spanish, I told myself they translated as this, that and that over there, but context helps too, of course!
I am Korean and Spanish. I wish I can learn Spanish. The way you explained make whole lot of sense. Thanks!
Nicely summed. I enjoy your videos. We relate to you guys a lot.
omg Sarah you need to share on how you keep your skin looking nice and your makeup !
Such a great video, guys~ ^_^ I speak English and French and learning Korean is quite difficult - it's a slow process, especially since I don't have any native speakers anywhere near where I live - so thank you for being so informative!
ㅋㅋ 차 공감 가네요 ㅋㅋㅋ 너 이거 싫어해?? Yes 나 이거 싫어해. ~ 이거 안 먹는단 말이지? Yes 나 안먹어 ~ 다른거 먹을래
나 이거 싫어한다며 먹을 거라고?? No 아니 안먹는다고 ~
ㅋㅋ 참 헷갈렸어요 처음에는 많이 ㅋㅋㅋ 지금은 그나마 익숙해졌어여
A lot of these issues are the same with Japanese and with many other languages really.
The last one you talked about - we have the same issue except SHE'S the one who doesn't pick which option she means! And I (the guy) get frustrated~
Taehyung I'm coming for u
same
lol
Learning a new language is just like a habit, it needs to be part of your daily life. I understand how hard it can be, because you still have a full-time job, but I'm sure you'll be able to make it! Good Luck!
Thanks for sharing :) Actually, i'm learning Korean on my own through the lessons on youtube. I wasn't able to take any course, yet. But if i'm comparing Korean to other languages (English and Russian) which i've been learning so far, it was easier than i thought. Maybe, it's because of my own language (Mongolian) which has a lot of similarities with Korean, i think. (for example: some grammars and destination of word in sentences are more likely similar to our language). That's why, it is a little bit easy to understand for me. But i'm fully agree with you guys in terms of difficulties between formal and informal things especially if it's for older people than you (i find it really hard)... Sorry for my bad English kkk.
Anyway, Have a great week for both of you :D
I'm finnish and even though we have alot in common with korean language it's sometimes hard for me to pronounce. Not like double consonants because we have them too in finnish language but basically every word with "y" and "u" that also includes letter "b" because we don't use that kind of combinations almost at all. Also, korean has ALOT of thank you and greeting words that cannot be translated into my own language and to learn those I actually had to study about situations that you use them. Like for example "잘 부탁드립니다"
The titles or way of addressing someone is not really a difficulty but more of a culture difference. Sure, learning what you can call someone can be difficult at first but once you get to understand the culture and everything, it's fairly simple. Personally, the hardest for me is knowing how to switch between 반말 and 존댓말. Also, I have a super hard time understanding the usage of 은, 는, 을, 를, etc. All those little bits of a sentence I have a hard time understanding how they work. Pronunciation is extremely easy for me, reading is easy, learning new phrases is easy but sentence structure and grammar is something I really want to improve on.
With the talking about where it is is the same in japanese. Koko is close, soko is a bit further and asoko is far away.
I enjoyed your video, I am learning Hangeul because my son is going to Seoul, Korea this coming fall to study digital media and animation. I am struggling but your video was inspiring. Thank you
I was going to start studying korean but I really found it so difficult !! it's so different from my language in everything so I don't even know how I should start !!
Depending on your English dialect double consonants can be found in English naturally. For example, when English speakers say the words sky, spy, stye (I just picked words that rhymed) the k, p, and t are all naturally tense because of the s in front of them. In English we think of them as the same phenome as c p and t in car, par, and tar but they are in fact different sounds-just not in English (Those are aspirated). That also explains why sometimes on Korean shows English speaking idols sometimes pronounce things in an English way and it is different than the Konglish equivalent. For example the Korean way to write the word style would be 스타일 but most English speakers using an American dialect would say the word closer to 스따일. So for me learning 3 of the tense consonants were alright but the double j and the double s still remain difficult for me to produce since those don't really have English equivalents.... hope this helps.
u r so genius too. i'm learning so many thing from ur comment (even though im korean)
Just found your channel! I am an English-First-Language speaking Canadian, and my boyfriend is Korean who speaks English as a second language, and I am just starting to learn Korean (which I find very hard haha) and it's interesting to see some of the language issues that you're experiencing learning Korean. My boyfrined's Enlgish is very good but we do come accross small barriers once in awhile, especially when he is directly translates sayings or proverbs from Korean to English and they completely lose their meaning haha
I'm Korean American and although I'm conversationally fluent in Korean, I struggle with many of the language problems you guys talked about so this was interesting :)
Just finished the video. Besides not knowing how to speak to adults I think I struggle the most with spelling in Korean and where to place spaces in between words (if that makes sense). Because in English there is simply a space between most words but it seems to be a little different in Korean..
I'm Spanish living in England for 16 years now, started learning the language when I was in year 8.
I still have problems to understand certain accents within London, or even Scottish people. I could say I continue learning everyday :)
오 이런 영상 좋아요^^
예전에 기사로 접했을 때도 외국인들이 높임어를 제일 어려워한다고 그랬었는데
어려울만 하죠ㅋㅋㅋ여러 높임어가 상황에 따라 다 다르니
한국인들은 어렸을 때부터 교육받아서 익숙하지만
외국인들은 진짜 헷갈리겠다~영상 잘 봤습니당^^!
Again Sarah, I completely agree on what you said in the beginning!!
When I first came to America, people were like "Do you not like______?"
I would say "yes" and they would think I like the thing when I meant I don't like it.
I was so confused...hahaha
I'm gonna watch all you guy's videoes before I go to Seoul! It so helpful and thank you so much! Love your jumpers btw.
So glad I found your channel. Reminds me a lot of my, now husband and I. We live in Taiwan and Chinese is hard too!!!
Love the video! Also, I read something about the difficulties in learning English. It made a point about how in English the same word can have two different meanings based on the accented part. For example, CONtract and conTRACT. With learning Korean, I have difficulty with the honorific endings as well.
double consonant fucks me up all the time.
idk they're like stronger sounds than simple ones for example ㅂ it's pronounced more like p (like pie) and ㅃ is more like b(bro).
+Doge Phan then how do you pronounce ㅍ? I'm so confused
Glaysa G. It's p but the other ones we're a sound between b and p and what I said is more stronger than b or p. Yeah confusing..ㅍ is a strong p.
With double consonants I simply just emphasize that part of the word and sometimes it could sound like I am screaming.
Im not formally learning Korea but I've noticed and realized that thanks to watching a lot of Korean dramas I've taken a grasp of how these barriers for you guys work. and until now that you guys mention it, I've realized that's there's such difficulties. Anyways super interesting video love it!
Thank you so much for making those videos!!... Im korean and i was adopted by a italian family in canada when i was only 2. Now im 33 and I never came back to korea... so im really glad to know about my origins with your videos . i watch them all last week :)
jersey shore Korean, cool lol
omg ! your channel's name is so cute xD
The last thing is obviously not the problem of Korean language. HaHa! Both of you are really cuuuuuuuuuuuute!
Sarah, I grew up speaking Korean in the States, and I've been in Korea for over 10 years now. My Korean still sucks! And yeah.. that 'ㅆ' is a killer. I think having a girlfriend that speaks English so well makes it that much more difficult for me to improve. Maybe it's the same for you~
I'm learning korean for about 2 years it's a self taught, just because I wanted to learn another language and that's how I stumbled with your videos. I have fallen in love with the culture and food. I could understand and speak a little bit. I wish one day I could visit korea someday. love you guys so much more power to you guys. Please keep making videos I love them it's feels like I'm there in korea.
Thank you for speaking about this! I was curious about it!
감사합니다!
I've been waiting for this video!!! I'm so pumped!
I feel like the hardest part of Korean is knowing when to use formalities. Maybe it's because I'm still in college and everyone is similar age, but there's never really that conversation of what to call each other, and even though we ask age, no one has ever really bothered to explain much more than "oppa" is female use for older male, "unni" is female use for older female, etc. Maybe you could make a video about that to help (me) out? ^^
hi! :D in spanish just as korean we use diferent specific words to refer to an object near me, near another person and other word for objects far away from both of us. Also when I started studying korean, the "yes" and "no" confused me a lot XD
Additionally, in Mexico when you speak with the parents of your significant other you do it formally ( eg calling them mr and mrs and speaking formally) but I think is more than anything to impress out of respect :p later on, depending on how well you get along you can call them however you want ^^
Haha, that was a very interesting video, guys! ^^ We have the same kind of situation with answering yes/no in Bulgarian, also - double negatives ("I don't have nothing") which confuses some people :D However, don't give up, I'm sure you're trying your best! I recently started learning Korean and I am so fascinated and enjoying every second of it! I love watching your videos! Greetings! : )
The pronunciation really gets me. But I'm starting to get it. I haven't really started grammar and vocabulary yet... so that will be my next difficulty. haha
Wow that was really informative! I'm trying to juggle learning both Korean and Japanese (I'm kind of bitting off more than I can chew). But I do have the time and resources so I thought I would learn. One thing I found hard is the whole "here, there, over there" format for both. It's definitely a learning process that is very hard but also rewarding!! ^^
I think of the double consonants as "spring loaded", because you have to tense your tongue somewhat before releasing the sound. It's easiest with the double giyeok, double digeut, double bieup, and double Jieut, I think. Harder for the double shiot. But I can finally (I think) hear and correctly pronounce the difference between the S sounds in sipda and SSi. I heard or read somewhere that there are 5 different Korean S sounds. But so far, I can only hear three of them.
For me, verb conjugation is really challenging, especially when you have to account for the fact that what we call adjectives in English are actually verbs in Korean ("descriptive verbs"). The different levels of formality and when to apply them are daunting, too, as is remembering the rules for irregular verbs and those that masquerade as irregular, but actually aren't.
I have a huge problem with wanting to use the word "You" in Korean. I hear the Korean language doesn't really use the word "you" but we use it so frequently in English.
Yes because of difference kor grammar and eng grammar. kor grammar is pretty generous about using subject.
I agree double consonants, titles of people and formal language/grammar(?) is probably the hardest. But reading, writing and understanding is easier not so much for the speaking... but then again I’m not very exposed to the language (apart from the basics; Music, Kdrama & online korean friends) it probably makes it 10 times harder living in an only English speaking country. (호주/Australia)
Im happy I have found your UA-cam channel before coming to South Korea, you guys are so easy going about showing and talking about SK :) and yea the language might be easy to just learn basic Hangul and words, but there's definitely more detail in Korean language.
Sarah! I'm happy to know your from Canada, I am too but I live by the Rocky mountains. Wish I was able to come across you guys in SK :)
-Take care, keep creating good content. 👌
So sweet the way she looks at him
Stumbled on your channel & I absolutely love your dynamic. The ultimate modern couple! Love you both :)
I'm so glad that you made this video! I am bewildered and overwhelmed by Korean. (I fail my heritage) The double constants throw me off all the time ʕ•͡-•ʔ the formal language throws me off as well, and the age groups....too many things to wrap my head around. At least I can understand the objects where one to near you and one is far away since in Spanish we have those...scenarios.
Thank you for making this video! ᵔᴥᵔ ᵔᴥᵔ ᵔᴥᵔ
Really, really enjoyed this video. When we moved as a young couple from New Jersey to Oklahoma, I felt like I had landed in a foreign country somewhat. So many words I hadn't heard before and of course, regional accents. I know there are regional accents in Korea as well. Such a challenge to learn the nuances of a language but once you've been immersed for awhile, does it seem like it's "seeping" in? The German language also has "high" aka "formal" and "low" aka "informal". Had to make sure my letter to a great aunt was written in high German until she responded in low. Thanks for your explanations!
OMG, for the first time in my life I actually heard the difference between the regular and double consonant. Mind blown.
둘의 이런 솔직하고 흥미로운 이야기 너무재밌어요 보고 있으면 저절로 웃음이 나요 ㅎㅎ
Love the interaction between the two of you. Agreed about everything you said about the Korean language. I also find it very hard to study especially the pronunciation as some are very specific yet subtle, so it's not easy to differentiate them. The formal and informal thing is also something very confusing to me. Kindly share with us more on this kind of stuff as I can totally relate lol! Btw Sarah, did anyone tell you before that you look like Rebecca Hall?
I incidentally watched this video while surfing youtube and was awesome!wish i had a friend like sarah who can share two different languages freely.1. Like i wrote, i think the 'subjunctive' mood is one of the most difficult grammars in english(though other romance languages have more complex ones).In Korean, we don't have to use different tense to express hypothetical hope. We just say it. As a consequence, though koreans spend a lot of time studying subjunctive mood, they usually rarely use it in everyday life.2. It just came up to mimd while writing this that Koreans frequently use "we" where english native speakers would use "I",especially when he/she is talking about where they belong to. For example, "our school/my school", "our family/my family".Think i'm going to enjoy your videos!
MY BABIES ARE BACK!
it's great a video
I agree with the double consents and the formal differences in the language. I am just begining my journey in learning Korean, but I can tell that those will be the hardest parts for me.
I'm living in Kor and slowly catching on the language, but what's helped me TREMENDOUSLY is watching Korean reality tv shows with eng subtitles. Reality shows express real life scenarios and show how many different people actually speak or react to things, and I just absorb it all right away! ^^
I had trouble with double consonants too, but this is what I learned:
A single consonant has a "sneaky H", as my tutor calls it. The consonant is aspirated, you exhale while you say the letter (creating a very subtle sort of "h" sound").
E.G. The word "sal" sounds like "s-h-al"
With double consonants, there is no aspiration - no breath release while you say it.
E.G. "SSAL" sounds like "sal", more like the English pronunciation of the letter S.
Hope that helps?
Just found your videos, thanks for sharing! Yes, I feel your pain with double consonants; I have such a hard time with those and I worry that I'm going to say something really offensive one day. LOL I'm studying Korean now in preparation for moving there to teach English later this year. You mentioned that working full-time made it a little more difficult to study, but I hope to learn more/better after getting there (but hopefully when I arrive I'll have enough to communicate basic things :P). Off to watch more of your videos now! ^^
I usely more like never react to video's, but I just have to say that you guys are such an adorable couple.
I live in The Netherlands, but by watching these video's it just feels like I am there too. In a few months I am going to Canada myself for an internship and I hope that I can go to Korea one day too! Your video's make me so much more exciting! I just randomly found your channel and already watched 9 video's :$ thanks for making video's and special greetings from The Netherlands
no ill intent. Just want to point out "You didn't do your homework?" and "yes" is the correct answer to that question. Not "no".
Thank you so much for this video it was so useful to me because i have been studying Korean on my own and i don't go any course just learning by writing. So my Korean prouncation isn't good. I can write better but i can't talk with people by writing,right :D And Korean is so difficult language for learning by myself but i'm trying to do my best 😞 Thank you again and Have a nice day ❤❤❤
+Ree' White I have been trying to learn Korean but apart from being so difficult is the little time i can dedicate to it. however, there is a place you can check, "talktomeinkorean" I bet it could help you a lot... and its free :) as far as I know. There is also "Italki.com", but I haven't checked that one out yet, and you have to pay...
Hope that is helpful
The last point about when you ask him an option question and his response really reminded me of my boyfriend. I'm also Canadian and my boyfriend is Korean and he does the exact same thing. It's so confusing when he does it and I always have to ask him for clarification!
This video was so interesting as it's all so true! The double consonant thing is always so difficult and my boyfriend picks up on it whenever I'm trying to say those kind of words. I find speaking way harder and just trying to get into more complex sentences, there's so many nuances to understand. Also the point about just saying yes in response to a choice is defintely a Korean thing, my boyfriend does this also!
I'm from Mexico and I'm currently in Busan studying Korean, not only the language can be kind of difficult to grasp but also the little things, like the existence of 만 as in 10,000, it makes counting very confusing since I'm not used to call 10,000 a thing of it's own. And I totally get the replying yes or no to a no or yes question... They get me confused and in return I confuse them by answering the wrong way, haha. Greetings.
I'm learning Korean right now and these are the exact same observations I've made too, when it comes to the difference in English language/culture and Korean bu,. it's also what I love and what makes it really fascinating!
I lived in Korea in '85 and I remember taking taxis and using the wrong word for over there and the brakes being hit quickly. I'm glad I'm not the only one who was confused. I'm enjoying seeing video of the many changes since I was there. Thank you.
Hello and support from Portugal 😍🙏🏼
Just to say I love you guys together 😆😱😍
+MilaCS kk yhas também falo português
Abraço de Portugal 😁💞
+MilaCS dizemos memu 😆
Boa semana pra ti tmb miga😆😆
I always watch your video with smiling:) thank you! You guys are so cute:)
The last one must be only규호's thing lol, cuz I never do it as a Korean.
Also, I would like to compliment your English! Both of your English is so clear that it could be even used for English education material!! I'm a university student studying English Education, and I've seen so many natives who actually break English grammar in the name of slang....
When it comes to the question you put above, I've learned English for 13 years (10 years at public school, a year in the UK, 2 years at University, but I'm still struggling with speaking English. In Korean, you don't actually need to care about stress, rhythm, and intonation other than showing your emotion, on the other hand, In English, every vocabulary has at least one stress, and every sentence should have main and minor stress, otherwise, it doesn't make specific rhythm and becomes not native-like English. Also contrary to Korean that has a few accent(or dialect), English has too many versions of it because it is a global language. For example, in the UK, I was freaking out at first due to the strange accent: an immigration officer, staffs at a coffee shop, a taxi driver all of them have a different accent. There was no one who speaks in British English that I've known, other than my class teachers. Black people's English.... That goes without saying, you know.. I'm planning to study for Master's degree in TESOL in the US, but for these reasons, even I still struggling with English as an EFL learner...
+John Jeong In short diversity of English is a big obstacle for me to learn English, I suppose.
I have sooo much trouble with double consonants as well! But I've been self studying for almost 4 years without any formal education so I think it's been harder. My Korean level is intermediate but hearing and saying double consonants is hard. I'm going to a program this summer to learn Korean and I really hope they teach me proper pronunciation lol
Formal language also stresses me out! At least formal language that you'd use with parents, elders, people who're much older. I don't have to use it much now because all my friends and I either use informal language or casual formal but when I go to Korea one day I'm sure it'll get me.
it's really hard learning Korean because not only don't I have someone to explain what I don't understand, I also don't have someone to use what I learned with. so I end up talking with myself so I won't forget...like a crazy person. 😰
Not only does the double consonant confuse me but also using ㅅ where i thought ㅌ would be used. for example 있다. for the longest time this confused me. i have also seen it dont with ㅈ to but i cant remember the situation in which it was use.
To round off everything, in my opinion identifucation and existance words (in polite, deferential and honorific/deferential) are the hardest!
이에요/에요, 입니다, 이십니다, 있어요, 있습니다, and 겨십니다. even after reading the chapter many times, i still dont get them.
I think there are so many aspects of Korean that is difficult to understand but it still doesn't beat the feeling when you do finally get it. I hope what I said made sense.
it really depends what is your base native language. for me, anything that has a phonetic alphabet similar to english makes it easy for me. all of the latin-based languages are easy for me since i learned spanish for 5 yrs. japanese is somewhat easier than korean because of the standardized romaji system. swedish and dutch are different but so far isn't that difficult to understand.
for the reason i mention above, the southeast asian languages with a completely different alphabet and independent writing system make them way harder. i'm part chinese, japanese and i still find chinese writing way too hard. i can understand and speak conversationally but cannot write the words by hand. they are not related to the alphabet wtf!? luckily on the pc, i can type them phonetically and i can recognize which character to choose. just started learning korean seriously and it's alright. this is one language where i recommend learning the writing and speaking together bc you can then distinguish how phrases are formed rather than a long string. among multilinguists, almost everyone agrees chinese and russian are the hardest.
Hi there guys, idk how but i started watching your videos and its quite funny cause my gf is korean (i am spanish) and A LOT of the things you guys say in your videos had happened to us, its like, i showed her the videos and she was like "theppak" haha. Thank you for these funny moments, now i know its not just me the one who has these situations lol
great video:) i used to study japanese too and ot helped me a lot with learning korean later with grammar and so on.. still remember when i started with korean 8 years ago and i was like aha 이거 그거 저거 have same difference as japanese これ それ あれ :D
I've been learning japanese and I noticed that most things that seem weird in korean language also exist in japanese. I don't know if this is because these countries had been exposed to each others cultures, like we greeks did with turks (so for instance we have numerous same words), but I guess this is a reason why they are able to learn each others language easier than learning english. Anyway that was a really interesting video :3
I'm with you Sarah when you said that the double consonants are hard to pronounce and tell them apart!! 😭
Thanks so much for sharing :) it was interesting to see what even a primarily English speaker who's lived there for several years even has trouble with! I am slow with my Korean study because I'm not around a lot of Korean speakers so it's hard to practice. 한국에서 진짜 가고싶다 그리고 공부해요ㅠ I find I have difficulty with the endings or conjugation of the Korean words. The particles. Like 은/는 이/가 을/를. I just don't know where to put them or when!!
actually i got no problem when i'm learning korean since my language is likely korean except the formal form and the structure. i'm Indonesian.
you know, what they said in number one, i called it as 'answering style'. about 'yes' and 'no', Indonesian have same style with Korean which is really different with English. If i'm not mistaken, Japanese and Chinese have same style too with Korean.
and, not like English that we can say 'you' to all people, and call their name, Indonesian have that kind of title too, but it's simpler than Korean. sometimes in Korean i got confused too like 'what should i call him?' 'what should i call her?'.
in English, when we talking with our mom, we just can say "Mom, are you going tonight?", but in Indonesian or Korean, we say it as "Mom, is Mom going tonight?".
but that '응' thing, i think it's just about feeling ㅋㅋ i understand it but i cant explain it.
l like this couple given many infomation
hey , I am Canadian and my Wife is also born in Korea. I can relate to EVERYTHING you talked about. There have been countless times i ask "what does _ _ _ _ _" mean and she cant explain because its difficult or the word just doesn't exist. Also everyone just assumes i speak fluently because she is korean or "you are so lucky, you get to practice korean everyday". But we never speak korean at home, If i can convince her to only use korean it is a slow process and she has to use english to explain different things.
Love all the stuffed Totaro behind you!
저도 지금 외국에서 잠시 살고 있지만 선생님 숙제를 다 못했어요 부분의 예는 정말 많은 공감이 가네요 저도 한국인인지라 대답할 떄 무심코 no라고 해야 하는데 한국식으로 si 라고 대답하면 많은 사람들이 헷갈려 하죠 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
스페인어 배우고 있나봐요ㅎㅎ 어디서 살아요?
I studied Korean and thought that was the hardest language to learn...until I studied Slavic languages xDDD theres different ways to say every verb and noun depending on what case your using and how often you do said verb etc etc. I love Korean language much more now !!!
+에 A크리스티 Kristie I don't know which language you are studying, but I'm Croatian and I can understand how hard it must be. If you are trying to learn it to communicate with others, then don't worry about cases, we understand it even if you don't always say the right case :D But I also know foreigners who have managed to learn it, so it's definitely possible, don't give up :))
Korea is very old country, so they have hierarchy system and each hierarchy class can have different way to address people - this still being influence when you communicate in Korea. Also bare in mind Korean is a SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) language.
I'm also working full time and trying to learn Korean, thankfully I have people who can help but it would be easier if I were immersed in the language.
The "yes no question" is also the same in Indonesian. The simple rule is: When we say yes, it means that we agree to the previous sentence.
A: You didn't do your homework
B: Yes. (it means yes I agree to your sentence that I didn't do my homework)
But we are taught to distinguish the two styles in our English class, although sometime we slip.
hi guys! I'm actually rather fond of learning languages so that's a good de stressor from academics for me. But having learnt English and Hindi since childhood, learning chinese and korean came as a serious challenge for me. but personally I picked up korean faster than chinese, but struggles you have highlighted are real. so darn real!
I'm trying to learn Russian now. God bless me hahaha!
take care you two! :)