You couldn’t be prompt at answering if someone was to ask you why Korean on the first go. Fair enough. But eventually, this question will sink in!
You could find yourself losing out, blank, regardless of whether you want to learn Korean yourself or be asked by another person what you want to learn.
After all, not all language students take to Korean.
And that added to the fact that students tend to have a greater inclination to learning Western languages such as French Spanish German etc. Asian languages are believed to be tough as general perception tends to keep a number of people away from them. Korean on the other hand is one such as in language that is not as difficult to master as is perceived. In fact the Korean alphabet hangul can be learnt in between 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the learner, prior exposure and his interest.
While I do recommend learning Korean, I certainly do not recommend learning Korean without a tutor. Yes you may be able to learn quite a bit of repetitive words in the Korean language after watching Korean dramas and Korean movies and listening repeatedly to Korean pop, however that is not what the entire Korean language is all about. There is certainly much more to the Korean language than just repeated words such as thank you sorry etc.
Let me now introduce you to a few reasons why Korean language learning is beneficial to learn!
- The Korean language belongs to an ancient culture and learning the Korean language gives you visibility to this wonderful culture that started with the Great King Sejong. Korean culture has long been known to be a people-friendly culture where the king himself decided to write down an entirely new language that could be understood by the masses. He spent an entire lifetime trying to propagate the Korean language as we know it today to his masses and it did take a lot of time too to be implemented, due to a lot of opposition by his courtiers, but eventually, it was implemented. This can give you an idea of the difficulty level of the language.
- Korean is easy to learn and so it gives a lot of motivation to the learner having learnt another language and becoming a bilingual language at the earliest. So if your idea is just to be bilingual, to begin with, I recommend you start learning Korean which is a considerable language to learn even though it is classified as a tough language by FSI. It has a considerably easier comprehension vocabulary and alphabet learning that encourages the learner while they learn!
- Learning the language also helps you watch Korean dramas and Korean movies seamlessly without having to wait for translations or subtitles. Ever watched ‘Oldboy’ that had a remarkable performance by Park Chan-Wook. Even a person who does not have any interest in cinema would be glued to Korean cinema after watching it.
- Learning Korean also helps you understand the Kpop songs by PSY, Girls Generation, IU, or Big Bang and sing them just as the band is playing. Effort in learning Hangul, the understanding of the lyrics is all that will take you to enjoy all the Kpop songs irrespective of the genre.
- Learning a new language has been credited with boosting the brainpower of learners. What this means is that learning a new language energizes more connexions in your brain that can stimulate your mind and keep it active and healthy.
- Learning Korean also opens up numerous opportunities for you when you add it to your curriculum vitae. Considered to be the 13th largest economy in the world, Korean company Samsung LG Hyundai have managed to create in-roads in most of the countries across the world. The Korean language would help you build relations with the Korean clients and so if your company ever wants to expand in the Korean economy you would be the Front Runner to be considered for roles that require coordination between two countries.
- Learning a new language will also enhance your travel experience. It will empower you to travel to destinations that are out of the tourist maps or which are basically too deep inside the local areas. In terms of the Korean language, you will be able to go and see such beautiful places which are generally not marked on the Korean tourist map with the help of the locals who appreciate that you know their language and made an effort to learn it.
- Learning the Korean language also helps you make Korean friends easily. This goes to prove whether you live in the country for months together or a few weeks, learning the language of your target destination proves to be extremely helpful. The language would help you cut your way through with tour guides, shop owners, business owners, localities, people in Korean administration, in the government offices and people who matter the most! This would help you do away with your anxiousness and make you comfortable in a foreign country where you will be able to understand what people are saying.
- You could also be an ESL teacher teaching English to Korean students where your Korean language would help you communicate with the Korean students. You will not only be able to teach them conversational skills effectively, on the contrary, but you could also be a teacher who could cut through ice with students because of knowing the same language as them.
Finally,
To learn Korean I would suggest you start doing the self-study, to begin with at home using a few good Korean books YouTube videos free apps such as Duolingo, free podcast free audio lessons from the authentic site and a free online assessment test this would help you gauge your interest in the language and also help you understand in which direction you need help. Eventually, you will need to move to train under a trainer however, to begin with, you will have some base to start with and you would know exactly where the trainer can help you. You could therefore voice out your need to the trainer and your training could be customised accordingly. The trainer will be able to help you with your pronunciation vocabulary grammar Syntax is the proper usage of words in their right context Now that you know all the benefits of learning Korean, it’s time to get started. So, what are you waiting for?