Why you should study korean with your friends and where to find them

2:03 PM

I’ve been having fun studying korean on my own for a while now. It was never boring doing it alone. But now that two of my friends have decided to learn it too, I discovered that it is a whole lot more fun when you've got some good company.

Recently, I got together with my two friends and we studied together for a few hours. Warm drinks keeping us company, and a sort of plan of what we wanted to accomplish that day. It was such a great experience for all of us that I wanted to share it with you!

The benefits are endless

It gives you more motivation, more support. It’s a give and receive kind of learning that will only improve our studying experience.


Since they’re both beginners and I’m on intermediate level, I’ve fallen into a sort of teacher role. Not really, though, since there’s so much I don’t know. But I have a better grasp of what it’s like to be a beginner, so I guide them through the process.

One of them, Mari, spent most of the time with her headphones on finishing her hangul lessons on Eggbun (a great app I talked about last week). The other one, Sara, studied with me. We looked into how to say a few basic things in korean she was curious to learn.

She once gave me a list of things she is most excited to learn how to say, and I picked the ones I think she knows enough at this point to understand.

As I said above, the beauty of this is that by “teaching” her these things, I learn too. I found out I’d forgotten about some things, how to spell words… and when she posed me questions, it put my knowledge to the test.


You can still do it even with friends who live far away

The first people I met who were studying korean like me lived nowhere near me. Of course, we couldn't get together in person and study together, and we never really made an effort to regularly study together. But we should have! It's not impossible, nor does it have to be any less helpful.

I learned that first when I joined a group chat for korean learners created by the Bitesizekorean blog on tumblr. Since then, I learn something new almost every day. There are people from absolute beginner to advanced in this chat, so I can seek help as well as help others. I love that so much!


When I recently asked people on tumblr if they had friends with whom they studied korean, I was again proven right. Whilst a few people were lucky enough to have people near them to study with, many have friends who live far away and still study together - through texts and voice calls, mostly.

For those don't know anyone who is studying korean at all ( and those who want to meet more)

You can apply for the Bitesizekorean study group chat (I think it's still open). Alternatively, you can find people on apps like HelloTalk and Hello Pal! Or tumblr, in general. Go through tags like "hangulblr" or "korean studyblr", and just shoot people a friendly ask!

So, you see, there's no excuse not to do this to improve your learning experience. How great is it that we can laugh and share knowledge with each other? Make new friends! Enjoy our time together while learning something new.

Do it now! Do it frequently! Tell me how it goes! 

I'll be sharing a PDF with our notes soon. Stay tuned.

P.S.: Yes the title is a Fantastic Beasts reference. Sue me.
Pictures taken by Mari, the greatest photographer. You can find more from her here

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