Is Korean Hard to Learn?

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Reviewed by: Minji
@minjiteacheskorean

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⏱ TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro
0:23 - The Story …
0:44 - Really Easy: Hangul & Pronunciation
2:36 - Also Really Easy: Konglish
3:10 - Easy: Word Formation
4:24 - Easy: Predictable Verb Conjugation
5:44 - A Little Harder: Being Polite
7:56 - Hard: Different Word Order for Sentences
9:19 - Hard: Particles
10:29 - No Subject
11:19 - Different
12:21 - Helpful Things
13:10 - What’s the Verdict?

[argonwheatbelly]

Learning a writing system is easy. Learning the language itself is about practice and dedication.

[마_늘]

I'm Korean. I don’t know why but this video kept popping up in my algorithm so I clicked on it. Learning Korean isn't easy, but I cheer for anyone who does. 화이팅!

[koreanlanguageclub]

I've been studying Korean by myself since 2010 I basically learned by watching several dramas and listening to all kind of Korean songs. I haven't lived in Korea by the way. Now I'm a certified Korean language teacher (I took an online course for Korean teachers) my mother tongue is Spanish so I mainly teach Spanish and English native speakers but these days I even have asian students. I'm so happy to see more people learning and speaking Korean these days. :)

[joecole]

Lived in Korea for 6 years (not consecutive) when I was in the Army. Picked up the alphabet quickly and was immediately able to sound out road signs and items on the menu. Never had an issue with honorifics. I understood levels of politeness and tried to speak accordingly. Yes I made mistakes when talking to elders, but they were gracious and understood I was speaking as polite as my vocabulary allowed. Thoroughly enjoyed my time there; the people and food are awesome! Not a fan of K-Pop as it must me a generational thing, but really like the historical dramas.

I would never say I became fluent, but did become functional. Getting out among the people and attempting to communicate is key.

[corelcid]

Don't mind the grammar when you learn any languages at first time. Korean is same. A theme of this contents is all. And, I'm Korean.

[j_story_bong]

I heard it because of the algorithm. I am Korean but I am a YouTuber related to Japanese study. My personal opinion is that language can be improved only when you keep practicing. Have a good motivation to learn a language! I will support everyone who learns Korean. 파이팅!!!! Fighting!!!

[northice]

I'm about 10 months into learning Korean, and while it can be challenging, it's been a lot of fun and really interesting. This is a really great overview of the main learning points. And great to see you reference some really good Youtube teachers I watch all the time.

[seoul_mate]

Sorry Olly, but I have to disagree on Korean pronunciation. Hangeul itself is easy to learn, but Korean pronunciation is difficult. Compared to Japanese, there are a lot more sounds, complex vowels and sound changes. Korean grammar isn't easy either with a variety of structures that seem to have the same meaning, but then you realise there's a small difference between them. Finally, written and spoken Korean are very different from each other and this adds to the complexity of the language. I have been learning Korean since 2015 and I still wouldn't consider myself advanced. Upper intermediate would be more realistic.

[재규리노]

I, as a native Korean, acknowledge it's an extremely subtle language. My highest respect to all the foreign students who struggle in learning Korean! Speaking of which, hangul is a great alphabet system for real. I've taught some of my Iranian friends a long time ago at school during break time quickly for fun, about how to read hangul words and pronounce them, and even though it was only a 10-minute lesson, they indeed could read hangul words and make Korean sounds by simply combining vowels and consonants. I felt surprised, and they as well were surprised. It was a magical experience for all of us. I can't forget that.

[탱탱우람]

As a Korean person, I have been thinking that Korean is a difficult language to foreigners, but I have changed my thought after watching this video. Korean definitely has some points that sound easy to "start" to learn, and I think most of foreigners can "speak" in Korean without too much difficulty in most of situations. If you use "요(yo)" at the end of your sentences, almost all Korean would understand that you are trying to be polite. But if you once start to "listen to" Korean, it would make you confused. Hope you all Korean learners do not give up too early!

[Gattberserk]

I love how you include both Korean Unnie and Hailey teaching video for your explanation.

[is_sac]

한국인입니다. 이 영상은 한국어에 관한 중요한 특징들을 잘 설명하고 있습니다. 심지어 꽤 깊이가 있습니다. 외국인이 본 내용을 전부 이해한다면, 그는 한국인이나 다름없습니다. 외국인들에게 한국어가 어렵게 느껴지는 줄 몰랐네요. 그런 한국어를 외국인이 이렇게 잘 정리해서 설명해주시니 새삼 신기하고 놀랍네요. 좋은 영상 잘 봤습니다.

[kunulee]

I'm a Half Korean. My dad Is korean and I'm involved into Korean culture soo much. But that doesn't mean that learning the language was easy for me. It took me around 3-4 years to became actually fluent. The language itself has a lot of different variables, differents words, different grammar, different everything. I think what you mentioned in the video it's just the basic things, but what about the intermidiate and advanced things; those are actually the hardest one. It's sad but is real, to actually become fluent and minimum b2 in korean it can take longer than we all thought.... As i said, I live with a Korean dad, have a lot of korean friends, living in a korean enviroment every single day, and it was so hard for me.... i just want to be realistic about this language

[Adrianrams]

I would debate Korean being easy to pronounce, sometimes letters change due to what is following it, but compared to English, it's easier! Korean is NOT easy, at least for me. I married a half Korean and wanted to learn to better communicate with my mother in law. But I also want to be able to read it! There's so many fun things to read in Hangul!

[okazay]

Half Korean here. One tip to sound more natural (as mentioned in the video) is to be polite when talking about people who AREN'T in the room. Many non-native speakers will say to a friend 부모는 어디에 살아? But to show more respect to the parents many native speakers will use the (시) as mentioned and say it like "부모님은 어디에 사셔? (to your friend)" but if you're talking directly to the parents you can say "어머님/아버님은 어디에 사세요?" Also the more polite form for "있어요?" is "계세요 (for people)?" which is where the '계세요' comes from in "안녕히 계세요 (stay well)." but to friends people will just say "잘 있어~". Also the (시) is why you hear people say "안녕히 가'세'요 to people who are leaving (politely) vs. the casual "잘 가".
If you're wondering now which one people use for objects like a pencil, but want to sound polite, you can say "혹시 연필 있으세요?(to a complete stranger)" or "연필 있나요(to a stranger or someone you slightly know, and to whom you want/should show respect)?"

[ernestolopez]

I'm living in Korea, Daegu now. The thing is Daegu has something called satturi, which is an specific accent. So whenever I want to understand what s1 is telling me is so freaking hard to understand and getting used to both the language and the accent haha. I'm here for 1 year in order to become an interpreter, wish me luck! 🤠

[MyronChoe]

As a Korean who went to a college in Boston, man, learning English was one of the most challenging things in my life. and you'll see why if you see the world map. we're geographically on THE OTHER side on the planet. which makes the whole language system being almost diametrical understandable, but once I learned and became relatively fluent in English, learning any other language became so easy because they're all in somewhere between Korean and English. now I speak 6 languages and will learn more.

[tddgadsfdfdf]

I would like to say something: Korean is a language with particularly developed verbs. (verb-centered language) To give just one example, when using the English word 'wear' In Korea, different verbs are used depending on the body parts.

For example,
신을 신다wear shoes, 장갑을 끼다wear gloves. 마스크를 쓰다wear a mask 허리따를 차다wear l belt. 장비를 착용하다 wear equipment 목도리를 두르다wear a scarf 옷을 걸치다 wear

Different verbs are used in every similar situations.

[swy]

I'm Korean and I got a quite good grade at Korean grammar. But I frequently find it hard to make complex sentence in a way that expresses my nuance accurately and is nature. Not only does it have complex grammar rules, but it also have so many vocabularies having similar meanings.

[슈슈슈슈-rx]

Hello!! I'm korean learning English! I think English and Korean both have very diffirent grammer and expressions. So as Korean difficult in some parts, English-speakers also experience same thing. When I was student, I studied English for test, but recently I've been starting to study English for dailies or business. Cheer up your korean study!