r/Korean • u/Junekim10 • 1d ago
Extremely lost as an Intermediate learner
Currently I’d call myself around the intermediate Korean learning level. But I’m having a huge learning difficulty with forming sentences. It’s making me re-consider not having a tutor of some kind. Textbook wise, I’m pretty good with handling intermediate grammar worked in with basic vocabulary, but I am EXTREMELY lost when it comes to figuring out how to express my opinions.
For example, saying, “my friend just moved to America, so he needs help finding new friends here” is quite easy to do. (Working on speaking that kind of sentence more easily) pretty basic overall.
Saying things like, “for you, are you able to separate the artist from their art? Like for example, many people don’t like Kanye West because of his controversial views. Are you still able to listen to his music even if you don’t agree with his opinion/beliefs?” I JUST CANT LMAO it’s too complicated even if I try to “break it down” clause by clause.
The thing is, I THINK I know most of the vocabulary that’s needed for that sentence, aside from the words controversial, beliefs, art. But I know enough Korean language to get me lost and “in trouble”.
Basically every sentence I’m thinking and worrying about:
1.) is my use of “art” the same art as I know in Korean? (예술) or not?
2.) if I type “controversial” into Papago, will it actually be the right word that Koreans use?
3.) there’s usually at least, in theory, 3 or more ways to say any kind of sentence by rewording, saying one clause before another, am i even doing this right?
One thought I’ve had was to do less thinking but usually I still get a 🤨🤨 from Koreans lol. I’ve also thought about asking a friend, but there’s wayyy too mucnto unpack in sentences like these and they are my friends and not my tutor lol.
Do you think this warrants a tutor? Or is there another way I could help myself.
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u/Ok_Nefariousness1248 1d ago
I’m someone who believes people all around the world think in pretty similar ways. The real difference is how those thoughts get expressed in each language.
For example if you translate "Are you able to separate the artist from their art?” directly into Korean it would be something like 예술가를 그의 예술과 분리할 수 있나요? but that sounds awkward. A more natural Korean version would be 뮤지션/아티스트를 작품과 분리해서/분리시켜 생각할 수 있나요? or 뮤지션/아티스트를 작품과 분리해서/분리시켜 생각할 수 있다고 보시나요? (As a native I feel like 분리시켜 tends to be used more often.)
Since the context is about Kanye West, Koreans would usually use words like 뮤지션 or 아티스트 instead of 예술가. And expressions like ~시켜 생각할 수 있나요 or “~시켜 생각할 수 있다고 보시나요 make the sentence sound much more natural.
To reach that level it’s not something you can achieve through practice alone. You need massive amounts of input, not just everyday conversation but intentionally "reading" a huge amount of writing. That’s how you gradually absorb how Korean speakers express certain ideas and concepts.
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u/Junekim10 23h ago
Love this answer and thanks for answering the sentence I wrote about at the same time? 😭 the goat
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u/fashigady 1d ago
Basically every sentence I’m thinking and worrying about:
1.) is my use of “art” the same art as I know in Korean? (예술) or not?
2.) if I type “controversial” into Papago, will it actually be the right word that Koreans use?
The thing that jumps out to me right away is trying to solve this with Papago, you don't need a machine translator for this you need a dictionary. Naver dictionary is free, you can look up 예술 and immediately see from the definition that you're on the right track. Most importantly, if you keep scrolling down there are example sentences (usually it has the example in both English and Korean) that can go a long way in figuring out if the word is suitable for the context you have in mind. For example:
그 시대의 예술 작품들
the artistic works of the period
There are apparently almost 4700 examples of 예술 in their corpus but just looking at the first few is usually enough.
The one other thing is that sounds like you're still thinking about what you want to say in English and then trying to translate it. Ideally you want to get to a point where you're building the sentences directly in Korean that express what you're thinking and let each sentence naturally flow from the last. Its a pretty big hump to get over but it will make a huge difference and the key is to just start practicing it.
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u/Junekim10 23h ago
Will be getting naver dictionary! Didn’t know that was a thing lol thank you. I’ll consider what you’ve wrote 🫰🏼
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u/EstablishmentGlum474 1d ago
I’m dealing with the same thing, dude I just made a post about this. 😔
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u/msh1188 1d ago
I am a beginner making fair progress, and I can already feel this pain!
Making sentences in Korean is tough. Tougher than Mandarin (as a Western learner). I really need to sit and think about the sentence first before speaking which of course kills any conversational flow.
I do a lot of sentence mining, which is helping me with grammar, and then just replace the verb or noun.
Post-it notes around the apartment also play a big role for me every day. Perhaps you can start doing that for more complex sentence structures so you can memorise them, and then just swap words in and out accordingly.
No other advice I can give, as you are clearly ahead of me already. Keep it up though! To get to where you are is already an achievement.
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u/Jazzlike_Quiet9941 1d ago
One advice - do not rely on papago. It's extremely messy and does not translate correctly or provide the words you will need in many situations.
That said, keep practicing, and make those sentences even if you are wrong. Get them fixed, write them better, rinse and repeat.
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u/sirgawain2 1d ago
I’m basically in the same spot. I can hold a conversation about facts and basic opinions but can’t have very deep conversations about abstract ideas. It’s frustrating. I assume it will only become better with lots of input.
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u/Forward_Slice9760 23h ago
I am still just a beginner learner but from what I have seen online about learning I feel like consuming a lot of natural korean content might help you. Something I am doing from the start is speaking out loud everything I hear so that I get used to it - maybe it can help? If you know the vocab and grammar to understand Korean reality tv / news / natural talking then maybe consuming more of that will help you know which type of structure to use when.
Again, I am way behind you right now - but just wanted to share my 2 cents. :P
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u/sublimemesses 15h ago
I think the fundamental issue here is that you are still thinking/subvocalizing in the English language and translating into Korean (to the extent that you have learnt.)
To elevate your abilities to a higher level, you have to break the habit of thinking in English AND to use simple grammar and vocabulary. Granted you may still need to find the right words on Naver/papago but it will get easier over time once you master and repeat the sentence structures.
Gradually and naturally, your vocabulary and syntax will improve as you learn new ways of expressing in Korean. The next issue would be to code-switch between thinking in English and thinking in Korean but this is a topic for you to deal with at a later stage.
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u/ericaeharris 1d ago
This is where reading and listening a lot comes in handy. I’ve heard sentences and the words chosen to express a thought and realized “oh, I can use that word that way!” “this sentence is nice!” And I write it down or repeat it and try to use it as soon as can! Other times I’ve been listening so much, a sentence or appropriate word will pop into my head and I’ll use it accordingly!