When I lived in Korea, studying at Sungkyunkwan, there were high expectations when it came to picking up vocabulary.
I would say Level 3 was the best at introducing new vocabulary. We had a chance to practice the vocabulary and it was explicitly taught to us through pictures, written definitions and speaking activities. As a teacher, I gained a lot of ideas about how to introduce new vocabulary in my own teaching practice.
However, as I went through Levels 4 and 5, the focus shifted towards grammar and whilst new vocabulary was introduced, there was definitely less time devoted to vocaulary learning. The topics were also more complex and harder to practice in daily situations which provided a lot of challenge.
So how did I keep up with the continuous new vocabulary?
Read more: How I learnt 100+ Korean words a week
I chose to focus on the vocabulary that was being given to us during readings.
Occassionally we would get vocabulary lists but what I found was my list always grew as I came across new vocabulary within the text that was new to me. As you can imagine, it was not feasible to learn all of this vocabulary within the 2 months of each level and ensure I was still able to pass the exams at the end. So I often highlighted key words that were appearing in comprehension questions or that were being given to us as options for answers during speaking activities.
I practised vocabulary everyday.
After having lessons from 9am to 3pm, I would get home around 4pm and make sure I understood the definitions of the words I had learnt. I quite often translated vocabulary (naver became my best friend) but to this day, there are still words I know in Korean that I cannot define in English because there is no equivalent (e.g. 눈치). Once I had a handle on what they meant, I would upload them to memrise and practice them for a good few hours. It honestly saved my life as it meant I didn’t have to spend ages making flashcards and could use the app on the go.
Using them in context is key.
Memrise is great for being able to read and recall the vocabulary you are learning and that makes it a really solid study tool. But it is another skill altogether to be able to use that vocabulary in a range of contexts. I would practice writing sentences or paragraphs using those words to ensure I fully understood them and could engage with them actively rather than just passively.
Revisit!
It is so easy when vocabulary is being thrown at you to practise the current focus words and never revisit the vocaulary you had learnt in a previous level or previous study session. I found revising words I had learnt previously (even years before), helped me stay on top of the demand for vocabulary as I moved through my journey learning Korean. I still revisit the vocabulary I learnt 6 years ago on my year abroad. Mainly because I don’t use it as much anymore and so don’t have the constant exposure I used to have but also because I don’t want to lose the knowledge I spent so long learning.
Side note: This was a really big discussion with children and learning during Covid-19 and the pandemic. It was not so much the learning they had lost (or had not experienced) but the learning they had forgotten because we were not constantly reinforcing the previous learning. There is a reason my starters in maths always revisit a previous area of learning – so when we come back to that topic, I am not starting from scratch!
And there you have my guide to learning vast amounts of Korean vocabulary in a short period of time. I hope this is helpful and if you have any habits that you find helpful, please leave them in the comment section below.
Pink Bows and Sparkly Toes 