안녕하세요~! 토미입니다!
Today, I will give you some good tips on how to improve your Korean.
That is writing a Korean journal!
However, many people haven’t tried or who have tried but couldn’t keep up with it.
For those people, I will tell you 2 advantages and 3 ways to continue a good habit.
Advantage #1 is that you can expand your vocabulary and grammar.
Advantage #2 is that you can improve not only your writing skills but also your speaking skills.
Once you understand these benefits, you want to continue it as a good habit.
I will tell you 3 ways to continue.
1. prepare many diary topics.
2. try to do it after your habit you already have.
3. try to verify your writing with your Korean friends.
Now, l will explain these one by one.
그럼 시작할게요!
Enhance your vocabulary and grammar
Writing in your diary in Korean daily will improve your Korean skills.
You do not have to write a long story.
So, keep it short, like two or three sentences, at the beginning.
This is thinking practice, such as “What is this sentence going to be if I want to say it in Korean?” and trying to make sentences yourself.
For example,
Today I went to watch a movie, and it was really fun.
저는 오늘 영화를 보러 갔는데, 정말 재미있었어요.
However, in the beginning, you might only know how to say “영화를 보다 (watch a movie)” or “재미있다 (interesting)” and might not know how to write a whole sentence.
Try to look up new vocabulary and make a sentence as much as possible.
And the next day, you would reflect on your day and write about a new event you experienced.
Gradually, you will be curious about “How can I say this in Korean?” Or “How can I conjugate this word?”
You will expand your vocabulary and better understand grammar structure by trying this daily.
Improve your speaking skills
The second benefit is that it will also improve your speaking skills.
You write in your diary about your work, events with your family and friends, hobbies, and interests.
These words and grammar you used in a diary describe your life.
So, there is a high possibility that these expressions will come up in the conversation.
For example, if I really like a dog, I will write in a diary,
우리 강아지가 너무 귀여워요.
My dog is so pretty.
I am going to use this phrase with my close friends.
In other words, if you get used to expressing your thoughts and ideas in your diary in Korean, your thoughts are already organized in your head, and you can communicate with others by speaking.
Therefore, I recommend that anyone who wants to be able to speak Korean should start a Korean diary.
Now, you have the idea of advantages.
3 points to continue a good habit
Next, I will tell you the three points to continue a good habit.
1. Prepare many topics for the diary
First, to continue, you can expand your thoughts from your daily routine. You go through the usual routine when you live an everyday life.
So you tend to have similar days more often than not.
Like getting up in the morning, drinking coffee, going to school, studying Korean, etc.
Then, there are days when you can’t think of anything to write about except the exact same thing as yesterday.
In such a case, don’t limit yourself to just writing in your daily life, but write about your goals for next month or this year, your impressions of books you’ve read Korean dramas, or anything else that interests you.
Then, you will have more topics to write, and keeping up will be more fun.
2. Establish the habit
Second, once you start a diary, you must stick with it until it becomes your new habit.
The main reason why people stop writing in their diaries is because they haven’t made it a habit.
But you brush your teeth and wash your face every day.
That’s because they are part of your daily routine.
So, I recommend that you start your Korean diary after a habit you are making every day.
For example, you decide to write a journal after brushing your teeth.
Since you brush your teeth daily, you can easily continue with the diary.
You can also attach a post-it to the mirror, which reminds you to write a journal after brushing your teeth.
I just used brushing your teeth as an example, but you can try with any habit.
When I want to make a new habit, I do it in the morning so that I will not forget.
It may be hard at first, but if you can keep it up for a month, it will stick to you as a good habit.
3. Verifying your Korean skills with native speakers
The third point is to try to verify your Korean with native speakers.
Even if you try hard and write a journal by yourself, you will not be able to know whether your sentences are correct if nobody checks them.
Thanks to technology, there are lots of resources that you can use to connect with people all over the world, including native Korean speakers.
By using valuable resources such as Twitter, a language study app, or other websites and interacting with native speakers, you can realize your mistakes and errors and learn more natural ways to say things in Korean.
This enables you to improve your Korean much better.
Summary
By writing a journal daily, you can think about your thoughts and ideas in Korean, which helps improve your Korean.
This practice will be good for writing and speaking because the writing process clarifies your thoughts.
Also, to continue writing a diary, you don’t have to limit yourself to writing only your daily routine. You can write about your goals, interests, and thoughts. Whatever you want.
In addition, it is good to practice it after the habit you do every day, such as brushing your teeth, so that you won’t forget to write it.
To enhance your skills, checking your Korean with native speakers helps you to correct your mistakes and talk more naturally.
Do you wanna start a diary now?
I hope you do! Have fun writing in your diary in Korean!
그럼 오늘도 행복 가득, 웃음 가득한 하루 되세요！ 한국어 화이팅, 화이팅, 화이팅！！
