I began learning Korean vocabulary starting with adjectives. Since I am a visual-imaginative learner, I tried to remember the adjectives by speaking them out aloud and then visualizing scenarios where I could use them. For example, while eating something spicy, I could say, "mae un" which means spicy in Korean. At this point I can remember about 25 adjectives off the top of my head. Some of them are colors, others are emotions, and then there are some descriptive adjectives as well. I am trying to learn at least 2 new words everyday, and then revising them at the end of a week. Vocabulary building is one of the toughest parts of learning a language, and therefore I am doing it slowly and steadily, and with repeated revision.
Examples:
Colors- (saek means 'color')
Blue: parang saek
White: hin saek
Yellow: norang saek
Red: balgang saek
Black: geomjong saek
Emotions-
I am-
Happy: hangbokhaeyo
Sad: seulpoyo
Excited: Shinnayo
Nervous: Bulanhaeyo
Afraid: Museowoyo
Descriptive adjectives-
Beautiful: yeppeun
Easy: sheowoyo
Difficult: eoryowoyo
Boring: jiruhan
Mysterious: shimdihan
Comments
For my Teaching Activity, I will try to help someone learn vocabulary through the method I mentioned above, i.e., trying to use words in real life contexts. By knowing where to use a common, regular word they would think of it every time they did that activity which would help them remember it. Also, going off what I said in my second reflection paper, I could make learning fun by helping them learn vocabulary through song lyrics. Using the example of Wild Flower by Park Hyo Shin, we can see how by using just the first line of the song 하얗게 피어난 얼음 꽃 하나가 “hayake pieonan eoreum kkot hanaga” which means “a white ice flower that bloomed” the student would be able to learn words for white, ice, and flower (hayake, eoreum, kkot respectively).