Learning a new language is tough, so it's essential that you start off the process right by choosing the best learning tools. Your primary tool, of course, will be your language learning software. This article is going to discuss four important software features that your program must have.
1. Phonetics
The Korean alphabet is much different than any other alphabet in the world. Because of this, if you want to speak Korean, you have no choice but to learn a whole new alphabet; you cannot rely on the sounds of your own native language. In addition, learning these sounds is the foundation of all you will learn in Korean. If you don't learn to pronounce the letters properly, you will not be able to speak words, phrases, or sentences properly either, and, remember, it is even more difficult to fix poor pronunciation than it is to learn it correctly in the first place. With this is mind, you can see how important it is to choose Korean language software that has a very high-quality phonetics feature.
2. Grammar
Many linguists argue that it's not really necessary to learn grammar when studying a foreign language. After all, children and illiterate adults can both speak their native languages without having knowledge of grammar. In some cases I agree with these linguists. With the Korean language, however, learning grammar is important. Why? First of all, the Korean language uses something called case markers, and just about every sentence has them. These are important to study for one simple reason--we don't have them in English. And because we don't have them in English, we have no idea how, why or where to use them. Without formally learning them, we will never learn to speak Korean correctly.
In addition, Korean sentence structure is "backwards" when compared to English; the verb is always at the end of the sentence. If you make a point of learning this different structure, it is easy to pick up, but if you just try to get a feel for it, you'll struggle to speak correctly. The good news is that Korean grammar is very simple and much easier to learn than English grammar.
3. Culture
When visiting a new country, sure, it's nice to learn a bit of the culture first. It allows you to be polite and well mannered. In Korea, however, it is much more than this. When speaking Korean, you need to use different words and levels of formalities when speaking to different people in different circumstances. And different people will, in different circumstances, speak differently to you. So much so, in fact, that if you don't understand Korean culture you may have a hard time understanding the language.
4. Interactive
This is something that you may have heard before. I am telling you again, however, because rapid advancements in technology have made today's best software programs so interactive that they provide a learning experience that, in my opinion, is better than taking a live Korean course. Not all Korean language software programs are up to date, however. This means that, before you buy a program, you should try the free trial and see just how well the developers have utilized today's great technology.
Summary
Learning Korean is a worthwhile but difficult Endeavour. To ensure your success, you need to make sure that you choose the best language learning software available. Before buying a program, make sure that it is interactive and that it covers, in detail, phonetics, culture and grammar.
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