Feel free to start these at any time you want, and have fun! You don’t have to do every part of every challenge if you don’t want to.
Read a news article in your target language. Write down any words or phrases you don’t know. Take note of what kind of speech is used when describing the news. Write a summary of the article, rephrasing it in your own words.
Record yourself speaking in your target language and listen to it, taking note of your pronunciation. See if you can find ways to make your speech sound more clear and natural.
Watch and episode of a tv show or a movie in your target language, without subtitles. Try going for something you haven’t seen before and see how much you understand. Write down any phrases and words you don’t know with what you think they mean, based on context. You can check the meanings after you finish watching. If you have time, feel free to watch it again and see how much you understand now that you’ve checked these words.
If you are currently studying something other than language, research the vocabulary for that subject in your target language (for example, I’m a music major, so I’d research vocabulary and phrases used to describe music in my target language). If you don’t have any other focus of study, choose a hobby.
Research idioms in your target language.
Come up with and look up puns in your target language.
Listen to songs in your target language. Note how phrasing is manipulated to make the words fit with the music.
Look up synonyms for words you already know. See if you can find slight differences in meaning or connotation between the words.
Read poetry in your target language. Study the phrasing and usage of words. See if you can write your own interpretation of the poem.
Note everything you do throughout the day. If there are any verbs for things you did that you don’t know in your target language, look them up. Same goes for objects you use.
If you are studying a language, make sure you can describe the language itself in the language you are studying. Look up grammatical terms and expressions.
Sit down somewhere (a place with a lot of people would probably be easiest to write about) and observe. Describe what you see as detailed as you can. Take the time to find the right words (make use of adjectives and adverbs!) to describe what you see.
Write a diary entry in your target language. Focus on describing thoughts and emotions.
Give yourself a spelling quiz.
Read a fictional story. Take note of what kind of speech is used (like poetic or writing techniques specific to the language) when telling the story.
Write a story, using the techniques you’ve noted the previous day.
Practice translating from your target language to your main language, using an article or a few pages of a book.
Read a blog entry in your target language. Blog entries are often more casual, and use expressions that resemble spoken language more than written language. Take note of how spoken language is written down.
Write a dialogue in your target language. Focus on different speech patterns between different people.
Write a letter to someone in your target language. If you don’t know who to write to feel free to write to yourself. Or to me!
Practice translating from your main language to your target language.
Watch a TV show in your target language with subtitles, and compare the translations. See if you agree with the written translations, and if not, think of how you would translate it yourself.
Pick a set of words in your target language and define them in that language.
Look into the different dialects of your target language. Note the similarities and differences.
Listen to a professional speech in your target language. Make note of any specialized words or words you don’t know.
Think of an everyday interaction you might have (for example, going to the bank) in which you do not yet have the vocabulary you would need. Look up the vocabulary you would use in such a situation (cultural differences are also worth noting!)
Time to focus a bit on culture! Look into popular entertainment or businesses in your target culture that are of interest to you. Do as much of the reading in your target language as you can.
Look up children’s games (such as word games) and songs. If you can, find someone to play them with you.
Try to describe people you know. Include appearance, personality, habits, etc. Look up any words you do not know.
Read an excerpt of an academic source in your target language. Note any vocabulary or grammar you don’t understand.
If you plan to make daily posts with these challenges feel free to tag me in them! I would love to see what everyone wrote.
I picked this novel up at a secondhand bookstore on a whim. It was cheap, and the covered seemed weird and interesting, so without even knowing what this book was about, I bought it.
In the end, I’m glad I did! In 박상’s “15번 진짜 안 와,” we follow our protagonist 고남일, an aspiring rock guitarist who ships off to London after a string of bad luck leaves him wanting to get out of Korea and start over. Other main characters include his ex girlfriend, a Greek girl, and a Japanese guy. Oh, and a few god-like figures including 오에스, who wants to reset all of humanity; and Rock Spirit, who wants to stop that from happening.
The book follows 남일 as he tries to navigate life in a foreign country and all the difficulties that come with it as he works toward achieving his dream. It was a fairly fun read for me, and I didn’t find it difficult to understand at all. Most of the words that came up that I was unfamiliar with were extra descriptors that I could sort of guess at and just pass over; I probably looked up fewer than twenty words while reading the whole book. I found myself going through ten or more pages in one sitting easily.
I think 15번 진짜 안 와 could be classified as perhaps a YA novel? I’m not quite sure, haha. There is some swearing throughout and a sex scene nearish the end—nothing too long or explicit, but there it is—but it’s generally a fairly non-offensive and simple read if you’re looking to jump in to reading Korean novels.
That isn’t to say I took no issue with the book, but my gripes are not so much with the plot or format as with my personal feelings toward the main character (and some others) at various parts of the book. I don’t want to get too specific, though. I would recommend this novel, so if you feel so inclined, please do check it out~
Sutdy-Korean 