영국사람

…and in with the new!

So… it’s 2010.

I’m not usually one for New Year resolutions. The fact is, you’re kind of expected to break them. My old man quit smoking annually, and usually lasted around 2 or 3 days. Everybody expected him to fail, and so he was constantly reminded with questions of “how long now”. Then, one year, he decided to quit on January 2nd. He lasted 3 years without a cigarette, only picking up the habit again shortly after ringing in another New Year.

This year I have made a commitment to studying Korean, and will be engaging in a multi-pronged attack on the language. I am hoping that this time next year I won’t need my wife to act as translator even half as often as I do, and my goal is to be fluent enough to hold down a conversation with my father-in-law this coming Chuseok – one that does not end in frustration when I understand him, but am unable to provide a response. Of course, this isn’t a New Year resolution – I started some months ago, but I hope to see the results this year.

My plan is quite simple – the online Korean classes I subscribe to are paying off in dividends, and I have a much better understanding of the grammatical structure of Korea now that I am at the half-way mark. I am getting back into the Integrated Korean textbook that I abandoned some time ago, and I am using this along with the workbook and supplementary materials found on the Indiana University website. **This site is especially useful, as it allows you to listen to (and download) the supplementary audio files for each level. (Level 3 is a little tricky to find, and only the .ram files, are available, but the others are all mp3 and easy to get to).**

I am trying to nail down some time each day for the wife to help me out, but baby seems intent of screwing that up, so I may well find myself a university student who needs a little soju money, and I can work with them. I know what I need to do, I just need somebody to practice with!

Anyway… I thought this may be a nice opportunity to introduce people to a bunch of other language learning tools that I am using as study aids. My self-study uses a lot of resources that you can find online – unless they are flagged otherwise, these are free applications.

NOTE: iPod links are to the UK app store.

Audio Tools

• MP3 to iPod Audio Book Converter (PC). This software will take a batch of MP3 files and convert  them to a single audio book format.
• Audacity (PC). This is a music editor, which can be used to split and separate tracks.
• LAME MP3 audio encoder (PC). You need this to make LAME work with MP3’s.

What I do: Well, I hate having a bunch of 30 second files on my iPod, so this allows me to organise the Integrated Korean audio files by chapter. If you don’t know, an iPod will treat an audio book like a podcast, and will always remember where you left off, so you can listen to music and then go back to the audio book without the track starting over. It also stops you embarrassing yourself by playing random music for friends and having a stupid repetition exercise start playing.

Audacity/Lame are used for creating flashcards…

Flashcards

Some people love ‘em. Some people hate ‘em. I find they are great, but I have not found an “all inclusive” solution.

• Declan’s Korean Flashcards. (PC-PAID) This is a flashcard program that tests your vocabulary knowledge using a combination of tests (multiple choice in both English and Korean, matching exercises, listening exercises, speaking exercises, and even checks your spelling. It is AWESOME! It costs $32, and is totally worth it.
• Mnemosyne (PC). This, at first glance, appears to be a simpler piece of flashcard software. It isn’t. You get tested and rate your own score. There are no funky tests, etc, but it DOES keep cards in rotation and checks that you remember them over time without annoying you with the same cards every day.
• gFlash+ (iPod – Ad supported; gFlash Pro – £2.99). This software is a nice iPod app that includes a multiple choice option. You create a flashcard set using Google docs on your PC, and can then download them using the iPod. If you like, you can incorporate images rather than using words, though you then need an active internet link to use them. Sets that only use words can be used offline.

L to R: Declan’s, Mnemosyne and gFlash+ (Click to view larger image)

What I do: I use Google docs to create a simple 2 column spreadsheet for the cards I want. I then copy them to notepad and create a simple tab-delimited text file. I can import that file into Declan’s as is. (OPTIONAL: I then use Audacity to quickly create MP3 files, and add them to Declan’s).

Next, I reverse the columns on the spreadsheet and add that data to the .txt file. I simply paste it at the bottom. I then import that file to Mnemosyne (so I have both Korean and English show up in the tests).

Finally, I upload the set to gFlash via the built-in uploader.

To use the sets, I start in Declan’s and/or gFlash until I am pretty confident with them (which usually involves resetting the Declan’s score count each day for a couple of days). Then I activate them in Mnemosyne, and put them into rotation where they can appear at any time as refreshers. There is another app called iSRS (iPod – Lite for free, or £2.99 for the full version) that is designed to work with Mnemosyne, but the free version requires manual input of each card and I don’t have a UK card to pay for it.

Dictionaries

• Google (PC). Yeah, I am a Google fanboy. Their stuff just works! They appear to be lifting their information from the Korean dictionary sites (amongst other places), so you get most of the goodies without the clumsy interface.
• Free Translator (iPod – Ad Supported). This isn’t exactly a dictionary, and isn’t what I would call pretty… well… it is until you see the results. It needs an active internet connection, and I am guessing it uses the Google translator API to do the legwork. It’s intended purpose (as a translator) is a massive fail, but for doing quick 1-word translations it’s great.

Other stuff

• MiGhtyDocs (iPod). This app is a GREAT Google docs reader and will cache documents for offline viewing. This is great if you subscribe to something like Koreanclass101 and want to carry the PDF’s around , you can just throw them up on Google docs, and as long as the docs are private, they won’t find out to complain. In fact… it can be great for ANYTHING…
• PrimoPDF (PC). Their software installs itself as a printer, and when you use it to print, it generates great PDF’s. No hassles, no watermarks or other restrictions. It’s great!

What I do: I love Google docs, but it does strip away a lot of formatting, so I use PrimoPDF to generate PDF’s of what I need and I upload them to Google docs. I actually do this a LOT with lesson plans, as my job requires me to deliver a SHITLOAD of different lessons, and I travel around. I can’t carry them all, and should a school require me to deliver a different lesson, I would be screwed (if I were as disorganised as they are). Anyway… my point is… I learned the hard way that uploading my nicely formatted lesson plans is futile, so now I upload pdf’s when I want to make sure something stays nice.

I have sometimes been known to, scan in pages from my textbook and upload them. If I am going to have a long subway journey (and I can expect to travel 2 hours each way on some days), then having the relevant chapter with me is useful, but pulling out books on the subway (especially during rush hour), or even bothering to carry the heavy bastards around with me, is not something I am fond of. Having the information on my iPod is an awesome solution, as I can read it whilst listening to the audio.

Finally, I subscribed to the Koreanclass101 free trial some time ago, and though did not subscribe, I plan to once I finish with Rob’s video classes. The PDF’s I did download from Koreanclass101 look great on the iPod using MiGhtyDocs.

I hope that will be useful to somebody… Happy New Year!