Did you pick up Korean as a target language?
Out of all the foreign languages available to you, Korean may have piqued your curiosity.
But is it worth learning at all?
Just for you, here are the 5 benefits you may find enticing before going full speed on Korean.
1. Build a Wonderful Career In Korea
South Korea is a powerhouse country that has risen from the ashes back in the 50s. At present, South Korea has made its mark on the map when it comes to their economy, excelling in sectors such as science & technology, medical, beauty, fashion, food delivery, and the education industry.
This is an opportunity for you to take part in its economic growth with the help of the Korean language. By becoming fluent in Korean, you can work for the top companies and industries and be able to communicate with ease.
Or as a student, knowing Korean can get you into the most prestigious schools in South Korea, should you decide to study there. Depending on your needs, you can go for either the TOPIK or EPS-TOPIK exam if you want to live a life abroad.
Speaking of career building, you can also help Koreans learn English by becoming an English teacher. Or you can build a career as a translator or interpreter as well. The possibilities are endless.
2. Get Access to Massive Korean Content
From K-dramas, K-Pop, K-Movies, to K-Webtoons and K-Literature, you will unlock a huge treasury trove of content in Korean the moment you get serious with the language.
Notice how I said “the moment you get serious”, not necessarily “the moment you become fluent” in Korean. Because the moment you dive into Korean and search for content, you’ll realize how abundant the resources are out there, thanks in large part to the Internet. This is not always the case with other languages wherein it’s a struggle to find content that’s suited to your particular level.
Not only do you get plenty of Korean content – even the amount of Korean language learning resources out there is mind-boggling, there’s definitely a resource that suits your style.
While well known names such as Talk to Me In Korean and Duolingo are an easy access, here are several more Korean resources for you to check out:
- How to Study Korean – a website-based resource for learning Korean
- TOPIK GUIDE – if you’re preparing for TOPIK, check this out
- SEEMILE – this was the first YouTube channel where I first watched Korean lessons back in 2011
- Integrated Korean – one of the best textbooks for learning Korean
- NAVER Dictionary – a bilingual dictionary to help you translate Korean words into English
Once you’ve picked your tools, you’ll start to grow your Korean knowledge. The more knowledge and progress you acquire, the easier it will get to understand native content. This helps accelerate your progress and build momentum provided you’re consistent with learning.
Who knows, one day you may not need English subtitles anymore. You’ll just immediately feel the emotions of an intense scene and relate to what you’re watching. If you have a K-pop group whom you follow, your Korean can come in handy when they publish something on VLive.
3. You End Up Learning Korean Culture
Language and culture go hand in hand. If you learn the language of a country, you get to know its culture. You can learn culture because someone communicated it through a language.
The deeper you get into your Korean studies, the more cultural knowledge you discover along the way. And if you’re one of those people who wants to learn Korean because of PSY, BTS, or BLACKPINK, it’s because K-Pop got you convinced, which is obviously an important part of Korean culture.
But because you’re here, I suppose you’re looking for a good reason to start learning Korean – or perhaps a reason to continue learning.
At a bare minimum, regardless of whether you become fluent or not, you’ll discover Korean culture. The knowledge you’ll learn is yours for the taking.
For me, I learned several things about Korean culture as I learn the language:
- We use honorifics in order to honor the elders, because respect is an important value in Korea, which is why you often see Koreans bow to one another when greeting
- Even though there is a subject in every sentence, Koreans tend to omit the subject when the context makes it obvious, therefore the pronouns such as I, you, and we often get dropped
- A lot of English has made their way into the Korean dictionary and into the real world (aka Konglish), giving you a head start the moment you learn the Korean alphabet, Hangeul
- The difference between the English and Korean alphabet sometimes explains why Koreans struggle with certain alphabets, such as the infamous R and L
- Unlike the English number system, the Korean number system has been proven advantageous for learning mathematics alongside Chinese, Japanese, and Turkish
- I’ve also learned interesting concepts from Koreans, such as the principle of “fighting fire with fire”, or i-yeol-chi-yeol (이열치열), wherein they sweat hard in order to cool themselves down especially during summer
I find these realizations interesting mainly because they seem odd compared to the culture and language I’m accustomed to. These “perspective shifts” I often discover in a foreign language are one of the reasons why I continue on learning them.
4. Korean Helps You Learn Other Languages Better
If collecting languages is your thing, then it might help to know that Korean can help you learn several other languages, thanks to their notable similarities.
I already mentioned the part on number systems a while ago, with Korean, Chinese, and Japanese relying heavily on “place value”. While English has a unique word for 11 (eleven), these three languages literally call 11 as “ten-one”.
Here are some other examples:
- 245 = 2 hundreds, 4 tens, and 5
- 321 = 3 hundreds, 2 tens, and 1
- 1,789 = 1 thousand, 7 hundreds, 8 tens, and 9
This system might seem odd, but it creates an advantage especially for students learning math. It’s one of the main contributors as to why people from these three countries excel at math. It’s easier to perform basic operations such as addition and subtraction, which serve as the foundation for more complex math concepts.
When it comes to grammar, Korean, Mongolian, and Japanese sentences are formed in a similar way – they use the Subject-Object-Verb structure. Being able to adjust to this format will give you a head start for these languages.
Obviously, there are other languages closely related to Korean. Rest assured, learning Korean as a foreign language sets you up for learning future languages more effectively, whether it’s related or not to your next language.
You learn new vocabulary, grammar, new characters, then learn how to read, write, listen, speak, then perhaps learn some concepts such as spaced repetition and comprehensible input. All for the sake of acquiring a new language.
Actually, this is a rinse-and-repeat process you do in every language. Any foreign language you successfully acquire to a high level, including Korean, will surely give you the confidence to move on to the next one.
5. You Can Make Korean Friends
Language is a tool for communication. Therefore you can use Korean to communicate to native Koreans and actually make friends with them.
There are countless ways you can make this happen, whether you’re meeting Koreans in person or through the Internet. And the context often varies from person to person.
You could be just hanging out on the Internet or in apps like HelloTalk, Tandem or hilokal to have some speaking practice.
Or, you might stumble on a Korean in real life whom you meet in your neighborhood. My college friend for instance has a Korean classmate in one of his classes, though he has no interest in the language and just converses in English.
Even if you think you won’t be using Korean yet, that’s okay. In the near future, you may find a good reason to continue learning it when you eventually meet someone to use it on.
Are You Ready to Learn Korean?
Knowing how useful Korean can be helps you keep going when you’re feeling down. You can overcome the challenges present in the language.
That said, if the benefits above don’t excite you, then feel free to move on to the next language.
But if any of them made you interested, that’s great.
So let me know, what particular reasons do you have for learning Korean? I’d love if you can comment them down below.
