Language Study Update (August 24, 2026)

 Korean

I have a teacher for Korean who is teaching me how to be more natural in my speech. However, I asked Chatgbt to help me get ready for TOPIK II test next year. It suggested I take a TOPIK I mock test to see if I am closer to TOPIK I Level 2 or TOPIK II Level 3. So during the weekend I took the TOPIK I mock test on Tammy Korean. I made sure to do it under the same conditions as a real TOPIK I test, i.e. in one sitting and timed. There are two sections to the test: Listening and Reading. For the listening section the time is 40 minutes, and for the reading section the time is 60 minutes. 

I have to say that I did much better in the listening section than the reading section. This is mainly because when I got to the reading section I was getting bored and finished it in 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes. I didn't take my time reading and figuring out what the passages where saying instead if I didn't understand something I just guessed. As a result I go 81/100 on my listening section and only 65/100 on my reading section. Together they make 146/200 which means I am at TOPIK I Level 2 rather than TOPIK II Level 3.

Next step is to start learning vocabulary and grammar for TOPIK I because my reading was not great. I found a vocabulary list on the same website as the TOPIK Test as well as a list for grammar. I'll be using them to study. I've already started to use Anki with the vocabulary words at 5 vocabulary words per day and I'm starting the grammar section today. I also decided to read a book in Korean (Secret Garden). 

Thai

For Thai I'll be using the book Complete Thai by David Smyth from the Teach Yourself series. So far I've only worked through the Introduction which familiarizes you with the sounds of the Thai language. 

Japanese

I had studied Japanese before with a teacher but I no longer have that option right now. So I decided to study on my own. I used Chatgbt to start relearning the Hiragana and Katakana until my book arrives. I'll be using Beginning Japanese Textbook: Revised Edition: An Integrated Approach to Language and Culture

As I said in my previous post I asked Chatgbt to make me a study plan for each of the languages above and to add that plan to my Google calendar. So now I just have to open my Google calendar each day to see what my study plan for the day is.

Reboot…

​I’m rebooting my language learning. This time though I’m going back to Korean, Japanese and Thai. I will be doing my studies via a combination of books, free resources and AI.

The first thing I did was look at the resources I have and ordered what I was missing as well as loon at online free resources. The second thing I did was ask Chatgbt to formulate a plan for each of the languages I wanted to study using the resources that I found.

Korean

The first thing that I thought about was what I wanted to do for the study of Korean as I was already taking a class online with a great teacher. I decided that next year I want to take the TOPIK II test. The first thing that Chatgbt suggested was that I take a mock TOPIK I test to see if I was at level 2 or closer to level 3. So this weekend I took the test and got 146/200 which means I am closer to level 2 than I am to level 3. Next Chatgbt suggested some sites to help me study for TOPIK I and TOPIK II. I printed out the grammar and vocabulary for both. Finally, Chatgbt made a study plan for me which included a daily study plan that incorporated vocabulary, grammar, reading and listening.

Thai

Next for Thai I am using Teach Yourself Complete Thai and Chatgbt. I asked Chatgbt to use the book as a resource and make me a daily study plan that well help me study Thai.

Japanese

Finally, for Japanese I asked Chatgbt to design a study plan for me using a book that I just ordered online called Beginning Japanese. However, until my books arrive I asked Chatgbt to teach me Hiragana and Katakana and quiz me on them. 

Chatgbt is amazing help so far. It has helped me put together my study calendar and tasks. It has given me a bird’s eye view of how long it might take me to get through to my goals. 

This is what my study calendar looks like.

And this is what one day of studying might look like:

A typical Japanese lesson in Chatgbt looks like this:

I’ve also asked Chatgbt to quiz me on chapters from books. It made me good test papers with answers which showed me where I was doing good and where I needed to study more.

I hope this helps others in getting an idea on how to use Chatgbt in studying languages.

Study HSK 1 With Me 1 by cuardai

How to start learning a language

           Learning a language (or 3) is very tough. When you first start out you are very motivated and feel like you can put in a thousand hours a day if you can. Soon however, you begin to get less and less motivated and it is at that time that people start to get dejected and give up. This is especially true when you are studying on your own and not in a class setting or if you don't have someone to practice with. So what can you do to stop yourself from getting to this point in your studies? I've done a bit of research and watched a lot of YouTube videos so you don't have too. 😁

*Set Goals:

1. Think about WHY you want to study this language. Write out your reasons and then summarize them onto one page and put it somewhere you can look at it when you need motivation or a reminder of why you are doing this. 
2. Have one overall goal that you want to work towards. This could be anything from taking a test like TOPIK or the HSK to writing a letter in your target language to someone you admire like an idol, actor, writer, political or even a friend.
3. Start breaking that main goal into smaller goals, and put down realistic time limits on these smaller goals. To achieve this you need to do a little research into your target language and take into account how much you can realistically spend working on your studies each day. For example, when I first started learning Korean I found out that you can learn their alphabet in two hours so I set myself the goal of learning it in one week. I could only spend half an hour per day studying uninterrupted so I paced myself: 4 days to learn the alphabet and 3 days for review/mastery. And if I for some reason couldn't study on one of the four days I had time to make it up. 

These are my goals for learning Korean.

*Be gentle with yourself: 

          It is important to realize that there will be times when life gets in the way or you'll be just not motivated enough to do anything. During those times be gentle with yourself. Realize that what was not finished this month can be finished next month and if motivation was your problem look back at your goals and why you wanted to do this in the first place. 

*Don't compare yourself to others: 

          One of the biggest mistakes we make is to compare our progress to others. Some people learn faster while others take their time neither one if better than the other. You could be better at grammar and vocabulary while they are better at speaking or vice versa. If you catch yourself comparing yourself with others just tell yourself to stop. It does no one any favors. 

I hope this helps you a little with your language learning journey.

CHINESE: HSK New Requirements

    One of my goals is to go for the HSK, which is an official, standard Chinese proficiency test. I was going to take HSK 2 this winter but then I learned that there will be a new version of the HSK going into effect in July 2021.

     The new version has a more specific classification system and it is considered more rigorous than the previous one. There are now 9 levels instead of the 6 levels in the previous system. The Elementary level (Bands 1-3), the Intermediate Level (Bands 4-6) and the Advanced Level (Bands 7-9). When all is said and done by the end of Band 9 the learner will have learned 11,092 vocabulary words, 572 grammar concepts and how to write Chinese Characters not just recognize them.

    The testing for bands 1-6 will be adjusted over the next 3-5 years but the test for bands 7-9 will be introduced in March 2022. The materials for bands 7-9 will be introduced in December 2021. For more information on the new HSK Testing System please see this website: The New HSK (2021): An Overview and What’s Changed. 

    So what does this mean for me? I don't know yet. I'm gong to talk to my Chinese teacher when I have my next class so that we can develop a plan that is more suited to what is required because I not only want to take the tests but I also want to be sure that when I take the next level tests I am prepared for the changes.

The Following is a table I have assembled from information I could find on the Internet.

 

IRISH: Rebooting! Duolingo Review

     Around 2012/2013 I started to study Irish.  I started out with an online yahoo group then I continued on my own using books and online resources. After a while I kind of stopped studying it actively. From time to time though I go back and see how much I remember. Well, this month I decided to go back and actively study it again. I still have not decided which of my resources I am going to start studying with but at least one of them will be Progress in Irish, otherwise known as the little green book. However, I wanted to see how much I actually remember from Irish so I added it to my Duolingo line up. So far I have not met a word or verb that I didn't know. 

This brings me to the second half of this post and that is a review of Duolingo as a language learning app.

    I use it everyday but I don't use it as a source for serious grammar or structure study but rather as a way to learn vocabulary words. Duolingo has weird sentences that make no sense at all even though they are grammatically correct. For example, in Korean there are sentences like "A man is not food.",  "Animals are not things.", and "A man eats that in the bathroom." So far I have not encountered anything like that in Chinese but I remember from my previous tries with Irish that the further you go into the levels there will come a time when you will find strange sentences too.

    Another thing that Duolingo helps with is that if you don't have time to study for some reason at least you will be able to get five to ten minutes of vocabulary study each day. 

    So basically use Duolingo for vocabulary study and so that you at least do SOME sort of language study each day but don't think of it as the only source for studying any language you want to study.