Moving to Korea.

Hey guys.

I am moving to Korea in ten months. I wanted to ask you guys what you thought was the best way to go about this. Mes and i were talking and she told me to go to this website if i wanted any help - http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/

I am looking into that but she said that she moved down there and picked up on phrases when she was there.

So what do you guys recommend as far as language? To learn it before hand or just go down there and learn it while i am there?

Also, does anyone know the cheapest way to live in korea? I was looking at apartments and they are cheap ish. But if i dont get a job right away (because i dont know about the economy down there) then i will be screwed.

So any suggestions?

What's the reason for wanting to move there?

The most important thing is language. So if you're serious about it you should learn Korean. If you're dedicated 10 months should be enough time to learn basic conversational Korean.

Alex, will you still be going to school? Are you going to a korean university?

if i were you, i would learn some basic conversational korean beforehand and then learn more complicated things when i got there. i have been learning german for only a little over a year and i am probably fluent, but my confidence might be disproportional to my abilities xD i can say pretty much anything basic. you should try and spend the next ten months studying korean. 10 months of serious studying and you should know a lot.

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Originally Posted by eppy

if i were you, i would learn some basic conversational korean beforehand and then learn more complicated things when i got there

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This. And congrats. Sounds like me in about 10 months. But not Korea.

The thing about Korea is that you really don't need to know Korean to get around. (Ugh, I have a feeling subsequent posters are going to ignore this bit of info. :P ) That is, unless you're doing something really important like setting up a bank account or something where you have to fill out a lot of documents, in which case you would have to go with a native Korean anyway.

Do you have a BA or what? If you do, you could easily get a teaching job. But if you're still a student, then I doubt you could really get anything other than maybe private tutoring. The economy here is really good, but only certain types of jobs are available to foreigners with certain types of qualifications.

I would buy Rosetta stone. When mes went to Korea, she was already bilingual. It's much easier to pick up a third language then your second. I've heard that's especially true when the language use a different alphabet.

I agree with her that you probably won't need much Korean. I know three peole in Korea besides mes and they are all getting by just fine. I would tell people you're Canadian though, two of my friends said that the Koreans still associate Americans with George w bush, and despise Americans and will rip you off. They were in southern south Korea, my other friend is in soule and she says the opposite. :whyme:

Ive heard about rosetta stone, dont know if i trust it enough to spend the money on it really.

I am in taekwondo, where we are forced to laern basic korean anyway. I know most basic things, i just cant understand a lot of it. I know how the language is wrote and i know how to read it if i have the cheat sheet of what the characters mean.

Also, i am not going to a university. The reason i am moving down is because i got an offer from the feather weight gold medalist of 1988 olympics to teach me and train me for the USA national team. I recently went to korea on a trip and i learned basically what seoul is about. And frankly i fell in love with the city.

What i was asking was, should i learn to speak it fluently right now or just know basic and pick up fluent as i get down there.

Thanks mes for the qualifaction thing. I have an asociates degree in mathematics but that is it right now. But basically i was just going to find a low end job to keep up the apartment rent pay and train with the instructor.

Also, i can get a student visa because he is registered as a teacher for the Kyunge University (sp?). So if i can get enough money for one year before then, i might not even need a job. But i will most likely get one anyway cuz i love a little spending money.

Yeah definatly learn Korean before you go. I hate when chinese/japanese/koreans come to me and talk to me in their language (learn english if you are gonna live here....), they most likely feel the same way.

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Originally Posted by LucidFlanders

Yeah definatly learn Korean before you go. I hate when chinese/japanese/koreans come to me and talk to me in their language (learn english if you are gonna live here....), they most likely feel the same way.

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Not really. Considering most Koreans are aware of the fact that basically only one country in the world speaks their language.

Sounds like an awesome opportunity! Good luck! Learning the basics is always a bonus! :)

Alright. Ill learn what i can but i wont stress about it.

As far as apartments go, Mes, have you seen the apartments next to the olympic park in seoul? Are they any good?

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Originally Posted by C911

Alright. Ill learn what i can but i wont stress about it.

As far as apartments go, Mes, have you seen the apartments next to the olympic park in seoul? Are they any good?

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Ummm... Well that's a great area, depends though on what kind of an apartment you want and how much you're willing to pay per month. Any ideas?

Well we stayed in the olympic plaza hotel and i saw those apartments. I figured that was a nice place because of the olympic plaza and the park around it. To be honest, money shouldnt be too much of an issue. I would like something cheap, but if i have to settle for something more expensive it will be ok. Anywhere from 500 - 1500 a month would be nice for me.

And im not quite sure what apartment i want. If i have a room mate then i would like a nice 2 bedroom one. If not then something small would be nice since i dont plan on being in the apartment that much anyhow. What do you recommend? And do you happpen to have a link to the apartments accross from the olympic park?