Learning New Languages

I’m interested in learning new languages. The goal of learning languages is to interact with people without any language barriers.

Someday, I hope I can be speakable (not fluent) in the four languages below.

English

Of course, it is the most important language everyone should learn. As a native Korean, I’ve been trying to expose myself to an English-speaking environment—for example, setting the default language on my devices to English and intentionally corrupting my social media algorithms with English content.

I used Speak for about a year. I’m not using it now because it was expensive ($20 per month), and I didn’t like its UX. I’ve been using epop (말해보카) for about four years. Are they helpful? Well… better than nothing.

After spending a memorable exchange student period in the US, I re-realized that interacting with native speakers is the best way to learn a new language. It’s more painful than just using language learning app, but worth it.

Japanese

I decided to learn Japanese after having several hard times, especially communicating with a clerk at a drugstore. Papago didn’t work well, and I tried my best to explain what I was looking for. He also tried his best to understand and help me, but in the end, we completely failed to communicate. I felt really bad.

So, I’ve been using Duolingo to learn Japanese for over a year. But, you know, Duolingo is more of a snack app than a real learning tool. Thus, in the summer of 2025, I decided to study Japanese more seriously. I bought some books and started teaching myself. I also registered for the JLPT N3 test this winter. I hope I can pass it.

Spanish

During my exchange student period, my roommate was from Paraguay, so he spoke Spanish. There were also many Spanish-speaking students in my dorm. I didn’t even know there were so many countries where Spanish is the native language! It was interesting to pick up some Spanish words from them. As a Korean, it would be amazing to travel through Spanish-speaking countries and actually talk with people in their own language.

Chinese

Also, during the exchange student period, I got to know some Chinese friends. It was interesting to hear how they spoke. I tried to learn Chinese with Duolingo, but even though Duolingo is easy to use, I had no idea how to memorize all the Chinese characters I saw. I hope that once I learn more Japanese Kanji—which are similar to Chinese characters—it will help me get the hang of it.