How You Should Study Korean Vocabulary + Anki Guide

Here are my personal tips for where to find vocabulary and how to review it, along with a guide for how to use Anki to supercharge your vocabulary studies. (This video is not sponsored)
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The Best Way to Learn Korean Vocabulary: • The Best Way to Learn ...
10 ways to use Naver dictionary for studying Korean: • 10 ways to use Naver D...
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00:00 Intro
00:42 Where to Find Vocab
03:02 Frequency Lists
05:04 How to Practice Vocab
07:12 Review Vocab With Anki
11:39 Setting a Vocab Goal
13:08 Leech Cards
13:37 Example Review
15:53 Review Tip
17:06 Other Tools
17:24 Conclusion
Learn Korean with GoBillyKorean! Subscribe for weekly videos! goo.gl/9Dm5g
Music by Kevin MacLeod: “MJS Strings,” and “Brightly Fancy.” (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)

[@monistars.]

i'm self learning korean and your videos are helping me so much! one thing that i'm doing right now (that i also did when i learned english) is write korean songs' lyrics on a notebook while listening to it and even trying to sing along! i think that helped me a lot before and i can also practice my writing!

[@vanjak2205]

Ohhh that is such a good idea! It's so easy to remember words from songs you listen to all the time

[@chanyeolshiii9209]

😂😂😊😊😊

[@pabliciosoares903]

Where are you from?I am from Brazil. I'm not learning Korean but I really want to do it in the near future. I'm currently learning English and trying to pick some learning tips from this video.

[@ssssundae]

a bit of unsolicited advice here that i'm sure you're aware of but for people who don't know: the vocab used in songs is not necessarily always super useful for day to day conversation or reading. typically song lyrics are a bit more poetic than what's used otherwise! so definitely just be aware of usage when you're adding song vocab to your vocab lists since you could end up sounding a little awkward or learning words that you won't have much use for.

[@monistars.]

@@ssssundae yes i know but i am not using it to add words to my vocab list i'm just learning naturally and you'd be surpised how many words you can actually use on daily conversations that i learned from listening to kpop but thanks anyway 😊

[@kevinrosenau7048]

Once again a very helpful video. Especially the part where you talk about setting a vocab goal. Me as a person, I tend to get overwhelmed pretty easily, and when I hear 3000-5000 words I wanna cry. But when you break it down into 5 words per day, it sounds much less intimidating. My teacher always provides me with a list of words to study until our next lesson and my way of "studying" is always a bit chaotic. But now I will take the number of vocabulary words and divide it by the amount of days until the next lesson and it feels much more "clean". Thank you for yet another awesome guide. When I started learning Korean in 2019, you were my first source for learning Hangeul and you did not disappoint ever since. You are a true blessing to the Korean learning community.

[@fransmith3255]

I also put my example sentences on Anki. And I don't use Anki to actually 'acquire' words - I don't feel that Anki helps with that (only long-term memory) - I only use it to ensure I don't forget words. My acquisition process is separate (I wrote my own database for this that naturally adds them and removes them as I reach a level of acquisition) - I try to acquire my words in an emotional way - relate them to things in my life, things I do, things I see, people I know, situations that I relate words to. If I can't do that, than it's probably not a word I should be learning! This is the way that makes me remember the words best. After a few days, the image/emotion/memory/usage situation of what I relate the word to just starts to 'pop' instantly into my head, then I know that it's starting to acquire. When that instant memory relationship happens every time over a long time, I know it's basically acquired. Of course, I still forget them occasionally, but it's rare and re-remembering them is very quick. I spent a couple wasted years trying to 'remember' words attached to only an intellectual meaning - it didn't work!! But as soon as I started tying the sound of the words to emotions and situations instead of intellectual English meanings, bingo!! It all suddenly changed! And the acquisition was so much faster!! In a nutshell, acquisition works, memorisation does NOT! I had to literally go back and relearn all my words the correct way! I'm an older person learning my first language, so perhaps I have to try a little harder than some, lol!! And I get my words from people around me and videos with natural speaking - but only words that I think I'll hear or use in my own context (eg, I'm a teacher, so I know a fair number of words relating to teaching), and also if I recognise the Hanja and know I can therefore easily understand and remember the word (which actually happens a lot these days now). I stopped getting mine out of text books after the first 800 odd words, because they just became much less useful, and I never got them from lists seeing the obvious drawbacks of that. As for my example sentences, I don't write English sentences as translations: I write a kind of English Korean (English words in Korean order with a kind of code-English that I recognise). I rarely have difficulty understanding them, and in the very rare case I do (perhaps a handful out of thousands of sentences), I just write the real English translation in the comments - this is how I remember and revise my grammar - it's all in my example sentences. I lifted my example sentences out of textbooks, and now out of videos/websites, for the grammar, so I rarely go back to a textbook, and I always paste my source link into the comments section in case I need it. This works for me. I disabled the leeches too for the same reasons - if I don't want to remember it, it's not in Anki.

[@GoBillyKorean]

If you can relate the word to your real life, and if it's a real word you think you'll hear/use in your own context, that's *definitely* going to help you retain that word for a lot longer~

[@katrinalikespancakes]

Thank you so much for these videos Billy, your tips are always so helpful and practical. Especially the mini science lesson about the mitochondria! You are a brilliant teacher; I don't have much time to study Korean but when I do, I always go to your lessons. Thank you for all you do!

[@haakonplayer77]

great tips! thanks Billy!

[@dariastoyanova7077]

Omg you dont know how much i needed a video on this topic, learning vocabulary is the hardest part for me when it comes to korean

[@karlaevans6175]

Hi Billy. Thank your so much for this video. I downloaded Anki but was struggling how to use it. This made using it so much clearer! And thank you so much for all the learning tips!

[@elimik31]

Anki helped me a lot with getting a foothold in Korean, having learned around 1000 words I know most of the vocab in the beginner level texbooks that I use, and it makes it easier focusing on the grammar and reading practice. I use a mixture of premade and my own decks. Translations are often imperfect, so I agree that to really learn the word you need to see it in context often, but having seen a different translation in Anki previously makes it easier learning other meanings, because you already have some level of familiarity with the word. At some point I think it's probably possible to learn words purely through input (e.g. reading) via context and natural repition, but until you get there Anki is super helpful. Recently I switched my default note type to be only 1 direction, comprehension, so that Anki only asks me to translate the word from Korean, not the other way. This way I can learn new words faster with the same words per day, and I improve faster at comprehension. But I sacrifice some ability to actively recall the word when speaking or writing Korean. To me it seems worth it, I practice speaking and writing in other ways and my goal is to understand native material as fast as possible, which again will help acquiring new words.

[@ktutor21c]

Very helpful video. Thanks.

[@JustAnotherNameYo]

I use GoodNotes flashcards. I know a lot of people don't like it because it's simple but I like it for that reason. I compartmentalize them into words I keep forgetting, words I mistake for each other and words I constantly forget the meaning. For new words I leave them in journal style highlighted within sentences laid out with the right side in my target language and left with English translation that way I can zoom in and read without seeing the English. So far this has worked really well for me. I use this so far effectively for both Russian and Korean but of course as I move forward my study style might change to fit my needs. It's nice to have it all in one place digitally and still have the feel of a notebook with the apple pencil.

[@nitalishii]

너무 감사합니다, BILLY선생님!

[@I.C_Spiration_Station]

I would recommend reusable flash cards, like the ones as a special gift when you get My First 500 Korean words book bundle or the My First 500 Korean words second book. Might help with space.

[@mardiros129]

Learning Korean from Billy is super easy, barely an inconvenience!

[@Mickellerox1980]

Gotta love a "pitch meeting" reference! 😂

[@joshbaughman6076]

I love anki, I have close to 3000 words in my deck, it has helped so much in retaining words and I have clozed hanja to try and help anytime I forget a word.

[@sabiyahafrozananna1329]

Can you share it with us?

[@paulwalther5237]

I'm using Flashcards Deluxe (for iOS) currently instead of Anki but it's the same idea - SRS flash cards that I make myself. I can tell you're way more disciplined about not biting off more than you can chew with your deck than I am. I add tons of cards when I'm feeling really motivated and then keeping up later is a super hard and to be honest eventually I poop out and just retire the deck and start a new one. Another polyglot KZbinr whom I respect (Metatron's Academny) and therefore was inspired recommends only learning 5 words per day. His philosophy to learning cards is similar to yours: if you can't use it then you didn't learn and your goal should be to learn it. This makes a lot of sense but at the same time my immediate goal is to understand Korean and so it seems like a good idea to make these big decks with lots of words that I barely recognize so that in theory I'll understand them in context later while reading books or watching dramas. But the reality is when you add tons of words, even if the goal is just passive understanding, you're likely surpassing your ability even just to passively recognize them and the reviews pile up and you have to retire the deck eventually. Which is my reality using SRS but I still enjoy the process. As a compromise I am going to have two decks. One will be 5 words per day as he recommends and you seem to be in line with, and I will also write these words down in a vocabulary notebook and especially when they're new words I'll spend a lot of time thinking about them, and my other deck will be the bloated monster that probably explodes from time to time. I've just started this so I've no idea how it's going to turn out. If you're wondering where I get my words, I buy e-books from Google Play, remove the DRM and then load them into the app LingQ to read. With easy lookups and access to Google translate reading full novels is actually tolerable as a low intermediate learner. Actually, even if I didn't have LingQ, I'd still be learning from actual novels even if I only understood one phrase/sentence per page.

[@preciouslafleur5390]

I have been waiting for this video! Thanks soooo much Billy! 💜

[@Shiraori999]

I like the frequency list that I'm using. As the way the example sentences are written works well for me. They usually contain 1 or 2 words that I'm not yet familiar with/haven't gone over and it isn't the vocabulary I'm reviewing. But I can figure out what they must mean based on the translation of the sentence and the grammar used. So it keeps my interest in trying to figure out the sentences. Also I have myself compose the sentence in another way, make up a new sentence with the same vocabulary word and read it internally+out loud. My goal is to not necessarily memorize every word but become more and more familiar with them so that when I encounter them in the wild I recognize them faster. When I've reviewed a vocabulary for more than a month I just delete the card. Chances are that I will see the word again somewhere else or in a later vocabulary review as the sentences are also written so it will make use of previously learned words. Also I make a point to look up words that have too similar translations like on naver. If I learn a word to have 1 meaning but it actually has another I think I can just look it up when I encounter that and if I somehow make a mistake despite that then so be it as making mistakes is a part of learning. I do this along with trying to read novels, manwha and watch various things here on youtube. Often I do see/hear those vocabulary words again.

[@iobcustomer3701]

THANKS ❤❤❤❤

[@sherrillgammon3366]

Thanks!

[@GoBillyKorean]

Thank you!!

[@Audem96]

Would love a video on the differences between those choose verbs 😄

[@GoBillyKorean]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpi4Z2aJa7mmga8

[@Dannie264]

thank you^^

[@sheeliekittie9298]

Thank you so much as always for your awesome videos Billy! I had a question about your book and also your learning Korean videos. Should we use these together? Do you recommend going through the book and exercises but also adding to that, your series videos on Learning Korean? Thank you so much for your time and help :)

[@GoBillyKorean]

The books are separate, since they're very big and contain more info. You can use either. I'm really not going to say you need one or the other to learn. I also have a free video course with 100 episodes on my channel you can start with.

[@sheeliekittie9298]

@@GoBillyKorean Yes, I saw the video course too. It sounds like using both together could be a good idea, I already have your first book ( the Level 1 ). Thank you Billy!

[@BlackCatBCB]

I have a vocabulary book that I read over and over on the train when I commute to work. Any tips for how to study for people which long working days and not much time….? 😢

[@c64844]

I'm one of those people who knows thousands of words. It's just not possible to practice them all manually. I just accept that words will come and go sometimes. Usually if I encounter them again in context, I'll remember them again. Natural spaced repetition haha.

[@user-ep5gf4jt1f]

빌리 선생님 한국어 엄청 잘하시네요!

[@Stephane_]

I love Quizlet! Its UX and UI are so good. The only big thing I miss is being able to add an “exemple sentence” field for each cards… Is it possible to do that with Anki?

[@elimik31]

Yes, you can add whatever fields yo, like to a card and the decide how it's displayed on the card using the template editor. Anki is supe powerful and flexible but has a learning curve.

[@williamf2823]

Thanks for the video Billy! Do you review multiple decks in a day, or only one deck a day?

[@GoBillyKorean]

I review multiple decks. Each deck is from a different source. For example, I have a separate small deck for some 한자 idioms I reviewed from a book, and another deck for some business Korean words. But I also have one "main" deck with just everything in it (including more 한자 idioms and business Korean). It just helps me to keep some things separate when reviewing, but you don't really need to do that. You can just put everything together if it's easier.

[@Aadrian7]

As someone who's been using Memrise then Anki for years to learn Japanese, I have to disagree on the last point. Switching over to Anki is a pain, but it's well worth the hassle for the flexibility and freedom it provides.

[@kevinrosenau7048]

What do you mean? Me and my friends talk about the powerhouse of the cell on a daily basis 😳

[@williamf2823]

I’m also curious if you wrote down the words first in a notebook - and then transfer them to Anki after that

[@GoBillyKorean]

Yes, I still do that in some situations. I used to write down everything into a paper notebook, and then look them up later.

[@blackcat_unch]

Hi, can someone tell me what does 'G롤 하지마' mean? I read this sentence on Manhwa and I really didn't get it all.

[@user-he4eb7jc6x]

👍

[@MrMwurm]

안녕하세요, 너는 일르문 미가엘 임니다 Following is Google's '안녕 내 이름은 마이클이야.

[@trusfratedkook8426]

I am learning korean by myself and for now I know Hangul I even know baisc conversation now what should I do next?

[@GoBillyKorean]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qamTqqyHptCjp9E

[@Chan_Chal_Chit_1]

Annyong Haseyo Billy , Can u pls make a vdo on how proficient one needs to be , to understand k dramas ? How many words do we need to know and how much time wud it take to become that much proficient in Korean? I'm from India and a big fan of k dramas ( and especially Jun ji Hyun ... If u ever get to meet her , pls tell her that I'm crazy for her ( acting ) .... ) Goma woyo , Jhaal gaayo.

[@GoBillyKorean]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2fRdKWKbpqMmbM

[@Lrbrz]

Do you have any recommended premade decks?

[@GoBillyKorean]

I don't recommend using premade decks for general vocabulary. I'd recommend learning things using context as much as possible.

[@Elisa_Army7]

What about grammar?? I can remember words quite easily, but for the grammar and end of verbs or words I just don’t know how to. I keep making exemples with the words I know,but I always forget..

[@GoBillyKorean]

You want to use the grammar form in a real situation to help it stick, the same way you want to use vocabulary words in real situations to help them stick. Just writing down an example sentence and reading it won't teach you that form - you'll want to find a way to use it somehow.

[@Elisa_Army7]

@@GoBillyKorean Thank you so so much, you're the best 💕💕

[@zoyaz3366]

How can I type in Korean in my laptop that has English keyboard Even I've changed the language to Hangul but it still type in English What to do?

[@Kyle-uo5bg]

once you download the Korean keyboard settings, first make sure that it's enabled. Once you've done that, hit the right "alt" key on your keyboard and it should swap between the English alphabet and Hangul.

[@zoyaz3366]

@@Kyle-uo5bg ok, I'll do. Thank you for your help.

[@SleeplessinOC]

Billy , how would I say “You should apply this serum every four days “? Not to be nosy Billy but do you have more children in addition to Jeremy ? Is he/she speaking Korean the same way Jeremy learned ? I’ll bet your in-laws are so delighted to be able to communicate with their grandson !! And that his Korean aunts and uncles are in awe as well !

[@GoBillyKorean]

First try making the sentence on your own, and I can point you where to go to improve it :)

[@SleeplessinOC]

@@GoBillyKorean hmmm …rats I have to use my brain …lol . Ok , I’ll come back with it in a day or two. This is embarrassing because I’m Korean but didn’t maintain it too well once I came stateside at the age of six and a half and I’m now 47….

[@janainatemis2298]

it would be great to u put the flashcards for free

[@tanu3079]

2nd 😀