It’s one thing to learn another language, learning the accent is another. It’s normal for you to exert your efforts in making sure your grammar, vocabulary, and use of punctuations are on point. But just because these areas of Korean language proficiency are polished doesn’t mean that your accent is refined or sounds natural.
Learning to nail both Korean vocabulary and inflexion can be challenging at first because these are two different knowledge areas. But if you want to efficiently learn both at the same time, we have gathered three tips that you can apply so that you can speak Korean as if it were your first language.
Immerse yourself in naturally-spoken Korean
Making use of various reading materials on the fundamentals of Korean speech helps to advance the proficiency level that you currently have. But if you want to acquire the natural accent that Koreans have, you should start consuming Korean media and familiarize yourself with how they pronounce their words and their intonations.
As you immerse yourself in Korean movies or drama series, your best move is to jot down and identify complex sounds that you encounter along the way. Doing so will give you the opportunity to work on them until it rolls off your tongue in a natural fashion. But if you are getting distracted by visuals, you can opt for podcasts so that you can focus solely on how they talk.
Mimic how native speakers talk
If you want to learn from the best, learn from the native speakers since they are the ones who have been speaking Korean for practically their entire lives. Observe how they talk and try to replicate it so that you can improve your accent. You can even use them as a benchmark to help you determine how much accent work is left to be done – the more you get their accent down to a tee, the closer you are to having the highest level of Korean language proficiency that you can get.
To do this, you are going to need the help of someone who you know is a native Korean speaker. Communicate with them and make sure that they know you are trying to speak their language in a natural accent. If they provide feedback, take it and apply accordingly. But if you don’t know anyone, you can make use of resources similar to the previous tip, albeit ones with visual aids such as movies and drama series. Slow the playback speed down a bit and observe how they position and move their mouth, and try replicating it as close as you can.
Alternatively, you can also seek the help of teachers who teach Korean language courses in Singapore. Not only will you be getting first-hand knowledge on how you can speak the language naturally, but you will also be given the most helpful feedback that you can get from anyone.
Record yourself speaking in Korean
After doing much observation on how others speak in Korean, you probably have the general idea in the back of your mind. At this point, you should try to apply everything you’ve learned and record yourself doing it. This will help you see your progress, as well as determine the areas where improvements can be made.
Start by uttering phrases or words that you have perfected, and work your way up to the ones that are most challenging for you. Do this routinely until you get the hang of it, and until challenging phrases won’t be a challenge anymore.
Conclusion
In conclusion, your accent is only part of the many aspects of the language barrier. But if these helpful tips are applied and complemented by professional instruction from a Korean language school in Singapore, you can definitely make significant progress in improving your Korean accent.
If you are looking for a language school that can help you be the most proficient Korean speaker that you can be, we at Sejong can provide you with only the best native Korean instructors and the most effective teaching strategies that you can find in Singapore! Not convinced? We are vouched by thousands of our previous students who are more than satisfied with our services.