In the comments section of the article cited above, Rickinalbi states "I know of no evidence to support Mr. Kaufman's point that “most” people learn language for pleasure, and I don't think it's true." Well, if people are being compelled to learn a language as a curriculum requirement or to pass a test then I do think they will need a classroom (maybe with bars on the windows), a teacher, and plenty of exams to force them to study. I don't think people can achieve a high level of competency in the language they are studying if they don't enjoy it. It's not like having to take a couple of semesters of physics as a degree requirement where someone can simply learn the concepts and the formulas, pass the exams, and then do a "brain dump." Language is so intrinsically a part of everyday life that trying to compartmentalize it cannot lead to true competency. Students may be able to pass many exams, but will they be able to fluently communicate after 4 years of study at a university? My experience says this is very unlikely.

I think my listening skill is lower intermediate in Korean. My reading and writing skills are probably intermediate. I really need to improve my listening skills. I'm looking forward to the expansion of the LingQ library.

I would be so happy if the Korean library were to get stronger. There just aren't very many sources of interesting Korean content out there, especially with transcripts. And the listening and reading exercises in most textbooks are just deadly boring. It's a frustrating situation for Korean learners.

The real challenge to my language learning time isn't my husband but rather our 7 year old son. I need to give him "quality time" in the evenings because I work full time during the day. By the time he's in bed, sometimes my brain is too fried to do anything where I really need to concentrate. I take my mp3 player and transcripts to work to use during my lunch break, but it's not a great solution as I frequently need to work while eating lunch. My listening skill is so poor in my target language that I really do need to use transcripts for anything beyond beginner content.

Does/has anyone on the forum used Livemocha? I've read many reviews that Rosetta Stone, at least for Korean, is terrible. I'm interested to find out if Livemocha is a good program.

John B., I found the recommendation site I was looking for: http://koreanselfstudyisntlame.blogspot.com/ (main page) http://koreanselfstudyisntlame.blogspot.com/2010/01/korean-self-studying-advice.html (self study advice page) Scroll down to the "Get into Korean entertainment. It helps." The writer lists recommended and not-so-recommended K-dramas and movies. http://www.dramabeans.com/kdrama-scripts/ (for K-drama scripts) http://www.scribd.com/doc/14389803/My-Name-Is-Kim-Sam-Soon-Script (some kind person formatted this script to be used as a study aid for Korean language learners)

John B.,I buy Korean movies and dramas for the language content. I'm looking for good conversational Korean. So, unfortunately, I can't really recommend any Korean action movies because I haven't seen any. (And action movies are my favorite genre in English!) "Coffee Prince" is pretty good, as is "My Name is Kim Sam Soon" (more of a "chick flick"). "Iris" is a very popular suspense drama. I know free scripts are available online for "Coffee Prince" and "Kim Sam Soon" and many other older K-dramas.

Hey Steve, I'm glad to know that I'm not the only foreign language book addict out there. I have so many Korean books that I don't dare add up the cost as even I don't want to know. I didn't sucumb to Integrated Korean, but I did buy three volumes of Speaking Korean. If you like drill, drill, drill, then Speaking Korean is the series for you. Needless to say, I haven't spent much time using those books.

I wish Heisig had written a hanja book. I know that almost all hanja are identical to traditional Chinese characters. But Korean uses a limited number of hanja and the most frequently used hanja in Korean are probably not the most frequently used characters in Chinese. I would be happy to learn several hundred hanja. I just can't seem to find a way except rote memorization and writing them about 50 times each. Anybody know a good source for learning hanja that is similar to Heisig's methods?

Snowman2204, can you please post the url for the site? Thanks. (Since I don't know Japanese at all, will it be really weird using Korean resources written for Japanese learners? Although all I'm really after are Korean listening material and the transcripts in Korean so I guess it shouldn't matter much.)

Alexander Ristich wrote: "As far as Korean goes I have found that extracting the audio from Korean dramas and listening to it has been very effective, especially at becoming more familiar with spoken patterns that seldom exist in formal writing." Can anyone tell me how to do this? I never even thought about it before. I spend 2 hours per day just commuting. It would be great if I could listen to some K-drama dialogues at the same time. Thanks for any advice.

I will most definitely take up the Korean challenge. There are so few good resources available for Korean learners. Even KC101.com has had a decline in quality. If it weren't for talktomeinkorean and koreanasitis there wouldn't be anything useful online. Will you please post an announcement when Korean starts on LingQ? I haven't been on LingQ before; are there instructions about registering from the main page? I really can't wait to get started.