I'm currently evaluating my options to get the most out of the Korean course I'm taking. One 1.5 hours class a week ain't that much and I feel that I could do myself a favour by being a little bit proactive instead of just repeating what we learn there.

So I started creating flashcards from the word index at the end of the book we're using and practise them on my way to work and home. I took only common verbs/nouns/adverbs with which I'll be able to form simple sentences. I also gave http://korean-flashcards.com a try, but it seems as if the process of writing the words down myself and the physical interaction with the flashcards has a positive effect on my ability to memorize them.

Today I also started to write down what I've learned so far at my wiki (German). Writing in Korean on my computer is going pretty well already and I don't have to look up the Korean layout anymore .

A couple of weeks ago I registered at http://lang-8.com, a website which aims at providing a platform for people who study different languages. It's quite simple. You post journal entries in the language you're learning and native speakers will point out your errors or suggest better phrases. In return you correct journal entries in your native language. Apart from the fact that using the site is quite a pain it is going well so far. I posted some very basic texts and I have a couple of friendly helpful contacts already (if you know of similar services please leave me a comment).

The only problem with all this is, that apart from the 1.5 hours class, the learning of the language only happens in my head. I neither listen to it nor am I'm really saying things aloud (allthough sometimes I mumble stuff while sitting on the train to work ). This needs to change.

I think it's time to watch some Korean movies to get familiar with the sound and melody of the language. Maybe I should record myself while I'm reading some texts and send it to my teacher? But I'll have to ask her first.

I also keep thinking that there's a lang-8 equivalent online service which builds around skype or sth. simliar to exchange with native speakers. But I can't remember nor find it right now .

On a side note: It appears that somehow the learning process is triggering sth. in the language region of my brain because I'm beginning to remember random French words when I'm trying to sleep .

I met another problem during my attempt of learning Korean, namely getting used to its computer keyboard layout.

Learning to locate the different characters is actually not the problem. What makes it so challenging, is that the special characters are located like on a U.S. keyboard layout.

Why is it that the German keyboard layout differs so much from the U.S. version? Is it all just because of those 4 extra characters of the German language: Ö,ö,Ä,ä,Ü,ü,ß? Of course things are a lot more complicated .

One possible solution for my problem would be to just get used to the U.S. keyboard layout and switch back and forth between Korean/U.S. But then I'd need a way to access those Ö,ö,Ä,ä,Ü,ü,ß in one way or the other. But, surprise surprise, every fscking OS I use implements the function to change the keyboard layout in a different retarded way.

On windows you can (after you've installed the Korean language) switch the keyboard layout by pressing ALT + SHIFT. Once you've selected the korean layout you can switch between Korean and U.S. layout by pressing the right ALT key. This is faster and makes more sense, because the special characters stay in place . But, switching the keyboard layout works on a application basis .

On OSX you can (once again, after you've installed the Korean language) switch between the keyboard layout by pressing ALT + SPACE. This affects all applications, which is nice.

Honestly I have no clue how it works on Linux, I didn't look into it yet but I installed the Korean language set on my PureDyne box already.

I think I'll just ditch the whole German keyboard layout from all my computers and memorize the ASCII codes for the umlauts.

Anyway, this is just completely fucked up - I wonder how other people setup a multilingual environment, cause I think it really doesn't make sense to learn many different keyboard layouts.

If you meet a guy and ask him whether he's single or not and if he likes to go for a drink sometime, don't play the let-him-wait-for-your-response game when he actually asks you out some days later!

It might work on younger guys, but if he's halfway grown up and uses his brain it won't end well. From his perspective, the fact that you asked about his relationship status tells him that you have at least a tiny fraction of interest in getting to know each other. If he then asks you out, and you don't respond in a timely fashion, contrary to what you might expect, his interest in you will not grow but decrease rapidly. This is especially the case if you're using social networking sites for communication where everyone can see if you had a chance to read his message already and thus a chance to reply.

The following graph illustrates what happens in this case (all data was gathered solely by myself in empiric studies I did over the course of the past 4 years and carefully plotted using http://aviary.com).

If you respond after the critical timeframe and you actually meet again, he will have to build up all the interest in you again. If you're lucky he'll build up enough to agree to another date. If that's the case, I advice you to skip the let-him-wait part completely, cause if you play that card again his interest will probably vanish completely this time.

So, dear girls of the world. I don't know exactly what's the rationale behind doing what you do, but this is not a good way to get to know people. Just reply, even if you changed your mind, he won't mind. Eevery man who has at least some dignity will not fall for you when treated like that. No matter what a nice and good looking person you are.

I recently began to learn Korean. I also didn't write that much here in the past couple of weeks and Tante suggested I could just keep a journal about my progress. I thought about it for a while and think it's a good idea¹⁾.

Well, my English is okay. I also had 5 years of french class in school, and allthough the sound of the language itself sounds still familiar I didn't practise it at all in the 10 years I'm out of school and frankly forgot most of it²⁾. So, why should I want to learn another language?

Because a life without great challenges is boring .

The reason it's Korean is because it fits my main hobby of practising the Korean martial art Tae Kwon Do (태권도), and because I think it is easier than most of the other Asian languages. I considered to learn Japanese for a long time because I am into Anime and stuff but the writing system discouraged me every time I gave it try.

So, I signed up for a Korean course at the adult education centre in Munich about 5 weeks ago and so far it is working out quite okay. Prior to the course I already learned the Korean alphabet and writing system which is actually very easy and logical and gave me a nice advantage for the course.

Learning to read Korean script (Hangul/한굴) is really easy and I dare to say that everyone can learn it, depending on how much time you invest, in just a couple of days or even less ³⁾. Proper pronounciation is another topic of course, as the language contains sounds which are just unfamiliar to an European or have only subtile differences.

We spent the last couple of weeks practising the correct pronounciation of the different Jamo (the units which make up the Korean alphabet) and are now progressing towards simple grammar. The biggest challenge for me, like with every language you learn, is to aquire a basic vocabulary. Right now we are picking up new words as they come in the course but I am still looking for a more efficient way. Right now I'm trying www.korean-flashcards.com but I can't yet tell if this is the right tool for me (just in case someone who reads this learns Korean too and knows a good alternative please let me know ).

Stay in Peace / 안녕히 계세요.

It's been a while since I did sth. for my ears, so I decided to get myself some new reference headphones which I could also use for general music consumption (without looking too crazy wearing them in public places).

I present my shiny new Sennheiser HD25 MKII .

I'm in love with those already. They sound very neutral/detailed have very good ambient noise attenuation and are super comfortable. Also, another big plus for me is that they're very robust and that you can repair the whole thing yourself (all parts can be ordered regularly).

If you're looking for some excellent sounding headphones that last a good couple of years if you treat them right the HD25 is definitely a good choice.