Reading faster

[sandra.malluck_229692]

As I am sounding out each symbol separately, it is taking me forever to read a simple sentence. Do Korean children learn to read by memorizing the shape and sound of a whole syllable at a time or do they just sound each symbol out like I do? Should I write down the most common syllables and try to memorize them?

[SarangShirts]

Sandra, it's frustrating being able to read only slowly. But here's the thing: you don't improve your reading speed by concentrating on speed. Instead, you improve your reading speed by concentrating on comprehension.

Korean kids and adults generally experience words as a Gestalt. That means they don't read individual letters or even groups of letters, so much as entire words and words + particles. You'll be absolutely floored the first time you see a Korean paragraph in the tiniest font size imaginable, and a Korean person can easily make out each word. It's not because their eye sight is better than yours (although it likely is because LASEK/LASIK here is quite inexpensive haha), but rather because reading hangul, once you get the hang of it, comes with super-powers when it comes to making out words.

So what's the up-shot? Well, the more you learn, the faster you yourself will get at processing entire words in Hangul. It's a matter of time and patience, but there's a good hack for this: use your phone to chat with someone in Korean- it doesn't matter who. By chatting in Korean, you'll feel pressure to read and respond to text in real time, and that will hone your reading skills quickly.

Hope this helps!

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https://SarangShirts.com -- Get a shirt or hoodie with Korean writing on it in Hangeul

[ShawnzyGuitarist]

It's probably the same as it is in English. Once you've read it for long enough, you get used to the "shapes" of the words.

[community.korean]

Thanks for commenting!
One quick way to learn the syllables (and in the end read more quickly) would be to write down the syllables as you are reading them out.
Also, if you like KPop, there are a lot of music videos available with both Korean and English translations, which may help you in increasing your vocabulary, so maybe you could give that a try.

Sincerely,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com