I just looked up the web for some Hangul table or guide to start with, and I found this, and had the shock of my life (lol)...
Compilation of Hangul learning tools:
How to Study Korean, Unit 0
zKorean, Appearance and Sound of Hangul
JosefWigren.com, Korean Hangul in 20 minutes (this is the most tempting to me, but it’s definitely not going to be a quick fix...)
Guide to Korean, Learn Hangul in Less than 2 Hours
I ramble below the cut.
This feels like a complete culture shock to me. I’m not used to seeing this many new characters and new ways to write things, and I honestly can’t imagine memorising all of them. I’m feeling a little disheartened, but I suppose that’s how it is with every new language, right? Just have to get through the initial fear and everything will be fine with practice and consistent revision.
But this is different. With Japanese and Bahasa Melayu, there were similarities in their writing systems with Mandarin Chinese and English (respectively), so it wasn’t too hard learning to pronounce words and write the characters. Even katakana was fine for me, because I could relate them to Chinese characters. (Ha! Suck it, everyone who made fun of me for taking my second language seriously.)
I guess I’ll have to pull through... At least for the content, if not for ease of reading video subtitles, interviews and Korean celebrity gossip (even though I’m not big on Korean culture)... /cries.
I’m realising that my motivation for learning Japanese is way different than that for Korean. I probably learned (and am still learning) Japanese because it’s rather easy and I’m good at it. But before even properly starting on Korean, I’m already shying away... TT Well, whatever.