(soft music) - I think he senses my fear.
He speaks Korean by the way.
It hurts when they scratch.
Ah I see, BTS!
- What are you doing?
- Back scratcher.
- Is it your dad's?
- No, that's mine.
- Really?
- It's my original back scratcher.
- (laughs) My trusty childhood friend.
- Hey guys, what's up?
We're in a difference setting today as you can tell.
Due to renovation work that's going on in our home right now
we're staying at Dong-In's parents' place for a week.
- Whoo!
I haven't been here in like,
(clock ticking)
days.
It's right next to our home.
So-- - It is.
- I'm here almost on a daily basis.
- Since i received a collaboration offer from Rosetta Stone,
i thought this might be the perfect opportunity
and motivation for me to take my Korean skills
to the next level and to talk only in Korean to his family,
whenever I get the chance.
- Yeah. You know,
remember my grandma talked to you in Korean all the time
the first time you came here.
Yeah.
- She did.
- Why didn't you practice back then?
- Well, it's hard if you don't know a single word.
- Well, (laughs)
I think she thought if she spoke to you,
like only Korean all the time,
eventually you will just learn it.
- Yeah, but it is unfortunately that didn't work out.
Let's try it this week.
(upbeat music)
Oh, that's good.
(beep)
Three years ago,
i first started learning Korean
but that doesn't mean that I learned it for three years
but of course there are always some difficulties
that get in the way,
like lack of motivation, structure and time.
People always expect me to be at a higher level already
because I have started such a long time ago.
And I also made this video back then
on which apps and tools I used to start out.
I still feel like I'm not on the Korean level I'd like to be.
And there have been many times in the past three years,
where speaking better Korean
would have been extremely useful for me.
And when you're in Seoul,
especially in the more touristy areas,
you can get away without speaking
or understanding much Korean.
But even there sometimes taxi drivers might reject you
because you don't speak Korean.
While in my experience,
Korean people are actually extremely helpful and friendly.
Most of them are very shy speaking in English,
when they're not a 100% confident in their English speaking skills.
Also apart from Seoul you might wanna explore
the less tourist focused areas.
And last year we did a tour through Gyeonggi-do
and you can really find the most beautiful areas
outside of Seoul.
But the issue is that outside of Seoul,
a lot of people don't really speak English,
or are more uncomfortable in speaking English with you.
And also a big part of Dong-In's family lives
in Namhae and Daegu,
which are in the southern part of South Korea.
And unlike in Seoul, not all the signs and menus have English
or even Romanized descriptions.
And I can say for sure,
I wouldn't have been able to travel
without any problems if Dong-In wasn't there with me.
(laughs)
- Are you still scared of him?
- I'm pretty scared of cats in general.
I mean, he's so cute,
but...
(cat meow)
I think he senses my fear.
(laughs) - He speaks Korean by the way.
- He speaks Korean.
Can you give me the cookies please?
I'm gonna have a little study session now.
so I need some cookies.
Okay. So where did I stop?
If you plan to visit a country more frequently,
I think it's...
Thank you.
I think you should learn the language,
at least to a certain extent
to make it easier for yourself
to feel comfortable while traveling.
Probably most of you have heard of the name,
Rosetta Stone at some point.
It's one of the first
and biggest language learning platforms.
And I was really curious about trying it out
because it's been around forever.
There must be a good reason for that.
So right now they have a program that's called,
Rosetta Stone lifetime.
It means you have unlimited access
to their entire language library,
giving you as many languages as you like,
all in one place.
So if you suddenly decide
to freshen up your French skills in 20 years,
then you can do so.
This week I decided to start out
with the Korean beginner plan on the topic family
because obviously I gotta step up my game
if I want to Dong-In's family to understand me.
Okay, let's see.
So it's 30 minutes per day,
five days a week
and six weeks in total.
we'll keep you updated throughout the whole video,
on how well it works for me.
And if I can keep up with the lessons,
so please wish me luck,
And you might even try it out for yourself.
(clock ticking)
(beep)
Hi mom!
- Hi.
(laughs) What?
What's wrong with that?
Was that wrong??
Happy new year!
Farina, happy new year!
Thank you!
Today only speaking Korean.
(laughs)
Korean language! Only speaking in Korean!
Yes.
- Good, good, good.
- Oh my God.
What's up with Cesar?
Oh my, look at him!
Look at him.
Cat
Farina is afraid of cats.
You're scared of cats?
Scary.
Cats are not scary.
Don't use casual language!
You mean they scratch!
Scratching.
(upbeat music)
- What is that?
- This is another Korean household essential.
- What's its name?
Massager.
- Okay. - This is a massage tool.
- As I told you I wanna update you
about my learning progress.
And today Dong-In was helping me a bit with my lessons.
And so far,
I'm really proud that I managed to pull through
for three consecutive days.
And I do have to say about the app
that you have to be able to read Hangul already.
- Hangul it's really easy to learn though.
Like you can learn it,
you learn it in like a day, right?
- Yeah. One or two days.
The good thing for me is,
I can use the vocabulary I already knew
and finally put it into full sentences.
So it's nice.
What are you doing?
Dong-In wants to try it as well.
- We'll I learn a lot of languages.
I actually made it my new year's resolution
to learn all kinds of languages.
Especially the ones I'm already learning.
You know, I'm already working on French and Spanish.
- That's true.
- Japanese.
- I know you're learning French and Spanish,
but Japanese.
- Yeah. My Japanese is quite good, yeah.
- Okay, say something in Japanese.
This program is brought to you by the following sponsors
(beep)
- I think I gained some confidence.
Should I go upstairs and try to talk to your dad?
- My dad?
- Yeah. Should I do that?
- Yeah, go ahead.
Why not.
Father, hello!
Hi Farina!
I've heard you're studying Korean?
Yes, I'm studying Korean.
Have you been well, Father?
Yea, of course I'm doing well!
Are you also doing well?
Yes, I'm also doing fine!
The weather...
(clock ticking)
I don't like the weather...
Yea, it's a bit cold nowadays, right?
It's too cold.
It's snowing!
It's been snowing!
It was snowing indeed...
But...!
Here it's warm!
Yea, since we have a fireplace here.
Burning up!
(upbeat music)
(beep)
Where did you learn that?
BTS song...
Ah I see, BTS!
(dramatic music)
- Good morning guys.
It's day three or four of my Korean learning streak.
And I just wanted to give you a little update.
So how it works is you learn through picture associations,
in a pretty natural way like a child does.
That means they don't work with translations.
You only have the pictures
and the words in the language you're learning.
So it's a whole new way of learning for me.
You really have to get used to it
and just like jump into it.
They have like little grammar chapters as well,
which is great.
And it all works really intuitively.
I'll probably eventually study some more grammar in depth,
but for now I just wanna be able to communicate at all
because right now I'm not trying to learn Korean for perfection but for communication.
I'm not studying for a test after all.
I just wanna be able to speak and understand Korean.
And what I've learned is don't be afraid to make mistakes.
So if you're going to try it,
or if you have already tried it
and maybe have some experience to share,
please feel free to write a comment.
It might help others as well.
So I know Rosetta Stone sponsored me for this video
but I'm actually really impressed.
There's hope for me after all.
I'm here with Mother!
We're gonna have a Korean barbecue later on today.
So we've gonna go to the Korean market now
to buy some groceries.
(speaks Korean)
- What do we need today in the Korean store?
- Okay. I got a list.
I got the list.
We need,
Pork belly
Ssamjang
Red pepper paste
Pears (laughs)
Drinks
Sesame oil
Plum wine
- Dong-In said it was wine.
Okay.
Let's go!
(soft music)
(clock ticking)
- Okay guys.
I've been practicing four or five days consistently now.
And I think I actually improved a bit.
I feel like practicing
and using what you've learned to really is the key.
So I'd say I definitely recommend the app to you guys.
I have used other apps before
and I also tried studying with flashcards.
But learning with the picture association,
really helps me like no other method did before.
I'd recommend using it additionally to your study books.
If you want to learn like really seriously
with all the detailed grammar rules.
The app is really easy to integrate into your day.
So if you just want to learn
to casually speak some Korean it definitely works by itself.
If you guys click the link in my description box,
you can get a great discount
on all their monthly subscriptions
and you can get my special offer,
which gives you unlimited access to the app for your life.
You can learn as many languages as you like.
So I hope you guys liked this video
and you could also get some information from it.
Leave a like if you did,
and don't forget to subscribe for more videos.
I see in the next one.
Bye.
(upbeat music)