Back in November a friend I met on Hellotalk was talking about how conversations on Hellotalk don’t seem to last very long, and that group conversations on Hellotalk tend to be messy with everyone bunched up in one channel. The conversation ended up going like this “maybe we should just create a Discord server and make it the kind of learning environment we want”. Then, in a flurry of impulsive decision making, the server was created that very afternoon!
It turned out that was one of the best decisions I made. Practicing a bit of Korean everyday became something I looked forward to. One thing that was a regular struggle for me was practicing writing and speaking. It was easy to read and listen, but for writing and speaking it’s hard without a real life person to do it with. Nowadays I just hop on whenever I’m free, have a chat (that very often ends up going for hours…) in mixed Korean and English.
One of the great things that I didn’t anticipate from the beginning was having access to hearing native Korean people talk amongst themselves. It is just a completely different experience from when you’re talking to them one on one. When its one on one I find they slow down a bit, or choose easier words, even when they’re not conscious of it. I know I do the same thing when I speak to Koreans in English. When native speakers talk amongst themselves they use words and expressions they might not use with foreigners, perhaps for concern that they won’t understand. There is a culture of language native speakers share that foreigners that foreigners just can’t understand.
Since the server was created we had highs of around 20 members . Some of them became inactive and left, and a couple of others we had to remove because of inappropriate behaviour. At the moment there are about 10 regular members, half Korean speaking and half English speaking. Many of us have become quite good friends. Some of them know things about me that even my real life friends don’t. I think the server and members have been around for long enough that it is stable and there is a good sense of server identity, and that now is a good time to invite more people.
We’re looking ideally for someone who is intermediate level or above, so that you can engage in both sides of the conversation. Although if you are a highly motivated beginner that would be fine too. I think the motivation is more important than where you are right now, and the people here are very willing to help you learn. And I guess the other ‘requirement’ is that you have the same enthusiasm to help the English learners. If you are interested, leave a comment below or send me a message directly through Discord. My username is Kangaroos#4955. Look forward to hearing from you!
PS. I’ve left a screen capture to show you what the server looks like.
A Different Take on Korean Grammar 