Learning Korean

When I went on a trip to South Korea, everyone there was very nice and spoke Japanese well. They also helped me a lot, so I thought, “I should learn Korean too!”
 
The grammar seems to be similar to Japanese, hence I thought it must be easy to learn. So, I started studying Korean with a light heart, but my assumption was completely wrong.
 
First of all, it’s taking me a long time to learn the Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, and I’m struggling to read it properly. It’s especially hard to read some sentences smoothly because there are some phonetic rules, like liaison and verb form changes according to Hada or Haeyo style. I keep mispronouncing words, and I even write non-existent Hangul characters when I take notes while listening to a Korean textbook. It’s so disappointing!
 
Still, it’s exciting to learn Korean. For example, when I think I can't memorize a new word no matter how many times I write it down, the opportunity then comes when I can read an example sentence and realize I remembered the word correctly. When I can catch a bit of what they say in Korean TV shows, I feel like I’m making progress. I’m also excited to try various Korean cuisines such as Seolleongtang (ox bone soup) and Kal-guksu (noodle soup), and I feel that I’m broadening my horizons.
 
After studying both English and French seriously, I believed I knew how to learn a language. However, being exposed to the Hangeul alphabet, a writing system that was totally new to me, reminded me that there are no shortcuts when it comes to learning a language.
 
My goal now is to continue listening to the NHK radio Korean language program every day. I look forward to communicating with local people in Korea someday.