11 Ways to Get Korean Immersion at Home

Immersion is undoubtedly one of the best ways to up your Korean game quickly—you’ll find yourself understanding things much faster, and you’ll gain a more in-depth understanding of Korean culture, too.

And if traveling to Korea isn’t an option right now, you can always immerse yourself in the comfort of your own home. After all, the internet provides an endless supply of authentic materials that make it feel like we’re actually sitting at a café in downtown Seoul, including blogs, movies and podcasts. 

Find out how to set up a Korean immersion environment below.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

 

1. Change your device language settings

One of the simplest things you can do is find the “Language Settings” of your devices and change them to display in your target language. The same goes for your social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

You may find yourself hopelessly going back and forth between displays in Korean and English. Before long, something will click, and you’ll find yourself operating your gadget like a Korean maestro. Hang in there.

For advanced learners, switching to Korean will provide you with plenty of opportunities to practice your Hangul, the Korean writing system.

2. Label objects around the house in Korean

Label all the everyday objects that you use with their Korean names. Try placing a Post-it note on your coffee mug that reads “컵 (keob).” In the bathroom, label the toilet, the mirror and the places where you store the soap and shampoo.

You’ll see these labels on a daily basis and they’ll become second nature to you. Over time, you can slowly take off the labels. When you see the cup, you’ll immediately think “컵 (keob).”

To reinforce your lessons once the labels start to disappear, be sure to say the words out loud as you see the items. You can also create more advanced labels with full Korean phrases and sentences.

3. Cook and eat Korean food

Imagine this: You’re slurping on ramyeon or chowing on instant jjamppong while watching “Running Man.” A few minutes later, you run to the fridge to pour yourself some cheongju. Doesn’t it kind of feel like you’re actually in Korea?

With food, our multisensory journey comes full circle. You can explore Korean recipe websites and start following their instructions in complete Korean. To get started, try reading a blog like Maangchi—basically only the dish names are in Korean, and they’re also in English.

Food has the power to transport you to a different place. It proves that Korean isn’t just a different language, but an entire culture that shares many features similar to yours while still being truly unique.

4. Find a language exchange partner

Home might just be the best place to meet native speakers, thanks to language exchange online.

A “language exchange” is exactly that—a trading of languages. Let’s say you’re an English speaker out to learn Korean. You would need to find somebody, a Korean native speaker, who wants to learn English. It’s the purest win-win situation.

These apps and websites can connect you with thousands of Korean native speakers. 

5. Explore Korean music (especially K-pop)

Have you ever noticed that you never forget those children’s songs you sang when you were a little kid? Music is one of the most effective ways to learn any language—especially when it comes to vocabulary.

All the elements in K-Pop click to make language learning inevitable. For example, listening to Big Bang’s “Loser” or Girls’ Generation’s “Party” can instantly make you feel like you’re rocking out at a nightclub or live concert.

Korean songs have great melodies and catchy tunes so that the lyrics accompanying them become highly memorable, and the visuals in many Korean music videos are immersive all by themselves.

6. Hone your listening skills with audiobooks

When you’re at home and going through your daily chores, you can also have Korean audiobooks playing on your device.

To make the most out of audioboks, you’re encouraged to work and wrestle with the language. Listen to it, preferably while reading along with a copy of the text.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything. The important part is to expose yourself to the Korean language and try to intuit the meaning from the words and sentences you hear.

7. Subscribe to Korean podcasts

Korean podcasts come in all shapes in sizes, and many are designed specifically for language learners. These are often so sweet and simple that I’d recommend listening to them while you’re lying in bed and resting.

The main difference between audiobooks and podcasts is that podcast creators come out with new episodes on a regular basis, unlike audiobooks, which are already complete products. With podcasts, you have new material coming your way all the time:

8. Binge-watch online Korean videos

Visuals must be a big part of your home-based immersion process. Good thing that the internet holds almost an unlimited number of videos that the Korean language learner can take advantage of.

Of course, another resource that you can’t miss out on would be YouTube. Whatever your interest, you can find interesting Korean YouTube channels:

YouTube mostly has auto-generated Korean subtitles, though, so if you want videos with accurate subtitles (and other learning tools), FluentU is a useful platform.

9. Dive into K-dramas and variety shows 

Whether you like dramas, fantasy shows, comedies or shows set in interesting locations like Korean hospitals, there’s sure to be a Korean show that meets your tastes:

Besides, you don’t have to choose just one! Keeping up with multiple Korean shows allows you to learn Korean from the various topics explored in each show and have a lot of fun along the way. Of course, you can also dip into reality TV shows like Running Man or movies like “Windstruck” or “Train to Busan.”

10. Make daily progress with a Korean course 

For more structure, you can try out Korean language courses online. Listen to the free audio course developed by the Foreign Service Institute, or take advantage of 16 hours’ worth of audio from Pimsleur—one of the leading providers of language learning content.

Aside from those, you have a lot more choices:

11. Download handy language apps

Finally, keep these two apps around in your phone so you can constantly learn Korean:

Eggbun

Eggbun’s folksy charm will undoubtedly captivate you. The app’s graphics, fonts, colors, layout and illustrations ensure that your immersion into Korean is as easy and seamless as possible. You’ll have “Lanny,” a sunny-side-up wearing mascot and your personal tutor, to guide you through over 1,000 lessons.

The app has everything from survival Korean for travelers to business Korean for professional communications. There’s a whole section that deals with the culture, filled with content concerning Korean idioms, K-pop slang, funny Korean acronyms and more. The app is refreshingly light and makes Korean learning less daunting.

Google Lens

If you ever find yourself in Korea (or a nearby Korean neighborhood), unable to fathom the inscrutable Hangul characters plastered on storefronts and window displays, just fire up Google Lens and use its language detection technology.

Aim your phone’s camera at the Hangul characters and boom: instant translation! You can do this for any text, whether it’s from a menu, a newspaper headline or a chapter in a Korean children’s book.

With the app, your little trip to Koreatown can become a venerable language learning experience.

You can also download several other Korean learning apps:

 

Thanks to the many apps and resources with native content already available, you have plenty of options for at-home Korean immersion

So however you choose to immerse yourself, just know that it’ll help you pick up the language faster. So take the plunge and start now!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)