I've been studying korean for a few years now. I've tried a lot of different methods and tools and here are some pro tips I've discovered and would like to share.

I meet with a iTalki Korean tutor Monday, Wednesday and Friday. My Korean Tutor only speaks Korean during the lessons.

Pro Tip #1: Speak the Foreign Language During Lessons

The fact that he only speaks Korean has helped me enormously. It was very uncomfortable at first and I could barely understand anything. But after about a month I found that I started understanding most of what he was saying.

The other big benefit is that I learn new words in context. Whenever I come across a new word during a lesson, my tutor explains what it means in Korean. Again, this was very difficult at first, but after about a month, although it's still difficult, I can understand the Korean explanations. And listening to the explanations builds upon my listening ability at the same time I'm learning new vocabulary!

Pro Tip #2: Record Your Lessons

Each time we meet on iTalki, I use Audacity. If you're interested, it's pretty easy to setup, just download, install and hit the red record button.

After each lesson, I save my recording as an mp3 player. Then, during the day, I play the mp3 on repeat. It plays in the background while I'm working and I get some passive listening.

Pro Tip #3: Review (when and if you have time)

On the mornings I don't have iTalki lessons, I try to go thru a recording from a previous lesson and create mini sound bytes of words and phrases that I want to remember and enter them into Anki.

I'm pretty far behind with processing my recordings into Anki. But I try not to stress. I just process them when I have time.

I try to review my Anki everyday, but sometimes I miss a few days. Again, the key for me is not to stress about it.

Pro Tip #4: Don't Stress

It's easy to feel bad about not studying all my Anki Cards in a Day. And it's easy to feel stressed about the 10 or so mp3 recordings I haven't reviewed yet.

But with a full time job, a family, and other hobbies, it's not helpful at all to stress about it!

I hope these pro tips help! Happy language learning!