How To Practise Speaking Korean Without a Korean Friend

Are you wondering if it is possible to practice speaking Korean without a native Korean friend? With the support of technology, of course you can!

There are many people who are learning the Korean language who are not living in Korea neither do they have any native speakers to practice the language with. Luckily, with the help of technology we can now practice the Korean language.

So here are 9 tips on how to how to practise speaking Korean without a Korean friend!

1. Use a Voice Recognition Software on Your Keyboard

You can simply switch the voice recognition from English to Korean on your phone keyboard. After switching, you can now pronounce anything in Korean to your device.

One exercise that you can practice is reading a list of Korean sentences out loud to your device. This will allow you to compare what you have said with the original sentence. If you are pronouncing it correctly, you will be able to match most of the sentences.

However, you might be aware that this method still can't replace communication with a person. For one, this is a one-way communication as you are speaking to your device only and communication is a goes two ways (but there is a solution to do this, scroll down to know how)

Also, if you have ever used voice recognition, you've probably realized that the software can misinterpret perfectly pronounced words but at times it randomly picks up incoherent ramblings.

2. Use the Google Cloud Speech-to-Text

The Google Cloud Speech-to-Text enables users to convert their audio speech into text. The software recognizes 120 languages and variants including the Korean language.

The Google Cloud Speech-to-text will allow you to check and verify whatever you have spoken in Korean with its text translation.

3. Speaking Korean to Your Virtual Assistant on Your Phone

For a two-way conversation, you can use the in-built virtual assistant on your phone. If you have a Samsung device, you can the “S Voice” or Bixby. Since it is a Korean product, it has the Korean language integrated into it. Now you can finally have an actual conversation in the Korean language.

4. Get a K-Buddy!

If you are not sold with the idea of talking to a Chatbot on your phone and prefer having a conversation with a human, you can check out our new program, K-Buddy.

Through this program, we help connect Korean language learners who want to practice and improve their conversational skills with qualified native speakers (K-Buddy) living locally.  You can either choose to chat via a video call or even plan a meetup!

Learners improve their skills tremendously and make a new Korean friend living locally. In return, K-Buddy can earn extra income, interact with locals and be ambassadors of their country’s language.

5. Korean Speaking Quizzes

Another way for you to practice your Korean speaking skills is by doing Korean speaking quizzes that we provide from time to time on our website.

In the speaking challenge, you will be provided with a Korean word, and you will need to press the microphone button bellow it to record your voice.

You will be then graded accordingly.

6. Record Yourself and Listen

Pick a random topic and try to speak for 2-3 minutes. Record yourself while you speak and then re-play to listen to your recordings.

Take note where you pronounced the word wrongly or where you used not so suitable words. By doing this, you will understand which area you are lacking and it will also boost your confidence that you can speak.

7. Read Out Loud

You can practice reading out 10-20 Korean sentences every day. You can get it from your textbooks, Korean blog, or any study material.

Always read them out loud and pay attention to your pronunciation and intonation. Reading out loud does not only make your vocal cords adjust with Korean sounds but it also makes you feel comfortable speaking Korean words and sentences. You will get more in sync with Korean words.

8. Do Virtual Role Plays

Role-playing is one of the most common speaking activities used in a Korean classroom. The only problem is that you will need a language partner to execute this game. However, if you know the dialogues of both characters in the conversation, you can do the role-play alone

For example, you can do a role-play of a shopping scene in a Korean mart where it involves two people –  the shopkeeper and the customer. You can speak the dialogues of both characters.

Try doing one role-play situation every day. You can create the conversation beforehand or you do it spontaneously.

9.  Listen to Korean Radio

Listening is an essential part of oral communication skills. If you have trouble understanding spoken Korean, you won't be able to hold a good conversation no matter how good you may be at speaking.

Therefore, listening to Korean radio channel is one way you can improve your listening skills as well as speaking skills. You can install the Korean radio app on your phone or use websites like TuneIn to listen to your favorite Korean radio channel.

Listening to the radio is more helpful than watching K-content on a media visual because radio on focuses on the sounds and not on visuals.

Besides no visual distractions, radio announcers also speak in a very clear manner. By listening to them speak, you will notice which part of their sentences they emphasize, the tone of their voice and how they convey different emotions.

Best is to find radio programs that have general talks about Korean society, culture etc. These talks would be easier to understand than news, political or economy talks.

10. Join our Korean Language Learning Community on Discord

There are so many online communities on platforms such as Facebook, Reddit where you can join to meet other Korean language learners.

If you still don't have a community to converse on a daily basis in Korean you can join our group on Discord.

By joining, you can not only share your own knowledge, but you can also ask things that you are not sure about.

Communicating in a group chat has similar effects to having oral communication as it helps you structure better sentences and respond in an effective manner.

Check out our previous post on 7 Common Mistakes Korean Language Learners Make