EK Newsletter | Spring 2022

안녕하세요 여러분! Hello Everyone!

Welcome to the new Essential Korean Seasonal Newsletter. This is a space where we’ll share everything we’ve been working on and what to look forward to in the future, all put in one place at the start of each new season.

This first edition is for Spring - 봄! The spring season in Korea is marked by vibrant colors, the start of warmer weather, and festivals across the country. The cherry blossoms also bloom towards the end of March/beginning of April, one of the many reasons why this season is so beautiful in Korea.

At the end of this newsletter, you will also find two Spotify playlists. The first is the official EK playlist with all of the songs featured in our podcasts so you can easily go back to them for a recap of the lesson. The second is a Spring playlist, a collection of 15 Korean songs which radiate spring vibes.

What We’ve Been Working On

Korean Through K-Music 

The first big update is a new blog section on our website featuring everything related to music! So far, there are two types of posts that are published: the first is a step-by-step explanation of lyrics to different songs (both grammatically and/or through vocabulary), and the second is a cultural take on Korean music. Songs from various genres of music will be featured, as well as different links to playlists on the EK Spotify account. Check it out– we hope you find this a fun new way to help in your language learning journey! 

EK Video Podcast

We have also released a new version of the EK Podcast on our website! This video series adds animations to our existing audio to aid your learning. There are a total of nine episodes so far, with episodes 3+ being member exclusive. We have also added lesson recaps to each podcast episode, plus transcripts and exercises for premium members.

Updates to EK Courses

In terms of learning resources, we have gone over the EK courses and made sure that there are plenty of practice activities and worksheets for each grammar point. We’ve also been working on improving our quiz system in the courses to make sure that the questions provide a rigorous recap of the lesson, with a completely new format featuring new questions. All of this means that there is now a lot more content, and we’ll be continuously updating future courses– there’s no better time to try out the courses than now.

What To Look Forward To

Streaks

Over the past few weeks, the technical side of the EK team has been working on developing a streaks feature, keeping track of your practice habits. Soon enough this will be released providing a counter for the amount of days that you have consistently logged in to do some studying. We hope this will not only help you see your progress but also to encourage you to keep going!

Cohort-Based Program

Second, we are developing a new cohort based learning system which we hope to roll out in the near future. This will feature smaller group sessions over the course of 10 weeks to guide you through the EK courses right from the first lesson. You will have the opportunity to connect with other students from your class to form study groups or study buddies, and also keep on top of your learning by weekly homework assignments.

EK Community on Discord

Another thing to look forward to is our new Discord space - a community platform to connect and interact with other students. The server features several channels for video and voice calls, a radio with Korean music, and an assistance feature. There are even sections on there to talk about different parts of the Korean world such as music, TV & film, and food. We have only recently brought this out, but we hopefully will grow this into an interactive and encouraging space. 

We hope you will look forward to these new features coming to EK soon!

Bonus Section: Playlists!

springtime in seoul [봄]

With the release of our new Spotify account, we have created a short playlist to get you into the spring mood - which features k-pop songs that all have a certain sound that you associate with the season, from a joyful, bright vibe to a mellow, breezy atmosphere.

Find it here!

The EK Podcast Playlist

We also have a second playlist that is a running collection of all songs covered in our podcast so you can listen to them whilst understanding the grammar behind the lyrics!

Find it here!