I had been learning Korean on my own for many years and I really wanted to practice speaking with actual people. I searched for apps to practice speaking Korean online and an app called Maum seemed promising. Maum is an an app that connects you to people around the world who are either native Koreans or people who are also trying to learn Korean. You have the option to either text or call for 7 minutes.
I really enjoyed using it because it provided many opportunities to interact with different people. It is very challenging to find people in person to practice speaking with so this was very convenient.
Another reason I like this app is because it can supplement or temporarily replace your actual studying. If you cannot find time in your day to sit down and study Korean, instead you can practice talking with someone on the app. Since the chats and calls were short, I tried to make the most of the time we had by asking a lot of questions. I asked questions such as “What food do you like?” and “What do you like to do?”. If you have a hard time remembering questions, you could write them down ahead of time and read them while you are talking with someone.
The biggest advice I would give to other people trying to learn Korean is to talk to as many people as you can. The more you practice talking, the more confident and comfortable you will be when speaking Korean. A lot of the people I met on the app were super nice and patient so don’t be afraid to make mistakes and have fun!
-From a fellow Korean learner, Kim