Cool People II Talk To Him In Korean Hyunwoo Sun Founder Talk To Me In Korean 31 <str<strong>on</strong>g>Wine</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2016</strong>
Cool People II Please tell us a little about yourself. My name is Hyunwoo Sun. I teach languages for work, and I breakdance and do acrobatics as hobbies. I teach languages because I really want to help other people experience how amazing (as well as useful) it is to be able to speak a new language. I travel a lot, make a lot of videos for my YouTube channel, and generally enjoy learning new things by finding my own ‘learning hacks’. You founded Talk To Me In Korean. Could you share with our readers what TTMIK is? Talk To Me In Korean, or TTMIK as it’s known <strong>on</strong> social media, is a website and <strong>on</strong>line community (www.talktomeinkorean.com) where people can not <strong>on</strong>ly start learning Korean but also achieve real fluency and get motivati<strong>on</strong> to keep learning Korean. I made the website back in 2009 with two other friends, and now I believe it is the most widely known website in the world when it comes to teaching Korean. We have published more than 1,000 free less<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> our site, and currently have dozens of textbooks, audiobooks, and e-books that we sell <strong>on</strong> our <strong>on</strong>line bookstore. So we generate the necessary revenue through book and e-book sales, and try to provide as much free c<strong>on</strong>tent as possible. We are currently <strong>on</strong>ly teaching in English, except for <strong>on</strong>e Hangeul book we published in Spanish and another book coming so<strong>on</strong> in Chinese. You have a huge following <strong>on</strong> social media. How did you become so well known? When we first started the site, we didn't have any promoti<strong>on</strong>al channels or sufficient funds to place ads anywhere, except for the 2,000 subscribers that I had <strong>on</strong> my pers<strong>on</strong>al YouTube channel back then. I started by telling them about this ‘new’ project, and asked them to check it out. Word spread quickly and thus, it was then that I learned the real power of social media and the word of mouth. After that, we just focused <strong>on</strong> creating high-quality c<strong>on</strong>tent and people kept telling their friends about us. I still think that's the best way to promote a site – to make it a site that's worth talking about. Apart from that, we post our c<strong>on</strong>tent through various social media channels, so that whoever is using any platform has an opti<strong>on</strong> to follow us <strong>on</strong> their favorite social media site. “To improve fluency, the most important thing is to keep putting yourself in situati<strong>on</strong>s where you ask yourself, ‘How do I say that in Korean?’ ” a comm<strong>on</strong> English is becoming more of language in Korea. Why do you think it's important to learn Korean? Any tips for improving fluency? Even though you can see more and more people in Korea who speak English (to varying degrees), the majority of Koreans <strong>on</strong>ly speak Korean. Especially when it comes to doing business and getting a job, speaking good Korean is, and for a l<strong>on</strong>g time will still be, essential, as Korean companies which are now hiring foreign employees will rarely c<strong>on</strong>sider a candidate who is not c<strong>on</strong>versant in Korean. To improve fluency, the most important thing is to keep putting yourself in situati<strong>on</strong>s where you ask yourself, “How do I say that in Korean?” as often as possible. When you have curiosity, you will learn no matter what study method you choose. The Talk To Me In Korean team will c<strong>on</strong>tinue to work hard to help people stay motivated like that. WoW 32 <str<strong>on</strong>g>Wine</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Wednesday</strong> <strong>February</strong> <strong>2016</strong>
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