Why Some Foreigners Study Korean for Years but Still Can’t Speak It I have met many foreigners who study Korean very seriously. Some of them know Hangul well. Some can explain Korean grammar quite clearly. Some have studied with textbooks for years. Some even prepare for TOPIK and know many difficult words. But when a Korean person asks a very simple question, they suddenly freeze. “오늘 뭐 했어요?” What did you do today? They understand the question. They know the words. They may even know the grammar. But the answer does not come out naturally. This is one of the most common problems I notice among Korean learners. And I do not think it happens because they are lazy or not talented. In many cases, they have worked very hard. The real problem is that many people study Korean as a subject, but they do not train Korean as a living language. There is a big difference. Knowing Korean and Speaking Korean Are Not the Same Many learners believe that if they study more grammar, memorize more ...