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Today was rough.
I really wasn’t feeling the motivation after hurting my back at the gym. The pain threw off my whole rhythm, and the idea of sitting down to study felt impossible. But I reminded myself of the rule: just 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is survivable. Thirty minutes is momentum. So I sat down and showed up.
And I’m glad I did.
This turned out to be my first audio-based Korean learning session, and using ChatGPT’s live voice function made everything smoother than I expected. The voice is natural, warm, and—most importantly—patient. It never rushes, never judges, never gets tired of repeating the same phrase as many times as I need. That’s the hidden superpower of AI for language learning.
What I Learned Today
I picked up five essential phrases—just the basics—but they felt like opening a door into the language:
- 안녕하세요 — “Hello”
- 저는 Keith이에요 — “My name is Keith”
- 감사합니다 — “Thank you”
- 잘 지내세요? — “How are you?”
- 여기 자주 오세요? — “Do you come here often?”
I butchered a couple of them at first (and still do), but that’s part of the game.
Why Today’s Session Worked
Repetition was the engine. I kept drilling the same lines over and over—another rep, try again, reset, try again. ChatGPT stayed warm and supportive the whole time. No teacher fatigue. No slowing down. Pure tailored practice.
The highlight was the coffee shop scenario.
I told ChatGPT to act like a Korean barista in Seoul. It greeted me, welcomed me in, spoke only Korean, and let me interrupt to practice. Suddenly it wasn’t “studying Korean.” It was stepping into Korean. Even with my back hurting, that moment gave me a spark of confidence I really needed.
Reinforcement With NotebookLM
After the session, I copied the transcript into NotebookLM to create flashcards. Instant reinforcement. Beginner-friendly vocabulary in both Hangul and Romanization.
I even squeezed in a tiny bit of reading practice, sounding out Korean syllables I wouldn’t have recognized two days ago.
Final Thought
This is why I set the challenge to only 30 minutes per day. I’m juggling creative projects, business tasks, writing deadlines, and regular work. And you probably are too. Thirty minutes is realistic. Thirty minutes is enough to make progress without derailing your life.
Today proved that even on a hard day—with pain, low motivation, and zero momentum—you can still get better. One session at a time.
On to Day 3.