When I was 13, I started learning English in Korea.
I knew the words, but the sentences made no sense. So, I found a “secret” way to understand: I read everything backward. > English Sentence: “I buy an apple at the store.”
My Brain (Reading backward): “Store at apple an buy I.”
In Korean, this is exactly how we speak. Reading backward made me feel safe. But inside, I was very frustrated. I thought, “Why Americans speak backward? Are they doing this just to make it difficult?”
The Day My Brain “Crashed” in Japan
Decades later, I became a professional English interpreter. I thought I already mastered English word order. But then, I moved to Japan.
Japanese uses the same Korean sentence order (SOV). It’s “I apple eat,” not “I eat apple.” Because the order was the same as my native language, I learned Japanese very fast. In 3 months, I was fluent. But then, the shocking thing happened to me.
I suddenly could not speak English. When I tried to say a simple English sentence, my brain felt stuck. It was a short circuit. My “SOV brain” was fighting my “SVO brain.” That was the biggest lesson of my life: The hardest part of a language isn’t the words or grammar. It’s the Sentence Order.
Your Brain is Like a Farm
Many students fail because they try to plant seeds in dead soil.
- The Soil: Korean Sentence Order (The road in your brain)
- The Seeds: Vocabulary and Grammar
If your soil is hard and dry, your plants (words) will die. Right now, your brain is “hard” because it is trying to use English order for Korean. You can memorize 1,000 words, but they all will die because the soil isn’t ready.
You must prepare the soil first. You need to train your brain until the Korean sentence order feels natural, not “backward.”
How to Master Korean Sentence Order
You don’t need a thicker grammar book. You need to build a new road in your brain. This is why I created the [Pattern Shadowing Beginner 1] course.
We don’t focus on boring rules. We only focus on rewiring your brain. Through simple, repetitive shadowing, we change that “backward” feeling into your new normal.
Stop fighting the word order. Start training your brain to think like a Korean.
[Prepare Your Brain Soil – Join Pattern Shadowing 1]
Ready to stop translating in your head?
Get the ‘Korean Road’ Wiring Course today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Korean word order so different from English?
It’s because Koreans and English speakers see the world through different lenses. In English, the “Doer” (Subject) and the “Action” (Verb) are the most important, so they come first. It’s a linear, action-oriented perspective.
However, Korean culture focuses on the context and the relationship between things. We set the stage (Subject, Object, Time, Place) first, and only at the very end do we reveal the conclusion (Verb). It’s a holistic, context-oriented perspective. To master Korean, you aren’t just changing word order; you are learning to see the world as Koreans do.
Can I learn Korean by just memorizing words?
onestly? Even if you memorize every single word in the Korean dictionary, you still cannot speak. Memorizing words is just “knowledge,” but speaking and listening need “strength” (Mental Muscle). Imagine reading a book about how to swim versus actually jumping into the ocean. Knowledge is static, but conversation needs the power to process thoughts very fast.
