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5-Bullet Friday

The latest from author and investor Tim Ferriss

Hi All!

Here is your weekly dose of 5-Bullet Friday, a list of what I’m pondering and exploring. I’ve added a whole slew of extra bullets for fun.

This edition contains gems I discovered in and around Korea, which I recently visited for the first time after 20+ years of dreaming about pulling the trigger. It dramatically exceeded all of my expectations. This edition also contains a bunch of language-learning tips and tricks.

Special thanks to Steve Jang for the most excellent hosting! 사장님, 항상 감사합니다! For Steve’s top-10 Korean movies and top-10 must-do things in Seoul, be sure to see the podcast and show notes here.

This edition is brought to you by Momentous. Their goodies have changed how I sleep, so don’t miss their offer in the P.S.

What I’m watching

“K-Pop” on Explained, S1 E4. This episode covers not only K-pop but the incredible, and not accidental, rise of tiny South Korea to global powerhouse. I’m new to the Explained series and have only seen two episodes (check out the “Monogamy” episode as well), but it seems to pack a lot of education and entertainment into each 20 minutes. I’ll be watching more. Tequila shots and high fives to Ryan Suh for the recommendation.

“Conan Learns Korean And Makes It Weird.” Trust me, even if you ignore everything else in this newsletter, take a few minutes and watch this. Conan O’Brien and Jin Shil are geniuses. Deep bow to BC Forest Elf for sending this over the transom.

Past Lives (Amazon, Apple TV, YouTube). Past Lives currently has 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. For some reason, this was the movie that, combined with K-pop docs, convinced me to finally buy a ticket to Seoul. Here’s the description: “Two childhood sweethearts, after decades apart, are reunited for one fateful week in New York as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life in this heartrending modern romance.” You can watch the trailer here. The movie is directed by Celine Song and stars Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro, among others. Special thanks to J. No Cringe Cappuccino for getting me to watch this! I would usually skip most touchy-feely films with such a description, but I loved this one. I recommended Past Lives a few weeks ago, but I am including it again because it is that good.

“How to Make Learning as Addictive as Social Media.” Here’s the official description of this new TED talk, which already has nearly 3M views: “When technologist Luis von Ahn was building the popular language-learning platform Duolingo, he faced a big problem: Could an app designed to teach you something ever compete with addictive platforms like Instagram and TikTok? He explains how Duolingo harnesses the psychological techniques of social media and mobile games to get you excited to learn—all while spreading access to education across the world.” I’ve known Luis for a long time, and this talk really showcases his genius and humor in equal measure. Related to language-learning bullets later.

What I’m listening to

“Gangnam Style” by PSY. Remember this viral hit from 2012, the first YouTube video to pass a billion views? This was one of several inflection points for Korea’s soft power in the last decade. I wanted to revisit the track after exploring the district of Gangnam in Seoul (text description, video), after which the song is named. Some fun trivia: Gangnam literally means “river [gang] - south [nam]” or “south of the river,” which refers to the Han river that runs through Seoul. Also, from the great Wikipedia entry on this song, its background, and unexpected global explosion:

The song’s refrain “오빤 강남 스타일 (Oppan Gangnam style)” has been translated as “Big brother is Gangnam style,” with Psy referring to himself.

I’m just a beginner with the Korean language, but it’s safe to say that “oppa”/오빠 can be used in a bunch of different contexts.

Language resources I used, in this order

Learn to Read Korean in 15 Minutes by Ryan Estrada. This was the first thing I studied when I was en route at 30,000 feet to Seoul. You can legitimately learn to read Korean quite well in less than an hour. Once you can read (i.e., sound out words), you can begin to absorb street signs, menus, and much more via osmosis. Without reading, this indirect absorption is 10% of what it could be. For extra credit, see Ryan’s comic on learning to count in Korean, but I would hit some of the below resources prior.

Foundation Korean (Michel Thomas Method). I used the original Michel Thomas recordings, with Michel himself, to learn the basics of Spanish and German many years ago. I was doubtful other teachers could apply his framework well, but I was thrilled that this Korean series proved me wrong. I downloaded the first few lessons via Amazon/Audible before taking off, and instructors Derek Driggs and Jieun Kiaer do an excellent job.

There is no writing, note-taking, or homework of any kind. It’s pure audio. I have found the Michel Thomas Method largely superior to Pimsleur Language Programs for painlessly absorbing a good amount of grammar, though both use similar spaced repetition for vocabulary.

I only wish there were a beep and some time for your own responses (you learn alongside two other real-life students), which was the format for the original Michel recordings. Without that, you simply need to hit pause a lot, which is manageable but kind of a pain in the ass.

Here’s the official description: “For 50 years, Michel Thomas worked on decoding languages into their most essential component parts. These ‘building blocks’ are introduced sequentially so that you reconstruct the language for yourself—to form your own sentences, to say what you want, when you want. Within the very first hour you will be able to generate complete sentences instinctively, having absorbed the language and grammatical structures.” For additional resources, see my tweet here, as many of you were very kind and provided helpful options in the replies.

Duolingo. This is the world’s most popular language-learning app and for good reason. More Americans are learning languages on their phones with Duolingo than in the entire US public school system. I’ve used it for multiple languages, and I’m now using it 20 minutes a day for Korean. This has been the easiest to stick with, now that I’m back in the US and running around. I’m also one of their early investors, so I might seem biased, but I canvassed everything in the language-learning world at the time, and Duolingo was my sole bet, as the approach made perfect sense to me, and their beta testers were rabid fans. More than three million people have used Duolingo every day (365 days unbroken) in the last year.

Korean Phrasebook & Dictionary (seventh edition) by Lonely Planet. I find the Lonely Planet language guides do a great job of summarizing the most important grammar fundamentals in 10–20 pages. I purchase the guides just for that section.

Talk to Me in Korean, Basic Levels 1–3. I looked at every Korean language textbook in a huge Seoul bookstore (Kyobo—check out the Gwanghwamun location if you visit), and these short reads were my favorites. They’re exceptionally clear and focus on the 80/20. I’m working through them one tiny chapter at a time and really enjoying the process.

“100 Korean Expressions You Must Know” by @koreanfriendhailey. Hailey is a great teacher, and her varied and realistic deliveries make the phrases stick. It doesn’t hurt that she’s an amazing cheerleader and very cute. Pair this clip with her other most-popular videos, including “The Easiest Way to Read Korean Words,” “How to Memorize 21 Korean Hangul Vowels EASILY?!,” and “How to Memorize Korean Hangul 14 Consonants EASILY!” Hangul refers to the Korean writing system.

What I’m studying once again

“South Korea’s archery invincibility explained.” I have recently become deeply interested in South Korean archers. Why? Here’s how The New York Times put it: “For South Korean archers, winning Olympic gold medals feels almost like a given—they have claimed 23 of the 34 golds awarded in the sport since 1984. … The South Korean archery team has won gold medals at every Summer Olympics since 1984. The women’s team has been particularly dominant, winning gold eight straight times since the team event made its debut in 1988 in Seoul. In 2016, the men’s and women’s teams swept the gold medals in the team and individual events at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.” Watch the above video for more on their training systems.

South Korean coaches also combine the latest high-tech gadgetry with low-tech mental toughness training, some of which is described in this article: “South Korean archers banned for pulling out of training.” Here’s the opening lede, which gives you the gist: “South Korea’s world-class archers were ordered to clean up city sewage, stay up all night, stare at dead bodies in a crematory and climb a mountain with a rubber dinghy on their backs.”

Some fascinating bits from The New York Times article:

The team is famous in the archery world for the depth and detail of its preparations. National coaches employ wind machines and pump artificial noise (crowd sounds, camera shutters) through speakers to simulate adverse environmental conditions athletes might encounter in competition.

Before the Rio Games in 2016, the archers trained at a live baseball game, an unorthodox way to expose them to a pressure cooker atmosphere. This spring, practice sessions at the national training center in Jincheon have taken place in an arena modeled after the one they’ll see in Tokyo. Staff members installed video screens, audience stands and banners where they are likely to be positioned at the Olympics. Simulated loudspeaker announcements in English and Japanese further set the mood.

‘Our goal is zero-defect training,’ said Jang Young-sool, the vice president of the Korea Archery Association.

Poem I’m pondering

When in the night I await her coming,
my life seems stopped. I ask myself:
What are tributes, freedom,
or youth compared to this
treasured friend holding a flute?

Look, she’s coming!
She throws off her veil and watches me,
steady and long. I say:
“Was it you who dictated to Dante
the pages of Hell?” And she answers:

“I am the one.”

— “The Muse” by Anna Akhmatova, translated by Stanley Burnshaw
(Thank you to Dr. Fuerza del Mono Araña for sending this to me.)

You can complement this edition of 5-Bullet Friday with my conversation with Duolingo co-founder Luis von Ahn, my brand-new interview with Steve Jang recorded in Seoul, and my short video on language learning.

And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @tferriss and put #5BulletFriday at the end so I can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, all.

Much love to you and yours,

Tim

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5-Bullet Friday — December 1, 2023