The Problem: Why I Started the JAEM Challenge
When I first began teaching Korean, I quickly noticed a gap in the learning landscape. Almost every program, textbook, or online course focused on beginners. The alphabet, greetings, and simple expressions were everywhere. But what about the learners who had already passed this stage?
I met university students who wanted to express deeper thoughts but could only repeat memorized lines. I met workers in Korea who needed real communication for their jobs but couldn’t find the time or energy to join long, offline classes. And I met learners abroad who told me they had no access to proper intermediate or advanced courses at all.
Their frustration became my motivation. I realized that the world of Korean education was full of entry doors—but very few paths forward. That’s when the idea of the JAEM Challenge began to take shape.
Philosophy & Method: How I Built It
My philosophy has always been simple: language must be used, not just studied. But using a language requires consistency, and consistency is often the hardest thing for busy learners to achieve.
That’s why I built the JAEM Challenge around habit, not perfection. Even ten minutes a day could build fluency over time. Instead of overwhelming students with endless grammar, I designed a structure that blended clarity with practice:
- PDF lessons to give direction and theory
- Weekly missions that force real application in speaking and writing
- 1:1 coaching sessions where learners could receive personal corrections and encouragement
The Challenge was never meant to be just another online course. It was created as a system of accountability, practice, and steady growth.
Programs in Action: What Students Experienced
The Intensive Challenge became the heart of this vision. Students practiced new speaking patterns every week, building real sentences and testing them in live classes. Many came because they had no advanced courses in their home countries—or no time to squeeze extra study into their lives in Korea. Here, they finally found a place to keep growing.
The Step by Step program was born for learners tired of beginner drills. They had memorized enough “Hello, my name is…” sentences and wanted to move forward. By focusing only on practical, high-frequency grammar, this program helped them build confidence quickly. I saw the change in their eyes when they could finally say what they truly meant, and be understood.
And then there was the TOPIK Master Class. This short, intensive program focused on strategy. Students learned to read faster, skip unnecessary words, and guess meaning from context. For the first time, they finished exams with time to spare. In writing, they repeated polished expressions until they were ready to score higher. Many of them reached results they had once thought impossible.
Conclusion: The Heart of JAEM
Looking back, I have seen hundreds of learners grow—not because they studied harder, but because they studied smarter and stayed consistent. The secret was not perfection, but persistence. Ten minutes of study. One more sentence. One more habit built every day.
That is the true heart of the JAEM Challenge. It is about using Korean, step by step, until one day you realize you have gone far beyond where you started.
So I ask you: are you ready for your own six-week journey? It doesn’t take hours a day. It takes only ten minutes—and the decision to begin.
👉 Start your challenge here: https://jaem.io/jaem-korean-challenges/
👉 Contact us via Kakaotalk: http://pf.kakao.com/_xnNAHxb/chat
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