Let's Learn Korean

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Total words: 32

Very funny video about dealing with traffic stress in Korea. Hat tip to Mongdori. Original video on naver - but the size broke the site layout so I uploaded it to youtube.

Posted by 王音癡 on Thursday Apr 24, 2008 at 09:33 PM in video |
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Friday, April 18, 2008

Total words: 17

王音癡

While searching YouTube for alphabet songs to show my kids, I stumbled across this one for Korean.

Posted by 王音癡 on Friday Apr 18, 2008 at 09:03 PM in Reading | Internet Resources |
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Saturday, April 05, 2008

Total words: 26

joesp

i saw him at the church session on sat mornings I posted about a few months back. nice guy. 모임 anybody? nah, everybody so busy. ....

Posted by joesp on Saturday Apr 5, 2008 at 02:39 PM in Korean Writing |
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Total words: 521

王音癡

James Devereux has a column in the Korea Herald on learning Korean. This weeks column is titled dropping the ‘you’. I’ve added the entire article to the extended entry since it will disappear into membership archives at the herald shortly.

James has a blog, but it currently only has one entry. Hopefully he starts to write a little more regularly. Go check out Shooting Words.

In my last column, I touched briefly on some of the differences with Korean that can create difficulties for those beginning to study the language—like myself.

While the previously discussed differences were very apparent aspects of the language, such as the vocabulary and grammar, there are more hidden differences with Korean. The style of communication makes studying it an interesting, and at times astonishing, experience for the student.

One of the first things the student of Korean will encounter is speech levels. The student encounters speech levels when words need to be altered to fit the situation and to pay appropriate respect to the person the student is addressing.

What they may not know however, is that this is just one part of a whole set of differences in the language, which stem from the influence of Confucianism on Korean culture.

Although a summary of Confucian ideals is well beyond the scope of this column, the most important thing to know is that there can be five possible relationships between subjects, determined by age and status.

We begin with the concept of “jeong,” which is the idea that people need to have knowledge of their position in the hierarchy in order for relationships to be established, and for it to blossom from there.

From the language student’s perspective, these differences can be somewhat invisible unless they are educated in Korean culture or better yet, living in the culture.

It is unobvious, for example, that the innocent-sounding question “What’s your name?” can be considered unnecessary and even rude, due to the preference for calling people by their familial titles (except in close relationships or between elders and inferiors.)

What this means is that the question “how old are you?” is the more valid one, as it helps the subjects work out the nature of their relationship. That then acts as a basis for them to know which questions to ask next.

While this difference in the language has now become familiar to me, there is another I am finding more difficult.

Pronouns are less common in Korean, yet even among these the second-person “you” occupies a special place. It is generally acceptable to use “you” only in close relationships.

I found this out first hand when my dictionary-translated “tang-shin” made listeners either uncomfortable or it send them into fits of laughter. I’ve since learned that this “you” pronoun is usually reserved for formal use or between married couples.

While adapting your style of questioning to fit Confucian teachings is one thing, the dropping of the “you” pronoun altogether is much harder for the student who has grown up to the know the world in terms of “you” and “I.”

James can be reached through his blog shootingwords.wordpress.com—Ed.

Read Less...

Posted by 王音癡 on Tuesday Mar 18, 2008 at 08:39 AM in Korean around me | Korean Writing |
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Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Total words: 42

joesp

I was wondering if 5,000 per beer was worth conversing in Korean with a beautiful girl? Ugh. I really can’t understand it. My friend’s got a problem with going into those places, and we always drop more than a dime in there.

Posted by joesp on Tuesday Feb 5, 2008 at 08:47 AM in Listening |
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Thursday, January 31, 2008

Total words: 25

joesp

speak: 말하다 , 이야기하다
mumble: 중얼중얼걸리다, 중얼중얼 말하다
complain: 불만을 하다.
shout: 큰소리로 치다
use a four letter word: 나쁜말을 쓰다.
explain: 설명하다
convince: 설득하다

Posted by joesp on Thursday Jan 31, 2008 at 07:47 PM in Vocabulary |
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Saturday, January 12, 2008

Total words: 149

joesp

A new 9 week session of korean lessons just started at the 온누리 교회 in 서빙고 역 in 서울 church. Every saturday morning. It’s open to all foreigners whether or not we go to church, and after a year and 2 years of studying there, I can guarantee you will not be prosyletized. They are genuinely simply nice people. It’s 11 AM and the cost 교육비 is only 15,000 (but you will have to buy your textbook separately). there are about 120 people and 10 levels. I consider the 15,000 less than the costs of the free snacks I eat during the 10 minute break alone, and my teacher also teaches at Yonsei . It’s in the building on the right on the 3rd floor.
and here is a map from the station . It’s 서빙고 station (seobingo) next to yonsan on the special extension of line 1.