Let's Learn Korean

Saturday, November 13, 2004

Total words: 817

왕음치 mentioned his intention to write journal entries in Korean and it kind of motivated me to do the same. I don’t know if I will be able to maintain it for very long (especially if I have to keep writing the dates in 한자 because Expression Engine won’t accept numbers in the title), but here is my first attempt:

한국어에 대한 블로그를 시작하는 기념으로 글을 남겨 야 되겠다는 생각이 들었어요. 확실히 뭐라구 써야할지 모르겠지만 이렇게 쓰게 되네요. 요즘 집에 갈 준비 하느라구 정신이 하나도 없었어요. 그 덕분에 걱정도 많이 하구 혼자서 이것 저것 고민 도 하구요. 왜 그런지 모르겠지만 무슨 일이 생길 때 마다 내가 혼자서 해결하려구 그래요. 우리 여자 친구는 그런 내가 마음에 안 드나봐요. 원래 미국인들이 지나치게 개인적이다고 하지만 내가 볼때는 이건 그런 개인주의의 문제가 아니이에요. 왜냐하면 아이스크림과 호떡 먹는 것 외에는 난 별로 이기적이지 않거든요. 어떻게 보면 남한테 부담되기 싫어서 이러는거 일지도 몰라요. 물론 한편으론 내 방식 대로 하는 것이 옳다는 생각이 들 때도 있구 남을 의지하구 믿는다는 것이 여간 어려운 일이 아니잖아요. 어떤 걸까요? 남을 의지하기 싫어서? 남한테 부담 되기 싫어서? 난 다른 사람 도움이 없이 문제를 해결하고자 하는 그 이유를 정확히 알 수 없는 것 같아요. 더 좋은 사람이 되기 위해 우리 모두 이런 성격을 고쳐야 할 것 같잖아요. 성격을 고치는데 힘이 들고 시간이 많이 걸리는건 사실이지만 우리에게 문제가 있는 걸 인정하구 해결할 방법을 모색하는 게 기본적인 자세이지요. 이젠 내 자신의 문제를 인정하고 해결하는 데만 집중하면 돼요. 무슨 일 생길 때 다른 사람이 개입되는 것부터 시작해서 같이 일하면서 이해심을 보여주는 것이 가장 효과적인 방법일 것 같아요. 나중에 어떻게 되었는지 결과를 알려드리지오. 참 두서 없이 글을 쓴것 같네요. 이번 한번만 예쁘게 봐주시고 앞으로는 좀 더 교육적인 내용의 글만 올리지요.

*Update - There was a lot of discussion about my post and I thought maybe I should better explain how I go about writing my journal. My girlfriend is currently studying for TOEFL and preparing to attend university in America on the chance that we end up going back to the states next year so we have started a writing regiment together. We each write something and then mark awkward passages on each others papers. We don’t make corrections under the principle we’ll never learn if someone else fixes our mistakes, but sometimes fixing our own mistakes takes 3 or 4 revisions. What I have posted here is the final draft of my first journal entry. It took me a long time to do; it’s not just something I pounded out on the first try. Here is my first draft for anyone who wanted to see the differences from first to final:

이 한국어에대 한 블로그를 시작하는 기념으로 글 남겨 야 되겠다는 생각이 들었어요. 확실히 뭐라구 써야할지 모르면서도 이렇게 쓰게 됩니다. 요즘에 집 갈 준비하느라구 정신 하나도 없었어요. 그 덕분에 걱정 많이 하구 혼자서 고민 빠진 것 같아요. 내가 왜 그런지 모르겠지만 무슨 일 생길때 마다 내가 혼자서 해결하려구 그래요. 우리 여자 친구 나에 대한 그면 마음에 안드는 것 같아요. 원래 미국인이란 개인적인 면 너무 크다구 하지만 내가 볼때는 이건 그런 게 아니이에요. 왜냐하면 아이스크림과 호떡 먹는 것 외에는 난 별로 이기적이지 않거든요. 어떻게 보면 남한테 부담되기 싫어서 이러는거일지도 몰라요. 말이 되지오? 물론 다른 면에 보면 내 방식으로 하는 것 옳다구 생각 들 때도 있구 남을 의지하구 믿기가 여간 어렵지 않아요. 어떤 걸까요? 남 의지하기 싫어서? 남한테 부담 되기 싫어서? 난 다른 사람 도움이 없이 문제를 해결하고자 하는 그 이유 정확히 알 수 없는 것입니다. 더 좋은 사람이 되는 목적으로 우리 모두 다 이런 고쳐야할 성격의 특징 있지 않습니까? 고치는데 힘 들구 시간 많이 걸리겠지만 문제 있는 걸 인정하구 해결할 방법 세우는게 기본적으로 중요하지오. 이젠 인정해서 해결법만 집중하면 돼요. 무슨 일 생길때 다른 사람 끼는 것부터 시작해서 같이 일하면서 이해심을 보여주며 가장 효과적인 방법일 것 같아요. 나중에 결과 알려드리지오. 참 정신 없게 일기 글 같은 것 썼네요. 딱 한번만 예쁘게 봐주세요. 앞으로 이렇게 하지 않도록 할께요. 다음부터 교육적인 글만 써드리겠어요.

Some things stayed pretty much the same and some things had to change a lot. My biggest problem as I went through was adding 조사 (and of course managing my 복문). When I (and many Koreans from my experience) speak I often leave the 조사 (는/은/이/가/을/를,etc.) out. Because in speech the most important thing is getting the 순서(order/sequencing) correct and then the 조사 is implied. In writing, however, it is apparently very important. So important in fact my girlfriend wouldn’t even highlight awkward sentences until I went back and added all the 조사. My second draft looked much like my first except with all the correct markings. Anyway after about 4 or 5 drafts my girlfriend said my paper was passable, but as I read it still I find things that are a little awkward that I want to change (and have in my hard copy). Anyway I hope that clears that up. I hesitate to think how much better the writing on my blog would be if I would pour over the entries 4 or 5 times to make the sentences clearer.

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Posted by 제비군 on Saturday Nov 13, 2004 at 05:16 AM in Korean Writing |
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Total words: 98

제비군

한국 속담 1탄

Korean proverbs and folklore often use animals. Some of the most common animals used are dragons, snakes, and tigers. This Korean proverb is no exception; it is:

호랑이도 제 말하면 온다. “If you speak of the tiger it comes” (Speak of the Devil and he appears.)

다른 사람(제삼자)의 이야기를 하고 있는데, 마침 그 사람이 그 자리에 나타났을 때 쓰는 말. It is used when you are talking about someone (a third person) and then they appear.

It is one of the most common proverbs in Korea, but it is still among one of my favorites.

Posted by 제비군 on Saturday Nov 13, 2004 at 04:11 AM in Vocabulary |
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Friday, November 12, 2004

Total words: 325

王音癡

My goals and plans for the next 3 months are not yet finalized but here’s the general breakdown. First I haven’t studied or even seriously attempted to use Korean for the past three years due to 1. being lazy 2. doing graduate studies & 3. other prioriries. But all that has come to an end. Well except for the graduate school, but I don’t have to worry about that again until March. So here we go.

First I want to be able to touch type in Korean, so I will be putting 10 minutes a day into the typing tutorial I wrote about ages ago. That of course ties into the goal of actually writing in Korean - and a little more than just 안녕하세요, 이름이 뭐이애요? I intend to be writing at the mininum 1-2 short paragraphs at a time at least once a week by the end of December and maintain that through the end of February.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Total words: 499

王音癡

Why have I started a group blog for learning Korean? There are a number of reasons, but primarily I am starting it for myself. The original plan was to blog in a similar manner to Kangmi. Obviously writing about the classes I’m going to take starting in December, self-study, practical usage and encounters with Korean in daily life as well as any brain farts or epiphanys I have along the way.

However recently a few of the Korean blogs that I followed started writing about learning Korean and this got me to thinking that a group blog would be a great way to build a community and support one another in our quest for language acquisition. There is nothing like public accountability to help maintain momentum and motivation - part of why I wanted to blog alone inititially, but this is far better.

I have been asked exactly what type of blogging I want or expect here. My initial thoughts were reflective learning - difficulties encountered, successes, strategies and resources. Of course blogging in Korean to practice writing for an authentic audience. Hopefully comments will provide corrections, advice and encouragement. That is my initial vision, but like any plan or community things change and evolve so nothing here is written in stone and I am open to suggestions for new features. I have 2gb of space on my account and 150 gb of bandwidth so I have loads of room to expand. For now I want to start small and see the small successes.

When I changed my plan of this being a private journal I sent out emails to Joel, Gord, & Philip to see what they thought about the idea. They were the bloggers writing about learning Korean on their individual blogs. All three reported that at one time they had considered doing the exact same thing but had never gotten around to it and were indeed interested. Welcome aboard guys and thanks for the feedback.

Of course I do not want to limit contributors to only four (including myself) so if anyone would like to write about their experience as a Korean Language Learner you only need to do two things. Register and then leave a comment or send me an email so I can change your permissions. Then you will be good to go.

You may notice that some of the links and menu items are in Korean - well this is a Korean Language Acquisition blog afterall - don’t worry just mouse over and the English will appear.

Two more things. First, Korean native speakers are of course welcome to leave comments and encouragement - Posting is fine as well as long as it is directly related to teaching or learning Korean. And lastly, if you know anyone learning Korean feel free to invite them to join us as a lurker or a preferably as a poster. It doesn’t matter if you have blogged before or not - come on down and join us.

Posted by 王音癡 on Thursday Nov 11, 2004 at 03:19 PM in This blog |
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