The Hanja Namja

A glimpse at Korea through Korean Language, Korean Literature, and Hanja.

[hanjanamja]

TOPIK INTERMEDIATE (중급)

In the end of May I got my most recent TOPIK results.  Turns out I am improving quite quickly over a few short months.  And I passed LEVEL 3!

Total: 64%

Grammar Section: 62%

Writing: 54%

Listening: 68%

Reading: 72%

From my previous test I increased my average by almost 10%.  My writing had the biggest increase, which I'm very much pleased about.  My reading remains my strongest, which I expected. 

I've also signed up for the new TOPIK test in July.  I've been practicing with the sample test, but I have no idea how to estimate my total score as there is no specific score to reach for each level.  Nevermind the fact that now Level 3-6 are all in one test.  Some of the questions I practice are on topics or vocabulary I haven't even remotely covered yet.  I think if I study well enough though I can receive a Level 4 this time around though.

[hanjanamja]

CURRENT READINGS - ANNE FRANK'S DIARY IN KOREAN

Studying a language, especially one as difficult and complex as Korean, is a bit like trying to swim up a waterfall.  Some days it seems impossible. It's a daily struggle and I think there is a reason many Western individuals in Korea don't take the time to learn it.  In nearly all the classes I have taken, the class tends to be filled with students from countries like China, Japan, and Thailand.  My Korean teacher mentions regularly how much easier the higher levels are for Chinese an Japanese because they are already familiar with the Hanja.

Good thing is, I enjoy the challenge of the language and studying it each day.  Some days are discouraging, but most are positive and inspiring.  When I get discouraged, I try to take a moment to remind myself of the progress I have made. 

My progress this month is noted in reading Anne Frank's Diary in Korean:

I first bought the book in October 2013.  When I started reading it, I could make it through about 3 pages in an hour due to having to look up most words on my phone dictionary. 

I quickly put the book aside for several months until I picked it up again last week.  I started reading and made it about 15 pages in an hour.  That's a 500% increase in my reading speed in Korean. 

PROGRESS!!!!  I'm making progress.

[hanjanamja]

KIIP - KOREAN CLASSES

Last weekend I took the KIIP Level Test so that I can take free Korean classes through the government and eventually get a better visa. 

I took the test two years ago when I first started to study Korean, so it was fun to take again and see how I've improved.  Well, the test was infinitely easier this time than last time.   I ended up scoring into Level 4, which is two levels better than last time and puts me much closer to completing the full KIIP program. 

I will be starting classes in about two weeks on Tuesday and Thursday mornings before work.  I will have to miss the last how of the class, so I'm hoping that is okay.  I checked the grammar lesson for Level 4 and a good chunk of them I already know. 

I will also continue to be taking Korean classes at YBM at night.  With the two courses combined, I will have 12+ hours of classroom Korean a week.  I'm hoping this will help further improve my speaking ability. 

Information about KIIP program can be found at :

SOCINET  

Good blog with information in English

[hanjanamja]

KOREA IN CHINA - KOREATOWN, SHENYANG (沈阳）

The final location on my trip to China this march was a visit to Shenyang   (沈阳) in northern China. Shenyang was the old capital of the Qing Dynasty, and thus has an assortment of historical sites, including Shenyang Imperial Palace.  The palace is a smaller version of the Forbidden Palace in Beijing.  

While I was there in March it was still quite cold.  So I didn't spend too much time traveling around the city.  Instead, I headed straight for KoreaTown.  KoreaTown is a lively part of the city complete with restaurants, Korean shops, Korean chain stores, and several jjimjilbangs (찜질방).  

I stopped first into a small Korean restaurant.  Upon entering, the woman greeted me with an 안녕하세요.  Ahhhh, after five days traveling in China it was comforting to hear that familiar greeting.  I spoke to the woman for a while in Korean and then ordered and ate my 비빔밥:

After dinner, I stopped over at Angel-in-us for a coffee and some wifi:

[hanjanamja]

KOREA IN CHINA - CHINESE PEOPLE'S ANTI-US WAR MUSEUM

Address: No.7 Shanshang Road, Zhenxing District, Dandong, China

Back in March, I visited Dandong (丹东), a city in Northern China that borders North Korea.  In fact, from this city you can look across the river directly into North Korea.  As one might expect, Dandong has a mix of both Chinese and Korean culture that makes it a unique place to visit.  Here, you can visit restaurants owned and run by North Korea, see vehicles drive directly between North Korea and China on one of the only bridges to link the two countries, and hear citizens speaking both Chinese and Korean. 

One place of note is the "Chinese People's Anti-US War Museum", a museum dedicated to China's efforts to fight off America and support North Korea during the Korean War.  As an American living in South Korea, it was interesting to see another perspective of the war. 

Perhaps the most glaring observation of my visit: Aside from a few banners written in Korean, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO KOREAN WRITTEN ANWHERE IN THE MUSEUM.  All descriptions are written in Chinese and English only.  One can quickly conclude that this museum is strictly meant as a message for Americans and local Chinese and was not constructed in any way to reach out and show North Korea support.

Below are a glimpse of what lies inside this museum:

Despite this sign promoting the relationship between China and North Korea, notice that there is no Korean written anywhere on the sign:

The Below photo shows perhaps the only Korean Hangeul shown anywhere in the museum:

[hanjanamja]

While studying Hanja this week I came across a reference to a fun little Korean tale.  Here is a link to a video of the story, titled 흥부와 놀부 (Heongbu and Nolbu). 

In short, it tells the story of  two brothers, one greedy and one very kind.  The video also has quite simple Korean which makes it great for practicing your Korean listening skills. 

[hanjanamja]

THE GUEST BY HWANG SOK-YONG (KOREAN LITERATURE)

The second book I finished this March was "The Guest" by Hwang Sok-yong (translated by Kyung-Ja Chun and Maya West).  This is another piece of Korean literature that is largely based on actual events but is essentially a novel. 

The Guest is not a novel for a lazy day on the beach.  It is deep, often gruesome, sometimes shocking, and will hit you at the heart.  In the Novel, Reverend Yosop takes a sponsored trip back to North Korea to hopefully connect with his relatives.  In doing so, he is met by the ghosts of his brother, uncle, and countless other victims of the Korean War. 

Through the stories of these ghosts, we get a depiction of the events that occurred during the war from a variety of points of view.  In Yosop's hometown, a 52-day massacre occured that pit friend against friend, brother against brother, and countryman against countryman.  Initially blamed on the American troops, it was truly a civil war style battle between the Korean Christians and the Communist "Reds".

The themes in this story are ones that continue to appear in each Korean novel I read, including:

Religion - While the main character is Christian, many of the points of view told in the story also come from the opposing non-religious views of the times. This book by no means tries to push a religious view on the reader, but challenges the beliefs and faith of both religious and non-religious individuals.  With the very gruesome depictions of the massacre, I challenge any reader not to reconsider what role (both good and bad) religion plays in a person's life.

Family and Shame - One family member's actions do not affect him alone. This has never been made more evident than in this novel. An entire family can live in shame and despair even if they themsleves are upstanding and heartfelt individuals. Additionally, this shame can last a lifetime.

Inner turmoil - So much of our mind can be controlled by struggles we are afraid to express or share. Until we face those 'ghosts' and take control of those feelings, even if they are brought on by others, we may never move on fully from our past..

[hanjanamja]

KOREAN TRAVEL - THE CALLIGRAPHER'S DAUGHTER BY EUGENIA KIM

In reading Korean literature, I’ve recently discovered the value in being able to visit many of the sites that come up as a setting in the books.  One chapter in this novel is set in Changdeokgung Palace and the Secret Garden.

In this particular part of the book, the daughter of the family, Najin, is visiting the princess of Korea at the time.  She talks about a private moment she had to talk gossip with Princess Deokhye (the Gwangmu Emperor’s last child) without the watchful eyes of the guards, as well as a brief and humorous encounter she had with one of the guards while walking to the Secret Garden. 

Having visited the palace just days before reading this chapter, I felt the story truly come to life.  Chandeokgung Palace is one of my favorite historical sites in Seoul.  And as Spring is upon us, the Secret Garden portion of the palace would be perfect to visit at this time to see the Spring blossoms. 

For details on how to get to the palace and tour times (I did the English tour when I visited and found it very worthwhile), see the website below:

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264348

If you are going to visit the palace or have visited the palace, “The Calligrapher’s Daughter” is a great book to give you a glimpse into the way of life inside the palace in the early 1900s.

[hanjanamja]

THE CALLIGRAPHER'S DAUGHTER BY EUGENIA KIM (KOREAN LITERATURE)

The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim was a book I stumbled upon while glancing through my Recommended readings on Amazon.  Safe to say, I'm quite happy I decided to buy it. 

While this book is a novel, it is based off of the life of the author's mother growing up during the Japanese Occupation in Korea.  The main character, a young girl without a name, is the daughter of a long line of calligrapher's.  The novel follows her life, as well as her family's life, from 1915 to 1945. 

There are several themes in this book that are prevalent throughout each chapter:

1. Traditional vs. Modern - There is a great struggle between the children and the parents in this book.  The father especially feels a duty to carry on the family legacy in calligraphy, while the children desire to follow their own paths in life.  Each character struggles with how to balance both their own desires and those of their family.  As the traditional values on calligraphy and the classics fade in the new generation, each family member must consider the importance in keeping these traditions alive.

2. Gender - The daughter in the story, who is later given the name Najin after her mother's hometown, does not fit well into the expected roles of women in her time.  She desires education and becoming a nurse, and fights for many years to avoid marriage and a life as a housewife. She longs to travel to America and experience the world.

3. Keeping a Korean Identity - Under Japanese occupation, the characters fight hard to maintain their Korean traditions, language, names, and culture.  While some of the "Western" practices and ideals are brought in by the Japanese, Najin and her family must consider the consequences of adding these practices into their own lives.  Despite the desire and appeal of these Western practices, Najin especially struggles with how it may affect her parents and family pride.

4. Religion - Najin's family in the story is Christian. Her mother especially feels very strongly about her faith. However, Najin struggles with her faith from the beginning of the book to the very last chapter. It is mostly an inner struggle that she feels ashamed to outwardly express.  I found this theme in the book especially important and valuable, as it is something many people of faith are afraid to talk about.  As someone who went through some similar realizations about religion, I enjoyed following Najin's inner thoughts throughout the book.

Overall, this book was easily the most enlightening and impactful book I have read this year.  Despite having finished it a few weeks ago, I still think about the characters in the book and mull over the themes discussed above and how they relate to my own life.

[hanjanamja]

HANJA IN SEOUL (KOREA TRAVEL)

Whilst out and about in Korea, you can spot quite a lot of Hanja.  This is especially true in historical areas of the city.  While this totem appears quite new, it is a symbol of the history of totem poles in Korea. 

In Korean culture, totem poles generally had the following purposes:

marking boundaries of a village or area

protection against evil spirits/demons

points of worship and prayer for Koreans

  The below totem can be seen at the Folk Museum in Seoul, which is next to the Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁):

The Hanja characters on the pole reads:

靜      정

界      계

大      대

將      장

軍      군

  靜界  (정계) can likely be translated to 'peaceful area'. 

大將軍 (대장군) would be translated to 'general'.  These three characters show up on many male totem poles.

My guess is this was a totem that represented the boundary of an area or village. 

[hanjanamja]

NORTH KOREAN KOREAN vs. SOUTH KOREAN KOREAN

In my recent trip to Dandong (丹东）， China, I explored a few different North Korean restaurants and sites along the border.  In talking with a North Korean staff member at the Korean restaurant and viewing signs written in Korean, I began to notice a few differences from learning Korean in South Korea.

The most striking contrast is the fact that the two countries use completely different words to refer to the language itself:

South Korean’s refer to Korean as: 한국말 or 한국어 (Hangukmal)

North Korean’s refer to Korean as: 조선말 or 조선어  (Joseonmal)

Joseon comes from the Joseon dynasty (1392-1897), which was a very important period in Korean history and was when the Hangeul alphabet was created. 

I first realized this when I asked the waitress at the North Korean restaurant to speak in Korean.  As she is used to greeting visitors in Chinese, she first spoke to me in Chinese.  I used the South Korean word for ‘Korean’ to ask if I could speak in Korean.  When she looked at me puzzled after repeating several times, I simply just started speaking in Korean and all was fine.  

________________________________________________________

Another difference?  South Korean has quite a lot of Konglish.  That is, words taken directly from English but changed slightly to match Korean phonetics. 

North Korean, on the other hand, does not use much English.  I asked my Korean teacher about this recently and she suggested that North Korean has more borrowed words from Russian. 

However, there were a few Konglish words I recognized on Korean signs, but where spelt differently than the same word in South Korea.  For example, the word television is written as follows:

South Korean:  텔레비전

North Korean:   태래비죤

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The word for “friend” is also different in the two countries. 

South Korea: 친구 (Chingu)

North Korea: 동무 (dongmu)

Apparently, 동무 was used all over Korea in the past, but in the South it is now only used to refer to ‘comrade” rather than ‘friend.”

[hanjanamja]

KOREA IN CHINA (RECENT TRAVELS)

In early March, I took a short trip to explore Korean communities and historical sites in Northern China.  My travels took me to Dalian (大连)， Dandong (丹东）， and Shenyang (沈阳）. 

Dalian lies on the coast of the Yellow Sea and is just an hour flight from Seoul.  Given it's close proximity, it has a pretty large Korean population.  Korean restaurants and stores can be seen scattered throughout the city.

Dandong lies right on the border to North Korea.  From the riverbank of Dandong, you can look out over the river to North Korea.  Much of the stores, restaurants, and signs in the city also include Korean.  The city also has a museum dedicated the China's efforts in the Korean War, somewhat humorously titled the "Anti-US War Museum" or the "Museum of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression".  It also hosts a few North Korean-run restaurants which includes North Korean staff members.  In some locations, you are also able to view North Korean television broadcasts (which were still airing Olympics while I was there even a week after their completion). 

Shenyang has a very lively and busy Korean Town located in the heart of the city.  It is complete with several Korean restaurants, a few Jimjilbangs (Korean saunas), and some Korean chain stores and cafes (Lotteria, Angel-in-us Coffee).  It also has quite an excellent memorial to the individuals in China affected by attacks from Japan in the early 1900's (which had a similar historical focus to the museum located at Seodaemun in Seoul that accounts similar events in relation to Japan in the 1900's).

I will post a few entries on each site I visited, as well as some information I gathered on the differences between the Korean language as spoken in South Korea and in North Korea. 

[hanjanamja]

LEVEL 8 HANJA (COMPLETED)

Below you will find the links to all the LEVEL 8 Hanja categories I have organized: 

ORDER                       (2 한자)

LIFE                            (1 한자)

HOUSE                        (2 한자)

SIZE                             (4 한자)

COLOR (PART 2)        (2 한자)

COUNTRY                    (7 한자)

TIME                             (3 한자)

WOMAN                        (1 한자)

SCIENCE                      (6 한자)

FAMILY                         (4 한자)

EDUCATION                 (3 한자)

DIRECTION                  (4 한자)

NUMBERS                    (11 한자)

TOTAL CHARACTERS = 50 한자

Soon I will be adding a few Level 8 worksheets for practicing the first 50 characters.  When they are available I will post them here. 

[hanjanamja]

ORDER - 순서 - 順序 (LEVEL 8)

Our final Level 8 hanja characters are:

先    먼저   선      First; Before

寸    마디   촌      Degree; Degree of kinship; joint

I’ve put these characters under the title of “order” as order is a major aspect of our everyday life.  As humans, we work hard to understand the world and put each aspect of our lives into order. 

In Korea, there are very distinct structures for ordering life and their surroundings.  As was already mentioned in several parts of the Level 8 Hanja, there is a clear order for family and society.  先 can be seen in such Korean words as 선생님 (teacher) and 선배 (a senior, superior, or elder). 

As 先 means first, Koreans have a few different ways of saying first:

먼저

우선 (于先), which uses the Hanja character 先.

처음 (usually used as 처음의, 처음에는, or 처음으로)

일단

I have heard the first three used quite often in a variety of settings.  일단 I have not heard used as much and haven’t seen come up in early Korean grammar at the beginner or intermediate level.

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As for 寸 (마디 촌), it is most clearly used when showing degrees of kinship.  It is used in such words as:

三寸 (삼촌; uncle; relative in the 3rd degree)

四寸 (사촌; cousin; relative in the 4th degree). 

[hanjanamja]

LIFE - 생 - 生 (LEVEL 8)

生   날  생    Life

You will find this Level 8 Hanja character in quite a lot of commonly used Korean words.  Most of them come in references to the title of a person in society.  Here are several examples below that use other Level 8 Hanja characters as well:

先生  (선생)   -  Teacher

學生  (학생)   -  Student

中學生  (중학생)  - Middle-School Student

人生  (인생)   -  one's life

[hanjanamja]

THE HEN WHO DREAMED SHE COULD FLY - 마당을 나온 암탉 - by Hwang Sun-mi (황선미)

I recently finished reading "The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly" by Hwang Sun-mi.  I bought the book at the 10 Magazine Book Club Event with the author last month. 

The book is a fast read and keeps you thinking from the first to the last page.  I really identified with the Hen and her little duckling (yes, you read that right).  I laughed, I hoped, I contemplated, and I cried.  It really is a beautiful story about fighting for your dreams and letting go of things beyond our control. 

In short, it is a story of a hen who dreams of leaving the coop to live like the other animals on the farm.  When she escapes from the coop, she quickly comes face to face with the outside world.  A world that is both free and yet full of dangers, she struggles to raise a duckling as her own and protect it from the predators lurking in the wild. 

This story really spoke to me because it reminded me of my life in Korea and my family back home.  One major theme in the story is the fact that a hen cannot fly while a duck can fly.  Having delayed my own inner desire to live abroad for a long time partly due to my closeness with my family, I finally fully realized those dreams in 2011 when I moved to Korea.  As with the hen in the story, it took time for my mother to come to terms with having a desire for me to be home yet also understanding my almost innate need to be abroad and "spread my wings". 

Upon completion, I recommended the book to my mother and she has downloaded it to her kindle and has started reading it as well.  I'm curious to see what her response to the story is and if she comes to the same conclusions as I did while reading the story. 

[hanjanamja]

HOUSE - 집 - 家 (LEVEL 8)

There are two characters related to house or home in Level 8:

門    문    문    gate; door

室    집    실    room

Both characters are used commonly in Korean. 

門 (문) is used in many words related to door, gate, or an opening (i.e. window; 창문, 窓門)  The original Hanja character you will see at the entrance of any palace or portion of a palace.  The below photo I took recently at 창덕궁 (Changdeok Palace)

The characters above are 宣平門 (선평문; Seonpyeongmun).  Notice that the characters are read from right to left.  When reading Chinese, one can find writing going from left to right, right to left, or top to bottom.

This gate leads to the Queen's quarters, which is raised up higher than the nearby areas and was accessible by the King through a side entrance not visible to outsiders. 

室 (실) can be seen in a variety of words related to a room.  The most common example?  化粧室 (화장실), or bathroom.