#korean 101

[s-hhs-sw]

It’s bad that my first original post is this late in the semester. But at least I’m trying to get my life together sooner rather than later. I believe in myself to stay loyal to this plan!!

[alltheothersarealreadytaken]

사자성어 #1

First of all, what is a 사자성어?

If you are familiar with Korean (and if that's not the case you are about to learn something new) 60~70% of the Korean language is based on chinese words. Why so? Until the invention of the Korean alphabet (한글) Koreans used chinese characters (한자) to write anything, strongly influencing the language (same happend with english and latin). This is also why Korean has 2sets of numbers or several words to express a similar or identical meaning in different contexts (ex: 물/수 water, 불/화 fire etc). And 사자성어 are another "evidence" of this relation between the two languages. They are expression constructed using 한자 that can convey in a couple of characters a longer message. They could be compared to acronyms (ex: aka,asap,lol) but more complex.

This is going to be the first post, and hopefully, in the future I'll be able to cover them all (there 1000+ PRAY FOR ME).

1. 가가대소 [呵呵大笑] 껄껄 크게 소리내어 웃음 (laughing heartily)

예문: 그 소문을 듣자마자 가가대소했다

2. 가가호호 [ 家家戶戶] 집집마다 every house

예문: 가가호호를 찾아다니면서 가출했던 딸을 찾아냈다.

3. 가급인족 [家給人足] 집집마다 먹고 사는 것에 부족함이 없이 넉넉함 general wealth

예문:집집마다 넉넉하고 사람마다 풍족하다는 가급인족도 입춘첩에 잘 등장하는 말이다.

4. 사가망처 [徙家忘妻] 이사를 갈 때 아내를 잊고 두고 간다는 뜻으로, 무엇을 잘 잊음을 비유적으로 이르는말. Forget about something important and leave it behind.

예문: 사가망처 말은 중요한 일을 놓치거나 소중한 것을 잃어것을 비유한 뜻이다.

5. 사고무친 [四顧無親] 사방을 둘러보아도 만한 사람이 없음 having no one to turn to

예문: 고향에 떠니서 사고무친으로 시작하지만 점차 친구도 생기고 단골집도 생기고 하다보면 의지할 곳도 생기고 익숙해지는것같다.

And I'm done for today 😵

[bluejaee]

Romanized Korean in Kpop Fanfics

I get it. Sometimes when you’re writing a Kpop fanfic, you want to make the experience as authentic for the reader as possible. And what better way to do that than to throw the occasional Korean in here and there?

Romanized Korean is great; there are certain colloquial things in Korean that you just can’t translate into English. So yes, all the power to you writers out there using romanized Korean - kudos to you for trying to incorporate another language into your writing in a way that makes your story flow more naturally in a certain cultural setting. But are you doing it correctly?

I can’t tell you how much I cringe when I find a well-written fic and am enjoying it… when the author drops some misused romanized Korean smack in the middle. For those of you scrunching their noses at this post and thinking, “What’s the big deal? It’s just a fic. Just ignore it.” I’d like to point out that yes it is slightly insulting when someone misuses your language, acts like it’s not a big deal, and continues to misuse your language even if they may or may not know that they are misusing it.

So to spread awareness on using proper romanized Korean, I am uploading this post to share several common mistakes that fanfic writers tend to make.

Hope you find this helpful!

[-AH/-YAH]

- “Jongin-yah”x “Hwasa-ah”× - Can you tell me why these are wrong? - If these sound right to you, you are probably not using these suffixes correctly. - RULE: -ah is used with names that end in a consonant sound while -yah is used with names that end in a vowel sound. - RULE: you should only use -ah/-yah when directly addressing someone. - “Jungkook-ah, we really need to hang out sometime!“ - “Hani-yah, let’s go study at the library later today.”  - NEVER use these suffixes in the object form/to refer to someone. - “Did our Sungmin-ah sleep well last night?”x  - "I was with Sunny-yah at the club yesterday.“x

[JAGI]

- Personally, I dislike seeing ‘jagi’ in fanfics because it does translate into ‘Honey’ or ‘Sweetheart’ and other similar terms of endearment. But if you must use it for whatever reason, make sure you’re using it correctly! - “Our jagi-yah looks so cute today!”x - “Is our jagi-yah sick?”x - This is such a common mistake. - As in the previous lesson, ‘jagi’ ends with a vowel sound, therefore the appropriate ending is? Yup. -Yah. - So why is the above example wrong? - As in the previous lesson, you should ONLY use -yah after ‘jagi’ when you are directly addressing someone and not commenting on their appearance/condition/etc. - “Jagi-yah, let’s go eat something yummy today~” - “I bought a pretty necklace for our jagi.”

[-IE]

- “I went on a date with Suhoie-ah yesterday.”x - That actually killed me to type. - RULE: Unlike -ah/-yah, you can use -ie in the object form/to refer to someone and to comment on someone’s appearance/condition/etc. - RULE: Only use -ie if the name ends with a consonant sound. - “Have I ever introduced you to Sebomie?” - “Jiminie performed so well on stage today.” - “Did you get Youngjaeie’s number?”x - NEVER use -ie and -ah/-yah together - “Kim Soohyunie-yah is my kdrama crush!”x - Just. No. - NEVER use the suffixes -ah/-yah outside of Kpop fanfics.  -ie is okay. - For example, when commenting on a music video: - “Sehunie is so good looking” is perfectly fine. - “Kihyun-ah sings so well!” is not since you’re commenting on a quality of his and not directly addressing him.

[ANNYEONG/UMMA/ETC.]

- “Annyeong! Jeoneun Irene ibnida!”x - Lit. Translated: “Hello! I am Irene!” - Bottom line is, if you can translate directly into English, I implore you to stay away from romanized Korean. - You might as well just type your whole story in Korean if you’re going to use romanized Korean so heavily. - “Umma, how have you been?“x - Lit. Translated: "Mom, how have you been?” - PLEASE DON’T USE SARANGHAEYO IN YOUR FIC OR I WILL FIND YOU AND- - ahem - Sorry.  It needed to be said. - Honestly speaking, using romanized Korean in your fics isn’t completely necessary.  If your story setting is in Korea and the majority of your characters are Korean, then it’s assumed that they are speaking Korean even though you’re writing in English.  You don’t see professional Dramafever subtitles using -ah/-yah or oppa in their subs do you?

Anywaaaaaays happy fanfic writing and I hope this wasn’t too confusing :)

Note: I am Korean

[coffeecpa]

If you know anyone who's trying to learn Korean, please let me know 😊i've learned the basic vowels and consonants by watching the 7 episodes of korean class 101 on youtube ((:

[eylaniii]

Basic Korean Words

Saw these cute chibi/fan arts while searching for some cute stuffs! Kwiyeoweo~

And decided to post this since these are the common words we hear in Korean dramas. Hihi!

Aigoo -  A word used to show frustration. The Korean equivalent of "aw man!" or "geez”.

Andwae -  Korean word meaning "no way," usually used in moments of disbelief, shock, fear, or defiance.

Annyeong -  The word annyeong is used in Korean meaning hello, bye, hi.

Chukhahaeyo - This means “Congratulations!.

Daebak -  It means jackpot, big success, originally. But now people also use it when they are surprised/shocked as exclamation. It can't be also used in sarcastic way.

Eonnie -  It means a woman's 'older sister'; a man's older sister is noona. Eonnie is also used by women to mean an older 'female cousin' or 'female friend'.

Eotteoke - Translated to “How” , “What should I do?”, “What can I do?”

Heol -  This Korean slang term doesn't necessarily have a meaning. It's mostly used to express a mild shock or surprise and at times disappointment.

Hwaiting - It  is a Korean word of support or encouragement. It is frequently used in sports or whenever a challenge such as a difficult test or unpleasant assignment is met. It derives from a Konglish misuse of the English word "Fighting!"

Jjinja -  There is a slight difference. 진짜/ Jinjja is typically translated to mean "real, really, reality, actuality, genuine" 정말/ jeongmal - is translated to "true, truth, truly.

Kwenchana - Translated as, “I am okay”.

Mianhae - An informal way of saying “Sorry”.

Omo -  It's an interjection expressing surprise as in: Oh my goodness! or Gosh! OMG! Be careful, it is. The closest translation to “omo” would be something like “Oh gosh.”

Oppa -  It means "older brother," oppa is a term used by girls when speaking to guys. "Oppa" is also loosely used to flirt and show affection for an older guy not related to a girl.

Saranghaeyo - Informal yet polite way of saying “I love you.”

Credits go to the rightful owner of these fan arts, and oh, thanks Google!

[hallyuplanet]

Korean 101 Lesson Plan

I came across the syllabus for Korean 101 at Queens College and found a resource that might be helpful to those who have trouble coming up with a self-study schedule.

If you are self-studying with KLEAR’s Integrated Korean series, you will appreciate that the instructor includes the answer key to the lessons in the workbook she assigns. 

If you’re not using Integrated Korean, I still suggest looking at each week and watching all the videos assigned. I found them to be quite helpful.

Here is the link to Korean 102 which uses Integrated Beginner II textbook and workbook. 

[alittlediarykorean]

Keep up to date and stay organized with new Korean lessons and content.

[alittlediarykorean]

One-Minute Korean: Words related to the eyes

Attempt to learn them in 1 minute!

The 100 days challenge…

I have completed a 100 days challenge that helped push myself to learn at least one new thing about the Korean language each day. If you would like to challenge yourself as well, start here >> I WANT TO TAKE THE CHALLENGE!

(This is a challenge that serves as a guide for learning Korean. It is a challenge for yourself and there is no guarantee for anything by taking the challenge.)

Wishing you success in mastering Korean, Anna