Zero To Gangnam

Living and working in South Korea, and here to share everything I know. Ask me anything, anytime.

[doublism]

i fucking love taking the bus for real. the only thing i love more than taking the bus is taking the train. choo choo am i right. i think most human distress can be alleviated by listening to dramatic music on public transportation.

[ggkorean]

88년생이면 너 영어 잘하지 않아? if you were born in ‘88 are you not good at English? • –년생 born in • 이다 to be • -(으)면 if • 너 you (informal) • 영어 English • 잘하다 to be good • -지 않다 to not be

뭐 듣기는 거의 다 가능하고요… I can understand most things… • 뭐 what (in this case it means “well…”) • 듣다 to hear • -기 changes verb into noun • -은/는 topic marking particle • 거의 almost • 다 all • 가능하다 possible, able • -고 and

말이… 쪼오끔… speaking is… a little… • 말 words • -이/가 subject marking particle • 조금 a little

내가 보기엔 한국말도 서툴러요 지금!!! from what I see you’re even unskilled at Korean right now! • 나 I (informal) • -이/가 subject marking particle • 보다 to see • -에 location marking particle • 한국말 Korean language • -도 too, also, as well • 서툴다 clumsy, unskilled • 지금 right now

모든 게 얼떨떨한 신입 알바생 bewildered by everything newbie part-timer • 모든 every • 게 (것이) thing • 얼떨떨하다 bewildered, puzzled, upset • 신입 newcomer • 알바생 part time worker

[zero-to-gangnam]

I think I found the house to pin at the top of my vision board. Now let me tie my laces and go work a little harder for it. #bukchonhanokvillage #bukchon #seoul_official #visionboard #traditionalkoreanhouse #북촌한옥마을 (at Bukchon Hanok Village) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPgBGxJtPI1/?utm_medium=tumblr

[zero-to-gangnam]

Ttukseom library, Seoul

[safeplanetdweller]

library date?? coffee shop date??? museum date?? art gallery date?? stargazing date?? napping date?? picnic date??? yes

[zero-to-gangnam]

G. on TikTok

It's getting warmer again and I'm not sure how to feel about it. Will miss this 💕 #눈 #tiktokkorea #커플 #zuidkorea #fyp

Snow date in Korea? Not anymore.

[zero-to-gangnam]

With a record rise of covid cases in Korea and it being freezing, the best option is to watch the Show Me The Money 9 finale while drinking liters of honey ginger tea in pretty tea cups.

Rooting for LilBoi, but Layone's Yay performance lifted my mood.

[a-pop-of-korean]

Charts: Conjunctions and -아/어/여서 vs. -(으)니까

안녕 여러분! Hey everyone! Short lesson this week since finals are coming up – I just made some charts about different conjunctions to use! I also made one specifying the differences between -아/어/여서 and -(으)니까, which both mean “so” or “because”! I hope y’all enjoy them :)

Also keep in mind that these are just brief cheat sheets! If you want to know a little more about these structures, check out these lessons!

How to Say “And”

-지만 (However)

아/어/여서 (So…)

Also again! I used letsstudykorean.com’s post about -아/어/여서 and -(으)니까 to help me out with this, so I want to give credit where it’s due! Check out their post! :)

Feel free to ask any questions about these concepts if you have any! :) If you want to practice writing and reading Korean with others, join my Discord chat here and my Tumblr chat here!

Want to expand your Korean vocabulary and get closer to fluency? Get Drops Premium using my affiliate link!

If you would like to donate and support this blog and my studies, check out my Ko-Fi! Thank you for your generosity! See you next time! 다음에 봐요!

[zero-to-gangnam]

Most of the succesful working moms I have seen in Korea, either had their parents taking care of the child, or were rich enough to hire a nanny. And then it still remains a struggle to balance all expectations.

[walkingseoul]

Hi, I was just wondering if you know if it's easy to move to South Korea from another country for good? I have heard that it's kinda easy if u can find a good job there.. What do you think?

I do not know much about moving to another country for good, but one thing I know is that it will not be easy at all, South Korea or any other country. There are many logistics and obstacles to moving to another country, more than you would think. If you plan on moving abroad, you should maybe try living there temporarily first (i.e. On a student visa), especially if you have never been to that country. Finding a job is a whole other matter, the most common for South Korea is teaching English, but many people seem to like the idea of living in South Korea more than they want to be stuck in a classroom teaching English, so they often do a poor job or give up entirely.

I know there are a lot of bloggers and vloggers who have found new lives abroad and document it, but the the stories they put online are flowery, perfect versions of what they actually have to go through. I don’t want to discourage it, but you should not get the wrong idea, and definitely educate yourself properly before going.

[zero-to-gangnam]

Aah, vloggers in Korea and the misconceptions they spread.

I found a non-teaching job in Seoul and even though I matched all the criteria for a visa, it still took two tries and some serious convincing from both the company and me to get the visa from immigration. Getting a visa other than D-4 (language training) and E-2 (English teacher) is almost never easy. South Korea is not waiting for more immigration, so unless you marry your way into Korea, it will take time, effort and/or money to live here, unfortunately. Like @walkingseoul said, don't buy into the stories of vloggers and bloggers. Research, study Korean and working hard are your best options.

[zero-to-gangnam]

Time for something new! Practicing for barista. One cafe mocha down, 2738171 more americanos to go.

[flowerais-deactivated20211031]

a gentle reminder that you just need to make things a tiny bit better for your future self. reading one page, writing one sentence, getting half of a task done, it’s still good.

[thestudyingnightowl]

Stop glorifying unhealthy study habits

Because not enough are talking about this

A lot of people (not just langblr, studyblr too )have been glamorizing the way Asians study in certain countries as depicted on tv, news , various media sources. Saying oh they are working so hard for their goal and look how dedicated they are. Please stop. Seriously. My degree is in psychology and I focus on mental health. I’ve done research in Korea and continue to take psychology classes in korean about various issues (I’ve taken cultural psych, neuro psych 1&2, psych of happiness and I’m currently taking psychology of addiction). I’ve also extensively talked to high schoolers in Korea about this “dedicated study” and most of them said they were stressed to the point of having physical symptoms of being stressed out, almost half were depressed or showed symptoms of anxiety and I won’t even get into things like suicidal thoughts, actual suicide, self harm, eating disorders that are also happening in correlation to study related stress manifesting itself in other ways. This isn’t just Korea. I’ve read research (just not as extensive about the same happening in other Asian countries and even some western now and days) Why the heck are y’all out here trying to glorify something that is clearly unhealthy and causing other people harm? And then promoting it to your followers as something to “motivate them” ?

Getting into your dream school/ uni, becoming fluent in 2 month in a language, whatever is not worth it if you end up hating life, physically unhealthy or mentally ill as a result of it

Please reblog this because I think it’s so important **

[everydayanth]

I learned about tally marks yesterday!

(I cross mine from R to L, but Jake does his straight through)

I was watching a kdrama and they were tallying a vote and I was just like: 😍😍😍😍

Cus I’d never considered the cultural implications of tally marks. Lol, I just thought lines to five are lines to 5, ya know? Then I read the whole wiki page and now I want to learn more!

Are there other ways? How do you make tallies? Tell me moooooooore lol ^-^

[zero-to-gangnam]

I first noticed the different tally marks in Korea t a part-time job. They wanted me to add any extra orders to the list. I had no idea what it was and wrote down extra vertical sticks next to it like an idiot, messing up their notes 🤷‍♀️

[zero-to-gangnam]

Coming back to Tumblr after more than a year just to share this.

I encounter far too many girls in Korea looking for some 'cute Korean boy to marry', only to return back home majorly disappointed, thinking they had a stroke of bad luck. It's not about luck, it is about actually taking an interest in the culture and understanding the dynamics that are at play. Successful interracial couples definitely do exist in Korea, but they aways consist of two people making an effort to meet each other half-way in language, culture, tradition, ... 'Exotic' looks alone can get you at most a boy in a club with a checklist.

[koreanstudytips]

Question Words in Korean

어떻게 - How

얼마(나) - How much, How many

뭐 - What

무엇 - What

무슨 - What, Which

어떤 - What kind of

언제 - When 

어디 - Where

어느 - Which

누구 - Who

왜 - Why

[zero-to-gangnam]

My Bucket List (Korean musical)

Having had a difficult upbringing and no future to look forward to, Ganggu wants to die. With a tumor growing in his body, Haegi is dying. Together the unlikely duo works on their bucket list, ticking off all the things Haegi wants to do before he runs out of time.

———

In my excitement to dive straight into the Welcome Daehakro festival, I accidently booked a seat for one of the very few shows that doesn’t have English subtitles. Some basic Korean skills combined with a brilliant performance from the actors sufficed to have me gripped from the first til the last moment. If you have excellent Korean skills, I will advice you to bring a pack of tissues. The touching dialogues give even more depth to the story, my Korean speaking company told me, which was confirmed by the sniffling and sobs that would frequently emerge from the audience.

My Bucket List has been staged simultaneously in Korea, China and Japan for three consecutive years, but this run ends on September 15, so if you want to catch it this year you will have to hurry.

[zero-to-gangnam]

K-performance lovers,

I’ll be reporting for the Welcome Daehakro festival this year, which means I’ll happily share the talent that Daehakro has on display in the form of Korean musicals and other performances, as well as the area (highly recommend if you plan a visit to Seoul).

Welcome Daehakro also has a lot of performances for those with limited Korean skills, so don’t hesitate to ask!