This week, I met with my language learning partner, Branda, we talked about the learning goal, plans, and started my Korean lessons. During the class, we started with the most basic daily conversation, how to introduce myself in Korean, the Korean alphabet, and some part of Korean culture.
I found some similarity between Korean and Japanese, both languages have a formal style and an informal style. We started with 안녕하세요 the formal way of saying hello and 안녕 the informal way. In both languages, people say something before they start to eat such as いただきます(i ta da ki ma su) and 잘먹겠습니다 (jal muk get sseub ni da). During the class, Brenda taught me the basic introduction, such as 저는 샘입니다 (juh neun Sem eep nee da) I am Sam, 저는 중국 사람입니다 (juh neun joong gook sa ram eep nee da), I am Chinese, 배고파 (bae go pa) I am hungry, 저는 학생입니다 (Juh neun hak saeng eep ne da) I am a student, 고맙습니다 (go map seup nee da) Thank you- formal and 고마워 (go ma wuh) thank you – informal.
We went over the Korean alphabet, at first, I thought Korean alphabet is similar to Japanese hiragana, but it turns out to be very different. Different alphabet can be put together and become a word with a different sound. I started with the 가, 나, 다, 라, 마, 바, 사, 아, 자, 차, 카, 타, 파, 하
(ga, na, da, la, ma, ba, sa, ah, ja, cha, ka, ta, pa, ha). I am memorizing the alphabet through a equivalent ABC song in English. I am also practicing writing the alphabet and I still need to work on the writing part.
Korean and Japanese has similar grammar structure, so I think the grammar is going to be easier for me to learn. However, the pronunciation might be the most difficult part of my Korean learning. Chinese is a tonal language and it has a lot of R, L, and N sounds, but in Korean I need to omit these sounds. During the class, Brenda and I had to contently go over the same words in order to correct my pronunciation.
We also made some study plan, to help me to learn Korean, we will watch some Korean movies and dramas to familiarize Korean pronunciation. Because I am a Finance Major and I am very interested in Finance industry and economy in Asia, we will read some financial articles from Korea to learn specialized jargon and learn about Korean Economy. I am really interested in the last economic depression that happened in Korea and I am looking forward to learn it
Replies