This week, my language partner and I went over a couple of grammar points to address some more complex sentences. We covered two endings ‘고 들었다’ and ‘지만’. The first refers to what someone has said previously in the conversation or something you heard someone else say a while ago. For example, in the conversation we practiced about the semester and classes, the sentence ‘I heard accounting classes are difficult’ came up. In Korean, this is ‘회계수업은 어렵다고 들었어요’. I was confused when we first read it because I thought the particle ‘고’ meant ‘as well’ and I didn’t see anything additional being added in the sentence. When I asked Jenna about it, she said that the ‘고’ in this context is referring to what someone has previously said. That’s how the ‘as well’ factors in by adding what someone has said to what you’re currently saying.
The particle ‘지만’ means ‘even though’ when added to the first part of a sentence making the second part contradictory. For example, if I was hungry even though I ate, I would say ‘밥을 먹었지만 배고파요’. ‘지만’ can also be used for ‘but’ in a sentence with the same placement as before. The translation to English switches the phrases, so this can be a bit confusing at first. If I wanted to read a book, but I didn’t have time, I would say ‘첵을 읽고 싶지만 시간이 없어요.’ This directly translates to, ‘I want to read a book, even though I don’t have time', but it can be understood in the same format as the first sentence.
After practicing some sentences using these two particles/endings, I decided to watch a video from Talk To Me In Korean about some conversational phrases that I thought would be helpful to know. In this video (linked below), viewers sent in questions about grammar, phrases, or anything else related to Korean for the teachers to answer. For the section I focused on, the question was how to say ‘let me think’ when someone asks you a question. There are a couple of answers to this depending on the use of self-speech (I wrote about this in my last post). If you look away from the other person and direct the phrase ‘let me see’ to yourself, you would say ‘어디보자...’. Before this video, I’d only known the word ‘어디’ to mean ‘where’. It was interesting to see the same word carry a different meaning when used in another context. Another phrase that can be used similarly is ‘글세요’ which is ‘let me see’ or ‘I’m not sure’. If you want to speak directly to the person who asked you the question, you can say ‘생각 점 해볼게요’ which literally means ‘I will think a little more’.
My language partner and I have covered a lot this semester, and I think I’ve been progressing with my understanding of the language. My weakest link is keeping up practice when I’m not actively receiving formal instruction. As I am graduating this semester, I will continue studying Korean on my own through the online resources I’ve utilized thus far. Patience is really important when learning a language, especially one that’s so different from your native one. I’ve learned a lot about how I retain vocabulary and remember grammar structures through this program, so I can use that knowledge in my further studies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phy0n8CB9Vc
Comments
Amazing post! It is good to see that you understood those you have learned. I totally understand the confusion you had while learning, since Korean is very different from your native language. As a leaner whose native language is also an asian language, it is relatively easier for me to understand those points. But I think as long as being exposed more to the target language, you will gain a good language sense and will be able to understand those points that are hard to explain. You can try watch some K-dramas, movies or variety shows.
Hi Christi, I'm so happy to know that you've progressed a lot! The grammar structures are confusing to me too, so I'm glad you figured it out. The YouTube channel you mentioned looks so interesting and helpful. I'll check it out for my future language learning.