The task that I am currently working on is learning the specifics of Korean grammar and some special rules that affect the pronunciation of words. Specifically, I am learning about 받침(batchim), which means the pedestal of a character. The 받침 delves into how the last letter of a character can drastically change how a character sounds in conjunction with another character. This is especially important because this sound can overlap or replace the sound in the following word. This sometimes gives the appearance of a fluid motion through the word rather than it being choppy. Initially, I learned that each character in Hangul consists of a consonant and a vowel, and sometimes another consonant. However, I recently learned that the pedestal, or ending consonant, can be a double consonant, which is a combination of consonants. This is common is American English with combinations such as ‘th’ or ‘ch’. In Korean some examples of double consonants are ㄳ, ㄵ, ㅄ, ㄼ, ㄺ, ㄾ. Although these double consonants seem intimidating to a novice language learner, my language partner explained that the Korean language and grammar is very logical. The first part of a double consonant is voiced in the first character, and the second in the next. However, this set of rules is followed by some exceptions in that it depends on the consonants found in the next character. There are many rules for batchim and double consonants that are affected by the letter ‘ㅎ’.
In addition to these basic grammar rules, I am also learning about introduction to verbs and tenses through particles. These particles are not useful alone but are additives necessary for sentence construction, which is one of my main goals in learning Korean this semester. Being able to understand particles effectively is crucial to being able to voice original ideas in sentences because they can add plurality, opinion, ownership, direction, and time to a sentence.
To practice the batchim, double consonants, and particles, Somyung gave me several worksheets to work through as well as several YouTube videos that go over particles in an introductory fashion. This is quite a lot to memorize so I am not sure if I can remember everything in a week but I should be able to apply these rules over time as I learn more words that need such rules for pronunciation.
Along with these grammar rules and particles, I learned a variety of words during my session on Monday. These words mainly came from the topic of animals. There are too many animals to go over but using animals is fantastic for a visual learner like me since I can relate the animal easily to the word, making memorization simple. Most animals also have simple work construction so that will give me a chance to practice writing some Hangul.
I am eager to learn more Korean words but the grammar seems complicated at the moment. The list of exceptions is not as complex as English but learning Korean can still get tough when dealing with a combination of syntax and pronunciation. I can currently sound out most words albeit slowly, even if I have not seen them before, so that is encouraging!
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