SDLC 113 Biweekly Language Learning Post #8

[June Choi]

June Choi

Dr. Soloway

SDLC 113

April 26, 2020

 

SDLC 113 Biweekly Language Learning Journal Post #8

 

            For the past two weeks, Jimin and I maintained our weekly videochat lessons and covered a variety of topics, including current political issues, grammar, and watching Korean dramas. As for political issues, I learned that April l5th was the voting day for the Korean Members of the National Assembly. The Korean National Assembly is made up of 300 seats, 253 of which are “지역구,” or District Assembly Members. Those members are then further divided into groups of 163 seats for the “더불어주민당,” 84 seats for the “미래통합당,” 1 seat for the “정의당,” and 5 seats for the “무수속.” 47 of the 300 seats are given to the proportional representation assembly that are experts in diverse areas. Again, these 47 seats are divided into groups of 19 seats for the “미래통합당,” 17 seats for the “더불어민주당,” 5 seats for the “정의당,” 3 seats for the “국민의석,” and 3 seats for the “열린민주당.” These different groups  are basically different political groups, just like the Democratic and Republican groups of the US. This voting day was a rather important event for Korea as it was the first ever voting day to occur in the whole world after the COVD19 pandemic started. I thought that learning about this voting day was a great way to expand my knowledge of Korean politics and also to add more complex political words to my vocabulary. It was interesting to learn about the different political groups in Korea and to compare them to those in the US.

            Jimin and I also went over the 6^th anniversary of Sewol-ho “세월호,” which was a national tragedy for Korea on April l6th of 2014. This tragedy involved the sinking of a ferry headed to Jeju Island that resulted in the death of 304 passengers, nonetheless countless missing passengers. Many of the passengers aboard were high school seniors embarking on their celebratory senior trip as is common in Korea. Koreans used a yellow ribbon as a symbol for hope for return of the missing passengers at the time. I remember when this was all happening in the year of 2014, and it was just so tragic of an event that it left most of Korea and Korean Americans, especially, just speechless. I knew of the high school that had sent its senior students on the ferry, as I had lived near that high school while I was in Korea several years ago.

On a brighter note, some grammar that Jimin and I went over included the importance of specific spacing between words in order to portray the correct intended meaning. One example was “아버지가 방에 들어가신다” vs “아버지 가방에 들어가신다.” This shows that one misplaced syllable due to spacing can completely change the meaning of a sentence. Additionally, I learned of the 6 grammatical rules below:

 

1. 문장에서 각 낱말은 띄어 쓴다.
   1. 낱말이란 뜻을 가지고 홀로 쓰일 수 있는 말의 가장 작은 단위이다.
   2. 나물좀줘 -> 나 물 좀 줘
2. 조사는 앞의 명사에 붙여 씁니다.
   • . 조사란 명사(noun)뒤에 붙는 말로 Tommy가, Ellie를, 수업이, 선생님이다 와 같은 말입니다.
3. 의존 명사는 띄어 씁니다.
   • . 의존 명사란 문장에서 혼자 쓰일 수 없고 그 앞에 꾸며 주는 말이 있어야 하는 명사를 말합니다.

1. 예시: 할 수 있다, 아는 것이 힘이다.

4. 숫자를 세는 단위를 나타내는 말도 띄어 씁니다.
   • . 사람 열 명, 신발 한 켤레, 개 세 마리, 사탕 두 개, 만 원
5. 두 말을 이어 주거나 나열할 때 쓰이는 말들은 띄어 씁니다.
   • . 한국 대 일본, 사과, 배, 귤 등, 선생님 및 학생
6. 본용언과 보조용언은 띄어 쓰는 것이 원래 규칙입니다.
   • . 용언: Subject의 상태를 표현하는 verb나 adjective
     • 본용언: 혼자 쓰일 수 있다 (읽고, 춥지, 꺼져, 아는)
     • 보조용언: 혼자 쓰일 수 없다. 본용언 뒤에 붙어서 본용언에 뜻을 더해준다. (싶다, 않다, 간다, 척한다)

1. 책을 읽고 싶다, 날씨가 춥지 않다, 불이 꺼져 간다, 잘 아는 척한다.

 

Overall, I thought that learning these 6 grammatical rules were very helpful in my everyday writing and speaking, for they are widely applicable. As my college career comes to an end, I hope to continue conversing with Jimin as a friend and also as a tutor/student.