For our first class meeting, we took a personality quiz and then discussed the Korean creature characters that we got that described our personalities. My character was a 몾찌떡 who was described as someone who likes to be in bed and read books. They also like to think a lot and are okay with being alone. They are a calm person or 차분한 사람. We then learned useful everyday vocabulary such as 오랜만(after a long time) or 같이(together). We then practiced using them in sentences for homework. The next class, we practiced our spelling by transcribing the shark song. We then learned specific descriptive verbs for different personalities and how to use them in describing people. Sharon는 활발해요(Sharon is extroverted).
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We are currently working on action items and on building sentences including the action we are taking, for example to work or to study. This, in addition to the things we have learned before, allows us to have short conversations with each other. We have also learned a lot of new vocabulary, including verbs, nouns, and descriptive words. I am hoping to be more confident in building sentences utilizing these words and structures by the end of the semester. Now that we only have two weeks left, I am really trying to learn as many new words as possible, so I can continue studying them after this semester is over. I have not tried any new learning strategies recently, but I feel confident in my learning and my skills have improved a lot. I just want to get in as many reps with my language partner as possible before the semester ends.
For the ninth meeting, we went to Grand Mart to order our food using Korean and to eat Korean food. I shared a Jjajangmyu (black bean noodles) and yookgaejang (spicy beef soup) with a friend, and they all tasted delicious. When ordering, we spoke politely to the cashier, saying “짜장면 하나랑 육계장 하나 주세요.”, which meant one jjangmyun and one yookgaejang, please. For our tenth meeting, we had a very relaxed class of speaking only in Korean. We sat outside of the library due to the nice weather, and we talked about how our week was in Korean. During the conversation, I realized how much I mixed english into daily Korean conversations, and it was slightly difficult at times. But overall, I thought this was a good practice, especially for talking to my family in Korea.
For our seventh meeting, we worked on reading comprehension and solving problems that were related to the readings. We read about two different topics, which were the history of the founding of Yonsei University in South Korea, and ancient Korean art. We learned that the founder of Yonsei University, which is considered one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea, was founded by an American missionary named Horace Grant Underwood, and how he fell in love with South Korea and its people. He dedicated his life to building education and Christianity within South Korea, and even during his death, he wished to go back to Korea. Now, he is buried in South Korea, and his legacy lives on in Yonsei University. We also read about two ancient Korean artworks, specifically the “Folding Screen with lotus flowers and birds” and “Irworobongdo”. The folding screen was a very popular gift from the parents to their sons, because it had a meaning of happy marriage and living a humble life. “Irworobongdo” was a painting that was always placed behind the King of the Joseon dynasty of South Korea. The name literally means the sun, moon, and the five mountains in Korea. The meaning behind the painting is that the king works hard during the day and night, and work to protect the country and its people like the five mountains. The amazing part of this painting is that there is a space in the center of the painting, and it is there for the king to sit in front of the painting to complete the painting. I thought it was really cool that the people thought of using a person to complete the painting, and shows how creative people were even back in the days.
For our fifth meeting, we learned about 삼일절, which is the March 1st movement that took place in 1919. We got to learn that March 1st is the day of resistance of Japanese imperialism rule, and our country would not be what it is today if it weren’t for the Korean patriots that sacrificed their lives for the nation. One of the most important individuals was Kwan-Sun Yu, who was was a Seventeen-year old girl that lost her parents to the Japanese soldiers during the revolution. She planned and led the demonstration, which led to her arrest. The Japanese threatened and tortured her to give up the resistance, but she stubbornly refused to do so. She passed away in her cell on September 28th, 1920, which was a few days before her release. We remember her and other on March 1st, which is now a national holiday, to give our thanks. For our sixth meeting, we watched a movie called “Swing Kids”, which was about the Korean war, and focused on a North Korean soldier and an American soldier who became through tap-dancing. With a help of a few prisoners and a South-Korean woman, they put on a tap-dance team within the military secretly. Their goal is to impress the higher-ups of the American military so they would be released, and this movie showed the manipulative side of the American military, and how they took advantage of Koreans during the war. Overall, it was a very enjoyable movie.
For the third meeting, we learned a few more metaphors/idioms and vocabularies. For the vocabularies, however, we learned words that have two different meanings within them. For example, we learned the word 천지, which meant sky and ground. These words are all based on the Chinese characters and sounds, which I thought were interesting. Then we watched a Korean weather forecast, and stopped after each sentence to review the vocab we learned the week before and understand what the forecaster was saying about the weather in South Korea. For the fourth meeting, we learned the geography of South Korea. This lesson was very interesting, since we never learned the geography of Korea before, and I never realized that Korea had quite a few provinces. There are 9 provinces, and they are Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Gangwon-do, Chungcheongnam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Jeollabuk-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, Jeollanam-do, and Jeju-do. I learned that I used to live in Gyeonggi-do, which is where Seoul is located in.
For the first meeting of our Korean Lesson, we planned on what we were going to study this semester. We decided that for our second meeting, we would learn about metaphors/idioms along with new vocabularies, which were used daily in Korean conversations. The metaphors/idioms were phrases that aren’t taken literally to its written words. An example is 입이 무겁다, which means one’s mouth is heavy. But the implied meaning is that a person with a heavy mouth keeps secrets very well and won’t tell others. One of the new vocabulary words that we learned was 인도, which had three different meanings. The meanings could be either the country of India, sidewalk, or to lead, and one would decide which meaning it would be based on the context of the rest of the sentence. We also learned about a few weather-related words, such as 한파, which means extremely cold weather.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l5KJiuJncmR8fJAC6caTwjL0S9HX-sz6tFo2vpg6bJM/edit?usp=sharing
I give a brief overview of the history of Korean rice cakes, or "tteok". References to Tteok began around 500 B.C. Tteok used to be mixed with herbs to convey a medicinal effect. Around 1200, rice culture cultivation began to grow exponentially. It started out as a luxury food for the elite, but as Buddhism began to grow during the Goryeo dynasty around 1200, the prevalence of tteok also grew and it became a staple amongst commoners. Popularity declined ever since Japan took control over Korea, but tteok maintained integrated into various celebrations and traditions. I review rice cakes associated with certain holidays such as Chuseok(추석), the Korean New Year, weddings and birthdays along with other common dishes that use rice cakes. I also go over some idioms that use rice cakes.
I read a few articles and videos about Jung Joon Young's spycam scandal and learned that spycam pornography is a major issue in South Korea. These articles made me think and research about South Korean public's perception and attitude towards women. Although South Korea has progressed significantly in terms of women's rights, it still has long ways to go to dismantle its patriarchal values. I also watched Youtube videos from "Asian Boss" about this issue and learned that most women experience difficulties living in Korean society.
About three weeks ago, I watched a movie called "Master". The movie contains elements from the mystery, thriller, and crime genres. It centers on a private investigator who tries to expose and arrest the executive members of the largest pyramid scheme in Korea. I liked this movie because the film was unpredictable with its plot twists, keeping me at the edge of my seat. Unlike "Mr. Sunshine", this film was easier to understand because it used more modern terminology.
I recently finished a Netflix original series called "Mr. Sunshine", which tells a fictional story that takes place in Joseon (Ancient Korea) during the Russo-Japanese War and Shinmiyangi, when the U.S. journeyed to Korea. This dialogue was initially difficult to understand because the characters mixed ancient terminology with modern ones, but I was able to understand after constant exposure the series. The story centers on a young boy who is born into slavery but escapes to the United States after a traumatic incident. He then returns to Joseon as a United States Marine Corps officer and falls in love with an aristocrat's daughter, whose parents were murdered by Japanese double agents that help Japan take over Korea. During his stay in Korea, the officer discovers a plot by foreign forces to colonize Korea. Although the characters and drama are fictional, I learned a lot about the tribulations that Korea overcame to become the nation that it is today.
I grew interested in the Miss Korea pageant since I haven't heard about it in since I was a child, so I researched some current winners. I found an article that highlighted the Miss Korea's 2018 winner Kim Soo Min at 22 years old. She is fluent in English and graduated from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. However, her win as Miss Korea was controversial because some thought she was on the shorter and heavier side compared to past winners. She also had to delete her Instagram account because she received so many hate comments. I'm torn-- on one hand I'm glad that Korea is slowly being more progressive by having a winner with a healthier weight, but I'm also disappointed that she has gotten so much lash back for her title. Regardless, I'm glad for the little progress made, and it's been an interesting read and video interview.
I saw a video of her interview in English and her response to the public:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVxTTKWvdA
Here is the article where I got the news:
https://www.koreaboo.com/news/kim-soo-min-crowned-winner-miss-korea-2018/
One of my goals for learning Korean was to learn more vocabulary words and idioms. Throughout the semester, I learned and utilized several idioms that my language partner taught me. Listed below are some of the idioms that I learned and the sentences that I wrote using those words.
1. 바람피다 (v.) - to have an affair
- 아저씨가 바람을 폈다.
- English translation: That man was involved in an affair.
2. 입을 모으다 (v.) - to gather opinions
- 대장이 입을 모았다.
- English translation: The leader gathered his men and asked for their opinion.
3. 입이 가볍다 (adj.) - used to describe an individual that tells other peoples' secrets
- 입이 가벼운 친구들이 몇명 있다.
- English translation: I have some friends who have trouble keeping secrets.
4. 이를 갈다 (v.) - to be vengeful
- 너무 화가나서 이를 갈었다.
- English translation: He's so angry to the point that he is vengeful.
5. 눈이 높다 (adj.) - used to describe an individual with high standards for people, status, etc.
- 아저씨는 눈이 높다.
- English translation: That man's standards are so high that most people cannot satisfy his wants and needs.
6. 눈 코 뜰새없다 - this idiom means to be so busy that an individual has no time to open his eyes.
- 너무 바빠서 눈 코 뜰새없다.
- English translation: I was way too busy.
I went to eat at New Grand Mart with Sharon and Angella. I got to practice ordering in Korean and ordered Jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk, which is a fried pork dish with sweet and sour sauce. After eating, I bought banana flavored Korean chips and dried seaweed to eat as snacks. I haven't had them in a while, so it was a nice throwback for my tastebuds.
our Korean teacher, Jimin, took my class and a few other from her other classes to Grand Mart for a Korean dinner.
I shared a jjajangmyun and yookgaejaang with Brenda, and they all tasted really good! We ordered our food using Korean, and I thought it was a great experience overall.
The KASA banquet was on April 13th, and they gave the members dinner with samgyupsal (pork belly), japchae (glass noodles with vegetables), and rice. It was delicious, and reminded me of how much I miss home-cooked Korean food.
Here’s a conversation I had with my grandpa over Kakaotalk.
Here’s a picture of a Korean album I’ve been listening to constantly. The artist is Heize, and she is a K-pop/contemporary r&b/neo-soul artist. Her new and very first full album, titled "She's fine", is a very easy-to-listen, and enjoyable album.
