anon asked: what’s the difference between 끊다 and 자르다?
Great question! Hopefully my answer helps! Both can mean “to cut” but here’s a better explanation:
One is used abstractly, while the other is used for more concrete situations. When you want to cut something for a recipe, or cut a piece of paper, you use 자르다. When you want to hang up the phone, or quit smoking, you use 끊다.
끊다 - cut (something abstract); not a literal cutting of something
이만 끊을게요 - I’ll hang up (on the phone)
앞으로 담배를 끊을 거예요 - From now on, I’m going to quit smoking.
자르다 - cut (something concrete); a literal cutting of something
종이를 반으로 자르세요 - cut the paper in half
이렇게 잘라야 해요 - you should cut it like this
머리 잘라서 머리가 짧아졌어요 - my hair got shorter because I cut it
anon asked: hi! i’m still in the process of learning hangul and i know there’s is no specific order to learn korean but what was the easiest route for you? this may sound silly because i’m thinking too far ahead but when/how did you get to the point of not having to use a dictionary or translator for everything? or is that something i’ll always have to do? i’ve only learned one other language and it was spanish. i think i was able to pick up on it quicker because of cognates that are similar to english and i think those also exist for english and korean but i find them more difficult to identify due to the alphabet being different. i hope i didn’t make it sound confusing. thank you for any tips! i appreciate it all
안녕하세요! 늦게 네 질문이 읽어서 미안해요!
이걸 기억하세요: 여러분은 새로운 언어를 배울 때 항상 사전을 사용할 거예요.
만약 한국어를 배우면 다른 사람들마다 다 배우는게 달라요. 우리가 이걸 이미 알고 있었어요. 그렇지만 사람들은 한국어를 대화하지 않으면 한국어를 배우지 못해요. 우리는 “아 한국에 가려고 한국어를 배워"라고 말하지만 한국어를 사용하는 나라에 살지 않아서 한국어를 배우기 어려워요. 우리 한국말로 말해야 돼요. 진짜로요.
저는 한국사람들과 한국어로 대화했기 때문에 한국어를 쉽게 배울 수 있었어요. 매일 한국어 문법과 어휘도 배우는데 한국말을 사용하지 않으면 기억을 못해요. 항상 "쓰기, 읽기가 제일 쉬워"라고 생각하고 듣기, 말하기 연습을 안 했어요. 16 살때부터 한국어를 배우기 시작했어요! 지금 22살이잖아요!! 제가 왜 한국말로 편하게 말할 수 없었을 가요?!
한국말로 대화하지 않았기 때문이에요.
이건 제 충고예요. 만약 한국어를 쉽게 배우고 싶으면 한국말로 해야 돼요. 너가 문법과 어휘도 배워야 되지만 말하기도 해야 돼요. 하루에 5분이라도요
도움이 됐으면 좋겠습니다. 잘 배우세요.
ENG Trans.:
Hello! Sorry for reading your message late.
Remember this: when you’re learning a new language, you will always use a dictionary (in a way, fluency is arbitrary).
If you want to learn Korean, everyone learns different. Of course, we already knew that. However, if a person doesn’t speak in Korean, then they won’t learn Korean. We say things like, “I am learning Korean to go to Korea,” but most of us don’t live in a country that actively uses Korean. That makes it really hard to learn Korean. If we wanna learn, we have to speak Korean. Seriously.
It wasn’t until I spoke to native Korean speakers that I actually learned Korean easily. Everyday, I would learn grammar or vocab but it would mean nothing to me if I didn’t use it. I would forget it. I used to think, “Writing and reading are the easiest,” but I never practiced speaking and listening. I’ve been learning since I was 16!!! I’m 22 now!! Why couldn’t I speak Korean comfortably???
It’s literally because I never spoke in Korean.
This is my advice. If you want to be comfortable in Korean (with or without a dictionary), use it. Learn the vocab and grammar, but you HAVE to speak Korean. Even if it’s just for 5m a day.
Hey guys! I know it’s been a really long time since I posted anything. I thought I’d have so much time this summer to work on my blog, and things just haven’t turned out that way. While on vacation, my girlfriend and I suddenly found out we had to prepare for her visa interview 3 weeks earlier than it was scheduled. We’re actually engaged. Unfortunately, we can’t get married here, so we are preparing to go the US together. It’s been quite a process. And therefore, I have been preparing to go home. And my room even had water pouring through the ceiling at one point. It’s been a really long month haha.
But I’m happy to say that everything turned out well. And I have a little comic of my girlfriend and me. I thought it might be some good reading practice. It’s written really naturally at the upper-intermediate level. I hope you like it! (It’s based on a true story…I hate doing dishes.) If you guys like it, I will post more. They’re fun to draw for me.
It also fits in great since it’s Pride month! Although, it’s slightly late. Happy Pride everyone!
Here is a translation of the comic.
Notes:
시키* is a much cuter and softer version of the curse word 새끼 (bastard). It’s something we use with each other, but I don’t use it with anyone else. Swear words should always be used with caution. ^^
*간지러 is used instead of 간지러워 (간지럽다 to be itchy, ticklish). Sometimes words ending in “럽다” are shortened like this, especially the faster you want to get the words out. It’s technically incorrect, but you’ll hear it. For example, sometimes you hear 시끄러! instead of 시끄러워 (시끄럽다 to be loud, noisy).
Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good summer so far!
이미 벌어진 일이나 어떤 상태가 배경임을 나타낼 때 사용해요. 일상적인 대화나 비격식적인 상황에서 주로 써요.
It’s used to indicate what’s already happened or what’s going on behind the scenes. It’s usually used in daily conversations or in informal situations.
예문(example sentences):
1. 저희가 사귄다는 사실도 이제 다 알려진 마당에 뭘 더 숨기겠어요? What else can we hide now (given the circumstances) that everyone knows we’re dating?
2. 가: 이번 회사 체육대회에서 버려진 음식 쓰레기가 이렇게나 많아요. 너무 낭비예요. There is so many discarded food waste from the company athletic competition. It’s too wasteful. 나: 굶어 죽는 사람도 있는 마당에 이렇게 많은 음식을 버려서야 되겠습니까? How can you think about throwing away food given the circumstances that there are people starving to death?
3. 가: 그 회사와 계속 거래를 할 예정이에요? Are you going to keep doing business with them? 나: 이미 신뢰가 깨진 마당에 더 이상 이 회사와 거래할 수 없어요. Under the circustances that the trust already been broken, I can no longer deal with this company anymore.
‘(으)ㄴ/는 마당에’를 사용하여 대화를 완성하십시오. Use ‘(으)ㄴ/는 마당에’ and complete the sentence.
가: 요즘 새로 나온 휴대폰을 써 보니까 좋던데 너도 이번 기회에 한번 바뀌 보는 게 어때? 나: 아르바이트를 그만둬서 생활비도______새로운 휴대폰은 꿈도 못 꿔.
가: 어려운 일을 돕자는 의도는 좋지만 이렇게 돈을 많이 써 가며 행사를 진행할 필요가 있을까요? 나: 저도 동감이에요. 당장 작은 도움을 줄 수 있는 돈도 ______행상에 이렇게 많은 돈을 쓸 필요가 없다고 생각해요.
가: 대학 다닐 떄 공부 좀 열심히 할 걸 그랬어. 학점이 낮으니까 회사에 지원해도 번번이 서류 심사에서 떨어지는 것 같아. 나: 이미 ________후회한다고 점수가 바뀌냐? 자기소개에 좀 더 공을 들여 봐.
三촌 (삼촌)= uncle (your uncle is three steps away from you in the family tree)
三각형 (삼각형)= triangle (three sided shape)
四 = 사 (넉 사): four
四계절 (사계절)= four seasons
정四각형 (정사각형)= square
직四각형 (직사각형)= rectangle
四촌 (사촌)= cousin (your cousin is four steps away from you in the family tree)
문법
N: noun
AV: action verb
DV: descriptive verb
V: verb
Book: Learn Korean with BTS 1 - Lesson 5: 한강공원에서 라면을 먹어요
1)N에서
it’s used to point out a place where an activity takes place.
the main pattern is: N에서N을/를AV아요
예) 저는 편의점에서 빵을 사요
remember:
N에 있어요/없어요 → 저는 마트에있어요
N에 가다/오다 → 저는 마트에가요
N에서AV아요/어요 → 저는 마트에서쇼핑해요
2)V(습)니다
it’s used to express something politely in a formal situation (self-introductions, presentations, news, etc), and when you are meeting someone for the first time
if the V ends with…
- a consonant, use 습니다
- a vowel or ㄹ, use ㅂ니다
the question form is (습)니까?
in the case of N would beN입니다, and N입니까?
it’s used to conjugate…
-AV → 빵이 맛있습니다
-DV → 옷이 예쁩니다
Happy learning and I hope everyone started the new year in the best way possible! ^^
Hello! Finally I’m back! Now let’s start over, I will re-post the days I already posted, but this time I will do it all complete so it can be more useful
(this link goes to her Anki page that you can download and import on your own anki to use it)
What I personally did was import it into my anki, export it as a txt. file and then pasted it on an excel file. So in that way I have the list of all the vocabulary for a better self-control and I copy them in my memrise deck. On excel I highlight in yellow the words I already know and in green the ones I don’t know and I need to add to my vocabulary deck.
This deck has over 5000 words so you will use it for a good while hahah.
Grammar
Talk to me in Korean (TTMIK) Lessons
I was using the Korean in Grammar In Use books (I finished the first one and I started the first chapter of the second one) and I highly recommend them but right now I’m really busy with college so I had to squish my time to study Korean. That’s why I decided to use the lessons TTMIK offers since they are short and I can do them faster.
Extra
Daily Routine in Korean by TTMIK
I finished this book a few days ago and it was really helpful now that I’m more advanced in my learning (I tried to use it when I just started and it was impossible for my brain to remember the phrases and make them make sense).
This deck is made by me with all the resources I have used so far for vocabulary til now. The levels are divided in 1000 words each cause I think that helped better with my organization. If you decide to use it, I hope it can be helpful for you ^^
I made this one using the guide of Hanja made by How To Study Korean (link). It’s a great guide, and I recommend it if you are interested on learning some hanja. My deck has 260 hanjas that I found the most useful and interesting. Right now I’m not studying hanja anymore cause I think the ones I learned are enough according to the level where I am now, and I wanna use that time to learn more things in Korean properly. That’s why, if you wanna learn them all I recommend you the guide made by How To Study Korean.
I hope this can be truly helpful for anyone who needs it. I will try my harderst to post more often, specially lessons and vocabulary lists. Thank you to everyone who follows the blog, I hope it can be useful to yall. And also thank you for everyone who follows me on Instagram (@/itslostfocus) where I post daily pics -not so daily, sorry I’ve busy- of my progress learning Korean.
Both of these mean ‘to write’ and for the longest time I was just using whichever one whenever I felt like it, but actually there is a slight difference to be aware of. 쓰다 means ‘to write’, like ‘to write a letter’ or ‘to write a book’. But 적다 specifically means ‘to write something down’ like a memo or a phone number. My Korean teacher usually asks us ‘적어주세요’ when asking us to note something on the board after dictation, but she also says ‘써주세요’ at times when she wants us to write any text that we created ourselves.
저는 제 여동생을 위해 시를 쓸게요-I will write a poem for my younger sister
저는 이 빈칸에 제 이름을 적을거예요 - I will write down my name in this blank space.
하숙집vs기숙사vs고시원
I used to have a tough time remembering the difference between these accommodation spaces - I guess the take home message is that all of these are multi-person living spaces, but there is definitely a clear distinction.
하숙집 is a boarding house - the kind of place where you live when you are renting a room in a house where other people also live - sometimes things like food and laundry are provided too. It gives off a very ‘living with a host family’ vibe, even if you are pretty much house sharing with other people of a similar age.
기숙사 are college/university dorm rooms - mostly you will share a room with someone else (or more than one person… sometimes 3 other people!). When you think of the word ‘dormitory’ you are probably thinking of a 기숙사.
고시원 have you ever seen the KDrama ‘Strangers From Hell’? (kinda scary). Anyway the place where they live is a 고시원 - they are TINY narrow rooms for individual use but all the other amenities are shared. There are no other added luxuries at all but the rent is usually cheap which is why students sometimes find themselves there.
자연vs천연
When talking about nature, I’ve always used 자연in it’s noun form, such as ‘I like nature - 저는자연을 좋아합니다’. Or even in it’s adjective form (자연스럽다), ‘Just speak naturally - 그냥자연스럽게말씀하세요’…. but I only recently realised there is another way to say ‘natural’.
So천연 also means natural in the adjective form, but really it’s referring to something that has never been processed or changed out of its natural form (e.g. it is naturally occurring on earth, like mountains or the sea). An easy way to remember this is that the meaning of the first character 천(天) means sky, which is a reminder that it came from the heavens.
I read a really good example (credit here) about cotton, which has a few terms in Korean. One of these is for the natural product that is picked off plants (솜) and another is for the fabric that we use day-to-day (면).솜is naturally occurring therefore you would use 천연 to describe it, but you could never use 천연with면 because it has to be processed (changed) to make that fabric (you would use 자연instead).
But apparently it’s common for people to intentionally use both of these interchangeably so that they can indicate that a product is actually more natural than it really is.
찾다vs발견하다
Almost all Korean learners will know that 찾다 means ‘to find, to search for, to look for’ etc. Well, 발견하다 means ‘to discover, to find’. The distinction in Korean is as clear as it is in English. 찾다 is used when finding something that you already know exists, whereas 발견하다 is used when finding (discovering) something that you didn’t know was there before. For example:
시계를찾았어요! = I found my watch!
저는 새로운 서점을 발견했어요 = I found (for the first time) a new bookstore
체험vs경험
With these two words we’re talking about ‘experiences’ - but two slightly different nuances. 경험 is a general past experience - this is something that you have done before, and as a result got an experience from it. For example, work experience, the experience of travelling abroad, the experience of waking up late for school etc. The key thing is that it is an event that happened in the past.
However체험 mostly talks about something that you feel/experience directly - like a spiritual experience, or experiencing hardships, or experiencing the feeling of zero gravity. It infers more of a present moment feeling rather than 경험 which is talking about things that have definitely already happened. So, 경험 is almost like the knowledge you get after experiencing something (체험).
자동차 열쇠를 잃어버렸다고? 나도 그런 경험이 있어… - Did you say you lost your car keys? I have had that experience too..
저는 그 사고를 매일 다시 체험해요 - I re-experience that accident every day
Firstly, big shout out to @epfks for messaging and asking for this to be included in the next post!
Both of these mean ‘clothing’ or ‘clothes’ - I’m sure all of you will know옷, but fewer people will know 의류.옷 is a native Korean word, whereas 의류 has a Chinese root (衣類 - 衣 means ‘clothes, covering’, 類 means ‘kind, type, category’). In the past I have mentioned that words with Chinese roots tend to be more formal than the native Korean word - that is also true here. 옷is an everyday word, but 의류 is much less used unless you’re using it in a professional sense. You could think of clothes on two different scales, a small (personal) scale and a large (industrial) scale - 옷가게 (a clothes store) vs 의류 산업 (clothing industry) - you couldn’t interchange 옷and의류 in these situations, it just doesn’t feel right. 옷 refers more to the actual clothes that a person wears, but 의류 is often used to refer to a type of clothes (e.g. 남성 의류 - men’s clothing), the clothing/fashion industry, or to sound more formal, like ‘garment’.
목표vs목적
Both of these words mean ‘goal’ or ‘aim’ like to have a goal/aim to achieve something, but there is a subtle nuance between them. It can be easy to confuse the two, and whats worse is that, often, translation apps translate both of these words to ‘goal’ in English - but there is a difference:
목표 refers to a goal or target that you might have - an overall large thing that you are working towards, maybe like a goal for next year (New Years Resolution), a goal to get into college, or a sales goal/target that your company might meet. For example: 제 목표는 올해 TOPIK II 시험에 합격하는 것이에요 =My goal is to pass the TOPIK II exam this year. Here I used 목표- it is an overarching target I am working towards.
목적 however is talking about an aim or purpose of something rather than a goal - it refers to the reason/purpose for doing something, such as the aim of a lesson, the purpose for the meeting, etc. For example: 제가 한국어 수업을 듣는 목적은 올해 TOPIK II 시험에 합격할 수 있도록 도와주는 것이에요 =The purpose of me taking Korean classes is to help me pass the TOPIK II exam this year. Here I used 목적 as it is an aim, objective, purpose of something.
관념vs개념
These two words mean ‘idea, concept, notion’, like you have an idea about something, or you understand the concept of something (abstract thinking). Actually, the meaning of these two words are quite similar so it is easy to get them mixed up, but largely it is understood if you were to confuse them - the difference is almost a philosophical thing….
관념 refers to ideas and opinions that people naturally have about something (ideas that naturally appear in the mind), as well as any abstract/not realistic ideas about things (e.g. stereotypes about things/people, beliefs etc). e.g. 강박관념 = an obsession (literally: a compulsive idea), or 고정관념 = a stereotype (literally: a fixed idea)
The Hanja (觀念) means: 觀 = to see, observe, view; 念 = to think of, study, recall. So it means, you see something and form an idea (without knowing more).
개념 refers to concepts (ideas) about something that have been formed after reviewing evidence on the topic (e.g. the concept of space, or time etc.), e.g. 시간 개념이 없었어요 = I had no concept of time (I lost track of time).
The Hanja (槪念) means: 槪 = generally; 念 = to think of, study, recall. So it refers to generally held thoughts (concepts understood by many people)
법vs법률vs법칙
If you are this far in your Korean studies (or like a good legal KDrama, like me), you will have come across as 법 as a word to mean ‘law’. 법 indeed means ‘the law’, as in ‘You broke the law - 너는 법을 어겼다’.법률 talks about a specific law, act or legislation within the legal system e.g. ‘새 법률 = a new law’.
Meanwhile법칙 doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the legal system. It refers more to ‘principles of something’, like Newton’s Laws of Motion, or the law of gravity.
There are actually numerous nouns with the 법 stem in it, which I don’t want to overload everyone with - but these are some common ones that come up a lot. I’ll cover some other ones in a later post.
변호사vs법률가
Keeping with the law theme for the final word difference (was I watching a lot of legal dramas when I was making my list for this post? I can’t remember). When most Korean learners learn occupations, we all learn 변호사 to mean ‘lawyer’ - this is a typical lawyer who will argue a person’s case in accordance to the law, and who you may often find in a courtroom.
So then…. what is a 법률가? I saw this in a book and was like…. wait, is this a lawyer too? Actually if you look closely at the word, it has 법률 in it (legislation) - these people are experts in laws and legislations, and have studied the law in great detail (and sometimes are lawmakers too). This is a term that is used to describe a legal scholar more than a lawyer arguing a case (although these people might also be practicing lawyers too!)
Yesterday morning, when I was kind of half asleep, I took this test which asks a number of questions in Korean, ranging from pre-intermediate to advanced levels, and makes an assessment based on your answers about the size of your vocabulary and the age of your vocabulary. As always - interpret quizzes like this with caution - they are not always a true reflection of skill and ability. Access the quiz through this URL: https://www.arealme.com/korean-vocabulary-size-test/en/ This is my score:
I actually know that I got two wrong (you know when you just click on the wrong one), but I don’t think it made a huge difference to my score. It’s interesting because some other people I know took this quiz and their vocabulary size is around 4000, but their vocabulary size is like that of a 4 year old child….. I (cautiously) take this to mean that I probably know fewer words than them, but might know more difficult words (probably as a result of joining #2021KoreanBookClub). I’m pretty surprised at getting a score of an 8-year old…. I mean, 8-year olds are quite confident with their speech in their native language. But I do know that I need to improve the amount of words that I know - although I believe my true vocabulary number to be a bit higher (based on numerous other tests), it is still far lower than what I need in order to succeed in the TOPIK II exam this year.
Although I don’t always take vocabulary quizzes like this THAT seriously, it is still a decent indicator, especially with the age range. I think I’ll try and take this quiz again in the summer, and then towards the end of this year to see how my score changes. It’s a pretty interesting assessment tool! Let me know how you get on with your vocab scores!
Hi all! Back to share one of the latest, absolutely essential, new additions to my Korean language learning. It is called Mirinae - it is a web tool that breaks down Korean sentences into their component parts to help you understand form and structure of Korean sentences and analyse grammar even in the most complex of writing. Let’s take an indepth look under the ‘Keep Reading’ cut
The main interface looks like the image below. Extremely straight forward. Type (or copy) your text into the text bar below and hit enter. I am just going to use one of Mirinae’s pre-set examples for this demo.
It generates a break down of the sentence, identifying each component part and explaining its use within the sentence, as well as the full English meaning below.
You can click on the different grammar structures for more information, or you can collapse some of the grammar information if you want a less detailed breakdown. You can also click on each word to get more indepth meaning too. In the picture below I have simplified all the grammar fields, and clicked on the connector ‘다고 하여서’ for more information.
As well as this, Mirinae can also detect your spacing errors, so it can be perfect for checking the accuracy of your own writing. In the picture below, I copied a sentence from this Naver news article, and took the final space out to see if Mirinae would spot it.
Not just this, but it also has an awesome glossary to help you understand all those horrible grammar terms, and also a grammar reference section that you can access. It categorises grammar points by use/function, and also by level so you can make sure that you are learning grammar that is within your range. When Mirinae is analysing your work, it lets you know what level grammar you are using as well, which is quite helpful to know. The picture below is only a very very tiny snapshot of the endless grammar and idiom reference list that Mirinae has.
So….. all in all, Mirinae is a big hit in this household! I hope you can all make use of it, genuinely it is changing my life and the way that I analyse text, as well as how I write. These days, instead of checking any writing on Papago, I go through Mirinae first. It is just an extremely informative tool.
You can access Mirinae at the following URL: https://mirinae.io/#/ I don’t know how new it is, but it seems like it is pretty new on the scene and it is still in Beta mode so might have even more new and exciting updates in the near future! Let me know how everyone gets on!
NB: Post is a little long this time - lots of examples and explanation - sorry!
이따가vs나중에
Here’s something that trips me up at even the best of times - both mean ‘later’ but they imply slightly different things. ‘이따가’ indicates that something will happen a short time later - usually within a few hours, whereas ‘나중에’ doesn’t really have a time inference - the time period can be either long or short, so it can be used in every situation. However you might prefer to use 이따가 instead to emphasise that the time is short, for example if you ask someone to wait for you and say to them, “I will come back later”, you can say “이따가 다시 올게요” to emphasise that the waiting time will be short. If you use 나중에 instead, the person cannot tell how long they might be waiting.
외롭다vs고독하다
Hopefully here are some words you won’t have to use too often - both give off a meaning of ‘lonely’.외롭다 will be the adjective that most people are familiar with in meaning ‘lonely’ or ‘feeling lonely’, whereas 고독하다 is an even more intense feeling of loneliness. 고독하다 is more like ‘solitude’ - like that feeling of intense loneliness when you are on your own for long periods of time.
인생vs삶vs목숨
There are numerous ways to say ‘life’ in Korean and it can get a little confusing so let’s break down just three common terms from the numerous options.
인생is made up of the Chinese characters 人生, the first of which means ‘person’, therefore 인생 refers to the life of a human and not the life of other living things (plants or animals) or objects, e.g. “Life is worth living - 인생은 살 가치가 있어요" or “What is the meaning of (human) life?- 인생의 의미는 무엇인가요?”
However,삶is life as a concept, or life as an existence - it refers to a living thing’s existence on Earth. e.g. “Grandmother lived a good life [existence] - 할머니는 좋은 삶을 사셨어요" or “Cats live a perfect life [existence] - 고양이는 완벽한 삶을 사요"
목숨 has quite a specific use - the word is composed of 목 (neck) and 숨 (breath) to refer to breathing as the primary function of a human or animal’s life. The easiest way to conceptualise 목숨is as ‘life that can be lost’ - it indicates the idea that a person or animal either has breath in their body (living), or does not have breath in their body (not living). The ‘breath in your neck (목숨)’ can be risked, in danger or lost, so you will likely only see this term in those kinds of sentences. e.g. “I’m risking my life-목숨이 위태로워요" or “My life is in danger - 제 목숨이 위험해요"
시도하다vs노력하다vs-아/어보다
All of these mean ‘to try to do something’ but each have quite different uses. 시도하다 holds more of a meaning of ‘to attempt something’ - it is quite formal in the same way that in English you wouldn’t normally say “I will attempt to do it” when speaking amongst friends, therefore it is more likely to be seen in writing than speaking. e.g. “Suzy attempted singing - 수지는 노래를 시도했다”
You could instead (mostly) use 노력하다 for less formal and less intensive situations, but it gives off a feeling of trying to do something that requires quite a lot of effort, or something that needs long-term effort, e.g. “I will try (really hard) -노력할게요”
On the other hand, -아/어 보다 is used all the time and indicates that you will try something (possibly for the first time) with the aim of experiencing what that thing is like. It doesn’t require a lot of effort, and it is probably not something that will go on for a long time, e.g. “I will try eating kimchi - 김치를 먹어 볼게요“
대단하다vs대박vs신기하다
All of these are terms are common words used to express amazement, and largely could be interchanged without much trouble, but I delved a little deeper to understand the differences and here is what I found:
대박 (대박이다) has two meanings:
Totally cool / really great - an expression to indicate positive feelings or a positive reaction towards something or someone, e.g. “최우식의 새 영화는 대박이다! - Choi Wooshik’s new movie is so cool/great/amazing”
Completely surprising - an expression to indicate shock or surprise and can be used in both positive or negative situations to mean ‘Wow!’ ‘No way!’ ‘That’s unbelievable’ ‘That’s unreal’, e.g. “복권에 당첨됐나요? 대박!! - Did you win the lottery? That’s unbelievable!!” or “남자친구랑 헤어졌다고? 대박….-You broke up with your boyfriend? No way….”
These two meanings can overlap from time to time, like in the lottery example, but dividing them into two like this, makes the other two terms easier to understand. 대단하다means ‘a huge amount’ or ‘enormous’, but in expression form it means ‘outstanding’, ‘amazing’, so it has the same use as the first meaning of 대박, e.g. “와 대단하다-Wow, this is amazing.”
Meanwhile,신기하다 means something is amazing in a surprising kind of way, so it is closely related to the second meaning of 대박 - however it is not often used with negative meanings, e.g. “네가 아직도 그걸 기억하다니 신기하구나-It’s amazing/surprising that you still remember that” or “우리가 이 곳에서 만난 건 신기하다-It’s amazing/surprising/unbelievable that we met each other here [without planning to meet]”
Hi guys! Happy New Year (lol its January 6th - I’m so late). I hope that everyone who was celebrating had a really lovely festive season and that all of you had a nice start to the new year. Wishing you all health, happiness and huge language gains for the year ahead (haha! very important).
Before I get back to the regular type of posts for this year, I just wanted to let you all know about the Korean Book Club that I have joined. It is an initiative that was set up by someone wonderful that I follow on Instagram (ID: clickystudies) as an effort to keep all of us active with our reading goals for the year.
Here’s how it goes:
There is one common book that all of us will read throughout the whole year. [TITLE: 1일 1페이지, 세상에서 가장 짧은 교양 수업 365] (you can buy it on Google Play Store for around $6-7 or something - link here and image below) - it is a book with 365 articles so there is one text piece for every day of the year! NEAT. The articles are about a whole bunch of varied worldtopics and was only published in 2019 so it is super relevant still. The level is probably around Intermediate+ levels but a bunch of Beginners learners are also finding the text really useful for vocabulary learning so far!
If you wish to, you could post your progress using the hashtag #2021KoreanBookClub on whatever social media platform you like to use.
You can join the Discord group where each day we share notes, vocabulary lists, help each other to understand the text better, and just generally chat. If you want to be a part of the Discord group, please message clickystudies on Instagram and ask if you can join the Book Club - they will walk you through the process of joining.
I only just joined yesterday actually, so I have 6 days of reading to catch up with, but each article is distinct and standalone, so even if you are joining us late, you can just catch up in your own time - no rush at all and no pressure to read the past texts either.
The book club is a pretty social thing, but if you don’t want to join the Discord group, you could always work through the 365 book on your own, at your own pace (you don’t even need to do one a day!). Choose whatever works for you, but personally - I find the Discord channel motivating and it reminds me to read my chapter if I still haven’t read it for the day.
There are a few other books in this 365 series - one on Famous people and one on Modern Culture (both published in 2020, so super current info!), which you could also check out if you like! I guess I’ll tackle those in subsequent years. My reading list is sorted until January 2024 (hahah!!)
If you decide to join the book club, let me know! I’m @jeilylanguage on the Discord (that’s my IG name). Or if you’re going to work through the book on your own, drop me a comment or a message and let me know how you find the book! Enjoy all and good luck with your Korean reading for the year!
Most people are taught 평일 quite early on to talk about ‘weekday’, but actually it technically is not the opposite of ‘weekend (주말)’. The opposite of 주말 is actually 주중, which refers to Monday to Friday. So, what about 평일 then? 평일 is very similar to 주중, but actually it refers to a ‘working day’, relating more to the average non-rest day which, for most people, is Monday to Friday. If a public holiday falls on a weekday, that day is technically not a ‘평일’ as people will not be working, but it is still a 주중 (a weekday). You will hear both of these used quite a lot, and mostly used interchangeably.
*For anyone that finds Hanja helpful - 주말 has the characters 週末 which means ‘final part of the week’, and 주중 has the characters 週中 which mean ‘central/middle part of the week’. Whereas 평일 has the characters 平日 which means ‘average day’.
담vs벽
Both of these mean ‘wall’ but the distinction is actually very clear between the two. 벽 is a wall in a building, such as the four walls of your room, or the walls of your house (바람벽 is specifically a partition wall for inside the house, but 벽 is sufficient). 담 is a wall that has a purpose of guarding or preventing entry, such as a fence or a perimeter wall (like a city wall, or a wall around a building). It is usually used when talking about outside walls or fences.
놀이동산vs놀이공원vs놀이터
Playground? Since all these words start with the same two characters, it might be confusing to some regarding whether there is actually any difference here. 놀이터 is a playground that children usually play in, with slides and swings and climbing apparatus. Meanwhile 놀이공원 and 놀이동산 are used when talking about an amusement park with lots of fun rides for all ages. Both 놀이공원 and 놀이동산 are actually completely interchangeable with each other, it’s just that 놀이공원 has a Chinese root, and 놀이동산 is pure Korean. Either is fine and both are used in almost equal amounts, but it is useful to know that they mean the same thing.
늦다vs지각하다
I think one of the earliest words everyone will have learned is 늦다 to mean ‘late’. This can be used universally to mean ‘late’ and can be used for all contexts and subjects. However there is a more specific term for a person being late to work or to school which is 지각하다. Although you can use 늦다 in school and work settings too, 지각하다 is more specific. You will hear 늦다 far more, but it is good to be familiar with its more specific counterpart.
사무실vs사무소
I’m sure everyone has heard of 사무실 to mean ‘office’, but did you know that 사무소 also means ‘office’? The difference is quite subtle though. These words are derived from Chinese, so it is a difference of one Chinese character. 사무소 (事務所) has a final character which means ‘place’ or ‘location’, whereas 사무실 (事務室) has a final character which means ‘room’. Therefore 사무소 refers to an office as a general location or place, e.g. real estate office, law office, maintenance office, whereas 사무실 refers to a specific office room, e.g. this is my office, I’m walking into the office now.
This is actually kind of specific to if you want to actually live in Korea but I was revising this topic today and thought it would be useful to share some of my learnings - of course there are going to be a lot more things you might want to ask or tell the realtor, but this will be a good starting point:
Thingsarealtor/estateagentmightsaytoyou:
어떤 집을 구하세요 -What kind of house/home are you looking for?
월세를 구하시나요? 아니면 전세를 구하시나요?-Are you looking to rent (monthly rent)? Or are you looking to lease?
금액은 어느 정도 생각하고 있어요?-Approximately what total cost are you thinking?
원룸은 어떠세요? - What about a one room? (a studio apartment)
한번 보러 가실래요?-Would you like to go to see it?
주인에게 연락할게요-I will contact the owner
계약금을 가지고 오셨어요?-Did you bring the contract fee?
Thingsyoumightwanttosaytoarealtor/estateagent:
아파트를 구하고 싶은데요-I want to look for an apartment
월세를 구해요-I am looking for a monthly rent (apartment)
방이 2개 있는 아파트를 구해요-I am looking for an apartment with 2 rooms
지하철 역에서는 거리가 얼마나 걸리나요?-How far is the distance from the subway station?
몇 층이에요?-What floor is it on?
건물에서 엘리베이터가 있나요?-Is there an elevator in the building?
보증금은 얼마나 되나요? -How much is the deposit?
조금 비싼데요. 조금 더 싼 아파트는 없나요?- It’s a little expensive. Do you have a slightly cheaper apartment?
그 아파트는 특징이 있나요?-Does the apartment have any special features/characteristics?
If you’re like me, this difference will have been puzzling you for a long time. I always notice -(으)로 가요 written in textbooks, but I just accepted that it was a variation and never figured out what it actually meant. So, let’s look at this subtle difference
First, let’s talk about -에 가요 and -(으)로 가요. Both structures mean ‘to go somewhere’, but -에 is a location marker so it marks the exact location of a place, whereas-(으)로 means ‘towards’ or ‘to’ (it also means ‘by’ or ‘by means of’ which I will not be able to cover in this post). The nuance is slightly different…. -에is talking about an exact place, whereas-(으)로 is talking about general direction.
어디에 가요?- Where are you going? (the exact location please)
어디로 가요? - Where are you going? (In what direction / towards where)
As you can see from the two sentences above, sentence one is a little more specific than sentence two, but they largely mean the same thing. I guess sentence two can be perceived as a little less intrusive. Similarly let’s compare the following two:
어디에 갈까?- Where should I go? (What exact place should I go to?)
어디로 갈까? - Where should I go? (What direction should I go in?)
Again, the first sentence is a little more specific than the second which is generally wondering which direction to head in. With this in mind, take a look at the following sentences:
집에 가요 - I’m going home (The focus is on your home - this is your destination)
집으로 가요 - I’m going towards home (maybe you are going home, or going to a restaurant near to your home first. The focus is more on the direction you are heading)
Next let’s look at a slightly different case - if we were talking about you moving house and you moved into your friend’s house, you might think that you would use -에 to indicate the location as it’s a specific location, however, also remember that -(으)로 also means ‘to’ / ‘towards’ so you would say 친구 집으로 이사했어요 (I moved towards/to my friend’s house).
As you will likely know, 에 is also a time marker, so let’s look at how these particles differ regarding time.
몇 시에 만날까요? - What time shall we meet (exactly what time)
몇 시로 만날까요? - What time shall we meet (towards what time, - more of an approximation)
The second sentence, as with the examples above, can also be used to appear less direct, so if you are asking what time a meeting is, you could choose to use 몇 시로 - but both are correct given the situation.
There are lots of nuances and uses for these two particles and it takes a bit of time to move away from solely using -에, but even just knowing the above will help you to understand the subtle difference in meaning in the above contexts!
ALT
