On my to-do list all summer was to begin learning Korean. In three months time, my studying
totaled 15 minutes. Laziness.
Traveling. Living in fantasyland. (Even after a month of living in Korea, I’m
still in disbelief that I am here.)
However, Bethany did her homework this summer so upon arriving in Korea
I felt behind and I did not like it. My very first jetlagged morning Bethany
helped me figure out this whole Hangul alphabet thing. And believe it or not, it was not
impossible. Dare I say it was even
a little fun, like a puzzle.
Thankfully, the Korean alphabet is not a character system, like the Chinese
system, but rather it consists of symbols with phonetic sounds that build words. A little memorization would go along in
the coming year deciphering signs and menus.
I found a couple websites and completed a few worksheets to practice
reading and writing. I am a star
pupil, if I do say so myself. My
favorite words to translate were Konglish words, or English words adopted in the
Korean language. Not only could I
read them, but I knew what they mean!
With just a few hours of study I could (sloooowly) read practically any
sign in Korea…the only problem being I had no idea what I was saying…
Something that I come across everyday in the classroom, and work with kids
ad nauseum on, is the extra syllable Koreans tend to add to English words. It is not natural for native Korean
speakers to end a word with just the ‘s’ sound, for example. Instead, the tendency is to pronounce
words ending in ‘s’ with an extra ‘suh’ sound.
Despite my expanding knowledge of Hangul, I may have still eaten fish
intestines. But I figure things
could be much worse without this little base. Bethany also obtained a copy of the Korean Rosetta Stone
which I have really enjoyed the two times when I made time for it. I had never
done Rosetta Stone before and the idea of acquiring a second language the same
way you would acquire your first language as a baby fascinates
me. I am nearly settled in and
ready to hit the books a little harder. I just may be on the market for a
language partner. Fluency is not high on my list of priorities but I am definitely aiming to develop some basic Korean in the coming year!
A few Konglish words! Say the Romanized spelling out loud and hear your
very own Korean accent!
nyu-seu 뉴스 news
pi-ja 피자 pizza
bi-di-o 비디오 video
seu-teu-re-seu 스트레스 stress
keopi 커피 coffee
a-i-seu-keu-rim 아이스크림 ice-cream
syu-peo-ma-ket 슈퍼마켓 supermarket
Keu-ri-seu-ma-seu 크리스마스 Christmas
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