KoreanClass101.com Blog

Occasionally I will get a strange phone call. If I don’t recognize the number, I always answer in Korean, and usually it’s someone who dialed the wrong number. Sometimes, just hearing my 안녕하세요 is enough to make them simply hang up. Other times I’ll hear something along the lines of “김민수 헨드폰 안이에요?” Isn’t this 김민수’s phone?)

Anyway, I recently received a strange text message, so I responded…here’s the transcript. I left the Koreans messages exactly as they were, so you can get a feel for the oddities of txting in Korean..and any mistakes I made ^^
그녀:안녕하세용ㅎ싸이에서봤어용ㅎ친구하자해성ㅎ
Her: Hello, I saw you on Cyworld, let’s be friends
나: 근데 누구시죠?
Me: But who is this?
그녀: 컴터하다싸이에서봤어용..ㅎ;;은국?!
Her: I was using the computer and I saw you on Cyworld…은국?! (maybe a name?)
나: 기억못났거든요…언제 만났어요 우리? 그리고 이름은요?
Me: I don’t remember. When did we meet? And what’s your name?
그녀: 친추했는데안했나보내용ㅎ;;김ㅇㅇ이라고합니다
Her: I added you as a friend,  (but you didn’t add me) My name is 김ㅇㅇ
나: 저는 미국 온 오스틴인데 저한테 연락허고 싶었어요?
Me: I’m Austin from America. Did you want to contact me?
그녀: 그런거없었는데요;;안락하기시름하질마시지요;;에이형아라서연락했어요ㅜ;;
Her: It’s nothing like that, if you don’t want to contact me, then don’t. I am A blood type so I contacted you.
나:^^ 좋아요 근데 번호가 어떻게 알아요…궁금해요
Me: OK, but how do you know my number, I’m curious.
그녀: 클럽에얀락하라고적어놓으신거아니예요?!ㅎ미국어디살아용?!ㅎ
Her: Didn’t you tell me to write it down and contact you at the Cyworld club?  Where do you live in America?

I didn’t even get a chance to respond because just a few seconds later SHE CALLED ME! I was just about to teach a class, so I couldn’t talk long, but manged to learn that she is 24. She also reiterated that she is A blod type, and that’s why she was contacting me. (More on that later)

There are a lot of interesting things going on in those text messages. First is that Koreans generally leave out spaces in messages. IfIleaveoutthespacesitsavesroom! You’d think that it would make it hard to read, and it does. But with practice it’s not so bad. Originally, Korean wasn’t written with standard English punctuation anyway, so they aren’t 100% necessary. Second, even with a dictionary, some of those messages are completely unreadable.  Koreans really like to compress sentences, leaving out whole pieces that makes it impossible for me to understand!  Third, notice that she uses other marks like ㅎ and ; to make a space. This is probably because it is faster to type those than to make the space on her phone. There are a few different ways the Korean alphabet is arranged on cell phones, which makes for slightly different methods for typing text messages. Anyway, it’s all in an effort to speed up the input. Koreans (especially students) are SUPER fast at typing their messages.

Also notice the strange ending to some of her sentences: 안녕하세용 I’m told it is just another way to make it sound cuter.

Back to the blood type issue. There is a cultural belief that your blood type has strong influence on your personality and character. The blood type of your boy/girlfriend also supposedly influences your relationship.  I’m not very well versed, but I can tell you that people who are A type are believed to be very outgoing, friendly and socialable. I guess that fits this girl!

**Special thanks to 선현우 for deciphering parts of those messages! And to Matthew for providing the only category that could really describe this post

this past week, harrie/증진 (the boy i tutor) graduated from my preschool, and i will now only see him on wednesdays when i tutor him at his house. sad. i didn’t see him for a whole week and i was so excited on my way over to his house today, but when i got there, he was in an awful mood. he did not want to study, he did not want to play an english game, he did not want to read the book i brought with me, he kept saying “i no play you (i’m not playing with you),” and pouting. he even told me to shut up and called me stupid! his mom had to come over and talk to him, but he still didn’t listen to her. finally, he broke down completely sobbing and we had to stop for the day. after that he wouldn’t even eat dinner!

a little while later his 8 year old brother came home (harrie is 5) and he heard me and his mom talking about harrie’s behavior. he was so upset with harrie for acting like that toward me that he started yelling at him in korean and was threatening to hit him. their mom had to separate them.

i bring up all of this to say that in general, i think that korean children are much more respectful than american children. i think all children have bad days (like harrie today - he is not usually like that), but i haven’t met an american 8 year old boy that would reprimand his own brother’s behavior like i saw today. from a very young age, korean children learn to differentiate 반말 and 존대말. i’ve seen very young children reprimanded for not speaking properly to adults.

respect is so much a part of korean culture that it is even built right into the language. i think this is part of the reason why korean children are generally more respectful than american children. the family unit has much more value in korean culture than in american culture, and i think that makes a big impact as well. the most respectful american children i’ve met came from very strong and caring families…

please don’t get me wrong, i am not saying that all american children are awful or that all korean children are perfect, i am just speaking from my observations. does anyone else have any thoughts on this? or perhaps other reasons why korean children seem to be so well behaved?

and just to make my blog more korean, the phrase i used the most today:

공부 해야 지~

i’m getting good at using this ^^ know what it means?

You could ask an eight-year-old the difference between Koreans and Americans/Brits/Aussies/Canadians and receive one of two answers:

1) 몰라

2) You have to take your shoes off inside.

It’s funny to me because this seems so simple. Just take them off. But perhaps there’s more to it.

Oh there’s about a million blogs, polls, forum posts, wikipedia articles, and freshman-level essays on the subject and history of taking shoes off, but what about the dilemma of when to take them off? Is it possible to offend someone by taking your shoes off when it is simply not necessary? Oil and wax papered floors are gone. Steam carpet cleaners are in. Why do we still do it?

For that matter, flip flops are also a hot little topic, aren’t they? I’m here to tell you that I have man-feet. They are pretty horrific. Out of respect for all people I refrain from ever wearing flip-flops in public. I’m doing you a favor - trust me. But why is that such a problem, really? In a Korean home, I can usually just pop off my shoes and call it a day but some more traditional homes mandate socks. Clean socks at that. Free spirited people not content with the mainstream who prefer a sockless lifestyle might find great discomfort in the square Korean society that favors cleanliness over freedom of foot.

My nephew is 1/4 Korean. His observations are the stuff of poetry. He once asked a question while at my mother and father’s house “이모부, why are you not taking your shoes off? We gotta take our shoes off inside.” He’s got a point - it’s America - why don’t I take my shoes off at my parent’s house? I do at my in-law’s house and my own home so why not there? In an American household where you might be the only one doing so, it might come off as snooty or distant; comparable to using 존댓말 with your younger sibling. However, the reverse may be true if you are the only one who leaves your shoes on.

Ask a disgruntled 외국인 as to why Koreans take their shoes off and responses range from “Because they’re snobby”, “Because Korea’s so dirty”, to “Because they will get arrested if they don’t”. It’s too bad, you know. There are such bigger and better things to get bent out of shape about

I don’t know why we still take off our shoes inside. Conformity is an admirable trait among Koreans so perhaps that is one reason. Tradition is another reason that is better left unchallenged in most cases. Just how wild and crazy is it to be the one person upset about taking off shoes when one enters a home? Sorry all. I don’t have an educated answer. All I can tell you is maybe Koreans had me in mind when they prefer socks over bare feet.

Thoughts?

This has been an interesting week. Last week we sent Michael home. He was ready to go. As soon as he got home he was headed for a week long field trip to 제주도. We Skyped with his mother before he left. She missed him a lot but it looks like she had to wait another week before she got to see him.

We, on the otherhand, just sent our oldest daughter to Korea. She will be there for the next seven weeks. She is doing a “service project” for school credit here where she will be volunteer teaching at an elemetary school, helping out with English instruction. Her first day will be tomorrow.

She is feeling a bit overwhelmed with the lack of English interaction already. Not understanding anything that is said around you can be headache inducing, especially combined with jet-lag. Typical for her though, she has commented at how fashionable everyone is, especially their shoes!

Hopefully, I will be able to post updates about her stay in Korea on a weekly basis. I am sure that her Korean will improve. It will have to. I should have a full update next week!

I’ve been a bit of a lousy orphanage volunteer these days. I am taking a class 3 nights a week, and buy with some other appointments on 2 days, so I haven’t been spending the kind of time I used to at the orphanage.

In a way, that’s OK since I will be leaving in August, and to kind of gradually make my exit it probably the healthiest and safest thing for those kids. But on the other hand, I’ve really missed them!

During a recent long weekend, I planned to spend the whole day with the orphans. They were going to some nearby beach. However, my friend Josh and I had to leave separately, and subsequently got stuck in a enormous traffic jam. Because of the holidays that week, the roads were absolutely jammed. We left the center of 서울 at around 8:30, and by 11:30, had barely made it out of the city limits into neighboring , 경기도. We did have 2 kids with us in Josh’s car, but all 80+ other kids were on a bus. They managed to get out ahead of the traffic, but we were NOT so lucky.

We decided to give up on the beach that day, and instead took the 2 kids we had to a lake. We had some lunch and rented rowboats. It was certainly fun, and a great chance to spend time with those 2 guys, but I am a little sad that I missed all the others ㅠ.ㅠ

My class will be over in a few weeks, and I can once again reclaim my schedule. I hope to tell a few more stories about those kids before the summer is out.

Hey everyone! matthew254 here and I’ve decided to reveal my true identity - my real name is “Matthew”. Yes, yes, I know - shocking, right? I’m excited to join the galaxy of stars known as KoreanClass101’s Blogging Team and can’t wait to get started. First, a small introduction of sorts.

I was born the same year that Star Wars: Return of the Jedi premiered and am originally from a city that neighbors the largest Army base in the world. I am currently a senior at the University of North Texas majoring in English as a Second Language for students Early Childhood through Fourth Grade. I grew up in Killeen, TX which houses over 100,000 people with an estimated 3% of the population being Korean. Doesn’t sound like much, but due to Fort Hood, and Killeen’s recession-resistant economy, it’s been cited as the 49th fastest growing city in America in 2007. I bring up my hometown largely due to the fact that it helps define me. Koreans (among other ethnic groups) have always been a part of my everyday life. I didn’t really know that Caucasians were the majority in America until high school geography class. As such, one develops a unique perspective of other cultures in an Army town like Killeen - it has been called the “Melting Pot” of Texas due to the sheer number of cultures, religions, races, and ethnicities represented.

My fiance is half-Korean (which is to say that she’s double the threat). Her mother and stepfather are both 교포 which is where a majority of our initial experiences stem from. While she was raised on 보리차 and 김치, I was raised on unsweet iced tea and steak. But like some things, the product doesn’t always turn out like the source. Both of us are vegans (which is surprisingly easy to do on a Korean diet).

Still, even though I’m both 1) the lucky one in the relationship and 2) the non-Korean, I seem to gravitate towards the culture a bit more than she does. Not that she intentionally strays from it. There’s no judgment call on this one - hers is not an uncommon story. A person from multiple backgrounds forms a unique combination of the two or sometimes casts one completely aside. In my fiance’s case, its the former. Now, as to why I like Super Junior, have a secret crush on 윤은혜, and crave 외김치 on a daily basis? That’s all on me.

On the language side, I started seriously studying Korean around March of 2007. I have a private tutor that I meet once a week, as well as a small number of friends to practice my Korean with. I enjoy Korean dramas, music, and especially history.

So, now onto the good stuff. Nowhere in my introduction does it say that I am an expert on Korean culture nor would I ever claim to be one. I simply want this blog to be a place where cultural and linguistic differences can be discussed as a group in a safe, no-judgments-made environment. I encourage students from all levels (especially our more advanced learners) to participate and share their views. Each week I will present an observation and pose a question or two about it. I would like steal an idea from a great philosophy professor I once had: You don’t have to change your mind on any given subject - rather - just recognize that each of us has a cultural lens in which we see the world. I’ve always been partial to this idea; that an objective truth exists but before we see it, we look through lens that change our perspective.

So, having said all that, I eagerly look forward to next week’s post and I hope you do too. Until then!

This picture also happens to have been taken in 신촌, and 신촌 is not only a major entertainment district but also a neighborhood that are surrounded by four universities (연세대학교, 홍익대학교, 이화여자대학교, 서강대학교). And if you go near a univeristy in Korea on a weekend, you can easily see something like this.

What do you think it is? Why would somebody do this? Where does it lead to?

These *marker* lines are usually used for guiding people from the 지하철역(subway station) or from 캠퍼스 안(inside the school campus) so that they can easily find the right 술집(bar) or 모임 장소(meeting point) for a reunion.

While it’s funny when you think about all the work that has to go into making this long long line (one line is usually 400m ~ 500m long or even longer),

it’s the welcoming atmosphere that these lines can give the visitors that makes college student keep doing this traditionally. For your information, it is of course illegal to put something like this on the public road, but it’s just understood and forgiven in areas near universities.

And it is actually quite fun making this although it takes hours and hours to finish one long line, and you always have to worry about the line getting cut somewhere in the middle, so you want to make sure that it’s securey fasten with duct tape.

And you also put in some welcoming messages on pieces of paper too. And when there seems to be more than one occasion going on in the neighborhood on the same day (which is almost always the case) you also want to put in some info about where this line goes to, although this arrow right below doesn’t have any info of that sort.

It says 이리 오슈 and 냉큼 오슈, which means “이리 오세요.” and “빨리 오세요” in standard Korean.

If hope you can wait another week or so for an orphan story. Since Thursday was Teacher’s Day (스승의날) I thought I’d share a little bit about that, since I am currently teaching in a Korean school.

스승 is kind of a fancy word or “teacher” but it means the same thing as “선생님” with some more nuance of “mentor” or “master.” Anyway, that’s what they use to name the day.

Traditionally, it was a holiday and schools were closed, but sometime in the past few years that changed….oh well! Students typically give carnations and a letter to their teachers.

I am sort of a novelty at my school, and for a variety of reasons never know what to expect on a day like 스승의날. Since I am not a homeroom teacher, there is virtually zero obligation for my students to write me a letter. If I get one, it is because that student took the time to write it (or some other adult suggested it^^)

Another reason is that my students don’t really know that I can speak and read Korean. A few think I can manage a couple sentences, but the vast majority is shocked to hear me utter “응” or the occasional “뭐?” Since most of my students think I won’t understand their Korean letter, or they can’t write a letter in English, I wasn’t expecting much this year. Last year I got maybe 2-3 letters.

It’s not that I need them to write me letters so that I feel good about myself, but it IS a really great feeling to get a sweet letter from a student. Plus, I really crave the language practice!^^

I was pleasantly surprised this year. I got a deluge of letters. A great majority from second graders say something like:

“그동안 영어를 가르쳐 주셨어 감사함니다”
(try to translate it in the comments!)

Some of them made laugh out loud:

To..Mr D.

안녕하세요. 원지에요. English teacher 영어 그르쳐 주시느라 힘드신데 떠들어서 죄송해요. 저번 1학년 때 여름특강 때 제가 지우개 드렸는데, 기억하세요? 그 지우개 아직도 가지고 계세요? 기지고 계셨으면 좋겠네요! 영어 특강 때 선냉님니 주우개 고르는 장면:

(Give this one a shot too! Some hints: 떠들다 - talking, being noisy; 저번 - last time; 특강 - special class; 아직도 가지고 계시다 (가지고 있다) - so still have something; 고르다 - to select; 장면 - scene)

So to our KClass teachers: - 늦게 스승의날 축하합니다! 열심히 한국어를 가르쳐 주셨어 감사합니다!

여러분 안영하세요!

I just wanted to write a quick note to say hello, and also to introduce myself and the new blog that I am excited about sharing with you.

My name is Emily (username: holdfast). I am 24, I have been studying Korean for just over one year, and I currently live in Nashville, TN, USA (and just for the record, no, I am not a country music fan^^). It is not a very large city, and at first glance I wasn’t able to find much Korean learning help, but now it almost seems to find me! The biggest help recently has been my experience teaching english to a little boy named 승진 (and if you haven’t seen the picture I posted in the forum, go check it out, he really is the cutest kid I’ve ever seen).

I unashamedly love kpop (especially super junior), and I really like using parenthesis (if you didn’t notice already). I am not sure there is anything else to say about me at this point, but if you have any questions, please ask!

I will be writing (hopefully) every week about the adventures in self-language learning and the Korean culture that I come across here in the States. ^^

여러분 기대하세요! (Everyone, please look forward to it!)

I was walking in 신촌(Shinchon) the other day and saw this big picture on the wall of a 갈비(kalbi) restaurant. I am usually trying to introduce interesting store names and signs but this week, I wanted to share this picture with you. I hope you’ll enjoy this nice picture of a traditional market/festival scene of Korea (until about 100 years ago) hung on a very modern building.

In the middle of this photo is the picture.

In front of this building there’s a 관광 버스(tour bus) waiting for its passengers.

Reading from the menu that’s written on the windows, this place sell 돼지 갈비, 소갈비, 냉면, and etc. all of which I like very much!
And if you look more closely at the picture, you can see what kind of clothes “normal” or “average-ranking” people used to wear in Korea hundreds of years ago. And as you can tell, all men have their hair long and either curled into a ball or covered with a hat, and this is because Korean men never used to cut their hair their entire life because they believed it to be a divine part of their body that their parents gave them. (And of course they’re drinking 막걸리. )

And a little bit more closely. The 아줌마(or possibly the kid’s 엄마) is checking the taste of the soup before serving it, and the kid is looking at her with eyes full of envy (or hunger)

Thank you for reading!!