여러분!
Dear all our podcast listeners and blog readers. 
Great news!
Our blog, this KoreanClass101 Blog has been nominated for
the Most Helpful Blogs to Expats, 2008 for the Golden Klog Awards !
Go to this page to find out more about Golden Klog Awards,
and if you think the KoreanClass101 Blog has been helpful, please vote for us here.
Thank you!!
Posted by Hyunwoo in General Announcements | 13 Comments »
I know, I know. I promised last week that I’d come with some hiphop today. But there’s something else I want to write about today instead.
I’ve been a fan of FT 아일랜드 or FT Island since their debut. They’re a five member boyband - and by band, I mean an actual band. They don’t all sing and dance - they actually play their instruments, and generally suck pretty bad at dancing. There’s 이홍기 on vocals, 최종훈 on guitar, 이재진 on bass, 최민환 on drums, and 오원빈 on guitar and backing vocals/’rap’, and my favourite. They debuted in 2007 and since then they’ve released two albums and repackages, and a Japanese mini album and single, as well as performing songs on a couple of drama OSTs.
The above is the first single, 사랑후애, from their second album Colorful Sensibility.
They are also awesome live. This was shortly after their debut, doesn’t 이홍기 have a great voice?
Sadly though today it was announced that 오원빈 has decided that he’ll be leaving FT Island. There’s been a lot of different rumours flying around about it, but the official site mentions musical differences.
They will apparently be replacing him with one of the company’s other recruits, though details about it haven’t been confirmed yet as far as I can tell.
I’m so sad about this, I’ve spent the last few years watching them together and seeing each of them grow into who they are right now, they have come so far since debut and the thought that one of them would leave never actually crossed my mind. But at the same time it doesn’t completely surprise me, and I hope that 오원빈 will do well in whatever he decides to do after this point. I honestly hope though that he isn’t thinking about a solo career, because his voice isn’t strong or good enough to be solo or lead vocals - but if that’s what he wants to do, then I hope he does well.
Posted by Taliana in Korean Music | 5 Comments »
Korean Reading Practice for Beginners #3 is here! You can practice pronouncing some combinations of consonants and vowels using this video.
If you can’t watch the video, please click the following link.
Posted by Hyunwoo in KClass Videos, Learning Korean | 2 Comments »
Hey, it wouldn’t be KoreanClass101 without a culture class on this holiday.
You might be wondering why this new year is not on the same day as our traditional new years party in the West. Because just like all other complicated math concepts in Korea, this holiday is based on the lunar calendar and not the solar calendar. The solar calendar is what we receive in the mail for free from the ASPCA and the like. The lunar calendar is what changes from year to year. Here’s a 2009 list of solar and lunar holidays in Korea.
So, if it seems like Koreans were late to your New Years party by a few weeks, that’s the problem. Plus, solar new year is not as big of a deal in many Asian countries, not just Korea (excluding Japan). However, Koreans do something on January 1st, too. Typically, solar new year’s eve is a couple day in Korea while it’s more of a party-until-you-can’t-remember-where-you-parked holiday In America usually spent with friends. By the same token, 설날 is practically nonexistent in America and known more commonly as Chinese New Year. This title, I’m sure, is offensive to other cultures (like Vietnamese, Indian, etc) who celebrate Lunar New Year quite differently than the Chinese but at similar times. However, I guess that’s just the name of the game in America.
What this celebration means to most Koreans is that it’s a time for one of the biggest family get-togethers. For younger family members it means 세뱃돈, 세배, and lots of questions about school. For older family members it means 성묘, 차례, and possibly wearing 한복. For everyone involved it means traveling, partying, good food, and close quarters. Allow this unnaturally perfect photo to demonstrate:
As far as entertainment (other than kind provided by 소주) two games come to mind: 윷놀이 and 화투. Can you believe I found a yutnori iPhone app? As far as food, 떡국 is the staple. It’s just not 설날 without 떡국. It’s like the square/rectangle relationship. All squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares, right? Well, you can eat 떡국 on a day other than 설날 but 설날 must have 떡국.
Does anyone have a story about their experiences with 설날? How about Korean New Years versus your own culture’s new year celebration.
새해 복 많이 받으세요!
Thoughts?
Posted by Matthew in How Koreans Do It, Korean Holiday | 4 Comments »
Korean Reading Practice for Beginners #2 is here! You can practice pronouncing the basic vowels in Korean using this video.
If you can’t watch the video, please click the following link.
Posted by Hyunwoo in KClass Videos, Learning Korean | No Comments »
Last week a new artist debuted and since I quite liked the song, I thought I’d share the MV of it with you all. The artist’s name is 태군 (Taegoon), and it looks like he’s going to be leaning towards the dance/R&B style of pop that’s pretty popular right now. This song is called Call Me, and it’s not all that amazing, it’s pretty standard fare but I quite liked it anyway:
The rather emotionless/possibly robot guy with a gun is 김재중 of 동방신기. I found it a rather random appearance! Apparently the two are friends, and 김재중 was helping to pimp his friend’s debut out a bit.
태군’s dance style actually reminds me quite a bit of 비, even some of the scenes remind me a lot of 비’s MVs. Anyone here familiar with 비 and thinks the same? A few of the scenes brought back memories of Sad Tango, and 태양을 피하는 방법 (my favourite 비 song, by the way).
I think though that I’ve overdosed a bit on the pop scene lately. This girl needs her hiphop fix, so you can expect to see some of that next week.
Posted by Taliana in Korean Music | 3 Comments »
Annyeonghaseyo listeners!
Welcome to the new section of our blog, The Mail Bag. This is where we’ll share stories from our listeners in the endeavors with Korean. We hope stories from fellow students can help motivate and inspire you to learn Korean or give you that extra needed push and renewed sense of strength when you think it’s impossible to get become more proficient in Korean!
| This week we’d like to introduce you to the recent Mail Bag Story winner… Shanna Tan , age 19 from Singapore. |  |
Shanna had this to say about her studies:
“Korean was not the first language I had in mind when I pondered over taking up a new language 2 years ago. Spanish was higher up my list of ‘languages interested in’ then. However, the first spark of interest in the language came when I watched Princess Hours 궁. For a lot of people (including me), the first spark of interest came from watching entertainment such as songs, dramas, movies etc. It was one year ago (8 Jan 2007) that I started my first Korean lesson at
Singapore Korean School. I quickly fell in love with the language, always eager to learn and absorb more than what the lessons taught.
This was when I first came across ‘KoreanClass101.com’ when I googled ‘online Korean lessons’ sometime in February. Wow, that was perhaps the most organized online learning site that I come across so far. Since then, I have been faithfully downloading and listening to all the podcasts. I started out with the beginner series, progressing on to the intermediate series, audio blogs and I’m proud to say that I’m currently listening to the advanced lessons right now – all within a span of a year! Well, I spend around 2 months going through ALL the past lessons and even all the comments for each lessons. (I find that there’s a lot of valuable information and new stuff to learn there too
)
(I really find this site so useful, that I stopped taking Korean classes after completing Beginner 2. From then on, I have been self studying, using materials from this site and other books.)
When I was a beginner, I appreciated how the dialogue is repeated slowly (한번 또 천천히) and the English translation. I could repeat the section over and over again to improve my pronunciation.
When I progressed on to intermediate, the longer dialogues and various dialects and tones used proved to be more challenging and yet a pleasure to listen to.
The audio blogs and advanced lessons proved to be the best in this site. It’s rare for other sites to offer entire lessons in Korean and I’m really glad that KoreanClass101.com is doing it. The audio blogs proved to be as interesting as it is informative. I loved the chit-chat and jokes of the hosts and I’ve learned so much more about Korean Culture. KoreanClass101.com’s podcasts have become part of my daily life, and it feels weird to spend the day without listening to one or two lessons.
I feel that the best selling point of the site is the helpfulness of the hosts, especially 현우씨, who would correct our sentences and answer all queries, even though they may not be directly related to the lesson. As a non-subscriber (I really wanted to, but my family doesn’t believe in having credit cards).
Wow, what can I say, but amazing! We hope your new direction in life as a linguist will continue to make you happy as you learn Korean, Shanna! Keep up the good work!
This is an ongoing project, so please share your stories! You may send these to contactus@koreanclass101.com with the subject line: “Mailbag Story.” Our favorite stories will win one month of free premium service and be posted here to be shared with others!
Until next time, 화이팅 (fighting)!!!!
Posted by KoreanClass101.com in Success Stories | 11 Comments »
Here’s a hint - we’re in round two of something similar now.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is essentially the world’s loan shark working to stabilize international exchange rates and provide temporary financial relief.
It actually reminds me of that Korean monthly lottery that some older women play: Everyone donates something like 50$ every month to a pot and a random name is drawn until all names have been drawn. Whoever’s name is drawn gets everyone’s money for that month. I mean, technically, no one wins or loses anything - the money is just shuffled around indefinitely - but it seems like you win the lottery for that month.
The IMF works kind of like this (read: not at all like this) but just make all participants spread throughout the world, level out the exchange rate, and make the pot available for those who only really need it on a temporary basis. So instead of winning the lottery, it’s more like a handout in times of need. You repay the pot by getting back on your feet and get back to contributing to the group as a whole. The idea is that if all participating country’s economies are doing well, it reciprocates down the road by improving everyone’s economy (Keynesian economics).
Let me tell you, this sounds like a treehouse club that I want to be apart of. So why is this worldwide organization share it’s name with one of the worst economic disasters since the Great Depression? Moreso, why haven’t most Americans ever heard of it?
All countries who are members of the United Nations participate in the IMF with the exception of few countries including North Korea and Cuba. That still leaves 185 contributing countries working together for over 60 years. It also works by a weight system (much like the U.S. House of Representatives). The higher the quota, the higher voting power a particular country has. For example:
Let’s set the stage for the 1997 crisis: Confidence in the Thai baht dropped during the summer of 1997 and the resulting scare reminds me of something that happened in WoW. Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Korea eventually followed suite. However, Bangkok didn’t share the sole responsibility for the problem as other East Asian countries were borrowing funds to invest locally without exactly paying back what they borrowed. On top of that, the projects and investments chosen weren’t exactly cash cows which further devalued the local currency. This rapid drop in value of baht affected the ringgit which in turn affected the rupiah which in turn affected the won. Ever read If You Give A Mouse A Cookie…? In this case it stemmed from poor management from governments and ever worse advice from the IMF. opps. Isn’t there like a reset button?
So where does Korea fit in during the 1997 crisis? After Korea suffered from this hit in the collective wallet of millions, it was in dire need for help - and like the Ultimate Warrior coming down the ramp to enter the ring - the IMF popped in and gave Korea a 57 billion dollar loaner. Crisis contained. The countries highlighted below were most affected. Wikipedia is great, isn’t it?
So to answer one of first questions posed, the main reason why most Americans didn’t pay attention was for four main reasons
Our minds were elsewhere - sorry.
So, why should anyone care about a currency crisis that happened 12 years ago? If anyone has ever been overseas for an extended period of time, they know first-hand that the currency conversion rate is one of the first things in their mind once they get a paycheck (second only to the quickest and cheapest route to inebriation). Typically, one can usually insta-translate Korean won (원 ₩) to United States dollars (USD $) by simply subtracting three zeros from the end. So, if a beer at that bar that we were gunning for costs 2000원, then we can insta-realize Wow, that is a two dollar beer. This understanding comes at the common knowledge that 1000원 usually means 1$. But of course this isn’t always the case. In the case of the 1997 crisis, the rate was 1700원 to 1$. That’s almost cutting your wallet in half. Similarly, if the won is closer to 800원 to 1$, then people entering the country with a fistful of American dollars will be losing a slight amount in the conversion. Good for the won but not so good for the dollar. As of January 4th 2009, 1 USD = 1312 원. ouch.
However, here’s a situation that Americans hope to run into:
An American enters with a cash amount around, say, a few thousand dollars, converts it to won, stays for a period of time, plans to leave the country later with a comparable amount in won, converts it back to dollars before leaving to find out that the rate has changed in his/her favor. You passed “Go” so collect 200 dollars. Thank you for doing nothing. Can you believe that people do this (currency conversion) for a living?
Anyways, to wrap things up, it would be cliche of me to point out that South Korea and the rest of the world are globally linked and dependent on each other for stability. However, it’s important to hope that in the future such events like the crisis in 1997 won’t go unnoticed by the rest of the world (read: USA). Sure, currency stability sounds about as fun as watching paint dry but it does affect more of us than we like to admit. Here’s to a future of prosperity!
Thoughts?
Posted by Matthew in How Koreans Do It | 3 Comments »
소녀시대, or Girls Generation, is a girlgroup that it seems you either love, or hate. They are often compared to the Wonder Girls (another love-or-hate situation, apparently), a comparison that I think is unfair - to both groups. Their music style is vastly different, as is their image. The plans their companies have in store for them is also incredibly different, and while on the surface pop is pop, if you look deeper then you will see that they are in fact being geared towards certain specific goals and niches. JYP has his sights set on America for his 5 member girlgroup, while SM Entertainment is quite content to keep their 9 girls doing their thing at home.
One thing both groups do have in common though, is their fair share of fans and anti-fans alike.
Personally I prefer 소녀시대. I only liked 2 songs on their debut album, but I think that vocally they are a lot stronger than the Wonder Girls. The Wonder Girls, however, have had a few more catchier hits. Tell Me, So Hot and Nobody were three songs that, even if you hated them, were pretty much guaranteed to get stuck in your head whether you liked it or not. 소녀시대 on the other hand, didn’t have anything even nearly as catchy.
Until now. Last week, 소녀시대 released a mini album. The title song is Gee, and I think the chorus alone definitely has what it takes to rival the catchy tunes of the Wonder Girls. Check out the MV below:
How can that not get stuck in your head? Oh oh oh oh oh~ Gee gee gee gee gee~
And completely unrelated but I just had to share the following with everyone:
Super Junior’s 김희철 and FTIsland’s 이홍기 (and others) doing guess-the-word. In English. Its loud and crazy, and made me laugh a lot, and also made me wish that I could be so kamikaze about my own language learning.
Posted by Taliana in Korean Music | 9 Comments »
화투, 고스톱, Go Stop, 花鬪, 花札, Hanafuda, Sakura, Higobana, Koi-Koi
Whatever you know it by, this game is not for the weak minded. Think poker with about 20x the rules.
This game is known in several different countries by different names but the basic rules of the game are the same. I liken the rules to Monopoly - there’s house rules, official rules, regional rules, etc. I usually end up playing 화투 differently each time, it seems.
Go-Stop is usually played during 설날 and 추석 but certainly makes it into a regular game night in Korea. There’s a certainty that every night of the week someone in Korea/Japan/Hawaii/Your mom’s house/etc is playing the game.
The history of the game originates in Japan where gambling with traditional four suited cards were deemed illegal. So, to circumvent this law, smaller cards depicting traditional Japanese scenery and flowers were created in the name of nationalism (read: gambling). In 1889, a little known Japanese company called Nintendo mass-produced such cards by hand on sheets of pressed tree bark. Once the Yakuza caught wind of this seemingly innocent workaround, karuta cards quickly became commonplace in local gambling parlors.
The rules are simple hard to follow. It’s one of those games that you think that after a few rounds you’ll pick up on it. But you won’t. The first couple of times you play it you’ll constantly be thinking to yourself “Are they changing the rules?” and although they might, maybe they aren’t. Also, patience is not a virtue in this game. The faster you go, the better. If it’s your turn and your eyes are still scanning your hand, get ready to be razzed.
Ever watch one of those child prodigies playing lightening fast DDR? Yeah well the game goes that fast but there’s no prodigies - just regular everyday people with sharp minds and years of experience stacked against you. Seriously, I’m used to playing chicken foot, blackjack, or uno (by the way, I’ll destroy you in uno - I don’t play around with uno). These games can be fast, especially uno, but typically one might play them in a retirement community or with family and friends while hanging out enjoying a few drinks and snacks, right? You know, go at a steady pace while having a light conversation at the same time? Wrong. It’s all business and trash talking. Go-Stop lulls newbies into a false comfort and tricks them into thinking that the cute little card game is just for fun until someone suggests “Let’s make it interesting. Why don’t we play for quarters?”.
Man I won’t even get into the scoring system.
Let’s take a look at the cards themselves:
(Full Size Photo Available Here)
To learn the game, other than scouring the rules online, I recommend picking up a pack from your local Korean grocery (mine carries a pack of cards for five bucks) and studying the photo above. The first thing I noticed about the cards is that they are made of plastic, terribly small, and look surprisingly similar. It takes a while to quickly notice the subtle differences. Also, the cards aren’t sticky like western playing cards so shuffling and dealing can be kind of taxing at first. Oh, and they don’t bend. I fumble with them every time, but then again, I’m a clumsy guy. It took me a while to get the hang of slamming the card down.
A younger generation has embraced this game too and in typical Korean fashion, technology integration is not an option. You can play a free version of this game online over at ijji. Also, If you can get your hands on this Nintendo DS rarity, I have been told that it contains Koi Koi.
For more of an overview, here’s a user-made video of the online version and here’s one showcasing the cards and coins used in Korea.
Have you ever played this game? What is something that made your game unique? Any special house rules?
Thoughts?
Posted by Matthew in How Koreans Do It | 20 Comments »
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