Learn Korean (without sweat)

Family: Some Basic Vocabularies

2009-12-29T23:36:00.001+07:00

Hi folks! The post you're about to read is about familial vocabularies. Most of words presented here is proven to be relevant to everyday use. It is therefore crucial for us to master all these words and the meanings.

아버지 father
어머니 mother
할아버지 grandfather
할머니 grandmother
형오빠 big brother
부모 parents
계모 step mother
계무 step father
남편 husband
부인; 아내 wife
누나; 언니 sister ('nuna' for a boy calling his sister, 'onni' for a girl)
동생 younger sibling
딸 daughter
아들 son
아주마 aunt (non-relative)/ ma'am
아저씨 uncle (non-relative)/ sir
부부 spouse
삼촌 uncle (relative)
사촌 cousin
손자 grandchild
숙모 aunt (relative)
애인 girlfriend/ boyfriend
시부모 parents in law
시어머니 mother in law
시아버지 father in law
아기 baby
조상 ancestor
조카 nephew
사위; 며느리 child in law
정인 parents in law
현제 brother/sister
큰아버지 big uncle
큰어머니 big aunt

Time (part2): Second, Minute, Hour, Year and Other Time Expressions

2009-11-13T20:59:00.003+07:00

Hello again, readers. It's me, coming back again with new stuff for you all. In this post, I'd love to show you how to mention years in Korean and there are some time expressions that I think we need to know.

First of all, to mention second we can say "... 초" with Sino Korean numbers in front of it. For instance, twenty seconds can be translated into 이십초. If you've memorized the Sino Korean numbers, it's a lot easier for you to do this.

Secondly, to express minute in Korean we are expected to say "... 분". Just like before, we have to use the Sino Korean numbers. For example, thirty minutes is 삼십분.

Thirdly, say " (Korean number) + 시" to express hours. There are some exceptions we should always remember here. This is how to say 1 am: 한시 (instead of 하나시), 2 am: 두시(instead of 둘시), 3 am: 세 시, 4 am: 네시. The rest follows the normal rule, such as 5 am: 다섯시.

Fourthly, the rule of saying year in Korean is "... 년". Here the Sino Korean numbers are used. Based on that, in Korean we read 1945 as 천구백사십오년.

Afterwards there are some time expressions that are frequently used and thus we should know. Let's take a look at these.

DAYS

today: 오늘
yesterday : 어제
tomorrow : 내일
the day after yesterday: 그저게
the day after tomorrow: 머레

WEEKS

this week: 이주일
last week : 지난주
next week: 다음주

MONTHS

this month : 지난달
last month : 이달
next month : 다음달

YEARS

this year : 이년/ 올해
last year: 작년
next year : 다음년/ 내년

SEASONS

dry season : 건기
rainy season : 우기
summer :여름
autumn/ fall : 가을
winter: 겨울
spring :봄

Time: Days and Months

2009-11-10T16:40:00.008+07:00

It's been a while since the last time I wrote a post here. And now I feel like missing my Korean learning as much as I miss Kim Tae Hee. Isn't she gorgeous? Just want to display her image to boost my blogging spirit on this blog.
Sorry, for abandoning you, my blog. But let bygone be bygone as now it's time to start the new beginning. I promise to post articles more regularly and never leave you unposted or unvisited.
So after two months absent, now I'm about to bring a new topic into discussion. We're going to talk about time expressions which include days and months.

These are names of days (일) in Korean:

일요일: Sunday
울요일: Monday
화요일: Tuesday
수요일: Wednesday
목요일: Thursday
금요일: Friday
토요일: Saturday

And below is the list of months (월) in Korean:

일월: January
이월: February
삼월: March
사월: April
오월: May
육월: June
칠월: July
팔월: August
구월: September
십월: October
십일월: November
십이월: December

I know how difficult it is to read minute hangeul unless you're a native or expert of Korean. That's why I enlarge the font size a bit so as to make it more readable. Enjoy!

Top 20 Simple Korean Expressions

2009-09-07T17:50:00.005+07:00

Suppose there's a chart for the most widely and frequently used Korean expressions, I"ll contribute these as the nominees ^_^

The first is 사랑합니다 (love you): I've watched tons of Korean dramas and this is the word I love to hear.
잘했어요 (good/great): I first knew this as I got my quiz answer sheet. I could answer almost all the questions correctly and my teacher wrote this on my answer sheet.
반갑습니다 (nice to meet you): Say this when we meet someone for the first time after introduction.
안녕하세요? (how're you?): The other version of 안녕 하십니까?
실례합니다 ((excuse me): I heard this when 이수정 (하지원- in Memories of Bali) wanted to end the conversation with 정재민 (조인성)
감사합니다 (thanks): It's another version of 고맙습니다
고마워(요) (thanks): You can leave the ending 요 or simply say 고맙다
미안합니다 (sorry): the formal version of 미안해(요)
어서오세요 (welcome): A host/ hostess says this to his/her guests
어떻게 지내세요? (how's it going?): Ask this to someone you haven't met for a long time.
잘지내요 (allright): this is the answer. You can say the same with interrogative intonation to ask how someone's going.
또마나요 (see you/ take care): To say good bye when we part.
죄송해요 (excuse me/ pardon me-when you cause inconvenience to someone else): I saw 이수정 (하지원) says this when she meets 정재민 (조인성) at night.
괜찮아요 (fine/OK) : Say this when someone just fell down or gets hurt. There's a song in 18 vs 29 using this word as the chorus, too!
안돼요 (don't!-to prohibit someone doing something): 강하나 (played by 김아중) in 200 Pound Beauty screams this when a producer wants her to get some nose job!
들어오세요 (come in): If you're sitting inside a room, say this to someone outside to come in.
들어가세요 (come in): if you're outside of the room, and you want someone to come in, say this.
알았지 (got it?-to make sure someone agrees with you): 강혜원 (한은정) in Full House says this as she wants to make sure the hesitant 이영재(정지훈) not to stay away from her anymore.
싫어 (no way/ I don't like): After being kissed not on her free will by 정재민, 최영주 (박예진) says this.
왜? (why)

NUMBERS

2009-09-04T17:29:00.002+07:00

There're two types of numbers in Korean; i.e. the Chinese derivative and the Korean origin.

These Chinese derivative numbers are used to express months, years, etc.

일 (il)
이 (i)
삼 (sam)
사 (sa)
오 (o)
육 (yuk)
칠 (chil)
팔 (phal)
구 (gu)
십 (sip)
십일 (sibil)
십이 (sibi)
십삼 (sipsam)
십사 (sipsa)
십오 (sibo)
십육 (sibyuk)
십칠 (sibchil)
십팔 (sibphal)
십구 (sibgu)
이십 (isip)

Meanwhile, the Korean origin is used to express age, hour, sum, etc.

하나 (hana)
둘 (dul)
셋 (set)
넷 (net)
다섯 (daseot)
여섯 (yeoseot)
일곱 (ilgop)
여덟 (yeodeol)
아홉 (ahop)
열 (yeol)
열하나
열둘
열셋
열넷
열다섯
열여섯
열일곱
열여덟
열아홉
스물

30. 너른

40. 마흔

50. 쉰

60. 여순

70. 일흔

80. 여든

90. 아흔

99. 아흔아홉

100. 백 (baek)

1000. 천(cheon)

10000. 만 (man)

100000. 십만

1000000. 백만

10000000. 천만

100000000.억(eok)

NAMES OF COUNTRIES

2009-09-01T15:08:00.003+07:00

There are some differences you can notice between the Latin and Korean pronunciation and spelling. This is as the result of some sounds absence. In other words, they're not PERFECTLY represented by any hangeul characters. Sounds like /f/, /z/ and /v/ can't be found here, and as a surrogate we may use ㅍ, ㅈ and ㅂ.

Listed below are names of countries in Korean (나라- country):

인도네시아 (Indonesia)
싱가포르 (Singapore)
말레이시아 (Malaysia)
태국 (Thailand)
라오스 (Laos)
미얀마 (Myanmar)
브루나이 (Brunai)
필리핀 (the Philiphines)
인도 (India)
베트남 (Vietnam)
방글라데시 (Bangladesh)
중국 (China)
한국 (Korea)
일본 (Japan)
러시아 (Russia)
몽골 (Mongolia)
미국 (the US)
영국 (England)
프랑스 (France)
사우디 아라비아 (Saudi Arabia)
이집트 (Egypt)
멕시코 (Mexico)
브라질 (Brazil)
캐나다 (Canada)
호주 (Australia)
파키스탄 (Pakistan)
아프가 니스탄 (Afganistan)
이란 (Iran)
이라크 (Iraq)
이스라엘 (Israel)
팔레스타인 (Palestine)
이탈리아 (Italy)
스페인 (Spain)

These are names of continents and places other than countries:

아시아 (Asia)
유럽 (Europe)
아메리카 (America)
아프리카 (Africa)
북극 (Arctic/ North Pole)
남극 (Antarctic/ South Pole)

So, now you can answer the questions like what I listed below easily.

Question: 저는 어느나라사람 입니까? (Which country's citizen are you?)

Answer : 저는 ...... 사람 입니다. (I'm ..... )

Question : 어디에서 왔어요? (Where're you from?)

Answer : ..... 에서 왔어요.(I'm from....)

Happy practicing , guys!

Expressions: Introduction and Describing Ourselves

2009-08-31T17:12:00.002+07:00

It's so hilarious to watch the scene when Han Ji-Eun is introducing herself to Lee Yeong-Jae's grandmom. The old lady is so demanding and ,like any other elderly parents, looks intimidating to our timid heroine. Hahaha...The grandma complains when Ji-Eun only nods her head when greeting the elderly, so she wanted Ji-Eun to take a bow (called "chol"). Ji-Eun says, "안녕 하세요, 한지은 이라고 합니다" (Good morning, my name's Han Ji-Eun).Han Ji-Eun does this in a very awkward way and makes me laugh at once.

There are some phrases or gambits Korean natives use to use introduce themselves. Here you can see there are two alternatives that we may use according to level of politeness and formality. If you ask using a sentence with -까, it means you ask in a formal and polite way. Ending -다 is used in the end of formal statement/ positive sentence. Next, 요 indicates a closer relationship between speakers, and may be used both in interrogatives and positive sentences.

이름이 뭐십니까?/이름이 뭐예요?

(i-reum-i mweo-sim-ni-ka?/i-reum-i mweo-ye-yo?)

What's your name?

제 이름은 ......... 입니다/ ......(이) 라고 합니다.

(je i-reum-eun ....im-ni-da/....(i) ra-go ham-ni-da)

My name's .....

예(formal)/네(common)/녜(less common)

(ye/ne/nye)

Yes

아니요/아니오/아니야/이니

(a-ni-yo/a-ni-o/a-ni-ya/a-ni)

어디서 왔어요?

(eo-di-seo wass-eo-yo?)

Where're you from?

...... 에서 왔어요.

(.....e-seo wass-eo-yo)

I'm from ....

한국 에 계신지 얼마나 되셨어요?

(Han-guk-e gye-sin-ji eol-ma-na dwe-syeoss-eo-yo?)

How long have you been in Korea?

한국 에 온지 2 년 됐습니다.

(han-guk-e on-ji i-nyeon dwaess-seum-ni-da)

I've been in Korea for 2 years.

한국에 이번이 처음이서요?

(Han-guk-e i-beon-i cheo-eumi-seo-yo?)

Is it your first time in Korea?

이번이 두번째입니다.

(i-beon-i du-beon-cae-im-ni-da)

This is my 2nd time here.

나이가 어떻게 되세요?/ 나이가 몇 살이예요?

(na-i-ga eo-teo-ke dwe-se-yo?/ na-i-ga myeot-sal-i-ye-yo?)

How old are you?

저는 스물다섯살 입니다/저는 스물다섯살 이예요.

(Jeo-neun seu-mul-da-seot-sal im-ni-da/jeo-neun seu-mul-da-seot-sal i-ye-yo)

I'm 25 years old.

"THREE BEARS" NURSERY RHYME

2009-08-30T13:16:00.002+07:00

Learning a foreign language may be made fun, and singing a song is unbeatably helpful to loosen up a bit the tense nerve we have after memorizing the theoretical discussion.

As I told you before, I once took a Korean course and had a native Korean called Kang Song Hoon as my tutor. At the same time, there was Full House (풀하우스), a Korean drama hit almost everyone knows, aired on Indosiar (2005). I found this drama entertaining and got addicted to watching it daily.

While watching it, I found a very interesting song (which was sung by Lee Yeong Jae for sad Han Ji Eun). The actor Rain (Bi) had improvized the lyrics of the rhyme but here is the original version my tutor Kang Song Hon wrote for my Korean class. Grab your microphone now and let's sing!!!

곰스마리

(gom-se-ma-ri)

곰스마리가 한집예있어

(gom-se-ma-ri-ga han-jib-ye-iss-o)

아빠곰 엄마곰 애기곰

(a-pa-gom eom-ma-gom ae-gi-gom)

아빠곰은 뚱뚱해 엄마곰은 날씬해

(a-pa-gom-eun tung-tung-ae eom-ma-gom-eun nal-ssin-ae)

애기곰은 너무귀여워 으쓱으쓱잘한다

(ae-gi-gom-eun neo-mu-gwi-yeo-weo eu-ssek-eu-ssek-jal-han-da)

Free translation:
"Three Bears"
There're 3 bears in a house
Daddy bear, mommy bear, and baby bear
Daddy bear's fat, mommy bear's thin
Baby bear's too cute, shrug shrug, good!

KOREAN CONSONANTS (자음:JA EUM) - part2

2009-08-28T20:38:00.000+07:00

This second part will mainly discuss the double consonant group. There're five double consonants we need to know:

ㄲ : ssang giyeuk (pronounced as /k/)
ㄸ : ssang digeut (pronounced as /t/)
ㅃ : ssang bieup (pronounced as /p/)
ㅆ : ssang sieut (pronounced as /S/)
ㅉ : ssang jieut (pronounced as /c/ or /ts/)

I know how confusing it is to find out some sounds may be represented by more than one alphabets, such as /k/ which might be represented by ㄱ or ㄲ or ㅋ. But why don't we enjoy the confusion rather than complain about it? Let's say this is the art of learning Korean. My Korean tutor even admitted that he sometimes finds writing Korean words trickier than speaking them. And you may not believe it, but it's true that he several times makes misspelling while writing on whiteboard for us. So don't worry too much about it..It's about the travel, rather than the destination :)

KOREAN CONSONANTS (자음:JA EUM) - part1

2009-08-27T23:40:00.000+07:00

After the previous brief post on hangeul, now let's discuss the consonants in a more intensive way. Consonants in Korean are divided into two groups; i.e. single and double consonants.

The first group is already shown on the previous post, but for the sake of recalling our memory, try to take a look at this.

ㄱ (g, k) is called giyeuk
ㄴ (n) is called nieun
ㄷ (d, t) is called digeut
ㄹ (r, l) is called rieul
ㅁ (m) is called mieum
ㅂ (b, p) is called bieup
ㅅ (s, t) is called sieut
ㅇ (voiceless, ng) is called ee-yeung
ㅈ (j, t) is called jieut
ㅊ (ch, t) is called chieut
ㅋ (k) is called kieuk
ㅌ (t) is called tieut
ㅍ (p) is called pieup
ㅎ (h, t) is called hieut

You might feel confused why some of these letters have two alternative pronunciations. Ok, let me explain simply by giving you some examples. These consonants must be spelled differently based on position.

1. ㄱ

initial : 강습 (gang-seup)

final : 역 (yeok)

2. ㄷ

initial : 다음 (da-eum)

final : 잗 (jat)

3. ㄹ

initial : 라면 (ra-myon)

final : 거실(geo-si)

4. ㅂ

initial : 바람 (ba-ram)

final : 장갑 (jang-gap)

5. ㅇ

initial : 이름 (i-reum)

final : 노래방 (no-rae-bang)

6. ㅎ

initial : 한국 ( han-guk)

final : 밯 (bat)

7. ㅅ

initial : 손 (son)

final : 이것 (i-geot)

8. ㅈ

initial : 중국 (jung-guk)

final : 맞 (mat)

9. ㅊ

initial : 춥다 (chubda)

final : 몇(myeot)

TIPS ON TYPING HANGEUL

2009-08-23T21:30:00.002+07:00

I forgot to tell you, in case you all need to know how to type hangeul using your own keyboard, check this out!
Based on my personal experience, Microsoft Word 2007 and Windows Vista Ultimate enable you to set the language input as you wish. I've tried to find out how to do the same on my uncle's laptop (installed with the earlier version of Microsoft Office and Windows XP) but failed.

First of all, click the "start" button
Find "control panel" and click
Find "regional and language options" and click
Click the "keyboards and languages" tab
Click the "change keyboards" button
Search and click the "add" button on "text services and input language"
Find "Korean" and click

Maybe you'll find it confusing but it's worth trying. And remember these steps won't change the display language, they only change the input texts. So your menu or dialogs are still in English, except you're already able to install a Korean language pack.
If you want to type on a worksheet (Microsoft Word, for instance) or email, you can activate the language bar so as to be able to type using Korean keyboard. By default, usually the language is set to English, but now you can opt for the Korean because you already choose it as one of the input alternatives. Check the "Korean" section, instead of the "English". Afterwards, you'll find a language bar and now check the letter "A" (Latin) into "가" (hangeul).
As my memory serves, if you manage to do the steps I give you, you can type ㅂ,ㅈ,ㄷ,ㄱ,ㅅ, ㅛ, and so on by pressing the QWERTY buttons stretched in front of you now.

HANGEUL: HOMEWORK 1

2009-08-23T19:30:00.000+07:00

After you learn the brief history and basics of hangeul (한글), now it's your turn to practice.While doing the homework below, try not to open any books or anything to get the answer.

Instruction: Change the hangeul into Latin alphabets, and vice versa.
Example (보기)
천국의계단 = cheon-gug e gye-dan
ji-ha-cheol = 지하철
(For your information, cheongug e gyedan means "Stairway to Heaven". I'm pretty sure if you're one of those Korean drama freaks, you're already familiar with this phrase. Ok now onto the business!)

1. ga-ge
2. seo-jeom
3. gyeong-chal-seo
4. san
5. gu-reum
6. hae
7. bu-okh
8. don
9. sijang
10. phyonji
11. 한식집
12. 공장
13. 극장
14. 식당
15. 대나무
16.서울
17. 포장마차
18. 연필
19. 선풍기
20. 가울

You may do this homework on your own or else if you want me to correct or check, send your answers to my email address (akhlispurnomo@gmail.com). I promise to check and response your email.

HANGEUL: THE KOREAN ALPHABETS

2009-08-23T16:47:00.000+07:00

First thing first: Korean is a language requiring us to study a new set of alphabets. The alphabets are called hangeul. King Sejong was known to be the creator of hangeul.
Hangeul was invented in 1443 or 1444 during the reign of Chosun Dynasty (1392-1910). Thanks to King Sejong and his innovative hangeul, more previously illiterate Koreans were then literate.
When first proclaimed by King Sejong, Hunminjeongum had 28 letters in all. Today, there are 24 letters remaining: 14 consonants and 10 vowels.
Chinese requires a long time to study, however, the Korean alphabet can be learned in a matter of hours or days to read and write. Because Korean alphabet is a phonetic system, it fully can recapture the spoken Korean words.
Korean Alphabet:
Consonants:
ㄱ (g, k) ㄴ (n) ㄷ (d, t)
ㄹ (r, l) ㅁ (m) ㅂ (b, p)
ㅅ (s) ㅇ (voiceless) ㅈ (j)
ㅊ (ch) ㅋ (k) ㅌ (t)
ㅍ (p) ㅎ (h)

Vowels:
ㅏ (a) ㅑ (ya) ㅓ (eo)
ㅕ (yeo) ㅗ(o) ㅛ (yo)
ㅜ (u) ㅠ (yu) ㅡ (eu)
ㅣ (i)

안녕하세요!

2009-08-19T17:26:00.000+07:00

The title above means "How are you?" in Korean. Perhaps that's the most easily found expression in Korean. And most of the time, Korean teachers teach students how to say this correctly. We'd have to say this by taking a bow as it shows our respect to someone older or strangers we meet.

This blog is about my interest in learning Korean. Started from 2005, I watched one of Korean drama masterpieces; "Full House". And I was instantly hooked! Song Hye Kyo and Jong Ji Hoon (Rain) fascinated me and after that I was diagnosed as a Korean wave patient.

It was a divine coincidence I saw an announcement on my campus, telling the interested students to enrol a Korean course. The next thing I did was clear. Without hesitance, I dashed to the office and enthusiastically pleaded to be a participant.

The class began and a native Korean appeared. Mr. Kang Song Hoon, that was my sonsaengnim's(선생님-teacher in Korean) name. He could hardly speak Indonesian or even English. So it was quite a struggle for us (his students) to communicate with him smoothly. He tried to teach well but failed. Don't know why I simply couldn't do well in class. It might be caused by my campus business at that time and he seemed to be a novice teacher. The frequency of classes was too low and learning foreign languages, as far as I'm concerned, takes regularity. The more frequent we speak the language, the better our proficiency will be. But at that time I had no source of learning, except the textbook from Seoul National University and my dear sonsaengnim's poorly-conveyed explanation. But after all, I still miss Mr. Kang. If you really want to know how he looks like, maybe you can find the Japanese character in "Heroes" American Tv series. There you'll find Hiro (if I'm not mistaken), he simply looks like Kang Song Hoon. Hahaha...