Our Sponsor

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Read & Speak Korean for Beginners (Book w/Audio CD): The Easiest Way to Communicate Right Away!

Click on the book to look at the sample content of the book


This is the first book I got when I decided to learn the korean language. And I have to say after spending 70+ Malaysian Ringgit on this book, I was not disappointed with it. Although it has only about 90 pages but you still get the idea of how to create simple sentences using korean language. The book came with an audio CD and game cards at the back of it. I finished learning from this book in about 2 weeks. Another point I would like to make is that i used this book and more of a supplementary tool rather than my main source of learning. If you arent super serious about learning korean, then i don't think i'd recommend this because you will only know the bare basics by the end. I did like it, however, for the sample sentences it give- these are very helpful.

I had already learned to read when i got the book, so i think it made the experience of going through the book quite different had i not known how to read already. Which brings me to one of my main points.in my opinion, this book has one major downfall: IT DOES NOT TEACH YOU TO READ. It claims you will be able to read by the end of the book, but I assure you, you won't be able to read just by the romanizations it gives you. If you want this book to be a lot more educating experience, GO LEARN HOW TO READ FIRST, then come and buy this book. SERIOUSLY- LEARNING KOREAN WILL BE SO MUCH EASIER IF YOU LEARN TO READ FIRST. I can't stress this enough, I can't imagine what it would have been like if i had not learned to read before delving into the language. Everything will make so much more sense. Plus, learning how to read Hangeul is really, really easy! :D I mastered it in about a week. But it will take you only a couple of days to have a very good grasp of it.

The CD
I actually kind of liked the cd. I put it onto my iPod and i actually used it with the book. The speakers are native which is a plus because you'll know everything is pronounced correctly and naturally, but they speak very slowly. Everything is sounded out- which i guess is also a good thing if you want it broken down, but won't hear what the language sounds like ntaurally spoken. If you want that, listen to k-pop or watch some k-dramas. They're awesome! And easily accecable.

tHE gAMES
And one last point, I didn't actually play any of the games this book comes with, so I can't give any sort of opinion on those.
So in one sentence i would say this book is good for a younger audience and for someone very new to korean, but already knows how to read, its a good introductory book.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

"what's your job?"... Jobs & workplaces..

"what's your job?" or in hangul 직업이 뭐예요? [jigeob-i mwo-yeyo?].. so in this entry we'll talk about jobs and workplaces..
jigeob = job and the subject particle -i at the end of the word shows its the subject of the sentence..
mwo = what and we have the -yeyo particle which means am/is/are etc.. we use the particle -ieyo when the word ends with a consonant..so since mwo ends with vowel -ㅝ the particle we use is -yeyo.. these "-yeyo" and "-ieyo" particles are called the copula..

Lets memorize a few more keywords....
I'll wont provide the romanization for this so I hope you'll figure it out your self...

Jobs...
Teacher = 교사
Student = 학생
Doctor = 의사
Chef = 요리사
Accountant = 회계사
Driver = 운전사
Office worker = 회사원
Store assistant = 점원
Engineer = 엔지니어
Actor = 배우
Singer = 가수

Workplaces...
Factory = 공장
Theater = 극장
College/University = 대학교
Store = 가게
Office = 사무실
Hospital = 병원
Company = 회사
Job = 직어
work = 일해요

So when someone ask you "직업이 뭐예요?.. " how do you answer that in korean?..
simple really...

저는 학생이에요. [jeo-neun haksaeng-ieyo]. {I'm a student}..
thats if u are a student.. if u are a doctor then u'd answer..

저는 의사예요. [jeo-neun uisa-yeyo]. {I'm a doctor}..
can you see the difference for the copula when the word ends with either a consonant or a vowel?..
jeo = 'I' + the topic particle '-neun'.. means the topic of the sentence is 'I'..

other phrases that we could learn...
퇴직 했어요. {I'm retired}

직업이 없어요. {I dont have a job}
없어요 = 'dont have'. this is the opposite of 있어요 = have.

집에서 일해요. {I work from home}


To say where you work, use the particle -에서 {from} with verb 일해요 {work}.
example..

저는 의사예요. 병원에서 일해요. [jeo-neun uisa-yeyo. byeongwon-eseo ilhaeyo] {I'm a doctor. I work in a hospital}

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Heroes twitter updates - Nicole




안녕하세요 여러분...

Original tweet :
눈감고 걷는기분...

In English :
I feel like walking with my eyes closed...

눈 = eyes...
감고 = closed..
걷는 = means walking.. this is from the word 걷기 which means walk.
기분 = I feel...


but then again this is just my rough translation from 2 months of self studying.. correct me if im wrong..

hmm wonder why nicole felt like walking with her eyes closed...?? Sure miss her in Heroes tho.. I guess she's still busy with Japan schedule... 아자 아자 화이팅 nicole!!!...

Friday, August 20, 2010

Family 가족




안녕하세요!!..

For this entry I’ll introduce you to a few more key words..

Father = 아버지
Mother =어머니
Child =아이
Son =아들
Daughter =딸
Husband =남편
Wife =아내
Younger sister = 여동생
Younger brother = 남동생


Korean has different words for “brother” and “sister” depending on whether they are older or younger. The words for older siblings also change depending on whether ‘you’ are male or female.

For male…
Older sister = 누나
Older brother = 형

For female…
Older sister = 언니
Older brother =오빠


You can make sentences about your family using the verb 있어요 -isseoyo {is/has} and -없어요eopsseoyo{isn’t/hasn’t}.

저는 오빠거 있어요. [jeo-neun oppa-ga isseoyo] { I have an older brother/older brothers}.

Jeo = ‘I’. while ‘neun’ is the subject particle. You can read the entry on ‘subject particle’ to learn more about it.

Oppa = older brother. While ‘ga’ is also another ‘subject particle’.

Here’s another example..

저는 남동생과 여동생이 없어요. {I don’t have any younger brother or/and younger sister}.

In this sentence, the particle –과 after ‘nam-dongsaeng’ (younger brother) means ‘and’. You can read ‘And…’ entry to learn more about it. The –이 after ‘yeo-dongsaeng’ is the subject particle.

So if you literally convert the sentence into English it would be something like..
‘ I(as for) younger brother and younger sister hasn’t/don’t have’.

Here’s another example.

저는 언니가 세 명 있어요. 그리고 오빠가 두 명 있어요. { I have 3 older sister. And 2 older brother}.

세명 = this is a combination of ‘3’ which is 세 and a classifier for counting people which is. Read entry on numbers to learn more on this.

두 명 = almost the same with the previous description except that here we have두 which is ‘2’.
그리고 = and.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Heroes twitter updates - JiYeon




Original Message :
우리구여운쑤아언니랑구여운아이유 사랑해요오오♥♥♥♥♥♥

In English :
Our cute Soo Ah unnie with cute IU I love youuu
♥♥♥♥♥♥



Heroes twitter updates - Nicole



안녕하세요 여러분...

Every now and then I try to decipher some of the twitter messages (in hangul) from some of the Korean celebrities whom I followed.. sometimes I have no idea what they're talking about but sometimes they also post simple messages that are easily to understand (고맙습니다 여러분 for posting simple 메시지).. and whenever I was able to understand their twit I would be very excited.. I felt that what I've learn so far paid off.. (^^)

I've been hooked with Heroes@영웅호걸 lately..

Nicole twitted this today..


Original Message :
사랑하는수아언니 ~ 우후훗 피쓰 베이비 ~~~

In English :
Soo Ah unnie who I love ~ uhuhut Peace baby~~~



영웅호걸 cast sure are close to each other..

note : I'll try to decipher and update on heroes' cast twitter every now and then..so be sure to check out for updates..

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Korean Numbers..

안녕하세요....

하나, 둘, 셋, 넷 감자 {potato}...


There are two sets of numbers in Korea, the native Korean and the Sino-Korean Numbers. Sino-Korean numbers are borrowed from Chinese, so if you are chinese you'll probably notice the similarities in the pronunciation.

Generally speaking, for expression involving dates, money, foreign loanwords, minutes, seconds and counting beyond 99 Sino-Korean numbers are used otherwise its the native Korean numbers. You might be wondering why some numbers are skipped in both numeral systems, this is because there are certain patterns to achieve the numbers in between.

1st let look at native korean numbers....

Native Korean
11 = 열하나 [yeol-hana] so the formula is 10[열]+1[하나].
31 = 서른하나 [seoleun-hana]
This is the reason why after the number 10 only numbers in multiples of 10 are provided up to 90. So you have to memorize at least 18 numbers in Native Korean.

Sino-Korean
32 = 삼십이 [sam-ship-i] so the formula is 3[삼] X 10 [십] + 2 [이].

If you want to count things or people, you have to include a "classifier". Classifier are put after the number and are similar to english such as a bar(of chocolate), a roll(of film). The most common classifier is [gae] {thing}, but when you count people you need to use either [myeong] {plain} or [bun] {honorific}.

For example...

펜 열여섯 개 [pen yeol-yeoseot gae] {16 ("ten-six") pens}

저는 언니가 세명 있어요. [jeo-neun eonni-ga se-myeong isseoyo] {I have three older sister}

note : the spelling of the numbers one to four changes slightly when a classifier is used,
하나>>한,
돌>>두,
셋>>세,
넷>>네.


next time we'll explore more on numbers in other applications e.g money, dates etc..so be sure to check out for updates..

Friday, August 13, 2010

And....

LOL

안녕하세요!!!..

For this blog entry we will see the usage of the word ‘And..’ in hangul..


Like all the subject particles –는 and –은 also –이 and –가, the word ‘and..’ in hangul has 2 type which are, -과 [-gwa] and –와 [-wa]..

How will this be use in sentence structure??
Well, in english the word ‘and’ stand by itself meanwhile in hangul, the word –과 and –와 must be connected at the end of the 1st subject and that is right before the 2nd subject.

–과 should be use if the 1st subject ends with a consonant while –와 should be use if the 1st subject ends with a vowel.
Confusing? Well, we should see the example first then it will be easier to understand.

저는 펜과 책이 있어요. [jeo-neun pen-gwa chaek-i isseoyo] {I have a pen/pens and a book/books}

Pen = pen in English and as you can see its connected to –gwa since pen ends with consonant.
Chaek = book, and it is connected to the subject particle –i. Read the post on ‘subject particle’ to learn more about this.

Here’s another example.

저는 집과 차가 없어요. [jeo-neun jib-gwa cha-ga eopseoyo] {I don’t have a house and/or a car}.
Jib = house
Cha = car

And then there’s another ‘and’.. 그리고 [geurigo].. this is often used when connecting two sentences.

For example :-

저는 오빠가 없어요, 그리고 언니가 세 명 있어요. [jeoneun oppa-ga eopseoyo, geurigo unnie-ga se myeong isseoyo.] { I don’t have any/a big brother, and I have 3 big sister}

저는 = I.
오빠가 = big brother with subject particle –ga.
없어요 = this is the opposite of 있어요 {have}.. so it means haven’t.
언니가 = Big sister. With subject particle –ga.
세 명 = 세 means 3. 명 is the classifier for counting people.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Double Vowels..



안녕하세요 여러분!![annyeoghaseyo yeoreobun]... or in english that would be 'Hi everyone!!'.. When you are a k-drama or kpop addict like me, I'm sure you would know that phrase by now..

In my first entry in this blog I wrote about hangul letters or characters.. well, I mention the basci characters but I forgot to mention about DOUBLE VOWEL..yupp..Sorry guys.. I planned to write about it in the 2nd but I forgot..

Well anyway Whats Double Vowel??

You probably have stumble upon it and you dont know it.. if you've been following this blog.. Double vowels are combination of two vowels..

Well here are your double vowels...

ㅐ - ae
ㅒ - yae

ㅘ - wa

ㅖ - ye

ㅙ - wae

ㅚ - oe =
as in when
ㅝ - wo = as in
wash
ㅞ - we = as in
way
ㅟ - wi = as in
wheat
ㅢ - ui


Now you're probably wondering.. how do I type those characters when my keyboard looks like this...
Well that what I thought when I 1st came across these characters.. in this case you have to use the 'shift' key.. like to type just hit the 'shift' + 'ㅐ' key...

and to type just hit 'ㅗ' + 'ㅏ'... got it?.. i'm sure you do..