Korean Sarangheyo

Koreanheyo Comeback Post

2011-07-10T02:08:00.000-07:00

HEY GUYS^^ It's been so long since I last write on this blog. Counting back it's around 10 month, and during this period I had been busy studying for my degree, end my third year recently, undergoing internship now, and of course study Korean language every day =)

Speaking about dedication, I set a goal to myself, which is to study three short lesson a day to review back what I learned before and learning new grammar too since May. Slowly my Korean notebook is getting thicker with all the knowledge I learned so far. Maybe someday I can publish books about Korean language study too (Just kidding^^)

Sometime during the 10 month period, my blog becomes terribly ugly because of Photobucket problem. It appears that every month the website will show "bandwidth exceeded" on every single image source from there. I'm sorry that my blog viewers out there had to bear with this, but worries no more as I'm fixing it now =) Everything will going to be restore to the once beautiful template that I custom made based from the Astra template~ Never forgot to give credit to original creator ^^

Stay tune for more coming update~ I will try my best to write new lesson for coming post =)

The END~

We Get Married - 우리 결혼했어요

2010-09-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

First of all I would like to apologize for my absent because of my busy life. Currently I'm doing mini project for one of my degree course and it really give me headache. However stressing yourself all the time won't do any good so I want to introduce to all Korean fan out there this Korean reality show.

We Get Married or 우리 결혼했어요 is a Korean reality show where Korean celebrities will be pair up as a couple and given mission to complete where the "fake" couple will dating and even live together through out the show. The couple will be interview on every event where they talk about their feeling and thought for each other.

I was first introduced to this show by my sister and quickly fall in love to it. I think it's rare where there are a reality show that pair up celebrities as couple living a fake married life and it's certainly very interesting to see them interact with each other and see the true side of them self on screen. Currently this show is on second season with 3 couple:

Jo Kwon (2AM) and Ga-In (Brown Eyes Girls) - Adam Couple

Yong Hwa (C.N Blue) and SeoHyun (SNSD) - Sweetpotato Couple

Nickhun (2PM) and Victoria (f(x)) - Samgyeopsal Couple

I watched Adam couple and Sweetpotato couple. I prefer Adam couple because they are really funny. Sweetpotato couple not bad too when you can enjoy watching their sweet moment, both Yong Hwa and SeoHyun are lovely. Going to watch Nickhun and Victoria too if I have the chance^^

The END~
P/S: Practice more on the basic Korean reading and writing, I will be updating my lesson soon hopefully^^

Korean Honorifics

2010-07-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

As you guys study about Korean language, you might come across to many different verb ending for example 해, 해요, 하세요, 합니다, 하십니다 and more, each represent different level of speech use to indicated the level of formality of a situation.

The Korean language emphasize a lot on showing respect, thus born the honorific system in Korean grammer which used to differentiate the level of familiarity, or difference in social rank between addresser and the addressee.

There are many way to show respect in Korean language. I will try to simplify and make sure you guys understand the basic behind this honorifics system which often brings confusion to foreigner studying this language.

1. Addressing People

The simple way to show politeness in calling other people in a approximately equal speech level such as among friends is by adding 씨 after the end of name. For example 이승기씨 and 브루스씨. You can simply just call the first name (for example 승기씨) if you are familiar with that person.

Korean seldom say "you" in their sentences. It is more common to call the addressee their name or a proper title if he/she is at higher rank/position. For example, 선생님 is often use to refer to teacher or doctor. 선생님 is also translated Mr. if unspecified. For example: 이승기 선생님(Mr. Lee Seung Gi) or 이 선생님(Mr. Lee).

To say Mrs. or Miss in Korean you can just do it in English. For example: 미세스 김(Mrs. Kim) or 미스 김(Miss Kim). If you want refer to the wife of your superior or any prominent man, use 사모님 which mean Mrs. or Madam.

For more about Pronouns in Korean check out my previous post.

2. Speech levels

Here comes the difficult part. There are actually seven speech levels in Korean, with each level has its own unique set of verb endings. To make things easy I will only talk about 3 most used form here. Taking 하다 as example.

Low form (하다 -> 해)
Used most often between close friends and relatives, and when talking to younger people. Rarely used between strangers unless the speaker wishes to start a confrontation, or the listener is a child.

Normal form (하다 -> 해요)
Used mainly between strangers, especially those older or of equal age. This form is very common used for informal situation but shows politeness to the addressee.

High form (하다 -> 합니다)
Used commonly between strangers, among male co-workers, by TV announcers, and to customers. This is used for formal ocassion and shows high level of politeness to the addressee.

Now, all this form can be converted into an honorific form, simply by adding 시 after the verb or adjective.

For example:
Low form will be 하다 -> 하시어 -> 하셔
Middle form will be 하다 -> 하시어요 -> 하세요
High form will be 하다 -> 하십니다

However, there are a few verb have different way to be express in honorific form.

있다 -> 계시다 "to exist"
마시다 -> 드시다 "to drink"
먹다 -> 드시다 or 잡수시다 "to eat"
자다 -> 주무시다 "to sleep"
배고프다 -> 시장하시다 "to be hungry"

For more detail explanation about honorific form in Korean you can refer to site here.

The END~

Lesson 05 - How About A Cup Of Coffee?

2010-07-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

Coffee is actually part of Korean culture nowadays. Most of the Koreans love coffee and you can find coffee vending machines all over cities and street. Culturally Korean always offer to treat each other a cup of coffee and it will be rude if you are having coffee all alone, which brings us to our topic in this lesson. In this lesson, past tense will be used in the conversation.

브루스: 테일러! 커피 한 잔 어때요?
테일러: 미안하지만, 아까 마셨어요.
브루스: 그럼, 케이크는 어때요?
테일러: 아까 먹었어요.

Translate
Bruce : Taylor! How about a cup of coffee?
Taylor: I'm sorry, I had one a little while ago.
Bruce : Then, how about cake?
Taylor: I ate a little while ago.

Explanation:

커피 한 잔 어때요? - 커피 is coffee. Pay attention to the pronunciation of 커피, don't pronounce it as 코피 which mean nose blood, things might get funny if you going to order 코피 =)
한 잔 어때요 mean how about a drink. This could refer to any drink such as alchohol, coke, etc. If 커피 is place in front of the sentence then it means "How about a cup of coffee?"
아까 마셨어요 - 아까 mean a little while ago, 마셨어요 is the past tense of 마시다 which mean "to drink" For explanation of how to convert verb into past tense please refer to my previous post on Korean Past Tense.
그럼 in this sentence mean "then" or "if that is the case". Bruce ask Taylor again "How about cake?" and Taylor reject his offer by answering "아까 먹었어요" which mean I ate one earlier. Again 먹었어요 here is the past tense of 먹다(to eat).

So learn the "커피 한 잔 어때요?" if you guys want to pick up girls and create a conversation^^ This topic reminds me of a great Korean drama "The 1st shop of Coffee Prince - 커피프린스 1호점". If you guys haven't watch this drama, do check it out =)

The END~

Korean Past Tense - 았다 and 었다

2010-07-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

In our daily conversation we talk about past, present and future. The past tense in Korean language is not as hard in English with many irregular, and the rule of stating the past tense is actually quite simply. Putting verb or adjective in past tense involve conjugation by combining with 았다 and 었다.

1. For verbs that contain "ㅏ" or "ㅗ" in its syllable, add 았. If the verb contains vowel "ㅓ","ㅜ" or "ㅣ" in its syllable then add 었. This rule is very useful and important to remember.

Example:

가다 mean "to go". To turn 가다 into past tense, add the 았 and ~어요 form to make it into spoken form 갔어요(to went). When adding the 가 with ~았어요, both the 가 and 았 have vowel "ㅏ" , therefore the two word get mesh together and become 갔.
사다 mean "to buy". To turn 사다 into past tense, just add ~았어요 like what we did with 가다. As both 사 and 았 contain vowel "ㅏ", therefore both word get mesh together and become 샀어요 (to brought).
오다 mean "to come". To turn 오다 into past tense, add on ~았어요 because the verb contains the vowel "ㅗ". When 오 and 았 is added together, we didn't put it as 오았, instead we mesh the two together and become 왔어요(to came). It sounds just like 오았 when you pronounce it faster.

There is irregular for 하다(to do). To turn 하다 into past tense, we add ~였어요 instead of ~았어요. When 하 and 였어요 combine it will be pronounce 했어요. So just remember 하다 will be 했어요(I did) as we will use this verb very often. Another example is 시작하다(to start), when turn into past tense will become 시작했어요(started)

What if there is final consonant in the verb?

먹다 mean "to eat". From the verb we notice that 먹 contains vowel "ㅓ" in its syllable and therefore add on ~었어요 to it. This become 먹었어요(ate).
놀다 mean "to play". The word 놀 contains vowel "ㅗ" in its syllable and therefore add on ~았어요 to it. 놀다 in past tense will be 놀았어요(played)

2. For verbs with vowel "ㅣ" as a final vowel, add on ~었어요 and become ~였어요.

Example:

마시다 mean "to drink". As the verb end with final vowel "ㅣ", 마시 add on with 었어요 and combine to form 마시었어요. As 마시었어요 is hard to pronounce, Korean make it easier by meshing the 시었 to become 셨 and therefore become 마셨어요(drank).

던지다(to throw) : 던지다 → 던지었어요 → 던졌어요(threw)
빌리다(to borrow): 빌리다 → 빌리었어요 → 빌렸어요(borrowed)

3. For verbs with "ㅡ" as a final vowel, throw away the vowel and add on ~었어요.

Example:

쓰다 mean "to write". As the verb end with final vowel "ㅡ", the vowel is throw away and combine with ~었어요 to become 썼어요(wrote)

크다(to grow) : 크 → 컸어요(grew)
트다(to sprout): 트 → 텄어요(sprouted)

The END~

Lesson 04 - Where Is My Korean Notebook?

2010-07-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

Where is my Korean notebook? I still remember asking this to my mom as I cannot find my notebook which contains all the essential of Korean language I study. Until now that notebook is still not found and because of that I'm starting this blog to repeat everything I studied and share it with you all =)

We are going to learn about asking where is something in this lesson. Being a forgetful person and always having short-term memory loss, we are always asking "where is my cellphone?" or "where is my pencil?". This lesson will be great for you guys to learn about preposition of place in Korean.

브루스: 꽃이 어디에 있어요?
제임스: 탁자 위에 있어요.
브루스: 의자가 어디에 있어요?
제임스: 의자가 탁자 옆에 있어요.
브루스: 체 휴대폰이 어디에 있어요?
제임스: 의자 아래에 있어요.
브루스: 연필이 어디에 있어요?
제임스: 필통에 있어요.

Translate:
Bruce: Where is the flower?
James: The flower is on top of the table.
Bruce: Where is the chair?
James: The chair is beside the table.
Bruce: Where is my cellphone?
James: It's under the chair.
Bruce: Where is the pencil?
James: It's inside pencil case.

Explanation:

어디에 있어요? - 어디 is where, 있어요 is the conjugation of verb 있다 which is to exist. Remember this phrase to ask where is the object by throwing the object in front of the sentence.
꽃이 어디에 있어요? - 꽃 is flower, placing the subject marker "이" after 꽃. So the whole sentence is "Where is the flower?"
Now to learn the preposition of place: 위 mean on top, 아래 mean under, 옆 mean beside, 앞 is in front, 뒤 is behind, and 안 is inside. Remember to add 에 after the preposition.
탁자 위에 있어요 - 탁자 is table, so the sentence in conversation mean "The flower is on top of the table" as both of Bruce and James know what is on top of the table is the flower therefore 꽃 is omitted.
If you want to clarify what is the on top of table, simply put the 꽃 in front of the sentence. For example Bruce ask about the chair and James answer "의자가 탁자 옆에 있어요" - The chair is beside the table.
Notice the sentence 의자 아래에 있어요, the 아래에 is just read as 아래 because both the 래 and 에 have similar vowel pronunciation and therefore mesh together to pronounce just 아래, to make it easy to pronounce.
When Bruce ask "연필이 어디에 있어요?" - Where is the pencil? James answer by saying "필통에 있어요" - inside the pencil case. Notice James didn't say "필통 안에 있어요" because when we are saying thing inside something like pencil case, refrigerator, room, etc, we just skip 안 part as it is understood that something is inside.

The END~

Difference Between Subject Marker(가,이) and Topic Marker(는,은)

2010-07-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

If you follow my lesson from start you should already learn topic marker and object marker. You are going to learn one more particle use in Korean language and often confusing for foreigner to understand: Subject Marker.

Pretty much like the object marker, you can guess that for subject marker is place after the subject. "가" is place if the word didn't have a final consonant and "이" is place if the word have a final consonant. However, the topic and subject in a sentence may be the same sometimes so how should we know when to put topic marker and when to put subject marker.

A topic of a sentence is not nessesary a subject. A inanimate object can also be the topic of a sentence. A topic of sentence is generally what the sentence is about and therefore the topic marker is use to mark the topic of a sentence and to differentiate two possible topic of conversation.

A subject marker is use to identifies the subject: the noun in the sentence, and to give emphasize to it. Sometimes it is very hard to tell when to use which. One of the easy way is to remember topic marker emphasize more on the verb while subject marker emphasize more on the subject.

Example:

제가 샀다 - I bought (It's not anyone else but it was I who bought it)

저는 샀다 - I bought (I bought rather than doing something else)

Both sentence mean I bought but 제가 샀다 identifies the subject, I, and so puts more emphasis on the subject rather than the rest of the sentence whereas 저는 샀다 emphasizes on 샀다. So in 제가 샀다, it is more concerned about WHO bought while 저는 샀다 is more concerned about what I DID.

Another thing you should notice is when using subject marker "가", the pronoun 저 is turn into 제. This is the same for 나 and 너. 나 will turn into 내 while 너 will turn into 네. Let me give you more example.

제가 먹었어요 - I ate
내가 봤어요 - I saw
네가 샀어요 - You bought
집이 크다 - The house is big
하늘이 높다 = The sky is high

Another way to explain the difference between subject marker and topic marker:

Who bought a new t-shirt? 제가 갔어요 - I went (Notice that you cannot answer 저는 갔어요, because the person is asking who it was that went.
What did you do in the shopping mall? 나는 구두를 샀어요 - I bought shoes (Notice that the person is asking what I did in the shopping mall and so it is unnecessary to use the identifier particle. The person asking the question already knows that it was I who did something in the shopping mall. Therefore 는 is used rather than 가)

Hope all this explanation benefits you guys ^^

The END~

Kdrama - Shining Inheritance 찬란한 유산

2010-07-18T03:01:00.000-07:00

Finally I was able to finish this drama. I know I'm kind of outdated for its first release on April last year but I'm glad I watched this drama because this is one great drama ^^ even my parent watch this =D

The story is about Eun Sung (Staring Han Hyo Joo) whose life change when suddenly her father dead and her step-mother took away all the money claim from insurance. Her younger brother lost out of nowhere make her life more difficult, but she works hard to earn money and determine to find her brother back. When one day she save an old woman and take care of her as she suffers from amnesia, she doesn't know that the old woman is actually the CEO of famous food company, and also grandmother of the guy she hated so much Sun Woo Hwan (Staring Lee Seung Gi).

The story is really good. I learn that despite whatever life throw at us, we can still stand up and work hard to achieve our goal. The love story between Eun Sung and Hwan is also interesting to see ^^ Sometimes a relationship need to go through many obstacles and understand each other to able to love forever.

If you guys want to watch some good drama this is certainly one the best out there =) They all look charming in this drama. I think Han Hyo Joo make every guy fall in love with her in this drama =D

The END~

Korean Word Pronunciation - Detail Version

2010-07-18T00:37:00.000-07:00

Last time I had teach you guys on how to read Korean word, but that's the basic part. This time I will teach more on the pronunciation with detail and more advance level so be prepared =) There are generally three types of sound you use when reading Korean word: Basic, Aspirated and Tense.

Let's take 대학교 ("University") for example.

We use the basic sound when pronouncing the initial consonant and the vowel-consonant sequence. Therefore 대 is pronounce as "dae" with normal sound. 학 is pronounce as "hak" because the ㅎ is after the vowel ㅐ.
We use more tense sound when pronouncing consonant-consonant sequence and also the double consonant "ㄲ,ㄸ,ㅃ,ㅆ". Therefore 교 is pronounce as "kkyo", with a more tense sound of "k" because the "ㄱ" in 교 is after "ㄱ" in 학. This rule apply for "ㄱ,ㄷ,ㅂ,ㅈ".
So, 대학교 is pronounce as "dae hak kkyo".

For final consonant, there are a few consonant which end the sound with "t". This consonants are ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, and ㅊ. For example:

맛 is pronounce as "mat"
꽃 is pronounce as "kkot"
있 is pronounce as "it"
If we add 다 to every word above, 맛다 will be "mat dda", 꽃다 will be "kkot dda" and 있다 will be "it dda" as the "ㄷ" in 다 is after the ㅅ,ㅊ and ㅆ giving the 다 a hard tense sound.
However if we add 이 to every word above, 맛이 will be "mashi", 꽃이 will be "kko chi" and 있이 will be "i sshi" as the final consonant move over to replace the ㅇ because ㅇ is no sound as initial consonant. * take note Korean often pronounce "시" as "shi"

Finally the aspirated sound for ㅋ,ㅌ,ㅊ,ㅍ is pronounce by letting out burst to sound. For example the word "tore" and "store", to pronounce "tore" you will need to let out a burst out from your mouth. The sound of "ㅋ" will be "kh", "ㅌ" will be "th", "ㅊ" will be "ch" and "ㅍ" will be "ph".

Do check on my How to read Korean Word and Korean Alphabet if you want to refer back my previous post ^^

The END~

Lesson 03 - Asking And Telling Time in Korean

2010-07-16T01:15:00.000-07:00

It's no doubt time is always on our mind. Some of us might even think 24 hours a day is not enough because of the hectic lifestyle we having. Korea is like many other Asian country, where everybody seems to be busy all the time and always in rush to do something. This bring to our lesson for today, HOW TO ASK AND TELL TIME IN KOREAN?

브루스: 엘리스씨! 지금 몇 시에요?
엘리스: 한시 삼십분 이에요.
브루스: 우리 두시 반에 점심 먹읍시다!

Translate:
Bruce: Alice! What is the time now?
Alice : It's 1.30
Bruce: Let's have lunch at 2.30!

Explanation:

지금 몇 시에요 - 지금 mean now, 몇 is what, and 시 mean hour but it refer as time here. Notice that the word 몇 end with the final consonant ㅊ but is pronounce as "myeot" because the ㅊ is place there as final consonant act to end the sound with "t". 몇 mean what but only use for time.
한시 삼십분 이에요 - For stating time, Native Korean numeral system is use for hour and Sino-Korean numeral system is use for minute. There are some irregular for the first four number in Native Korean system 하나, 둘, 셋, 넷. When use for time 하나 will be turn to 한(1), 둘 -> 두(2), 셋 -> 세(3), and 넷 -> 네(4). Continue with 다섯(5), 여섯(6), 일곱(7), 여덟(8), 아홉(9), 열(10), 열 한(11), 열 두(12).
For minute the Sino-Korean numeral system is use. For example 십분 is ten minute, 이십분 is twenty minute, until 오십분 is fifty minute. 분 mean minute.
우리 두시 반에 점심 먹읍시다 - 우리 mean we, 두시 반 is 2.30 (notice 반 mean half, so it mean half an hour), 점심 mean lunch and 먹읍시다 mean let's eat.
To specifically state the period of day, use 아침(morning), 오후(afternoon), 저녁(evening), 밤(night) in front of the time. For example: 아침 여덟시 사십분 is 8.40a.m
To learn more about Native Korean numeral system and Sino-Korean numeral system please click on my previous post here ^^

The END~

Native Korean and Sino-Korean Numerals System

2010-07-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and so on ~ The numeral system play an important role in learning a language. We talk about time, price, how many, date, age, etc. So now I'm going to introduce you guys the Korean numeral system. There are two numeral system that you have to learn for Korean language: The Native Korean numeral system and the Sino-Korean numeral system.

The Sino - Korean Numeral System

1 = 일
2 = 이
3 = 삼
4 = 사
5 = 오
6 = 육
7 = 칠
8 = 팔
9 = 구
10 = 십
11 = 십일 (십 is ten, 일 is one)
12 = 십이
13 = 십삼
20 = 이십 (이 is two, 십 is ten)
30 = 삼십
50 = 오십
70 = 칠십
90 = 구십
100 = 백
102 = 백이 (백 is hundred, 이 is two - notice we don't add 일 in front of 백)
108 = 백팔
120 = 백이십
150 = 백오십
200 = 이백
202 = 이백 이
468 = 사백 육십 팔 (사백 is 400, 육십 is 60, 팔 is 8)
1000 = 천
2000 = 이천
2500 = 이천 오백
10000 = 만
10500 = 만 오백
23579 = 이만 삼천 오백 칠십 구(이만 is 20000,삼천 is 4000,오백 is 500,칠십 is 70,구 is 9)

The Native Korean Numeral System

1 = 하나
2 = 둘
3 = 셋
4 = 넷
5 = 다섯
6 = 여섯
7 = 일곱
8 = 여덟
9 = 아홉
10 = 열
11 = 열 하나
12 = 열 둘
13 = 열 셋
18 = 열 여덟
20 = 스물
21 = 스물 하나
22 = 스물 둘
24 = 스물 넷
30 = 서른
40 = 마흔
50 = 쉰
60 = 예순
70 = 일흔
75 = 일흔 다섯
80 = 여든
90 = 아흔
100 = 백

Compare both Sino-Korean and Native Korean numeral system, Sino-Korean is easier to remember but both numeral system is important as you will study for future lesson. There are some pronunciation to take note, the word 셋, 넷, 다섯 all end with final consonant "ㅅ", the pronunciation should be end with "t" sound (셋 - set, 넷 - net, 다섯 - dasot)

Another pronunciation that should be take note is 여덟. Notice that 덟 end with final consonant "ㅂ" but the sound is ignore and therefore pronounce as "yodol - 여덟".

The END~

TaeYang (태양) New Album - SOLAR

2010-07-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

Release on first of July 2010, Taeyang (태양) as hot as ever with his new album SOLAR capture everyone's attention. I still remember I know Taeyang when his single "Wedding Dress" is out. Love the song very VERY MUCH ^^. Also included in this album are "Superstar", "I Need a Girl (feat.G-DRAGON)", "Just a Feeling" and many more.

Check out the link here to download the song, and do BUY the album if you like it ^^

I Need a Girl (feat.G-DRAGON)

Wedding Dress

Check out the MV above, really cool =) You are HOT 태양!!!

The END~

Lesson 02 - Discover Koreans Occupation

2010-07-09T03:48:00.000-07:00

How to find out Korean's occupation?? Not mind reading certainly, but asking them about it. It is one of the really good topic where we can talk about what we do for living.

If you meet a Korean people for the first time, he or she might start asking you a lot of questions like "How old are you?", "Where did you study?", "Are you married?" things like that. This is common at Korea and is a way for them to understand how they should talk to you using honorific way or casual way. Little fact here ^^

So if you want to ask the question "what's your occupation?" or answer "I work at hospital, company, etc", HOW TO DO THIS IN KOREAN?

브루스: 스티븐, 무슨 일을 하세요?
스티븐: (저는) 회사에서 일을 해요.
브루스: 아버지는 무슨 일을 하세요?
스티븐: 우리 아버지는 학교에서 일을 해요. 무슨 일을 하세요?
브루스: 학교에서 공부 해요.

Translate:
Bruce : Stephen, what do you do for living?
Stephen: I work at a company.
Bruce : What does your father do?
Stephen: My father work at school. What do you do?
Bruce : I study at school.

Explanation:

무슨 일을 하세요 - 무슨 mean what, 일 is work, 하세요 is do you do. The whole sentence bring up the meaning "what do you do for living?" The ending form ~세요 is actually use when talking to person you respected, someone you meet for first time or older than you, or when you are asking a question.
저는 can be omitted because in respond to the question it is understood that the person work at a company is Stephen. Koreans often omit the subject in sentence.
우리 mean our. As you notice the answer given by Stephen "우리 아버지" is not wrong. Koreans often address their family member as "our father, our mother, our brother sister" instead of using "my". They use our like "우리 말 = our language", "우리 나라 = our country" and etc.
학교에서 공부해요 brings up the meaning I'm a student. You can also say "학생 입니다" which mean "I'm a student"
For the use of 에서 or the difference between 에 and 에서 please refer to my previous post =)

The END~

Object Marker(를,을) and Difference of (에서,에)

2010-07-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

In this grammar lesson I'm going to teach you all the Object Marker (를,을) and the Difference between 에서 and 에, both really not that hard to understand. I will try my best to explain both ^^

Similar with subject marker which is place after the subject in a sentence, a object marker is place after the object in a sentence. If the word didn't have a final consonant, 를 will be use. If the word have a final consonant, 을 will be use instead. Pretty simple right??

For example:

저는 사과를 먹어요 - "I eat apple". In this sentence, apple (사과) is the object. As the word didn't have a final consonant (과), object particle 를 is use after 사과.
책을 읽어요 - "I read book". Book (책) is the object and it contain final consonant ㄱ, thus 을 is put after 책 and the pronunciation will turn to "채글" because the final consonant ㄱwill move to replace ㅇ as ㅇ is no sound when place as initial consonant.
Sometimes Koreans do omit the object particle when talking. It's fine if the sentences is in order (S-O-V), but it's better to always put on the object particle.

Next is the difference between 에서 and 에. People often get confuse with this two, so when should we put 에서 and 에??

(에서) example:

한국에서 왔어요 - "I came from Korea". "에서"here mean from.
학교에서 공부헤요 - "I study at school". "에서"here mean at or in, it is use to refer the location where an action happens.

(에) example:

영국에 갔어요 - "I went to England". "에" here mean to.
의자에 앉어요 - "I sit on chair". "에" here is use to refer the location where an action ended. It's usually use for verbs like sit (앉다), stand (서다) and location of a thing such as beside, behind, etc.
방에 있어요 - "I'm in room". "에" here is use for state of existence such as to exist (있다) and to not exist (없다).
금요일에 갔어요 - "I went on Friday". "에" is also use to refer any time such as clock time, day, and even age.

So that's all, I hope I make everything clear and hopefully you too understand what I'm trying to deliver ^^

The END~

Pronoun(저,나,너,당신) & Topic Marker(는,은)

2010-07-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

From my previous post Hello To Koreans, I have taught you how to introduce yourself. Now I'm going to explain the grammar part in this post. As I mention in my previous post, Koreans emphasize a lot on respecting and politeness in their culture, so there exist the formal and informal way to say a sentence.

Now, there are two ways you can say "I" in Korean: 저 and 나. We use 저 when we are speaking to strangers, in formal situation or to elder person while 나 is used when talking to a person like our friend or someone younger than us. 저 and 나 indicates the use of formal (존대말) and informal (반말) way so choose the right one depend on the situation.

For "You" in Korean is 너 and 당신. Although using "You" is very common in English, this is different for Korean language. There is no formal way to say "You" because usually in Korea, Koreans will address each other either the person's name or their proper title. 너 refer as "You" and is use for informal way. Now 당신 is a bit special, we don't use 당신 in normal occasion because 당신 refer to the person you are talking to when you have very strong feeling to him/her. So its either you hate him/her very much or you are madly in love with him/her.

For example:

저는 바빠요 - "I'm busy". Always remember to use 저 when talk to stranger to be polite.
브루스씨 안녕하세요 - "Hello Bruce" in English. Notice we don't use 너 or 당신 because that is very inappropriate.
사장님 안녕하세요 - 사장님 refer to boss or president of company. We can address that person with their proper title for example 선생님 if he/she is a teacher or doctor.
당신 사랑해요 - Use 당신 carefully, if you simply refer Koreans as 당신 he/she will be confuse and thought you might wan hit them with something :D

Now back to our title, I'm going to explain the Topic Marker (는,은). Very simple, just add 는 if the word before didn't have any final consonant; add 은 if the word before has a final consonant, and as the name suggested topic marker is place after the topic of the sentence. Take note that topic and subject is different, but topic and subject of a sentence may be the same.

For example:

저는 먹었어요 - "I ate". Notice because 저 didn't have a final consonant, therefore 는 is add after 저.
서현은 진짜 예뻐요 - "SeoHyeon is really pretty". 현 has a final consonant thus 은 is add after 서현 and is pronounce as 서혀는 because the final consonant ㄴ move to fill in the ㅇ. See How to read Korean word for detail.
바빠요 - "I'm busy". Although there is no subject in the sentence, it is understood that the subject is the speaker himself. Koreans will mostly omit the subject in their sentence if it is known who or what is the subject is. This is not common in English so we have to pay attention to what Koreans are talking about to understand who or what they are refer to.

The END~

P/S: I know this look very hard to understand but after a while you will slowly learn through the example and for any question just leave me a comment =)

Lesson 01 - Hello To Koreans

2010-07-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

This is the first lesson to learn Korean. For lesson here I'm going to introduce you to some expression/dialog for certain situation and ways to respond to it. I hope that before you study this lesson you have already gone through the introduction of Korean alphabets, how to read Korean words, and understanding the Korean sentences structure.

Speaking Korean language to Koreans will definitely leave a good impression to them. Korean people appreciated and happy when foreigner took the effort in learning their language.

So, if one day you happen to be walking on the street and you see Korean star like SNSD - Seo Hyun or CN Blue - Yong Hwa (In the picture) and he/she standing in front of you, WHAT SHOULD YOU SAY?

브루스: 안녕하세요?
서현 : 안녕하세요?
브루스: 처음 뵙겠습니다, 저는 브루스 입니다.
서현 : 소녀시대 서현 입니다. 만나서 반갑습니다.

Translate:
Bruce : Hello, How are you?
SeoHyun: Hello, How are you?
Bruce : Nice to meet you, I'm Bruce.
SeoHyun: I'm SeoHyun from Girls' Generation. It's my pleasure to meet you.

Explanation:

안녕하세요 mean hello and how are you so to respond back we will also use 안녕하세요 back.
처음 뵙겠습니다 mean it's my first time to see you literally but it brings the meaning nice to meet you.
저는 mean I, so every time you introduce yourself start with 저는 "Your name" 입니다 where 입니다 come from the word 이다 which mean to be or is.
만나서 반갑습니다 mean I'm glad/ happy/ delighted to meet you literally. 만나다 is to meet, 서 is because , and 반갑다 mean glad/pleasant.

So next time if you ever meet any Koreans, you know what to do ^^ Hope this kind of explanation help you all, as the lesson continue you will understand all the "because, therefore, etc" and learn other new words to enrich your Korean vocabulary =)

I'm currently watching a Korean show "We Get Married" featuring SeoHyun and YongHwa~ very interesting and funny to see they get to know each other , dating, and live together as married couple :D

Youtube search "WGM sweet potato" to find the video^^

The END~

How Korean Sentence Make Sense ?

2010-07-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

Of all the alphabets form words, and from words form sentences. Therefore to really understand what a Korean is really talking about, grammar and sentence structure is very important.

To tell you all the truth I don't really care a crap about grammar and sentence structure, about what is subject, object, verb, adjective and etc and I still get at least A- in my English test ( I always told everyone I learn my English from television ^^)

Back to the topic, I'm not going to discuss about grammar now because I'm going to bring up the grammar stuff on future lesson (which is the way I learn), so now I'm going to talk about sentence structure. Now I'm assuming that all of you are doing fine in English and for English sentence structure we use the S-V-O rule.

S - Subject , O - Object , V - Verb , N - Noun , A - Adjective

Example: Bruce ate an apple ( Bruce is the Subject, apple is the Object, and eat is the Verb) - S-V-O

However, Korean doesn't use the same sentence structure rule with English. Korean use the S-O-V rule.

Example: 브루스(는) 사과(를) 먹었다 = Bruce apple ate - S-O-V

Korean sentence will always end in either Noun, Verb or Adjective. So basically this is it. I will give you more example:

리사(는) 학생이에요 = Lisa is a student (S+N)
브루스(는) 먹었어요= Bruce ate (S+V)
민디(는) 정말 예뻐요= Mindy is really pretty (S+A)
앤디(는) 물(을) 마신다= Andy drinks water ,in Korean - Andy water drinks (S+O+V)

Now I think all of you notice that there is a (는) place after every subject, that is call a "Topic Marker (는,은)". There are also "Object Marker (를,을)", and many other kinds of particle which will be discuss in the future lesson.

Beside the S-O-V sentence structure, there is still other form that you might come into which all about conjugation that brings up past tense, present tense, formal and informal, spoken or written form. Sentences which ends with 다(da) is always in written form as you can see from example 4 above.

WHY would Korean make so much rule differentiating written and spoken form, formal or informal ~ I think this is because Korean emphasize a lot on respecting and politeness into their culture, thus giving us many stress in learning the language :D but don't worry, I will explain more in the future and do comment if you have anything to ask =)

The END~

Practice Korean By Kpop

2010-07-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

To be a good Korean speaker is not only about learning from this blog or other sources but also practicing the language. If you at Korea now, that's great because you can try to talk and practice your Korean language with natives there.

I live in Malaysia, I'm a Chinese and nobody around me speak any Korean, therefore it will be pointless to practice my Korean to people around me as they don't understand a single Korean except "안녕하세요" = "An Nyeong Haseyo" and "사랑해요" = "Sarangheyo". So what should you do if you are in my condition??

If you interested in learning Korean I would assume that you are a huge fan of Kpop and Kdrama as I believe majority of us are fascinated with the Korean culture which always been deliver to us via many incredible songs and touching drama. Not to forgot all the HOT Korean boys and girls :D

I spend times listening to Korean songs and watching Korean drama whenever I'm free and I believe all this can really improve your Korean speaking and learning new words. After long period of time you will start to develop Korean accent and all this without any hard work, just by enjoying yourself in Korean entertainment =)

Here is song I would like to introduce to you guys, not the latest but very nice still^^

Title: 하기 힘든 말

Singer: Lee Seung Gi (이승기)

“우리헤어지지만 다신너를 볼수없지만
“uriheeojijiman dasinneoreul bolsueobtjiman
마지막으로 부탁하나할게 눈물맺힌 너에게
majimageuro butakhanahalge nunmulmaechin neoege
나 할수 있는건 편하게 너를 보내주는일
na halsu inneungeon pyeonhage neoreul bonaejuneunil
나와 닮은 너에게 나완 다른 그에게
nawa darmeun neoege nawan dareun geuege
조금은 어색하고 하기 힘든말
jogeumeun eosaekhago hagi himdeunmal
사랑한기억도 고마운기억도
saranghangieokdo gomaungieokdo
모두잊길바래 내눈물까지 아파하지말고
moduitgilbarae naenunmulkkaji apahajimalgo
돌아보지말고 이제행복하게만 살아줘
dorabojimalgo ijehaengbokhageman sarajwo

오래전에 알았어 나아닌 사람이 니맘을
oraejeone arasseo naanin sarami nimameul
모두 가져버린걸 나와 닮은 너에게
modu gajyeobeoringeol nawa darmeun neoege
나완 다른 그에게 아무리 애를써도
nawan dareun geuege amuri aereulsseodo
하기 싫은말 사랑한기억도 고마운기억도
hagi sirheunmal saranghangieokdo gomaungieokdo
모두잊길바래 내눈물까지 아파하지말고
moduitgilbarae naenunmulkkaji apahajimalgo
돌아보지말고 이제행복하게만살아줘
dorabojimalgo ijehaengbokhagemansarajwo
미안해 하지마 후회하지마
mianhae hajima huhoehajima
나보다 그가 훨씬더 잘해줄꺼야
naboda geuga hwolssindeo jalhaejulkkeoya
그냥 품에 안겨서 까맣게 나를 잊고서
geunyang pume angyeoseo kkamake nareul itgoseo
늘 웃고 사는게 날위한 이별이니까
neul utgo saneunge narwihan ibyeorinikka
괜찮아질꺼야 익숙해질꺼야 혼자하는 사랑
gwaenchanhajilkkeoya iksukhaejilkkeoya honjahaneun sarang
힘이들어도 떠나가는너를 돌아서는 너를
himideureodo tteonaganeunneoreul doraseoneun neoreul
몰래 내가슴속에 두면돼”
mollae naegaseumsoge dumyeondwae”

Source: http://kpopjpoplyric.blog.com/2010/05/25/request-lee-seung-gi-album-lyric/

Download the song here ~

Watch the MV of this song ~ very famous MV and nice to watch^^

The END~

BSYGK4K3NKRD

FREE Dictionary Software

2010-07-01T00:45:00.000-07:00

There is many way you can learn new language nowadays. You can attend class, ask someone to teach you, go for Youtube, and many other website which dedicated in teaching new language.

Seeking for the cheapest way to learn Korean language, I save money from attending Korean learning class and buy any learning tools such as Video tutorial and dictionary. Why spend extra when we can get new knowledge for free right??

When you start learning a new language, a dictionary is very important to learn new words and the meaning of any words you came across. So here I would like to introduce a dictionary software which you can install in your PC/Laptop and start learning Korean fast and easy ^^

Introducing Lingoes - The easy and intuitive dictionary and text translation software. It offers lookup dictionaries, full text translation, capture word on screen, translate selected text in over 80 languages. So this software not only for Korean language but also many other languages available.

You can download the software here for FREE. The size needed for installation is small and reasonable plus it didn't take up much of the RAM space so don't worry about making your PC lag. Most important: NO spyware, NO malware and NO viruses =)

After you have install the software, its not the end yet. Because you need to download the dictionary file also can be found in the same website here. You can find many language of dictionary from English, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Japanese and of course Korean ^^ After you have downloaded the file just click on it and it will directly install to your Lingoes software, VERY EASY =)

So there you have it, a free dictionary software for you to check on any words you want. I admit that the dictionary is not quite complete but sufficient for beginner like us. If any of you can't find the words you want Google translate and Yahoo's Bable Fish is also a good alternative ^^

The END~

Korean Words - How To Read

2010-06-30T03:06:00.000-07:00

Continue from the last lesson where we already go through the Introduction of Korean alphabet, now we shall proceed to next - to read the Korean words!!! Getting excited??

Generally Korean word is combine with this pattern:
1. Korean word always start with first consonant, follow by vowel, and follow with final consonant if more.
2. Always read Korean word from left to right, top to bottom.

For example:

가다 which mean to go is pronounce as "ga da". Read the alphabet from left to right - "ㄱ"+"ㅏ"="ga" and "ㄷ"+"ㅏ"= "da"
오다 which mean to come is pronounce as "o da". Read the alphabet from top to bottom - "ㅇ"+"ㅗ"="o" because "ㅇ" is first consonant therefore no sound. Combine with "ㅗ" turn 오 pronounce as "o" and "ㄷ"+"ㅏ"= "da"
먹다 which mean to eat is "meok da" but "ㅓ" is pronounce more like "o" so is "mok da". Start from top "ㅁ"+"ㅓ" and bottom + "ㄱ"="mok" and "ㄷ"+"ㅏ"= "da"

Refer to my previous lesson to learn and differentiate the sound of some tricky alphabet such as "ㅓ", "ㅗ", "ㅐ", "ㅔ", and also double consonants "ㄲ", "ㅆ", "ㅉ", "ㅃ".

I would like to show more example for case like in example 2.
Take "밥이" for example, if there is a final consonant before the first consonant "ㅇ", that final consonant will move to take over the place of "ㅇ". Therefore "밥이" will be pronounce "바비" = "ba bi"
For more example you can refer to this link , which source from Sogang University =)

The more confusing part is when you meet with the Korean word that end with final double consonant, not "ㄲ", "ㅉ","ㅆ", "ㅃ" but both different consonant.

For example the word "앉다" which mean to sit. You can see the word "앉" is end with double consonant "ㄵ" but when pronounce, the "ㅈ" sound is move to combine with "다" and give the "ㄷ" a harder sound "ㄸ". Therefore, "앉다" is pronounce as "안따" = "an dda".

This is difficult for beginner learner but don't worry, as you study more for future lesson you will understand and remember all this irregular pronunciation.

Now there is a small test for you guys ~

Try to pronounce the four Korean alphabet in this picture ~

Highlight to check answer "So Nyeo Shi Dae"

Did you guys get it correctly?? Now you understand why we always call them "SNSD" right?? Haha~ That's how fun to learn Korean, you are open to the Korean world, and understand just by reading the Korean words^^ Check on here for more detail about pronunciation =)

The END~

Introduction - Korean Alphabet

2010-06-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

This is the first step of learning Korean, that is to learn how to read Korean words. So in this post I'm going to introduce you all the basic in reading the Korean alphabet.

For your information I learn Korean from a TV show "Let's Speak Korean" which was broadcast at Korea, to teach the foreigner how to speak the native language there. I manage to have the copy of whole series - 270 episodes of the show and I'm really excited to start learning the language. After watching the first episode I was stun because the show show only Korean words with no romanization/spelling of the words. That's when I started to learn the Korean alphabet.

The Korean alphabet (한글) - consist of 19 consonants and 21 vowels is use to form the Korean words. You might think "Wow, so many and English have only 26 from A - Z" but trust me, Korean alphabet is easy to remember and in fact some of the alphabet is repeat itself. Let me show you...

List of Consonant (자음)
ㄱ - g
ㄴ - n
ㄷ - d
ㄹ - r,l
ㅁ - m
ㅂ - b
ㅅ - s
ㅇ - no sound, ng
ㅈ - j
ㅎ - h
ㅋ - k
ㅌ - t
ㅊ - ch
ㅍ - p
* For "ㄹ" is pronounce as "r" when place as first consonant and as "l" as final consonant.
* For "ㅇ" is "no sound" when place as first consonant and as "ng" as final consonant.

Now there is another 4 consonant known as double consonant as follow:
ㄲ - gg
ㅉ - jj
ㄸ - dd
ㅆ - ss
* For all the double consonant, you can notice its pattern difference.
- Example: "ㄱ" is "g" while "ㄲ" is "gg" (double "g"), which sounds like a hard tense "g"

List of Vowel (모음)
ㅏ - a
ㅣ - i
ㅜ - u
ㅔ - e
ㅗ - o
ㅓ - eo
ㅐ - ae
ㅡ - uh
* For "ㅗ" and "ㅓ", both sound is quite similar but ㅗ sound a bit like "u" while ㅓ sound more like "o"
* For "ㅔ" and "ㅐ", both also sound alike.

Next is the "Y" vowel, why I call it "Y" vowel?? Let's see...
ㅑ - ya
ㅠ - yu
ㅖ - ye
ㅛ - yo
ㅕ - yeo
ㅒ - yae
* Notice the difference?? "ㅏ" is "a" while "ㅑ" is "ya", same with all ㅜ,ㅔ,ㅗ,ㅓ,ㅐ. When added with one more line the vowel will add with "Y" sound.

Finally is the "W" vowel, and there is also formula behind it. Let's see....
ㅘ - wa
ㅟ - wi
ㅞ - we
ㅝ - wo
ㅙ - wae
ㅚ - oe (but pronounce like wae)
* We take ㅘ as example. "ㅘ" is combination of two previous vowel ㅗ (o) and ㅏ(a), now put "o" and "a" together and pronounce it faster, you should now notice that it sounds exactly like "wa". This is same with other "W" vowel.

Wait wait, there is still one vowel left, and this is a unique one - "ㅢ" which is "ui". This vowel sounds really hard to pronounce but many time Korean people will pronounce this as "ae"

That's all for the introduction of Korean alphabet, I took 2 days to memorize all and its really not that hard after you figure it. Next I will write about how to read Korean word which made up from all this Korean alphabet ^^

The END~
P/S: I hope my own teaching way make sense to all of you. Do leave comment if you have any question about this topic~

Welcome to Korean Sarangheyo ^^

2010-06-27T23:44:00.000-07:00

After spending a few day modify this blog template, I hope you guys will like the look of it, any comment of this template will be appreciated ^^

Welcome to Korean Sarangheyo ^^ Well why I name this blog "Korean Sarangheyo"?? Just because I love Korean and have enthusiasm for Korean culture ever since 3 years ago, which trigger myself in learn the Korean language. I'm actually still struggling in learning the language, but I hope that with this blog I can motivate myself in learning the language and also share my knowledge to anyone who is interested in Korean language =)

Besides that, I will sharing everything about Korean entertainment too from music, drama, movie and anything I can think so and come across to ^^ And someday I wish I can share my experience in Korea if I ever get the opportunity, really looking forward to it ~ Part of my Adsense earning will be use to fund my Korea trip in the future :P

That's pretty much of it and I hope I can start sharing everything I got to all Korean fans out there ~ 한국어 화이팅!! (Korean Language Fighting!!)

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Watching Shinning Inheritance~

2010-06-26T23:58:00.000-07:00

I felt that this semester is really a boring one~ 너무 심심해요 T.T

One Korean Drama really catch my eyes as it showing on 8TV now ~

The title is Shinning Inheritance - 찬란한 유산

Staring Han Hyo Joo, Lee Seung Ki, Bae Soo Bin and Moon Chae Won, all very handsome and pretty actor actress^^

한효주 진차 귀여워!!! :P

Continue modifying the template...

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Testing 실험하다

2010-06-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

As the title says I'm testing out this Blog by posting the first post on this new Blog^^ 실험하다~

Every guys favorite SNSD :D

Every girls favorite SS501 ^^

Official update coming soon~

The END