Media Monday: Well, OF COURSE They Do...

OF COURSE North Korea's response to the UN's decision to investigate possible human rights violations is to threaten nuclear testing.  It's kinda their knee-jerk reaction to everything (which in and of itself, that reaction should prove that NoKo is NOT responsible enough to have nuclear weaponry....I tend to think about a toddler who throws violent temper-tantrums every time it doesn't get its way.).

And of course the rest of the world has to take the threat seriously.  Which in turn only enables North Korea to think that the threat of nuclear testing can be and is the answer to everything they don't like.

The worst thing is there is no easy, or even feasible, way to resolve this.  For everyone who thinks their respective country (I'm not pointing fingers) should be isolationist, this is the result.  NOTHING exists in a bubble.  No man is an island, and whatnot.

Read the story:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30125047?OCID=fbasia

Friday Fives: My Top 5 Favorite Konglish Pronunciations (So Far)

Again, listed in countdown order.  I will try to write these out phonetically, as my students said them.  The actual Engish word(s) they meant is after the jump.  If you read (and understood Wednesday's Word Wednesday post, you may be able to guess ahead of the jump.  Because (generally) my students broke up the words into syllables (and pronunciation) as they would understand them in Hangul.


5. Tey-me

4. Pee-rhat

3. Rah-dee-oh

2. Soo-vi-vi-or/Sir-viv-al

1. Neh-to-land

Word Wedneday: Syllables

Now, that we have learned all those Hangul letters, let's work on making some words!

So, Korean words are really easy to understand.  They are syllabic in consonant-vowel(-consonant) form...usually...and when they vary from this form, it still makes a lot of sense.

Let's start with something simple.  Like Seoul.  To Americans (or English speakers in general) this is a one syllable word.  It's 2 syllables in Hangul: Seo-ul.  The first is 서 (Seo) and then 울 (ul).  The first syllable is C-V, the second is C-V-C.  I know the second syllable looks like it is just V-C, but the ㅇ is considered a "placeholder" consonant...here it is a silent consonant, like the p in pneumonia.  Ok so far?

Let's look at my town: Jincheon.  Do you see it?  Jin-Cheon.  Two perfect C-V-C syllables:  진(Jin) 천(Cheon).  Because "ch" is the hangul letter ㅊ, right?

Some other Korean place names you may have heard:

Busan > 부(Bu) 산(San) >  C-V and then C-V-C
Cheongju > 청(Cheong) 주(Ju) > C-V-C and then C-V
Gangnam > 강(Gang) 남(Nam) > C-V-C and then C-V-C
Pyeongyang > 평(Pyeong) 양 (Yang) > C-V-C and then C(silent)-V-C

Pretty cool, huh?

Or my Korean name: Hee Jin.  희(Hee) 진(Jin)...C-V and then C-V-C.

Most Korean words are 1 or 2 syllables...I have (so far) not seen many exceptions...and those are usually Konglish (Korean-English) words or other foreign words...like 바나나 (ba-na-na) or 카나다 (Ka-na-da).

Let's leave it here and let all that sink in.

Media Monday: The Problem(s) with Korea's English Education System

Now, this is an interesting article.

The writer is mainly discussing "hagwon" or after school private lesson academies and university entrance testing.  A lot of his points carry a lot of weight.  As someone who is a foreign English teacher, an Anthropologist, and student of half a dozen foreign languages (each taught in a different style) I can honestly agree with a lot of his points.

The Korean English education system is flawed...what foreign language program isn't?  There is no substitute for learning a language "organically."  But "immersion language programs" don't always mesh with a student's personal learning style.  I, for one, can't learn that way...I need to study and drill and analyze and practice before I can begin to understand in an immersion-style environment.  However, some people do fabulously in that type of learning environment.

Friday Fives: My Top Five Favorite Things Students Have Said to Me (So Far)

Sorry, for the delay....I had a busy end of the week last week!


I am presenting this one in count-down order...to build the tension to my favorite thing that a student has said to me.

5.Teacher, I love you.

This first time any student ever told me this I was, at the very least, surprised.  I think I said "thank you" in return.  It's just not something American students think...let alone say.  Then my co-teacher explained that students don't necessarily mean it as "I love you", but sometimes use it like "hello" and even as a figure of speech, like say, when they make a good grade on a test.  Anyway, I still choose to believe that it is sweet and flattering.

Thurday Trivia: Photographs of Korea 100 Years Ago

This drifted across my Facebook news feed a few days ago and I was fascinated by it.  Photographs from Korea from about 100 years ago.  A pre-Kpop/Kdrama Korea.  It's interesting to see that little bit of "Western-ness" had started to creep in, but as of 100 years ago (the blink of an eye by historical standards) Korea was still largely very traditional-looking.

Please enjoy!
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/03/05/35-fascinating-photos-of-korea-from-100-years-ago-before-k-dramas-took-over-asia/

Word Wednesday: More Vowels

So, last time we went over the "regular" Korean vowels.  That means this week it is "irregular" vowels...or "dipthongs."

They look like this:

These are surprisingly easy to learn...if you have learned the regular vowels.  Most of them simply add a "w" sound to the front of the vowel.  But be fair warned, some of these are not always consistently romanized and I will try to point them out.  Let's begin, shall we?