Since this is indeed a mixed language and Hallyu blog, readers will have to put up with yet another post about all-time Hallyu star Song Seung Heon. News broke yesterday that the eternal bachelor had initiated a relationship with the much hyped Chinese actress, Liu Yifei. This instantly caused surprise and cheer online, and I must say that since the ship has long sailed on him dating Kim Tae Hee, this girl is a fine match indeed. Referred to as “The Goddess of the Mainland” she seems a pretty nice catch for Song Seung Heon. I’m sure this explains his ever increasing presence in China. His first Chinese movie “The third way of love” where he met his new girlfriend will premiere in China next month, and he’s currently working on another Chinese project (also starring Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson) about China’s role in World War II. Luckily, it seems that he will soon be back in Korea shooting a new 사극drama about Sin Saimdang, which is scheduled to air on SBS during the first half of 2016.

According to Song Seung Heon, this scene was shot on the very first day of filming. Talk about instant chemistry!
According to Song Seung Heon this scene was shot on the very first day of filming. Talk about instant chemistry!
The new couple in a scene from their joint movie
The new couple in a scene from their joint movie “The third way of love”.
Posing casually together for a magazine spread.
Posing casually together for a magazine spread.
You can almost tell he's thinking
You can almost tell he’s thinking “she’s mine!”

I personally think they look absolutely adorable together but I can’t help but wonder how they communicate. Having seen Song Seung Heon in dramas where he had to speak a few lines of English, I know for a fact that he does not speak English. As for Mandarin, I’m not sure. He always uses an interpreter when being interviewed in China but maybe he’s learning. In any case, the lovely Liu Yifei will now need to learn the awesome language of Korean in order to communicate with her new boyfriend. On the off-chance that she stumbles across my blog google searching pictures of her and her handsome 오빠, here’s a little help with her studies. Others may find this list useful as well. I personally find myself using these expressions with my tutors A LOT.

무슨 뜻이에요? What does this mean?

잘 모르겠어요. I don’t understand very well.

다시 한 번 말해 주세요. Could you repeat that, please?

이거 한국어로 뭐라고 해요? How do you say this in Korean?

천천히 말해 주세요. Please speak slowly.

적어 주세요. Could you please write it down?

제가 한 말 맞아요? Did I say that correctly?

아직 이해가 안 돼요.  I still don’t understand.

더 자연스러운 표현은 뭐예요? How would you say this more naturally?

I’m sure she’ll be fluent in no time, though. We all know that motivation is the most important factor when learning a new language, and what’s more motivating than communicating with Song Seung Heon?!

Here’s a 30 second teaser for their movie, which I will have to watch someday. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it so much more knowing that this is where they fell in love.

Posted on 16 By 소희 Korean celebrities Posted in Korean celebrities, Speaking Korean Tagged #, ,

소희

I'm a Danish girl living in Korea teaching economics at Sogang economics. When I'm not working I love to learn Korean, discover this beautiful country, read and blog about my experiences and thoughts. Follow me at www.sofietokorea.com :)

16 Comments »

  3. 좋은 아침이에요! 🙂
    I’m coming back to you because of your twitter message this morning regarding topik and subject marking particles – I really don’t get it. Nothing compare able is used in German or English 😦 Thank you so much for offering me to explain it to me!! 정말, 고마워요!

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    • Hi, this also had me confused for a long time. First of all, you should think of the topic markers as the overall topic of the sentence, while the subject markers are really just subjects of the sentence used to talk about the topic, just as we have subjects and objects in English or German. I’ve made a few examples, and hope they can help you. Feel free to write again, or contact me through the contact form in the top bar of the blog 🙂

      오늘은 날씨가 정말 좋아서 일하기가 힘들어요
      As for today (main topic of sentence), the weather (subject 1) is really nice so working (subject 2) is hard

      날씨는 덥지만 비가 계속 와요
      As for the weather (main topic of sentence), it is hot, but it keeps raining (lit. rain (subject) keeps coming)

      우리 도시는 도서관이 있어요
      As for our city (main topic of sentence), there is a library (subject)

      제가 할 거예요
      I (subject) will do it. Here there is no main topic, as it is implied by the previous conversation. For example this can be used if someone asks who will open the door, and you volunteer to open it. As a consequence, the topic of this sentence, which is left out is “opening the door”.

      저는 한국 드라마가 정말 좋아요
      As for me (topic of the sentence, meaning: In my opinion) Korean dramas (subject) are really good

      I like to think of the topic markers as a way to say: “As for”, or “Speaking about” in English. Even though we rarely speak like this, it helps in understanding the purpose of the topic marker.

      I hope this explanation was useful 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  4. This is to increase his popularity with Chinese audience hence $$$ from China HUGE market, and PR for their movie. She is a big star in China, young and attractive, so he has nothing to lose to date her although they cannot hold a good conversation without interpreter. As for her, she is of the new generation in a relatively less conservative society so dating a good looking man like him-for a while-does not hurt her popularity.

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  5. He said in the past interviews that he wants someone he can hold good conversations with, i wonder how if they don’t know a common language and no English to communicate. In The recent Chinese tv show he could not even tell her in Chinese a phrase, they had to translate for him. It is embarrasing to put up such a PR promotion act blatantly. Let’s see how long they plan to hold out before announcing they break up due to busy schedule.

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    • I respect your opinion, but I cannot say that I agree. I actually do believe they are in love, despite the language barrier. I hope they will make each other very happy and manage to meet very often. Even if they don’t know each other’s languages yet they can learn over time.

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