Sofie to Korea

The weekend finally rolled around once again. Although I can’t say it has been a long week, I have been looking forward to Friday as this would be the day where I could finally watch two brand new episodes of Yong Pal. It’s been a few episodes since I turned off the subtitles, and I don’t really seem to miss them. I’m now so far into the plot that the small pieces that I miss are somehow understood through the context. That said, I do pause a lot during an episode to write down invaluable sentences in my notebook and to look up new words on Naver. I love this method as a supplement to more formalized studies. I also find that the vocabulary that I pick up from dramas is easier to remember as I can relate it to a specific scene or person.

Yesterday I watched episode 11, and here is a small sample of the various sentences that I chose to write down, as I heard them on the show:

왜 저를 도와하시는 겁니까? – Why are you helping me? (Note the über-formal use of -시 and -ㅂ니까 )

더 이상 질문을 받지 않도록 하겠습니다 – I will not take any further questions. (Formal speak, said at a press meeting)

왜 내가 주는 향이 받기 싫어 ? – Why will you not receive my incense stick? (Note the casual tone, said by Yeo Jin’s evil brother at her “funeral” when his incense stick symbolically breaks)

이 환자 살릴 수 있겠어요? – Will you be able to save this patient?

당신 이겼어. 인정. 이제 그만. 이혼 하자. You win. I acknowledge that. So let’s end it here and get a divorce. (Said by the evil brother’s wife after the fake funeral. Note the informal tone. She also mentioned 위자료 – alimony at some point.)

당신은 내 손이귀에서 빠져나올 수 없어! – You will never be able to escape my grip! (The evil brother’s threatening reply.)

Learning Korean should be fun, and I definitely find it fun to learn in this way. I hope that I will never have to say any of the above sentences in Korean, but listening and writing down is excellent practice. Anyone else out there studying with Korean dramas? I’d love to hear about your methods.