Sofie to Korea

Yesterday’s article for my language exchange meeting was about legislative matters in Korea. I do enjoy a challenge, but OMG this one took the prize. (For interested parties, the article is here). As usual, I started reading the article out loud for feedback on flow and pronunciation. My reading of the article was pitiful and I don’t think I have ever been corrected so many times before. My language partner was initially quite supportive and explained the very advanced words saying “I don’t expect you to know this, but here’s what it means”. However, my tired (and failed) attempts to grasp the meaning of the article started trespassing on his patience, and the comments soon shifted to “We just went over this!” “This is not even advanced – how can you not know this?” and “You should put more effort into reviewing!” Ahh, motivation! For today I have been writing an essay using as many of the words as possible to make them stick in my memory. For your convenience (and since I obviously have to review) I’ve compiled a list of the words I was struggling with yesterday:

입법 Legislation

법안 Bill (prospective law)

탄핵 Impeachment

비난/비판 Criticism

독려하다 Encourage

성토하다 Condemn

비준 Ratification

위선 Hypocrisy

발목을 잡아서다 (lit. grab the ankles) stop or block something

발효되다 Come into effect

직후 Directly after

제스처 Gesture

절차 Procedure

호소하다 Appeal

힘겹다 Arduous (difficult)

처리하다 To handle something

I take tremendous comfort in knowing that the weekend is just around the corner! 불금~~