λκ° λμμ€ κ±°μμ?! “Who helped you write this?!” Those were the words greeting meΒ asΒ I picked up the phone when my LP called to give me feedback on an essay I had sent to him. μ κ° μμμ μΌκ±°λ μ!!”No one, I wrote this alone!!” I exclaimed,Β not knowing whether I shouldΒ feel offended at hisΒ accusation that I would “cheat” on my Korean essay or to take his disbelief as a compliment. He then went on to tell me that my Korean writing had become much more natural and that there was hardly anything for him to correct in my latest essay. “It used to be very clumsy and awkward, but this time it’s really good!” As always he’s a textbookΒ example of a brutally honest Korean guy practicing the concept of λ³μ£Όκ³ μ½μ£Όλ€, which means first saying something mildly insulting and then following it up by a compliment.Β I’m obviously used to his style by now and never even blinked when he went all μ μλ on me and continued to scold me for not taking care of my health (I was having the flu at the time), not eating properly (“What are you doing eating a salad?! You need meat to get stronger, you know! Why don’t you have some μΌκ²Ήμ΄??”), and then a final scolding for not having told him that I was sick in the first place. (“Why didn’t you say anything?!! I worry about you!”) I was quiteΒ confused as to who was the older one of us (it’s me by the way) when he was finally done lecturing me! This phone call reallyΒ made for some excellent Korean listening practice. However, in terms of culture, all this is just a classic example of Korean μ , the very special and far-reaching Korean friendly love. Always rest assured that a Korean who comments on your eating habits is a Korean who truly cares for you.
After having digressed into my health and eating habits, and finally being convinced that I really didn’t cheat, he actually wanted to know how I had my improved my writing, so I thought I’d share this here with you too. It’s very simple really: I just started reading, reading, and reading. I’m reading in Korean all through the day and just like that I have felt my writing flow much more naturally. The more you read in your target language, the more words and expressions are stored in your brain. And the more you read the more you pay attention to the details of the language. Each language has its own set of fixed expressions and standard ways of writing, and Korean is no different. Compared to English, which is a very direct language, Korean is very vague and indirect. Take for instance the English expression “who knew?”. It’s something I often find myself saying whenever I learn of something for the first time, like “We have an ATM next to the parking lot? Who knew?”. In Korean a similar expression would be μ΄λ°Β κ²μ μλ μ¬λμ΄ μ΄λ μμκΉμ? (lit. where is a person who knows this?). In English this sounds fairly cumbersome, but nonetheless it’s a standardΒ Korean expression. In a similar way, Koreans write “it seems that” as “κ²μΌλ‘ 보μΈλ€”. In general it has taken me some time to feel comfortable using the “λ‘” particle when I’m writing, but I feel I’ve come to really embrace it thereby enabling myselfΒ to write very versatile sentences that sound naturally Korean. Afterall, λ‘ can mean several things spanningΒ “through”, “with”, “to”, “by”, and “as”. More than enough for some initial confusion, but I guess all it took was a lot of reading to get it right. Finally, a very good Korean phrase that instantly gives your writing a quality lift is κ·ΈλΌμλ λΆκ΅¬νκ³ meaning “despite this” or “nonetheless”.
I’ll post my essay on North Korea’s export of propaganda statues to African dictators here below. I didn’t choose the topic (nor did I cheat!). The essay is based on an article which I was assigned by my LP:
ε μ΅λν μμΆνμ βκ±°λ λμβ β¦ BBC βμν리카 μμΆν΄ μμ²λ§ λ¬λ¬ λ²μ΄β
λΆνμ μΈκ³μ μΌλ‘ μλ €μ§ λλΌμ΄μ§λ§ λΆνμ κ°μ₯ μΈκΈ°κ° λ§μ μ νμ λ°λ‘ κ±°λνΒ λμμ΄λΌλ κ²μ μλ μ¬λμ΄ μ΄λ μμκΉ? λΆνμ΄λΌκ³ νλ©΄ μ£Όλ‘ λ¨Όμ λ μ¬λ¦¬λ κ²μ βλ μ¬β, β곡μ°β,Β βμ μβ λ± κ°μ λ¨μ΄μ΄λ€. λΆνμ μμΆκ΅μΌλ‘ 보λ μ¬λλ€μ΄ λ§μ§ μλ κ² κ°λ€. κ·ΈλΌμλ λΆκ΅¬νκ³ Β μκ΅ BBCμμ λμ¨ λ°©μ λ°λ₯΄λ©΄ λΆνμ μ΅λ μμΆνμ λμκ³Ό μ μ λ¬Όμ΄λΌκ³ νλ€.Β λΆνμμ κ·Έλ° κ±°λν λμμ΄ μλμ§ λͺ¨λ μ¬λλ€μ΄ μ μκ³ μμ§λ§, κ·Έλ° μ ν κ·ΈμΌλ§λ‘ λ€λ₯Έ λλΌλ‘Β μμΆλλ€λ μ¬μ€μ μκ² λ μ¬λμ΄ μλκ° (μμ§ μμκΉ) μΆλ€.Β μ΄ λμμ μ£Όλ‘ μνλ¦¬μΉ΄λ‘ μμΆλκ³ νΉν μΈλ€κ°, μ§λ°λΈμ¨, λͺ¨μ λΉν¬ κ°μ λλΌμμ λΆνμ° λμκ³ΌΒ μ μ λ¬Όμ μΈκΈ°κ° κ°μ₯ λ§λ€κ³ νλ€. μ΄ λλΌλ€μ λ°λ‘ λΆνμ²λΌ λ μ¬λΌμ κ·Έλ° μ νμ΄ νμν κ² κ°λ€.Β λλ μ²μ μ΄ κΈ°μ¬λ₯Ό μ½μμ λ λ§μ΄ λλ¬λ€. μλνλ©΄ κ·ΈλκΉμ§ νμ λΆνμ κ°λνκ³ λΆμν λλΌλ‘ 보μλ€. κ·Έλ¦¬κ³ λ¬΄μ보λ€, λΆνμ κ³ λ¦½ν λλΌλ‘μ κ΅μ μ μΈ λ¬΄μμ μ λλ‘ μ νλ κ΅κ°μΈ μ€ μμλ€.Β κ·Έλ¬λ μ€μ λ°λμΈ κ² κ°λ€. κ²λ€κ° λΆνμ μ΄ κ΅μ μ μΈ λ¬΄μμΌλ‘ μΈνμ¬ λ§μ λμ λ² μλ μλΒ κ²μ΄λ‘ 보μΈλ€.
Sofie to Korea 
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