소희
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Cute Korean
While it may certainly be argued that the Korean language may sound cute just on its own, there are several ways to make your Korean sound even cuter. Many Koreans, especially young Korean girls, like to add a little aegyo 애교 (special Korean type of cuteness) to their speech when they want to sound cute,…
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Tips for improving your Korean speaking skills
Once again, I’ve reached a point where I feel that my Korean skills are developing a bit asymmetrically. I’m reading faster than ever, I understand most of what is being said around me as long as the topic isn’t too technical, and I generally feel quite comfortable with the language. So, what’s the problem? Lately,…
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You can’t or you won’t?
When making simple negating sentences in Korean, usually either 못 or 안 is used. They roughly mean can’t and won’t, respectively. In English, these two words are not as strongly differentiated as they are in Korean. When, for instance, you want to say in English that you can’t go somewhere because you’re busy, you can choose…
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Are you eating well?
밥은 잘 먹고 있어요? Are you eating well? These words just flew out of my mouth when my language partner called me up yesterday around midnight Seoul time and told me how stressed he was because of his midterm exams and endless applications for summer internships. Without knowing it, I instantly went into complete noona-mode and started…
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Happy Black Day
Today is April 14, also called Black Day or 블랙데이 in Korean. Those familiar with Korean popular culture will know that the 14th of every month is some kind of “couples day”. In the west, we are mostly familiar with Valentine’s day on February 14 but Koreans have taken it a step further by introducing all the…
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Korean election day
Today is general election day in Korea and also a national holiday so everyone will have a chance to cast their vote. This is not the presidential election, which will take place next year. Today, on the other hand, is the day when Koreans decide who to put in the national assembly. In the spirit of this…
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Coming and going in Korean
In English we have separate words for coming and going but their distinction is not as strict as when these words are used in Korean. Since I’ll be leaving for Korea in a few months I can safely say in English “When I go to Korea”, or I can say “When I come to Korea” without…
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Korean speech patterns
The more familiar I become with Korean, the more I’ve started paying attention to how spoken Korean varies from one person to another. In the beginning I didn’t hear any difference at all, Korean to me was just Korean. There was even a time when I didn’t think that the Busan dialect was different from…
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Going Korean in my kitchen
Yesterday, while I was at work I suddenly started craving Korean food. All I wanted was to stroll through the narrow alleys of Seoul and sample street food like hoddeok, tteokbokki, and kimbab. Determined to make at least some of this a reality when I got home from work, I sent my husband a text…
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Kpop Friday: Big Bang edition
Happy Friday everyone! In case I should forget I can usually be sure to receive at least one text message with the word 불금~ (Korean slang meaning “blazing Friday”) to remind me that the weekend is indeed fast approaching. To top off my Friday mood the sun is shining from a clear blue sky and the…
Sofie to Korea 