Korean grammar
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Writing emails in Korean – A quick guide
Several of you have requested that I do a blog post on writing emails in Korean. So, naturally, I’m happy to accommodate your kind request. I write emails in Korean almost every day, and while that alone does not make me an expert, I do have a few tips and points that I find shareworthy.…
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The Korean national anthem
Wow, it apparently took me almost two weeks of 2018 before I finally got around to updating my blog. Happy (very belated) new year. I also just realized that I can celebrate my 3-year anniversary with my blog this January. I feel like so much has happened in that time. So, with the arrival of…
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A gendered language: boy Korean or girl Korean?
Even though I’m currently in Denmark on a long vacation, I’ve brought quite a few Korean books with me. I make sure to dedicate at least an hour per day to studying Korean, and this does not include watching dramas, texting, speaking on the phone, browsing news sites and other activities that I will naturally…
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Back to school
I’ve just finished my first week at Sogang University’s Korean level 5 program, and I thought I’d share my experiences with you. To summarize my first week in one word: WOW! Seriously, just wow! I’m amazed at how intense and effective the classes are. I heard so many good things about the Sogang language school…
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When “yes” means “no” in Korean
If you like watching Korean tv shows, and if you prefer to do so with subtitles, you’ll often find that the Korean word 네 (yes) is written as “no” in the subtitles. What the h… is going on!? Also, when speaking Korean, you may encounter conversations like this from time to time: A: 그럼 어제…
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The Tale of Chunhyang
I didn’t have too much time for studying Korean this weekend, but I did manage to read the final chapter of my Integrated Korean Adv. 2 textbook, and this chapter happened to be the story of Chunhyang (춘향전). I’m not too familiar with Korean folk tales except those that have been included in previous textbook…
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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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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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A useful little Korean word
Today I’ll introduce you to a neat little Korean word, which recently came up in conversation with my LP. Drumroll….. 체질! 체질 means something along the lines of “physical composition”, and you can use this versatile word for providing reasons for personal behavior in a variety of situations: For not drinking: 나는 술을 잘 안 먹는 체질이다 (I’m…
Sofie to Korea 