Korea has elected a new president
Yesterday was the presidential election day in South Korea and the past few weeks had indicated that it would be a tight race between the two main contestants – Lee […]
A sigh of relief
I’m sure the whole world watched the final days of the American election with tension and anxiety and breathed a sigh of relief when it became crystal clear on Saturday […]
Strengthening my (Korean) core
It’s been a while now since lockdown ended here and I’m starting to feel like things are back to somewhat normal although traveling still seems to be off-limits. Although I […]
How to suck at things in Korean
My Korean vocabulary was expanded recently when I learned the word 음치(eum-chi) meaning tone-deaf. I started thinking whether there was a connection because I once learned the word 길치 (kil-chi) […]
End of the year traditions in Korea
While Christmas is stealing the picture everywhere in Korea with Christmas trees, Christmas music and Christmas gift sets all over, it has limited significance to the Koreans. Those who identify […]
Awesome Korean slang expressions
I’ve started to become a regular guest at the Playground café in Hongdae. (If you look through their facebook pics, you’ll see proof that I was there.) This café is […]
Korean unlocked
To many foreigners, learning Korean vocabulary may be an overwhelming task. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. As most Korean learners know, the majority of all […]
Same but different
When I was a child, I could easily spend 90 minutes watching a Disney movie just to rewind the tape and watch the same thing all over again. With a child’s […]
When memorization makes sense
Memorization (암기) does not have the best of reputations in Western education. Teachers and lawmakers worship at the altar of creativity (창의성) and critical thinking (비판적 사고) instead. This is […]
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 […]
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 […]
Emphasizing in Korean
Whenever you speak a language you know well, you will usually put a lot of emphasis on certain sentences to make things sound more natural. For example the sentence “I […]
Specialized Korean vocabulary: Micro-economics
Since I’ll start teaching microeconomics from next week, I thought I might as well combine business and pleasure while I prepare my lectures. I therefore went on Naver and searched for […]
Specialized Korean vocabulary: Legislation and politics
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 […]
Specialized Korean vocabulary: International politics
Today is “video day” according to my schedule with my LP. This means that we each select a video, TEDtalk or 세바시, to watch together followed by a discussion on the topics covered […]
Specialized Korean vocabulary: Economics
Now that my speech contest is over I once more have time to actually study Korean. Oh, how I missed it! Not that I didn’t study over the past few […]
Sofie to Korea 