Korean
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Rays of light in the dark
I’m writing this on the darkest day of the year. In Denmark that means less than 6.5 hours of daylight, and this year, December has been unusually dark and gloomy. No snow (which is totally fine) but lots and lots of rain. There were 2 weeks straight where it was so overcast that I couldn’t…
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The coolest proverbs
I recently had a pretty cool discussion about proverbs with a Korean acquaintance. I always loved proverbs and idioms in any language since I find that they reveal so much about a country’s culture. For example, think about how many proverbs and idioms there are about bread in Western culture. To be the breadwinner, our…
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Two Koreas = two types of Korean
I’ve finished watching the Korean Netflix drama Crash Landing On You (사랑의 불시착), and I thought I’d share my thoughts with you here. There’s no doubt that this is a groundbreaking drama in the sense that it touches upon some sensitive topics such as Inter-Korean relations and love across the border on the 38th parallel.…
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Meet Pengsoo
A lot can happen in Korea in a short time. Koreans are quick to adopt new trends and fashions, and it seems that Korea now has a new idol. This time, I’m not talking about an actor or a K-pop singer, I’m talking about the giant man-sized penguin, Pengsoo. Pengsoo is a mascot from the…
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How to start learning Korean
I’m frequently asked how best to learn Korean and how difficult it is to learn, so I thought I’d post a quick Q&A for all of you who may be interested. Is Korean difficult to learn? No, but it is very different in both grammar and sounds compared to English and other Western languages. That…
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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) from Talk To Me In Korean, and used to call my best friend 길치all the time because he had absolutely zero sense of direction. I…
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Good days, bad days
We all have them, and if we think about it, it’s rare that a day is 100% one or the other. Good days can have something bad and bad days can have something good. Last week I had one of each and several days that were just something in between leaning to the bad side.…
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How I became a Korean teacher (feat. an honorary guest post)
I wrote in my previous post that I’m currently teaching Korean to a Danish girl. I greatly enjoy this for several reasons; it provides some structure, it holds me accountable, it’s a challenge, and she speaks Japanese so I can teach her while drawing parallels between Korean and Japanese, which may be one of my…
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How fast can you lose a language?
In less than a week I’ll once more be jetting off to Seoul and I’m beyond excited. I’ve already spent two months away from my second home and I cannot wait to go back to all my favorite cafes, my favorite restaurants and, well, my favorite people! When I first arrived back in Denmark, I…
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The power of serendipity
Acquiring a new language is much like discovering a new identity. A new version of yourself if you will. If you know more than one language, then I encourage you to try and think about this for a few minutes. Are you the exact same person in both or all languages? My guess is that…
Sofie to Korea 