Korean
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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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Advanced Korean writing patterns
I’m currently auditing a class at Sogang called 읽기와 쓰기 or, in plain English, Reading and Writing. More than trying to pass for an undercover student (even though I own and proudly wear a Sogang 과잠 university jacket) I’m exposing myself to this ordeal because I desperately want to improve my Korean writing. When I…
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Back to school (…again)
This semester I thought I’d take advantage of having access to unlimited learning since I’m working at a university, so I decided to contact one of the teachers responsible for the compulsory course 읽기와 쓰기 (Reading and Writing) for all the freshmen at Sogang. I wrote an email to her asking if I could be…
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Learning Korean with FRIENDS
I’ve been an avid fan of this epic tv show for as long as it’s been around, and I still remember how I used to learn English watching and rewatching DVDs (yes, I’m that old) of Friends in middle and high school. I progressed by first watching with Danish subtitles, then switching to English before…
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Teaching ethics in Korea
This week I attended several workshops on teaching methods and teaching ethics here at Sogang University. We’re still in the middle of the winter break, which is always unusually long in Korea. For about 10 weeks between Christmas and early March, there are no regular classes. Only the super-intense winter season, which I taught in…
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Saju – Korean fortune telling
Yesterday I tried visiting a saju cafe for the first time in my life. Before I delve into my experience, let me just briefly explain what saju means. Saju, in Korean 사주 and in Chinese characters 四柱, literally means ‘four pillars’. In this case, these four pillars are determined by your four birth numbers: the year, the…
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My morning routine
I once heard someone calling mornings “the rudder of the day”, meaning that how you start your mornings will determine how your day will progress. The morning is the time where you lay out the heading that your day will follow. I’ve found this to be very true, and just like some people say that…
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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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Still studying Korean? (feat. BTS)
I took a break from active Korean studies following my intense preparation for the TOPIK exam in mid-November. I thought I deserved to do so, and it felt great to just not focus on constantly learning new Korean. The thing is, though, that it’s been pretty difficult to get back on track with my studies.…
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My TOPIK experience
Yesterday marked the climax of 10 weeks of preparation for the TOPIK test. For those of you unfamiliar with this test, it’s a nationally standardized test designed to assess the taker’s proficiency in the Korean language. Think of it as the Korean equivalent to English tests like TOEFL. I had never taken the exam before,…
Sofie to Korea 