Language learning
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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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What am I doing
“So, what are you doing these days?” is a question I hear a lot whenever I meet people alongside “How are you holding up?”. While the questions are simple the answers are less so. Since there’s no real update on the latter, let’s examine the first question. What am I indeed doing these days? The…
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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…
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What does it mean to be fluent?
Are you fluent in Korean? This is a question that I hear quite often and my usual answer is yes. But to be honest, the correct answer is maybe. Because, really, the answer depends on the definition of fluency. Being able to speak a language, being fluent in that language, and mastering the language at…
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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…
Sofie to Korea 