Useful expressions
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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 that Joe Biden was the new President-elect to the United States. I know I did. Why do I care when I live in Europe and…
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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 place next year. Today, on the other hand, is the day when Koreans decide who to put in the national assembly. In the spirit of this…
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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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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 경제원론 (Principles of economics). I came across a set of lecture slides from Sogang University and quickly started reading. There were SO many new words…
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How to build Korean speaking confidence
About a month ago I took advantage of one of TTMIK’s sales and bought two e-books each containing 10 episodes of their latest feature, TTMIK Story Time. The concept is very simple; one of the teachers speaks into a camera about something related to everyday life such as walks in the park, birthdays, shopping, and hairstyles…
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How to become a better Korean conversation partner
I often feel that my Korean skills develop rather asymmetrically. For instance, I feel my listening comprehension has increased quite a bit recently, while I still feel that my writing skills are lacking. A while ago I started feeling more confident when talking, while I felt that my ability to give feedback in a Korean…
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Song Seung Heon is dating (…a girl who now needs to learn Korean)
Since this is indeed a mixed language and Hallyu blog, readers will have to put up with yet another post about all-time Hallyu star Song Seung Heon. News broke yesterday that the eternal bachelor had initiated a relationship with the much hyped Chinese actress, Liu Yifei. This instantly caused surprise and cheer online, and I must…
Sofie to Korea 