우리 공부합시다
Let's study!

Building off my post about children’s media for learning Korean, here are some of the top Korean TV and movies! I wanted to make a two-for-one combo with this. First, it’s nice to use Korean media to help hear how people speak, follow along repeating lines, and just for general enjoyment. But also to connect with Koreans and the culture!

Media can showcase daily life, struggles, and things on Koreans’ minds (even though Parasite isn’t realistic, it shows the class struggle and discrepancies people face, right?). And what can also be the daily slang, references, and connecting points for generations! Think of media like Friends, The Simpsons, Star Wars, Breaking Bad, Black Mirror, Harry Potter, the Marvel franchise, etc.

Note that the English title and the Korean might not match up. I’m putting the titles, not the direct translation, so keep that in mind! I’ll add in the genre(s), a little description, and why it’s culturally relevant so you can easily take your pick!

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Today, we will be taking a look at the 보니 grammar structure. Depending on what precedes it, the meaning can change a bit. So I will cover the 3 options and their rules and distinctions. With some example sentences for them all, of course! So let’s get into it.

~다 보니 Meaning & Usage

~다 보니 is used to mean “while in action, you realize something”. ~다 can be used to show something occurs when doing an action. While 보다 is “to look” and is used as “looking back/reflecting” on the action to realize something.

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One of my first posts on Sino-Korean and using Hanja to learn Korea was on 人 Hanja, which is where 인 in 인간 and many other words come from. While 人 is related to people, the Hanja we are covering today is also related, but more about describing a person. 者 or 자 relates more to describing people with a specific job, characteristic, status, etc.. The breakdown of the Hanja from many of these comes out to “the one who __”.

Professions

가입자: member/policyholder
강연자: lecturer
교육자: educator
기자: journalist
기술자: technician/engineer
사자: messenger/envoy
사회자: chairperson or host/MC (lit. take charge, assemble, those who)
연기자: performer (not usually used when talking about actors; has a wider range)
지휘자: conductor
철학자: philosopher

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가락 Words

• 손가락: fingers (손 = hand)
• 발가락: toes (발 = foot)
• 숟가락: spoon (숟 = 술)
• 젓가락: chopsticks (저 = 箸)
• 가락엿: Korean taffy stick (엿 = Korean traditional candy)

So What is 가락 Meaning?

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All of these terms can be translated as worry in Korean, but their meanings have different nuances. When do you use which one? I’ll run through them quickly, so let’s get into it!

고민 Meaning

고민 has more of a sense that you are thinking about something seriously. Possibly choosing between something or deciding on what to do. It can have the feeling of being concerned about a decision.

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Today’s grammar lesson is a quick one. We’ll be getting into how to quote people, making sentences to use “they said” in Korean.

Situations to Use ~다고 하다

Yes, it is useful when quoting someone, but also when expressing a thought, belief, promise, and more, whether it’s your own or someone else’s. Here’s a quick overview of some other uses:

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