우리 공부합시다
Let's study!

Today I’d like to get into a comment I received! They questioned how social cues in Korea might differ from what they are used to and how to adapt. I’ve covered a bit about superstitions and etiquette before, which influence the culture and how people act. However, some social nuances aren’t as obvious and, while strange to us, are second nature in Korea.

Reading Tone & Vocal Social Cues

Many Koreans can be direct while first learning about you and your social position (age, job). This isn’t to be rude. It’s to establish how they should speak with you or, if they find out you are the same age/rank, create a closer bond without a strong sense of hierarchy.

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Learn arts & crafts vocab in Korean! Whether you are a hobbyist or a professional, art is a big part of many people’s lives and culture, including Koreans. From painting to sculpture to knitting, their materials and describing the craft.

I wanted to cover a good basis and get into some more in-depth vocab, so I limited this post to a few specific art forms. To properly include others, such as music and theatre, would make this quite long, haha. So I’ll save them for another time!

예술: art
문화: culture
미술: fine art
미학: aesthetics

디자인: design
패션 디자인: fashion design
산업 디자인: industrial design
그래픽 디자인: graphic design

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For early beginners, Matcha is a nice Hangul game to get you started with memorizing the characters and how everything stacks together. Probably combining inspiration from games like 2048, and the Korean language’s block-like structure. The game helps new learners play with and understand the writing system a bit more.

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Happy winter! Today I want to talk about Korean winter sports, getting into the vocab and the culture of skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating they have out there. South Korea does experience snowy winters, and with the mountainous terrain, it has a lot of prime spots to keep active in the cold months.

What is Skiing & Snowboarding Like in Korea?

Ski culture is growing in South Korea! A lot of resorts and hills are going strong, and adding unique Korean culture as well. Similar to camping in Korea, people love to go all out here and make the experience as comfortable and all-inclusive as it can be. Some of the top resorts in Korea are decked out with all the amenities you can imagine, year-round activities, shopping, and more! Many have the classic Korean culture I’ve touched a bit on before: Karaoke, KBBQ, Jjimjilbangs, saunas, and a lot of delicious food.

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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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