In South Korea the focus for the lunar new year is family. With everyone gathering together, paying respects to the elders and ancestors, and of course eating good food! For 2024 the lunar new year is Feb. 10 but people gather for the day before and after as well for a 3 day celebration.
Now we’re in prime winter time! Cozying up by the fire with hot chocolate, going ice skating, making snowmen, and more. Where I am winter there’s not as much snow as I’m used to so it doesn’t truly feel like winter yet haha. Anyway, here is some nice Korean winter vocab to get you ready for the season!
Happy December! December is a big time for holidays and celebrations world-wide and Korea joins in- though the celebration in Korea is a bit different. South Korea also celebrates Christmas but instead of the traditional focus on family the focus is more on romance!
If you’ve been learning about terms for outer space in Korean you might have noticed 성 pop up multiple times, 성 has Sino-Korean origins and uses the hanja 星 which means a star or planet. You’ll especially see it for planets in our solar system which all, excluding earth, end with 성 and have their own meaning for their names!
Time for some quick grammar! The Korean present participle ‘~질’ can be attached at the end of a word and attaches the meaning of ‘act of using/doing’
Knowing some common or interesting Korean idioms is a fun way to take your Korean to the next level! Idioms or 관용구 are phrases that people use to express something more than their literal meaning. You’ll hear and see them everywhere; from TV and movies, music, books, and daily conversation.
You probably already know the 4 seasons but seasons in Korean can go more in-depth than that! Following the Chinese lunar calendar Korea’s traditional calendar has a solar system for seasons too, spaced approx. 15 days apart these dates mark specific points in the seasons.
In the west and many English countries Halloween is a fun holiday (though not usually recognized with time off from school or work) for kids and adults to eat candy, dress up, watch spooky movies and more. So in the spirit of Halloween this post is dedicated to Halloween in Korea, Koreas own spooks, and some vocab to go along with the season!
This is actually a super useful particle that you’ve already been using without knowing it! The 시 particle shows up in 안녕하세요, with the literal break down of it being 안녕 meaning peace and 하세요 (하다 + 시 + 해요체 honorific form)
At least for me typing was something I was really weak at in Korean and took a lot of time to develop. From memorizing spelling, the correct order for typing out double vowel words such as 원, being slow, and just mistyping by not knowing the keyboard layout yet. So I have a favourite resource for Korean typing practice that I really like that I wanted to share with you all!