우리 공부합시다
Let's study!

Luckily it’s easier now more than ever to learn how to self-study Korean and develop into near fluency even by yourself from your own home. As Korea and the languages popularity has increased more and more resources are coming up and places to connect with others along your studying journey!

I want to break it down into bits; depending on how you want to study and avenues to use. I know people have different levels of comfortability and preferences so while you might enjoy a 1-on-1 Zoom teacher session other people might feel uncomfortable. But I’ll keep it to all things you can do on your own in your room!

(more…)

Let’s get into some Sino-Korean with the 인 from 인간! 인간 is derived from the Chinese hanja character 人 which means person. This is one if the simplest characters with minimal strokes and it looks like a stick mans legs so it’s easy to remember!

사람 or 인간 Which Do I Use and When?

(more…)

What is Sino-Korean?

Sino-Korean basically means that a specific words source is originally Chinese. About 60% of Korean has Chinese origins as a basis. Words like 인간 (person/human) use the Chinese character (or hanja in Korean) 人 make the 인 in 인간.

Is Sino-Korean Important?

Yes and no haha. It’s not vital to know the origins of a word from the Chinese character or recognize the hanja but it can be very useful. (more…)

One thing about Korean many people struggle with is the dynamics between people and speech. For native English speakers; especially if English if your only language, honorifics/formalities is something that doesn’t exist to a quarter of the extent as in Korean. Korean is a culture based highly around respect and knowing or understanding you position and others.

For beginners I would typically recommend just sticking with the polite 요 form as that is safe and pretty easy to understand but to truly speak with Koreans and integrate you need to understand the levels of Korean formalities and how, when, and where to use them.

^{Art by pikisuperstar / Freepik, Design by koreanling}

(more…)

가족 Korean Family Tree Terms

(more…)

Happy Valentine’s Day! Maybe your partner is Korean, maybe you want to use your partner and subject them to Korean and your study progress or maybe you’re looking to get in the Korean dating scene. These terms, phrases, and words are commonplace and related to romance in Korea, let’s get into it!

One important thing about the Korean dating and romance scene is along with words like boyfriend and girlfriend, people also commonly use terms for family. Many of you probably know this if you have been watching or listening to Korean media for a while but words like 오빠 (which means brother; and is used by a younger girl) can be used for friends, or even for your boyfriend!

But I’ll get into the Korean family terms a bit later so for now let’s focus on romance!

(more…)