작은 행복

Reading comments like this really brings a smile to my face. I’ve been a little  lazy in updating the reviews for Korean resources, but I’ll be getting on it soon(:

As I’ve said in the previous post, I’m trying to shift away from entertainment news to other areas so as to gain a more balanced vocabulary and reading skills. The tone in entertainment news is lighter and the kind of grammar and structures found there are much simpler. So now I’m moving on to business related articles. Hence the marketing article in the previous post.

And as I’m writing this, I’m listening to Maybee’s Volume Up podcast too. <3

It’s frustrating how other commitments are taking up my time for Korean, but slow progress is still progress (:

I’m currently at Advanced 1 for the Integrated Korean series. Actually the funny part was that, I jumped to Advanced Intermediate II because AI I wasn’t in the library and for the same reason now, I decided to jump to Advanced 1. But I’m still coping well, so I guess it doesn’t make a difference?

haha I wonder how it will be like.. years later and I look through the archive of this blog. And think back on how I’ve learned Korean. ㅋㅋㅋI was looking at my first notebook for Korean and I realised that my handwriting changed alot! haha my handwriting looked like a 2 yr old kid then XD I think I’ve progressed to a teen handwriting.

Perhaps I will upload photos another time!

다음에 봐요~!

Kimbap with hamburgers?

Came across a really interesting article while trying to expand my reading scope and moving away from purely entertainment articles. The title 햄버거집 옆 김밥집, 빵집 옆 국숫집 돈 번다 (literal: The kimbap shop beside hamburger shop, the noodles shop beside the bakery earns money) immediately caught my attention.

The article was about how small-medium enterprises may find it hard to conduct extensive research on customer base etc in order to decide where to set up stores. Hence, an effective method is to set up new stores close to major brands selling complementary items or those that have the same customer base. And the pairings that results can be hard to believe at the first glance.

A picture tells a thousand words. For the benefit for those who can’t read Korean, below is the translation.

Left column: We have the same customers

People who love fast food (literal meaning?): Hamburger – Kimbap

People who love food containing flour: Bakery – Noodles

The youth consumer: Donut – Japanese Ramen

Those who like a snack take-out: Porridge – Dokkbokki

Right column: We help each other

Clothes – Accessories

Norebang – Alcoholic drinks

Handmade Onigiri – Cafes / Convenience stores

————–

Some of the pairings are quite expected but some are… interesting. Who would think that people who loves hamburgers will love kimbap too? >< I love kimbap but I hate hamburgers (those fast food ones).

Handmade Onigiri – Cafes The explanation given was that those who enjoys high-end coffee will tend to spend less on their food items and I suppose Onigiri is cheap and fills you up.

Evidence!

I supposed that’s a smart marketing strategy. Let the big global brands with loads of budget spend on consumer survey and then ride on the flow~ I wonder how true this is. When If I go to Korea, I’ll definitely keep an eye out for these pairings.

For those who have been there, is it really true? -curious-

Please share your experiences ^^

요즘

Seems like the 빵꾸똥꾸 craze is still ongoing~ Saw this ad on Naver just now and I can’t help laughing. What have they done to my idol?! Han Ye Seul looks pretty crazy here.

(btw that’s an ad from Domino’s Pizza)

——–

I should be charting my progress in Korean here, but… what progress? >< I’ve not being doing much except watching dramas and convincing myself that I’ve been improving. ㅠㅠ

I’ll try to think of something interesting to blog about (:

-back to the life of a student-

인생 마라톤

Been searching for some 좋은 글 to write down in my diary. Thought I’ll just share this here. It compares life with a marathon. I wouldn’t translate it, since my translation will probably butcher the original meaning

인생은 종종 마라톤에 비유된다.
특히 인내와 끈기를 가지고 결승점까지 달려야 한다는
점에서 비슷하다. 내가 쉬는 동안에도 경쟁자들은
계속 달린다. 내가 넘어지면 다른 사람들과의
격차는 더욱 벌어진다. 그러나 마라톤과
분명히 다른 점이 있다. 인생에서는
1등이 딱 한 사람은 아니라는 점이다.
마라톤에서는 기록이 가장 빠른 사람만
1등이 될 수 있다. 그러나 인생에서는
누구나 1등이 될 수 있다.

- 김영식의《10미터만 더 뛰어봐》중에서 - 

* 굳이 1등이 아니어도 좋습니다.
조금 뒤쳐져 뒷줄에서 달리고 있어도 괜찮습니다.
포기하지 않고 끝까지 달리는 사람이 1등입니다.
지금은 꼴찌로 달려도 세상의 흐름이 바뀌면
꼴찌가 1등이 됩니다. 그것이 인생 마라톤과
마라톤의 차이입니다. 다시 반복합니다.
끝까지 달리는 사람이 1등입니다.

♥ my 2010 big bang diary!!

♥♥♥♥♥

I’m so happy! My friend bought this for me when she was holidaying in Korea last dec! ^^

2010 is going to be such a good year with this diary lol

and the stickers are awesomely cute! (haha is there such a phrase?)

My 2 fav pics from the diary! (go under the cut!)

[Korean Textbook] Once Upon A time in Korea

NOTE: This is the first post of an upcoming reviews/introductions on Korean language resources/textbooks. To see the rest, please click HERE For a list of Korean resources (including books), check out the Korean language resources page

Why I love it

• Learn about traditional folktales while learning Korean at the same time
• Aesthetically pleasing with big fonts
• Each difficult word/phrase is annotated and explained in the glossary list behind each story

Go under the cut for more

으후루꾸꾸루후으

So cute. Was looking through the 채팅어 section in Naver when I came across this. It has totally no meaning, but the effect is pretty right? ^^

으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후루꾸꾸루후으으후

Not sure if it’s still in vogue now. It was posted in Jan 2009, might have fallen out of fad by now. ^^

A fresh look for Naver Dictionary

My best friend ^^ Whenever I’m using the com, there will always be one window on firefox with 6-7 tabs just for Naver Dictionary. Both Korean-English and Korean-Korean.

I got quite a shock when I realised that the Korean-English dictionary has undergone a makeover and I’m pleased with the results. Although it will take sometime to get used to it again.

Some of the new features:

English translation in the search box

I like it! Sometimes you just want a quick search and this helps alot.You don’t have to go to the actual page to find out the meaning.

Split Sections

The addition of audio clips for each phrase/sentence is really helpful – to Koreans who are learning English. How I wish they have the Korean version of it I like how the font of the word and its 한자 is bigger ^^ Sometimes the complicated strokes of the traditional Chinese characters stumped me. I’ll have to zoom in to take a proper look. Now I won’t have to (:

They have a separate category for phrases (속어). Hmm. I’m not so sure if I like it as of now. Some of the examples here overlaps with those in the earlier section.

Go under the cut! ^^

Korean Drama Favourites – The Music of Joon-Sung Oh

Got an email from Ms Keat from the Esplanade and I’m EXCITED. Finally, more Korean artistes coming to Singapore ^^ Guess who will be here?

Find out more about Korean Drama Favourites – The Music of Joon-Sung Oh under the cut ^^

Is there a ‘key’ to successful foreign language learning?

Ask around, and I’m sure almost everyone will say that they have tried learning one (or more) foreign languages before.
So why is it that many of them won’t succeed?

The road to successful foreign language (FL) is a long and tiring one. Just imagine:

1. for every word in your current vocabulary, you have to learn another one (that’s the perfect picture)
2. new concepts/words that have no equivalent in your current vocabulary
3. a whole new load of grammar rules
4. pronunciation

And that’s only the bare minimum.

Don’t forget, languages are inseparable from their cultures. How confidently can you say that you speak a language when you know nuts about their culture? For example, will you be able to understand the reasons for the existence of  numerous speech styles in Korean if you don’t know anything about their culture?

Foreign languages are ‘foreign’ since they aren’t spoken in the community around us. Except for those who are lucky enough to go for immersion programs and the like, we are studying in a vacuum. Modern technology has contributed alot to increasing the rate of exposure we get to the FL.

• Online tutorials/resources
• videos/podcasts
• MSN/Skype etc – you just need a headset! ^^

but it’s still limited.

—————–

(I think I’m going out of point soon if I’m going to ramble on..)

So is there a secret formula to successful FL learning? I don’t know (: But here’s my take on it.

Genuine interest

Interest and passion drives you on and propel you forward in the long journey of language learning. ‘Necessity’ works too. If you are forced by circumstances to ‘need’ to know a language, you can possibly do well too. You will still complete the journey, albeit it being a less enjoyable one. Interest in the language itself and it’s culture/people usually goes hand in hand. But even if you start out with only one, you will soon gain interest in the other side too. I first started out with an interest in Korean dramas, but now that passion has extended to the Korean language, food, people, culture, history, music (the list goes on..).

Trust me, the passion builds on.

Alot of us have taken language classes in school. But most of us never managed to progress beyond that elementary stage. We study, we learn. After exams, all the knowledge is thrown out.

my experience:

I’ve taken elementary Spanish classes for 1 semester. I learnt alot, I studied. But I realised that there’s always something lacking. I don’t feel motivated to learn more and go beyond what’s taught in the classroom. I’m studying just to pass the exams. >< At one point in time, it became more of a chore.

Same with Japanese. I have no interest in the culture. Even though many people tell me that Japanese is similar to Korean and hence I’ll probably have an easier time mastering it, I just have no motivation to do so. I don’t really watch J-dramas, I don’t listen to j-pop. (I like Japanese food though XD) I’ve tried learning Jap but I’ll just end up neglecting it after a while.

I really admire and respect polyglots alot.

Commitment

With interest, you are more likely to commit. I know. It’s hard to find time and sit down and actually study. Especially for working adults, you are probably dead tired when you reach home. But I still believe that if you are committed, you will still succeed. Probably you will take a longer time, but you will still attend your goal. (:

———-

There’s no short cut in language learning. Every bit of effort adds up. So what makes this seemingly endless journey a worthwhile one?

The unexpected surprises you get along the way, the sense of achievement as you learn more and more. Before I started learning Korean, I always thought that learning a FL is a straightforward process. You enroll into beginners’ classes, you study the textbooks, do the practices etc and once you complete the advanced courses, you know the language.

So wrong.

There’s so much more to be gained. And so much more to be learned.

———-

For me, this journey has not exactly been a smooth sailing one. There are people who questioned and even ridicule(?) my ‘obsession’ with Korean, people who discouraged me, some sacrifices to be made, turning points in my life.. I’m not so comfortable with spilling out everything on my blog, but it’s been a difficult journey. (Not that everything is attributed to Korean though (: ) Sometimes I question myself too, but I’ll never give up.

okay. I know I’ve totally digressed!!

On a happier note, I wish all of you a happy and enjoyable learning journey!! ^^