OTL. No, this is not a mini Korean lesson. This is what I learnt today. Through an embarrassing way.
The story goes something like this. I had a mini interview with a Korean finance professor who was looking for a research assistant. Normally I skip through those emails in school. But this time, the prerequisite was Korean proficiency and I’m all OMG. 
You can’t see this everyday, not in Singapore. Nothing ever needs Korean. I have seen it being so under-appreciated in Singapore, on several occasions. People like to assume that English is the international language anyway so Korean is a ‘good to have but not necessary’ criteria even in related jobs. So I was curious and applied.
The interview was mostly conducted in Korean. I was given a news article on North-South issues (the job scope was related) and asked to read it sentence by sentence and then verbally translate it into English – no dictionary. OTL.
I feel crippled. Too reliant on Naver I guess. xD It was super fun though. But I totally mixed up North Korea and South Korea. AGAIN AND AGAIN. OTL.
Sidetrack. I’m always horrible in directions. I have problems differentiating North and South in Chinese too -.- There were a lot of difficult words too. All the political terms that I’m not familiar with. But super fun!!! I learnt a few new words in the process and also a little bit about history and politics. I’m always interested in Korean history, but more of the Joseon Dynasty. I’m not that well-read in politics but always open to learning more, especially about Korea. The North-South divide is such an important issue.
I think I was just super happy that I could talk in Korean. The prof said that I sound like a gyopo. I get that quite a lot these days. Which nowadays I cannot differentiate whether it’s a compliment or not 
I hope I get the job. Seems really interesting
I missed speaking in Korean!!!! I just came back from Korea yesterday
Anyone has Korean friends in Singapore???? Please introduce them to me too.
I need to apply for TOPIK tomorrow. Okay. And now time to study Japanese.
Chewz said:
Sounds good!
Anonymous said:
Apparently there are lots of other words in North Korea not used in South Korea nowadays, as more loan words were already borrowed from elsewhere. At least that’s what I read some where…:D
passioninseoul said:
TOPIK Level 6 is waiting for you. Hope your get the job, Fighting!