[Song] Flower Pot (화분) - Loveholic

"화분" is one of my favourite Korean songs. I first heard it on the Coffee Prince OST and liked it straight away, even though I did't understand a word of it. For a period after that I kept on playing it again and again many times a day. Every time I heard it my heart ached a little, such sadness and so full of yearning.

I haven't played this song for a while now, today I decided to put on Loveholic's "Dramatic & Cinematic" album while soaking up the sun in the garden, then "화분" came on and I remembered all over again why I loved this song. So I thought it is about time that I put up another song post, and here it is.

Time to Read

I have been self-learning Korean on and off for a while now. So far I have only been "reading" the short conversations from the Korean learning resources that I have been using - TTMIK, KoreaClass101 and Integrated Korean - for my reading practice. The couple of Korean fiction books that I bought sometime ago, for THE day that I am finally ready to read Korean, are still lying on my bookshelf waiting to be poured over. Every time I decided to make a start on one of them, I put it down again after flicking through it, the pages and pages of incomprehensible texts just completely intimidated and overwhelmed me each time.

Some people might say it is too early for a beginner to start reading the real material, but then when is the right time?

[Song] Carol Song (Kaerolsong) - Entoi

Christmas is almost upon us, I am looking forward to some time off work, planning to eat lots, drink moderately and be merry.

Let's kick start the festival feeling with a Christmas song in Korean.

Merry Christmas Everyone!
여러분 메리 크리스마스!

[Plan] Week16: 19 Dec 2011 - At Home

Source: musthavemenus.com

Cultural tidbit of the week:- Korean kinship terms II

The practical usage of the vocabulary and grammar points covered in this topic:-

1. Enquiring about hometown and family
   • Asking about and describing someone's hometown.

     A: [person]은/는 집이 어디예요?

     B: 우리 집은 [place]이에요/예요.

   • Asking about family members

     A: ________있어요?

     B: 네, 있어요. / 아니요, 없어요.

[Plan] Week15: 05 Dec 2011 - At Home

Source: musthavemenus.com

Cultural tidbit of the week:- Traditional Korean dress 한복

The vocabulary to be learnt this week:-

• Adjective: to be bad 나쁘다; to be pretty 예쁘다; to be small (in size) 작다; to be expensive 비싸다; to be thankful 고맙다
• Noun: places - New York, LA, Hawaii; roommate 룸메이트; apartment 아파트; (1) relationship (2) between 사이
• Particle: only 만; of (possessive particle) 의
• Pronoun: we/us/our 저희 humble (우리 plain); this 이거; my 제 humble (내 plain)
• Verb: to learn 배우다; to come 오다; to sleep 자다; to give 주다
• Expression:
  • "Thank you." 고마워요.
  • "How many rooms are there in your apartment?" 아파트에 방이 몇 개 있어요?
  • "My roommates and me are very close." 룸메이트하고 저는 사이가 아주 좋아요.
  • "Whose [room] is this?" 이거 누구 [방]이에요[/예요]?

[Plan] Week14: 28 Nov 2011 - At Home

Source: musthavemenus.com

Cultural tidbit of the week:- Korean kinship terms I

The vocabulary to be learnt this week:-

• Counter: item 게 ; volume 권 ; year 년 ; month 달 ; dollar 달러 ; animal 마리 ; people 명 ; Korean won 원; month 월; day 일
• Noun: family members - father, mother, older brother, older sister, younger brother, younger sister
• Number: Sino-Korean numbers and native Korean numbers
• Particle: and (with nouns) 하고
• Pre-noun: how many, what (with a counter) 몇
• Verb: to be (existence), stay 겨시다 hon. (겨세요)
• Expression:
  • 있으세요/없으세요 is the honorific form of 있어요/없어요 "to have/to not have"
  • 계세요/안 계세요 is the honorific form of 있어요/없어요 "to be/to not be (existence)"
  • 이세요/세요 is honorific form of copula 이다 "to be (equation)"

Korean Blind Dates

Education is seen as the most important key to success in Korea and competition is very fierce. Students are often studying too hard, or they may be attending single gender high schools, so dating is not that common among Korean high school students. Thus, many Koreans only have the opportunity to date during their college years or after graduating high school.

In Korea, being set up on a blind date is very common.

Source: Traditional Korean bride and groom figurines from www.danisl.com