Navigating the Korean-language internet is daunting for non-native speakers whose eyes glaze over when reading 한글, but bit by bit, my efforts are paying off.
Spam: 스팸 메일
Korea has a bigger problem with spam than the rest of the world, according to a February 19 article in the Korea Times:
Junk mail comprised more than 80 percent of e-mails, a figure much higher than the world’s average of 62.7 percent, according to statistics compiled by MessageLabs, an e-mail filtering service provider based in the U.K.
Bonus question: 스팸 메일 may be the technical term, but which is more commonly used conversationally: 스팸 or 스팸 메일?
Posted by kangmi on March 11, 2004 at 1:43 PM0 comments
north: 북
south: 남
east: 동
west: 서
Because I sure needed it.
Bonus question: In English, when listing off the cardinal points, we often use the series “north-south-east-west.” Is there a similar series in Korean? If so, what is it?
UPDATE: Bonus question answered by blinger. 고마워요.
Posted by kangmi on March 10, 2004 at 10:46 AM0 comments
Another spam e-mail this evening. In my quest to better myself, I scanned it to see if I could learn anything. I read:
“사운드 오브 뮤직” 동유럽 6개국 10일
Now, although I may be a 한글 snob, I find 한글izations amusing. I’m not discerning enough to pick out all of the 한글izations from the thicket of English loan words, but I’m willing to bet that 사운드 오브 뮤직 is no loan phrase.
I’m also willing to be corrected. And if anyone can tell me what 동유럽 means, I’d be grateful. Got the 6개국 and already knew 10일.
UPDATE: Thanks to Zdunk for the 동유럽 solution.
Posted by kangmi on March 9, 2004 at 8:56 PM0 comments
Although I had some initial reservations about the change in hosts and format for Let’s Speak Korean, they have been thoroughly erased. I look forward to tackling a new lesson every day with Lisa, Steve, Miriam and Jason.
32 회 is my Let’s Speak Korean point of reference for the week. Lisa’s comment that 32 회 “was very simple” caused a moment of teeth-gnashing the first time I heard it, but after the thirtieth time, I agreed with her.
So I’m learning more Korean, but sometimes finding out what they’ll let them say next is worth my time.
For example, this week in 32 회, Stephen talked about his MT (membership training) experience with his salsa dancing club. He instructed viewers to be certain to pronounce 살사 correctly. Say it the wrong way (설사), and you’ll be...a writer stumbling over a...load...of easy jokes. Lisa then tied it neatly together with the 응 exchange. She was right...it really didn’t come out the right way, but it was entertaining nonetheless. You can watch 32 회 yourself by consulting the VOD list at the Let’s Speak Korean site.
Really, I’d rather know the meaning and pronunciation of 설사, because someday I might need it. I am reminded of an incident that happened shortly after I moved into a new apartment in 서울. There was an awful smell coming from the bathroom drain. I asked our maintenance man to take a look. He found that the drain was clogged, and I had to ask with what. He spoke English well, but when he said that it was “a man’s skin,” I knew that his vocabulary was missing a word.
32 회 may have been some kind of anomaly. Stephen’s closing (and probably unscripted) lines were “Somehow every time Lisa starts talking, it starts getting to alcohol.” Hmmm. It’s not every lesson, but I’ve noticed it, too. Because of my own bias, at first I chalked it up to TMI. However, a shift in perspective tells me that it falls in the same area as 설사 and “a man’s skin.” I might not ever use it, but it’s good to know how to say it.
Posted by kangmi on March 5, 2004 at 2:34 PM0 comments
I’m a slack and lazy reader of 한글. My eyes start to glaze over about halfway through the first sentence of anything that I try to read, which goes a long way toward explaining my current level of Korean language ability. So when I actually learn something by paying attention, it’s worthy of notice.
While browsing a site on the craft of 노엮개, I read the word 높이 in the description of one of the items. Since I had recently learned the word 높다, I realized that it must be referring to the height of the object. And I was right.
By way of encouragement, my polyglot cousin once told me that when she went to high school in Norway (already speaking two languages fluently), learning to speak and read Norwegian was like cracking a code. For a while, she felt like she was on the outside of a circle looking in. Eventually, however, she found herself on the inside of the circle.
To another day of cracking our particular code!
Oh, and good news! New VODs have been added to the Let’s Speak Korean site. However, my review of previous episodes has been profitable, and I’ll have something to say about it on the LSK message board.
Posted by kangmi on March 2, 2004 at 9:44 AM0 comments
Page 18 of 18 pages « First < 16 17 18
강미 | learning korean