강미 | learning koreanWhy I Study 한자
Do I need to know 한자 in order to speak Korean? No, but for better or for worse, 한자 are still taught and used in South Korea. Because they are, I study them.
I have to admit that I get some pleasure out of learning 한자. Chinese characters have a mysterious air lacking in the alphabet used by English (and sometimes with variations, other languages). Having said that, it hasn’t taken me long to appreciate both that alphabet and 한글. 한글 may be overhyped, but it’s easy to learn and to use, and I’m already more charitable about the hype. There’s no doubt that the Chinese could do better for themselves.
At the end of this year, I should have learned approximately 313 한자 (at a rate of six a week). At that rate, it will take me nearly six years to learn them all. That’s all right with me. Given regular study, my spoken Korean should be significantly better in six years, and I’ll still know a lot of 한자.
Posted by kangmi on February 10, 2005 at 8:00 AM0 comments