Archive for the year 2009
Independence Day Posted by Ginny on Mar 28, 2009
July 4th is the day the American colonists declared their independece from England. Well, Koreans also have their own Independence Day called samiljul (삼일절). The name samiljul (삼일절) was named after the March protest demonstrations. The demonstrations were called manseundong (만세운동). Coincidentally, Korea was subjugated by the Japanese the same number of years the American…
Samjil Nal (삼질날) Posted by Ginny on Mar 26, 2009
Samjilnal (삼질날) is known as one of those special occasions that fall under the category of seshi pungsok (세시풍속). Seshi pungsok (세시풍속) is a term used to describe festivals that are celebrated with the change in seasons. Samjilnal (삼질날) is considered an auspicious day because it’s celebrated on the third day of the third month…
Kim Jong Il’s (김정일) Birthday Posted by Ginny on Mar 23, 2009
Did you know that last month was Kim Jong Il’s sengil (생일) or birthday? His birthday is a national holiday. Kim Jong Il’s birthday was accompanied by a ceremony much like the mass games for the Olympics. There were synchronized swimmers, acrobatic dancers, and muscians. Strangely enough, Kim Jong Il (생일) was not present at…
Korean News: State Visit Posted by Ginny on Mar 19, 2009
Did you know that Hillary Clinton is the first secretary of state to visit the countries of Asia right after being promoted to office? In the past, the first countries that the secretary of state would visit were the Middle East and Europe. The fact that Clinton’s first visit is anywhere in Asia signifies the…
Korean Proverb of the Day Posted by Ginny on Mar 17, 2009
Today’s proverb is: 虛心坦懷. The pronunciation and meaning for each character are as follows: 虛 – huh (empty) 心 – shim (heart) 坦 – tan (flat) 懷 – hwe (cherish) This proverb is used to describe a person who is frank, candid or open-minded. The character meaning empty (虛) and the character meaning heart (心)…
Korean Grammar: Directional Particle eh (에) Posted by Ginny on Mar 15, 2009
There’s another another directional particle besides ro (로) and uro (으로). While ro (로) and uro (으로) means to go “towards” something, eh (에) means to be “at” something. For example if I say the phrase “at the house” I would take the noun “house” and attach the eh (에) particle to it. Since the…
Korean Grammar: Directional Particles Posted by Ginny on Mar 11, 2009
I think now’s a good time to go over directional particles. Let’s look at the particle ro (로) and uro (으로). If I want to say, “towards the school” all I have to do is add the ro (로) particle to the noun “school”. The noun for school in Korean is hakkyo (학교). Add ro…