Archive for October, 2016
Going Beyond K-pop: Yiruma Welcomed Fall 2016 in America. Posted by Kyung-Hwa on Oct 27, 2016
My favorite Korean pianist and composer finally came to Washington, DC area: Although 이루마 (Yiruma) is not a typical K-pop musician, he is well-known as much as Psy-Gangnam Style in Korea. If you need beautiful piano music to enjoy the strikingly beautiful blue sky and vibrant foliage outside, try listening to these piano pieces composed by…
Formal or informal? Posted by Kyung-Hwa on Oct 20, 2016
Korean has different levels of respect: depending on the speakers’ ages, societal status, or closeness to each other, Koreans will decide which level of politeness to use and how to behave themselves. Did you know that Korean language has seven different levels of speech? Korean has six formal speech forms and one informal speech form…
What is your favorite Korean word? Posted by Kyung-Hwa on Oct 13, 2016
One of my favorite Korean phrases to say to my students used to be “힘내세요!” (“Cheer up!”) Whenever my Korean students needed encouragement in their learning, we used to chant this phrase together. 안녕하세요, 저는 경화예요. (Hello, I am Kyung-Hwa.) I am a native of South Korea who came to America about 18 years ago…
That Was Awkward: North and South Korean Language Barriers Posted by Tony Kitchen on Oct 5, 2016
There is a very good chance you will never meet, let alone speak Korean to, a North Korean (북한국인). But if you did meet, say, a defector or diplomat, chances are you would test out your Korean (한국어) in order to build a trust and strike common ground, right? But would they understand your South Korean? Last…