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Using “And” Posted by Ginny on Mar 10, 2010
There are a couple of ways to conjoin nouns and sentences in Korean. One of the ways you can conjoin nouns is to use 과 or 와. 물과 밥만 필요해요 = I only need water and rice. (물 = water. 과 = and. 밥 = rice. 만 = only. 필요해요 = need) In the sentence…
르 Ending Words Posted by Ginny on Mar 7, 2010
For today’s lesson, we’ll explore 르 ending words. For some 르 ending words like 빠르다 (to be fast) the standard polite ending in the present tense will be 빨라요. To form this ending, drop the 다, add a ㄹ to the bottom of 빠 and add 라요. Try doing this with 모르다 (to not know) in…
The First Birthday Posted by Ginny on Mar 4, 2010
In Korea, certain birthdays are considered important milestones in a person’s life. One of the biggest birthday celebrations is called 돌. 돌 is a baby’s first birthday. This first birthday is important because it marks the likelihood of a child surviving into adulthood. Although it’s hardly the case today, infant mortality rates in Korea used to be high. As…
The Future Tense Posted by Ginny on Feb 28, 2010
We’ll be taking about the future tense today. Let’s look at the first sentence: 공부할 겁니다 = I will study. The construction ~을/를 겁니다 is what makes this future tense. 지금 먹을 겁니다 = I will eat now. This is the same construction as before, but slightly different. Here 을 겁니다 was used. When the…
Korean Paintings Posted by Ginny on Feb 25, 2010
The 조선 era (1392-1910) produced Korea’s finest painters. Let’s take a look at some of the most famous traditional Korean paintings and painters. This painting is called 인왕제색도 (仁王霽色圖) or “After the rain at Mt. Inwang”. The painter’s name is 정선. His paintings focus on capturing the majesty of the natural landscape, and are characterized by…
도 Posted by Ginny on Feb 22, 2010
There are many subtles uses of 도, which we will explore in today’s lesson. One of the uses of 도 is to use it to mean “also” or “too” 한국어도 공부했어요 (한국어 = Korean language. 도 = also. 공부했어요 = past tense of 공부하다 = to study) In English, this would mean, “I also studied Korean”. 도…
Traditional Korean Dances Posted by Ginny on Feb 19, 2010
The 검무 is a famous, traditional Korean sword dance. The dance involves a prototype of a small sword with rings attached to the sword. When the sword moves about, the rings make a sound in conjunction with the rhythm of the dance. The 검무 gets its name from a boy named 검무 who lived in…