Archive for 'Korean Language'
Proper Korean Expressions at a Family Event (Part 1) Posted by Flying Oyster on Feb 22, 2021
It is always better to share 경조 (kyung-jo: congratulations and condolences) with your people whether it is good or bad. Koreans consider that it is important to participate in 지인 (ji-in: an acquaintance)’s 경조사 (kyung-jo-sah: a family event) in order to share 희노애락 (hee-no-ae-lak: all kinds of emotions in life.) It is one of the…
Easy Korean Jjimdak Recipe at Home Posted by Flying Oyster on Feb 9, 2021
Living abroad for a long period of time often makes you do things that you wouldn’t normally do at home. Covid-19 has certainly encouraged me to cook more Korean dishes than I would cook at home. I have started regularly cooking Korean food at home since last March when 자가격리 (jah-gah-gyuk-ri: lockdown) had been implemented…
Koreans Work Hard and Play Hard Posted by Flying Oyster on Jan 14, 2021
The Seoul Olympics in 1988 is globally known as an economic miracle because nobody would expect that Koreans could host an Olympic game in a relatively short time after the Korean War in the 1950’s. The fundamental reason for this miracle was hard working Koreans. Koreans have achieved this financial success thanks to…
Neologism that Reflects the Changing Korean Culture Posted by Flying Oyster on Oct 27, 2020
Even if I live far away from Korea, I still keep in touch with friends that I grew up with. It is fun to talk to them, but I hear some words that I had never heard when I grew up in Korea. My friends are not in their 20’s, but they still use many…
A Review of Honorific Korean (Part 2) Posted by Flying Oyster on Aug 17, 2020
In general, I think the quality of customer service in Korea is excellent. Most of the sales clerks that I have ever encountered at shops were polite. Even government official clerks were well-mannered to their customers. I strongly believe using 존댓말 (jon-dat-mahl :the honorific) is one of the many reasons that most of my experiences…
A Review of Honorific Korean (Part 1) Posted by Flying Oyster on Jul 20, 2020
My husband seems to be more cautious to speak to my parents, especially my father. He thinks that he has to speak perfect honorific Korean to my parents in order to show respect. I told him many times that my father would understand even if he makes some mistakes, but he still can’t be free…
Wait, Is That Korean or English? (Part 2) Posted by Flying Oyster on Jun 24, 2020
I have been collecting Korean 허위 동족어 (huh-wee-dong-jok-uh: false cognates) for a while. 허위 동족어 are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds and meaning, but have different etymologies. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_cognate#:~:text=False%20cognates%20are%20pairs%20of,even%20within%20the%20same%20family.) I have more Korean false cognates that I can share with you. I hope this post helps you expand your Korean…