a-pop-of-korean

[a-pop-of-korean]

hii! I'm Rosie and I have lots of questions n.n and literally I was just thinking about it (in advance lol) but I am going to be an English teacher in a few years and I plan to teach English in Daegu or Seoul (I still don't know which one) , which visa did you get? How did you get the job? Do you think that by the time I finish my career (3 years more) I'll be able to move to Daegu? Can I become fluent in Korean in 3 years? And the most important one !! Are you happy?

안녕하세요! Thanks for your question! Unfortunately, pretty much all the questions you asked can only be answered with "it depends." I am teaching through the Fulbright program, which is for Americans only. I also know some people who are teaching through the EPIK program, which is for anyone from an English-speaking country. Both of these programs place teachers in normal K-12 schools as opposed to hagwons. If you're looking for a hagwon or university teaching job, I have no idea how to get those or where to look for them.

I want to warn you that for Fulbright and EPIK, you have very little control over where you get placed. Fulbright specifically does not place first-year teachers in some of the biggest cities in Korea, including Seoul and Daegu. I'm not sure what your chances are with EPIK. It all depends on where teachers are needed, as well as who you are (such as your prior teaching experiences, etc.). You can voice your preferences, but nothing is guaranteed. In short, if you are applying to either of these programs, be prepared to be placed in a rural area like me! You might also have to teach a grade that you may not have wanted. Again, I'm not sure about other opportunities for foreign teachers in Korea, but this is what I know about these two programs.

As for getting fluent in Korean in 3 years, that also depends! I've been studying for years and still have a hard time speaking sometimes, although my listening, reading, and writing skills are fine. But this is because I've spent very little time in Korea and speaking Korean regularly. If you're fully immersed for 3 years, who knows! But know that even if you don't become fluent, you can for sure see a lot of progress and you will be able to survive in Korea.

And for the most important question: am I happy? The answer is yes! My role as a teacher is very different from my role as a teacher in the US. I have much less responsibility and I encourage my students to speak English freely, which is a stark contrast to the Suneung prep that they are accustomed to. Importantly, as a new foreign teacher, I have a lot of support from the people at my school. My job is definitely easier because of my teaching experience, so be prepared for a bit of a learning curve if you don't have any. But regardless, I feel a lot less stressed about my job here than I did in the US. It's a fun job and you'll love getting to know your students and seeing their progress!

Even if your experience is not what you're expecting--i.e. you're placed in rural Korea instead of a big city--know that you will be okay. I'm from New York City, so adjusting to rural life is definitely an adjustment. I also teach at a high school and a middle school, even though I did not want to teach middle school. But I am very grateful for my high school opportunity and do have the support I need at the middle school.

I hope this helps! If anyone knows of any other teaching programs in Korea, or if you've taught in Korea yourself, feel free to comment about it! Thanks for your question and best of luck! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

Life Update: Teaching in Korea!

여러분 안녕하세요! It's been forever since I last posted, but I recently received an ask so I thought I might as well share about what's been going on with me lately! Since March, I have been teaching English at a high school and middle school in Korea! I'm in Andong (안동), which is a city in the North Gyeongsang Province (경상북도), but I live in a pretty rural area of the city. It's definitely been an adjustment from my life in New York City!

So far, I really love my life here! I have dedicated students and my coworkers are very kind and generous. I'm learning so much about being a teacher, about sharing my language with my students, and about myself as I live on my own in a different country. I feel so grateful for this opportunity :)

As for my Korean skills, I think my speaking is for sure lacking compared to when I studied abroad in Seoul. The other teachers that I interact with the most in my school all speak English, and I'm not allowed to speak Korean to my students, so in general I don't have the opportunity to practice very much. But I'm hoping to push myself a little more to find those opportunities!

If you also are curious about teaching English in Korea, please feel free to send me a PM or an ask! As for my Tumblr and Instagram, I honestly am not sure what I want to do with them, if I want to do anything at all. My weekdays are quite busy and I already have a robust masterlist of lessons, so I'm not sure if more content creation is in my future lol. That said, please share any ideas you have for what I might post! I do miss posting so often and I hope this Tumblr can still be a resource for those learning Korean on their own :) 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

I'm planning on studying abroad in the spring semester next year and one of my top three choices is one of the SKY schools in Seoul. Given the time frame of about 10 months from now, what would you say is most important to focus on now in Korean studies for life as an american foreigner abroad, both concerning the language and culture? I know how to read hangul but that is the extent of my Korean skills and I know no vocab or grammar, but if I did end up there, I would definitely take language classes. It would be cool to know though, from someone who has experienced this themselves, what things you wish you would've prepared for more or less before you left to study! :)

Hello! This is a good question. One thing I regret is not taking any Korean history course before or during my semester abroad. Even if you can't take a course at your home university, consider taking one while you're in Seoul, or even just try to familiarize yourself with the history online. I think it's important in general to know the basic history of the place you're going to, and I think it will help you appreciate a lot of the historical sites you're likely to visit during your time there.

If you're from the US, there's a chance your home uni does not offer Korean language courses, but if it is an option for you, it might be worth taking! I think basic Korean has helped me out a lot when it comes to things like eating out, asking for help, etc. If you could find some survival phrases online, that should get your pretty far! I also think that keeping an eye out for any language exchange clubs at your school in Korea would be a great way to improve your skills :)

In my opinion, etiquette in Korea is very different from etiquette in the US. Doing some research on politeness will definitely be helpful for an American living in Korea for the first time. Things like bowing, accepting things with both hands, and being extra considerate of others in public are some things to keep in mind, so def do some research!

You might have heard this advice before, but I hope it was helpful anyway! Thanks so much for the question and for forcing me to post after such a long time! Best of luck abroad!! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

hi! do you have a PDF/printable version of your masterlist? as great as it is, I don't have access to my phone all the time and being able to maybe print and have a physical copy would be great. 감사합니다!!

Hello! So sorry for the wait. I unfortunately so not have a PDF or printable master list. Maybe you can print out individual lessons just through your browser though? Thanks for understanding and for your question! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

Sorry to bother you but I’m really for some advice on how to study for TOPIK 1/2 vocabulary. I tried flashcards both handwritten and Anki but i eventually stopped because it just gets really boring and repetitive. Do you know any entertaining ways you can review vocabulary? (Maybe games or apps that are entertaining and interactive) Also I wanna know your opinion on using A.I to review and practice Korean. I’ve been using it to review grammar and practice reading pronunciation there, it’s honestly really helpful if you don’t have anyone to talk to you in Korean. Would you recommend that method or do you think A.I might teach or say awkward phrases that aren’t really said in Korean.

Hello! I think Drops is a great app to help you memorize vocabulary in an easy, gamified way. I don't believe you can upload your own lists of vocabulary and study those, but the app should already have plenty of vocabulary that you need to know for the topic tests. It has a wide range of vocabulary, so it can help regardless of your level. It also keeps track of your streaks, keeping you accountable for practicing daily. If you do want to use your own vocab lists, try Quizlet; I never really used it much but I think it has games and other activities to help you memorize the words.

As for your question regarding AI, I personally would not recommend something like ChatGPT to explain anything about Korean to me. I remember I once asked it to explain the difference between -아/어/여서 and -(으)니까, and its response was pretty inaccurate. I haven't used other AI tools for Korean since, and maybe AI has become more sophisticated or something, but I generally don't have faith in its ability to help you learn another language. I think native speakers of that language are best equipped to explain the nuances of their grammar and vocabulary and create natural sounding sentences, not a robot. After all, language is a human phenomenon!

I'm not sure how exactly you use it, but if you find it helpful for practicing pronunciation, however, I think that's probably okay since Korean pronunciation has pretty straightforward rules that can be taught to a machine (if that makes sense--I'm not a comp sci person lol). I wish AI were better for language learning otherwise at this point since it would be great to, say, have a tool that can automatically check the correctness of your sentences or provide you with natural sentences, but I personally don't think it can. Thank you for the great question though--it really got me thinking and I would love to hear other's thoughts on it! I hope this is helpful :) 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

Hi ! Do you have any korean youtubers to recommend ?

P.s I mean youtubers that speak korean in their videos.

Regardless thanks for answering!

Hi! Thanks for your patience. I don't watch a ton of Korean YouTubers, but I do know a few! I like watching makeup YouTubers like ANDA and Hyojin Cho because their tutorials involve a lot of talking and their videos have subtitles. Makeup tutorials are especially helpful in my opinion because you can see what they are explaining; you can match their words to their actions even if you're not sure what those words mean.

I also occasionally watch some Korean ASMR because I think they can be good sources of natural spoken Korean, although I know not everyone enjoys ASMR lol. I like Judy ASMR and Latte ASMR, but just type in "Korean ASMR" and you'll get a ton more.

I don't super watch many Korean YouTubers that have multiple people in them (so that you can hear actual conversation), but there are some channels that I know of, like kizzle and Hi-teenager (although Hi-teenager's videos are kind of uncomfortable to watch--take one look at their thumbnails and you'll understand lmao).

If you're a K-pop stan, a lot of bands put out vlogs and variety shows. I sometimes watch EN O'CLOCK by Enhypen, which is nice for hearing natural conversation.

Those are some options I've got! Feel free to leave a comment with any other YouTubers out there :) Thanks for the question! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

Hey, congratulations on graduating!

I have question to the breakdown from the song: I don't understand why 떨치다 becomes 떨쳐질까 when just-ㄹ까 needs to be added to the verb stem. Why isn't it 떨칠까?

Hello and thank you!! So sorry for the wait, but great question!

떨치다 is a verb meaning "to shake off." This is an active verb. When -아/어/여지다 is added to an active verb, however, turns the verb into the passive voice. Thus, 떨쳐지다 means "to be shaken off."

In the context of the breakdown, the line is:

비가 내리면 음… 나를 둘러싸는 / 시간의 숨결이 떨쳐질까? (When it rains... will I break free from the breath of time that surrounds me?)

Literally, the last part of that line should be "will the breath of time that surrounds me be shaken off/broken free from?" This translation, however, sounds pretty awkward, which is why I translated it in the active voice instead. As for why the songwriter decided to use 떨쳐지다 instead of 떨치다, I'm not too sure since the difference in meaning isn't that tremendous--maybe it makes the song sound poetic? That's just a guess though!

Keep in mind, you can also add -아/어/여지다 to adjectives, although it means something different. It is used to mean "to become [adjective]." 예쁘다, for example, means "to be pretty," while 예쁘지다 means "to become pretty." I have a full lesson about this structure for adjectives only here! Thanks again for the question and for your patience! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

hi there, Are there any active Korean langblrs you follow or can recommend :)

Hello! So sorry for the wait! Ever since I created my Tumblr, I never really scrolled through my followers, although I did follow a lot of langblrs to get my name out there and see what kind of content other people were making. As such, I don't know of any currently-active langblrs, so I'm sorry I can't give an answer!

However, I encourage anyone who sees this to comment their favorite active langblrs to help this anon :) So sorry I can't be more helpful, but hopefully others share their thoughts in the comments. Thanks for the question! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

Hiii!

I’m using a book to do exercises and there are examples sentences and I read :

« … 친구네 집에 가요 »

네 is like 에?

Thank you for your help !

Hello! 친구네 집에 가요 means "I go to my friend's house." -네 here functions like -의, showing that the house belongs to your friend (like the English -'s). In my experience, I've only seen 네 used when talking about the place in which someone lives; I don't believe I've seen it used with any other noun. But I could be wrong though! Essentially, -네 means -'s when talking about the home in which someone lives. Hope that makes sense and thanks for the question! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

여러분 안녕하세요! A while ago I was told that a lot of the links in my masterlist weren't working, so I fixed it! (At least I think I did lol) So now every link should work :) 화이팅!

NEW Masterlist

안녕하세요 여러분! Hi everyone! I realized that my old masterlist was getting SUPER long, so I decided to break it up! Now this is a list of smaller lists of lessons based on levels. I hope this makes it easier to navigate my Tumblr and looks a little less overwhelming :) To see all of my lessons on one page, though, click here!

My lessons are organized based on how advanced I think they are in my personal opinion, but I recommend browsing each level and just looking at what you want to learn. If a lesson has any “prerequisites,” meaning you need to know a different concept before you can learn about the one in that particular lesson, I probably mention that. My point is what might be “intermediate” for me might not be “intermediate” for you, so just look around!

As always, feel free to message me with any messages you may have about any of these lessons!! Happy studying! 화이팅!

Hangul Lessons & The Basics

Beginner & Upper-Beginner Lessons

Intermediate & Upper-Intermediate Lessons

Advanced Lessons

Vocabulary, Hanja Lessons, & Charts

K-Pop Breakdowns

Semester in SK

[a-pop-of-korean]

K-Pop Breakdown: "흐린 가을 하늘에 편지를 써" by 김광석

여러분 안녕하세요! I recently got a request to breakdown this song, so here it finally is! You can find the Korean lyrics and listen to the song here, and I also referred to this page and Naver Dictionary to help me out with the English translations.

Vocabulary

비가 내리다 = to rain; rain falls

둘러싸다 = surround; encircle

숨결 = breath

떨치다 = to shake off; to break free from

잊혀지다 = to be forgotten

접어놓다 = to put away

창문 = Window

흐리다 = overcast; murky; cloudy

가을 = autumn

편지를 쓰다 = to write a letter

바람이 불다 = wind blows

유혹하다 = to entice; to lure

Grammar

비가 내리면 음… 나를 둘러싸는 / 시간의 숨결이 떨쳐질까?

When it rains... will I break free from the breath of time that surrounds me?

-(으)면: If/When

Attach this to a verb stem to mean "if/when [verb]." 비가 내리면 means "if/when it rains."

-는

When attached to a verb stem, -는 turns a verb into its present-tense noun-modifying form. In other words, it allows you to describe nouns using verbs, like the way we use the word "that" in English. 나를 둘러싸는 시간의 숨결 means "the breath of the time that surrounds me." 둘러싸다 describes the noun, 시간의 숨결.

-(으)ㄹ까

This structure has a couple of different meanings, but in this case, it is used essentially to wonder out loud. The speaker is asking if he will break free from what entraps him.

난 책을 접어놓으며 창문을 열어 / 흐린 가을 하늘에 편지를 써 / 음…잊혀져간 꿈들을 다시 만나고 파

I set aside my book and open the window / I write a letter in the cloudy autumn sky...I want to meet the forgotten dreams again.

-(으)며

This structure is one way to say "and," although it can be translated differently as well. It can mean "while," as in, "while putting aside my book I open the window" too.

-고 파

This is a shortened version of -고 싶다, which means "to want [to do something]." 만나고 파 means "I want to meet [someone/something]."

That's about it for this breakdown--thanks for reading and thanks to the anon for your patience with this request! Check out my other breakdowns here and feel free to request any other song that I haven't done yet! See you in the next lesson! 화이팅!

My masterlist

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[a-pop-of-korean]

if you're still taking requests could you do a break down of 흐린 가을 하늘에 편지를 써 by 김 광석 or 옛 사랑 by 이문새?

Thanks♡

Hello! So sorry for the wait--I was in the process of graduating college lol. I will take a look at both of those songs and make a breakdown on one of them, although it might take me some time. Thanks for your patience! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

Do yall have a website or smthing or are yall just on tumblr ?

I'm just on Tumblr! I do have an instagram, although I'm not active anymore. I don't post regularly on Tumblr anymore either, but I'm still open to taking asks and requests :) Thanks for the question! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

It might just be my phone but the links in your pinned doesn’t work

Hi! It's not just you--I think all of the links are not working for me too. I haven't been very active on Tumblr so I just noticed the other day. I do actually have a copy of my masterlist saved as a Google Doc, so hopefully I can just copy and paste when I get the chance, but please be patient if it takes me a while to get around to it!

I have also tried using the search bar on my Tumblr to find lessons, and although it is certainly not perfect, hopefully in the meantime it can help you find what you need. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for the question! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

Hi! I tried to join your discord server from a post you made but the link seems to have alrd bbeen expired.. so if you could give me the new link? Thanks btw! This is great blog :]

Hello! Here is the link--just be aware that my chat is largely inactive. I haven't been moderating it for a long time so hopefully no one shady has joined lol...

That said, feel free to liven it back up! Even though I can't moderate it, I trust you all :) Thanks for the question! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

hello i have a question about learning korean ^^

i started ( self ) studying it about two years ago but discontinued due to college and all, but now i want to pick it up again and i don't know where to start from? i know how to read and write, but i have issues reading in one go— basically i lack fluency in reading and i often stutter. is there any way to improve?

secondly, i do know some basic stuff however my vocabulary isn't vast enough. besides, i would like to understand the sentence structure, or how they write phrases and sentences since it's very different from english. i've referred to so many sites but there's always a question— do i work on vocabulary first or sentence / phrasing structure first? or do i study both of them along side?

this sounds like such a mess and it is because i'm so lost ┬┬﹏┬┬ my main goal is to understand korean shows without subtitles and i do pick up a few words and phrases here and there but there's a lot still left to learn and idk where to start from. moreover, i've noticed that the textbook korean and the one that's spoken in everyday life is way different ( this applies to almost all the languages tbh ) and i'm having a bit of a trouble trying to figure out how a native would say it?

or example, do this thing where i come up with a sentence and try to translate it just to check what it would be in korean and check in the translator to see if i'm right, and most of the time im not. whether it's about the formalities or the conjugations. basically a whole lot of issues so please if u can help ＞︿＜

Hello! If your goal is to be able to understand Korean content without subtitles, then I think self-studying grammar and vocabulary is a good idea. I know you said you already have some knowledge of Korean, so I would refer to my masterlist and start from wherever you feel appropriate. I also recommend diversifying your study material and looking at other resources on Tumblr, YouTube, and on the Internet elsewhere. There's a lot out there!

As for your second question, I think it makes more sense to study vocab and grammar at the same time. As I've said before in previous asks, I was never that disciplined with my studying, so I can't really give you concrete study techniques. I think I got where I am today by regular exposure (on top of taking Korean courses and studying abroad lol). But if you don't have those opportunities, using whatever resources on the Internet can get you far. As you get comfortable with both grammar and vocab, I recommend exposing yourself to content like webtoons in Korean and K-dramas. These will help you with your reading and listening comprehension. There are plenty of webtoons at varying levels of difficulty, and K-drama actors have clear diction that is easy to understand. Again, I don't exactly have concrete techniques for how to eventually ween yourself off of subtitles/translations (since I myself still use them), but in my experience, exposure alone is enough to at least allow me to read webtoons and watch K-dramas without relying super heavily on the translations. Consuming this content will also teach you how natural Korean is spoken by natives. I hope that makes sense!

If you're concerned about speaking, the best way to get better is to converse with others. You might not know other people who speak Korean, but you can still practice with others for free on Hilokal, where I used to teach live lessons. It's a nice, low-pressure environment that can help you get more comfortable with speaking and learn alongside other people just like you!

Also, I generally don't recommend using translators to help you learn a language, especially if you're an English speaker learning Korean. It's more useful for you to understand the meaning of the Korean itself than it is for you to get the perfect translation. Korean is especially difficult to translate into English (in my opinion), so a translator might not give you a clean, accurate, and natural translation. Unfortunately, I can't think of other ways to fact-check your sentences otherwise lol. But I think that looking at enough sample sentences will help you become better at constructing your own. And something that helped me feel more comfortable writing and speaking when I was abroad is that, even if I make minor mistakes, chances are that other people can still understand me. Maybe keeping that in mind can make the learning process a little less stressful :)

Maybe this advice isn't new for you, but I hope it was still helpful! Thanks for the question and good luck! 화이팅!

[a-pop-of-korean]

yyxy (LOONA) - one way | K-Pop Breakdown

안녕하세요 여러분! It's been a while! I recently got a request for a breakdown of this song, so here it is! I'll link my full-length lessons for the grammar structures I include, so check those out for more explanations and examples. I hope you enjoy, and feel free to check out my other K-Pop Breakdowns and request a new song!

Also, I used colorcodedlyrics.com to help me with my translations :)

Vocabulary

낯선 = unfamiliar

길을 잃어버리다 = to be lost

쪽 = way

미로 = maze

속에 = inside (of)

멍하니 = absent-mindedly; blankly

약속 = promise

기억 = memory

묻다 = to ask

혼자 = alone

계속 = continuously

걷다 = to walk

Grammar

어느 쪽으로 가야 할까 / 미로 속에 갇힌 듯이 / 멍하니 걷고 있어

Which way should I go? / As if I'm caught in a maze / I'm walking absent-mindedly

-아/어/여야 하다

Attach this structure to a verb stem to mean "have to/should [verb]." 가야 하다, which uses the verb 가다 (to go), mean "should go" or "have to go."

-ㄹ/을까?

In this case, this structure is basically used the same way we would use "I wonder..." in English. 어느 쪽으로 가야 할까? essentially means "I wonder which way I should go?"

-ㄴ 듯이

When attached to a verb stem, this means "as if [verb]" in the past tense. 갇히다 means "to be confined" or "to be locked up" or "to be trapped." So, 갇힌 듯이 means "as if I was trapped," or "like I'm trapped." I believe the reason why it technically uses the past tense form is because the speaker has already been locked up, if that makes sense!

-고 있다

Attaching this to a verb stem gives you the present-progressive form, which is equivalent to the English -ing. 걷고 있다, therefore, means "walking."

널 볼 수 있다면 널 보게 된다면 / 어디로 가야 하는지 한번쯤은 묻고 싶어

If I could see you, if I get to see you / I want to ask you where I should go

-(ㄴ/는)다면

This structure means "if," and is usually used for talking about hypothetical situations or situations that are not likely to happen. In this case, the speaker implies that it is unlikely that they will see this person, but are saying what they would do if they did.

-ㄴ/는지

This structure is used to ask indirect questions. 어디로 가야 하는지 한번쯤은 묻고 싶어 is an example--it does not mean "where should I go?" but "I want to ask you where I should go." 어디로 가야 하는지 means "where I should go."

-고 싶다

Attach this structure to a verb stem to mean "want to [verb]."

우리 사랑은 나 혼자 one way / 계속 가고 있잖아

Our love is one way for me alone / I'm still going

-잖아(요)

Attach this to a verb or adjective stem to give it a nuance of "you know..." It is used to point out something that the listener does or should already know. 계속 걷고 있잖아, therefore, has the nuance of "I'm still walking, you know."

That's all for this breakdown! I hope it was helpful :) Thank you to whoever requested it! I am still taking requests (although it may take me a while to fulfill them), so please don't hesitate to ask me! Thanks for reading! 화이팅!