ehalslrk

[ehalslrk]

Good evenin and greetings, hope you're in the best of your health. Just wanted to ask this, like do we need to re apply in gks for majors after we've already done bachelors from gks?

Hello~~ Thank you for your question. Yes you need to reapply if you want to pursue graduate studies after your undergraduate. But as far as I know, from 2025, previous GKS scholars cannot reapply again.

[ehalslrk]

#1 flight tickets and visa

As I mentioned in my last post, the application process for gks is quite long and stressful. As you wait for the results of the first, second and third round, all you wish is to know the final results: Whether you're going or not. And you kind of expect everything will be fine once you know that all the effort and money was not in vain. In reality you only have a few days to celebrate the achievement before another stress period starts. It can be very individual depending on the country you're from and university you will attend but there are probably very few awardees who would consider the following process easy or unproblematic. (I decided to write down the whole process including dates in case it can help anyone in the future.)

After the final results were out on 30.06. it took about a week for NIIED to send us the Invitation letter (NIIED was sending out the emails in an alphabetical order so some people received it in 7 days and some later. Mine came on 10.07.). Following that the procedure depends on your uni. I know that many universities sent out CoAs (Certificate of Acceptance) very promptly and students could start their visa application process almost right away. For me, it took almost a month. But we will get to it later.

First, I received a survey asking me for details regarding my flight ticket. The school you're going to attend first is responsible for buying your ticket, so if you're attending language institute first and it's different from your uni (I think that after 2023 it's the case for only 5 universities), they will be the one to contact you. The survey came on 04.07. and there we questions such as prefered date of departure, prefered airport of departure, etc.

Important thing to note is that you have to depart from your home country, otherwise, the ticket won't be covered. There are also some other rules determined by NIIED such as that the "itinerary must be a direct flight or a flight with the shortest route to Korea (and if there is no direct flight available, the layover should be limited to 30 hours)." Except this, there is a price limit. The costs cannot exceed 1,2 million KRW. These rules can get very illogical in some cases. For example, I come from a very small country that offers no direct flights, but there are two big foreign international airports near our borders (1-2,5 hours by car from my house). No exceptions were allowed in my case, so the ticket I got is from a city that is 4,5 hours away from my home by car (but in my country) and I have to transfer 2 times to board a plane in an international airport that is just 2 hours from my home. The flight will take about 26 hours in total. That means that it will take almost 2 days for me to get to my dormitory. This is not all. I could get a flight from my country with 1 transfer but it was about 500 thousand KRW above the limit. As they refused to make any exceptions, 26 hours with 2 transfers flight was chosen over 14 hours flight with 1 transfer. Funny, right? I find it quite unfair because I know that there were people from countries from which the cheapest flight is way above 1,2 mil KRW and school got them very good tickets (great airline and good transit) ignoring the limit while I got a lowcost airline with 2 transfers. But since I decided to accept the situation rather than make a big deal about it, let's end my rant.

To tell you the truth, I'm okay with taking longer to get there but I'm worried about the transfers and since I'm also taking checked baggage it highers the chances of my baggage getting lost. Please wish me luck. ^^

I know I'm not the only one in bad situation regarding the rules. Some people have troubles with the transit visa and even take much longer than me.

To make it clear, before the university staff purchased the ticket, I got an email for confirmation and only after my failed attempt to compromise did they pay for it and sent it to me. I heard people from a few universities didn't even have a choice. Or there were cases when they asked them to purchase the ticket themselves with a promise to reimburse when they open their account in Korea.

Okay. Enough about tickets. Let's talk about visa.

Because we are a scholarship awardees, NIIED does their best to make the process simpler. We don't have to pay the usual visa application fee nor prove our financial ability to support ourselves. People doing the language programme apply for D-4 visa, exempted apply for either D-2-3 or D-2-7. Documents you need will therefore differ (and can be different also depending on the country you are applying from so check with your embassy), but you generally need the following:

Passport and passport photo (3,5x4,5cm)

NIIED invitation letter

CoA

Document indicating the final level of education (Diploma)

Visa application form

One thing to note, if you come from smaller country, chances are that the visa staff won't know about this scholarship at all. In case they ask you to pay the fee or don't cooperate, print out the Important Notice/Guidelines and show them. Fight for that fee exemption! XD Just make sure you are polite please.

The reason I couldn't apply for visa right away in July was that I didn't yet have CoA. Korea University informed us that we can only get this document after the tuition payment period (although as scholarship students, we technically don't pay, just do so called 0 won registration). After the registration, I got my CoA on 27.7. You need to keep in mind that you have to schedule your appointment for visa application at the embassy in advance. There is a website where you can register online but it wasn't open for my country and I could only schedule the appointment by calling them. I was informed by our embassy that it's okay to call them only 2-4 days in advance so I waited and called them when I received the CoA.

Fast forward, I was left speechless when they told that I should come in 2 weeks with less than 14 calendar days to my departure. That stressed me out so much. The usual period for visa issuance is 14 working days. I contacted the embassy several times to ask for explanation but they repeated that I will get my visa on time and don't have to worry. To give you some background info to understand what was going through my head, I have experience of not receiving my Korean visa on time and having to deal with consequences so this didn't quite help. My ticket was non-refundable and my arrival very tight with the beginning of semester on September 1st.

But whether it was my stubborness that made me contact them several time or they were really that sure that I can get it on time, I got my visa issued in only 3 working days. Yayy!

To not make this article very long I will continue tallking about the Course registration and Orientation in the next article.

[ehalslrk]

gks 2023

The past few months were one of the most stressful but also the most rewarding in my life. I suppose that those of you who come across this post already know what GKS or KGSP is but to briefly introduce it, it is a scholarship from the Korean government for pursuing your Undergraduate, Graduate of Doctoral studies in Korea. After a long preparation and a lo~ng application process I can finally say that I was lucky to pass all three rounds and will enroll in Graduate school of International Studies at Korea University this September.

I decided to write down the process on this blog for future me, but also share it with you in case you are interested in applying in the future :) I will continue to talk about my experience in the upcoming posts as well, so I will be very happy if you decide to follow for more.

I will start with a brief background of mine. I did my Undergraduate studies in a major called Business Korean. Basically, what it means is that I studied both Korean and Business at the same time and once acquiring a certain level of Korean I had classes on Korean in Business environment. My school offered a Graduate program but it focused only on Korean (not the business part) and since for my future career I wanted to continue studying business while maintaining a good level of Korean, studying the major in Korea was the perfect option for me.

While doing my Undergraduate studies I had the opportunity to go to Korea and study there as an exchange student for one semester. I'm not saying I was completely clueless about GKS before but having a roommate who was a GKS scholar gave me a new perspective and it inspired me to apply once I complete my undergraduate studies. Another important factor was that I loved my stay in Korea. Before, I was kind of sceptical whether I would be able to leave my country for such a long time but 6 months went by so quickly and I had so much more I wanted to achieve there. So I came back from Korea, got my first ever working experience in Korean language, acquired Topik 6, finished my undergraduate studies, and.. I didn't apply. haha

To be completely honest, I am not sure what happened there but I kind of missed the timing for preparing for my application while working on my thesis and everything. Well, not completely, I could have still prepared if I worked really hard. But I felt like it is very rushed and I need more time to choose the university and major I want to apply to, gain more certifications, and organize my thoughts regarding my motivation to apply (which is like the most important since motivation letter plays a key role in your application and interview process) I knew I want to study my major in Korea but that's not all it takes to get the scholarship. Applying for GKS takes a lot of time and money and if I invest it all into the process, I wanted to do it right. I decided to take one more year to deeply think about it all and start preparing all the necessary documents.

I had two options for my upcoming year. I could find a job and work to gain more experience and money that would come handy when applying. Or I could study a major to keep my student status and broaden my horizons in the field a bit more.

I decided to go for the latter and enrolled in my graduate studies in Economic Diplomacy in my country. I also did one online Korean language summer program and gained my English proficiency certificate (which can give you a lot of plus points and is also a requirement for some majors if you are not from an english speaking country as me).

So as you already know, I got the scholarship and will go to Korea, therefore I have to leave my study here but I am so~ grateful for the past year and everything I learned in the process. My school allowed me to interrupt my studies for 2 years since I got the scholarship and I can possibly finish my 1 year after I graduate in Korea and have 2 degrees (will think about this possibility a bit more, right now it sounds too scary).

But what I want to say, this one year was really precious experience and I do not regret it at all. I know that there are many GKS applicants who fail on their first try and have a hard time trying to figure out what to do and whether they should apply again or not. It is nice to pass on the first try but rejection can be a great opportunity to work on your shortcomings, and especially on your Korean language skills (there is always something to improve there whether you are a complete beginner or advanced). Also, it can be an opportunity to think through what you think is the best for you in terms of the major and university choice. But I will get to this topic in one of my upcoming post.

[ehalslrk]

some random vocabulary #6

만나이 - international age (the opposite of 한국 나이/찐 나이 - Korean age)

나이를 만으로 세다, 만나이 몇 살이야?

언뜻 보다 - to catch a glimpse of, to take a quick look at

= 눈결에 언뜻 보다, 언뜻 보면

현찰 - cash

현찰로 계산하다, 현찰을 뽑다

탁구채 - table tennis racket

독보적 - to be unrivaled, unequaled, to stand out

또래 - same age group, peer

또래 집단, 또래��� 어울리다

벼르다 - to intend, be determined to

기회를 벼르다, 승을 벼르다

노리다 - to seek, to aim at/for, to have an eye on

틈을 노리다, 우승을 노리다, 재산을 노리다

뜬금없다 - out of a blue, suddenly

뜬금없이

물방울 - water drop, a drop of water

한 눈 팔다 - to look away, take one's eyes off

잠시라도 한 눈 팔지 마 - don't miss a minute of it

물구나무서기 - hand-standing

물구나무를 서다, 물구나무서기를 하다

몰입하다 - to be immersed in, to be absorbed in

일에 물입하다, 감정에 물입하다

텃세를 부리다 - to mark one's territory, be cold/mean to newbies,

체중 강량 - weight loss

닦달하다 - to nag

몸닦달하다 - to train oneself, to harden one's body

갸웃거리다 - to tilt

고개를 갸웃거리다

대견하다 - to be proud of/that

대견하게 생각하다

어정쩡 - vaguely, awkwardly, with doubts

어정쩡하다, 어정쩡한 대답, 어정쩡한 태도를 취하다

숙지하다 - to be well informed of

숙지 - full knowledge, familiarity

패배하다 - to lose, to be defeated

패배주의자

야무지게 - firmly, securely

야무지개 묶다, 야무지게 한 일

눈동자 - pupil

눈동자가 반짝반짝하다, 눈동자가 무섭다, 눈동자가 예쁘다

동에번쩍 서에번쩍 - flashing in the east, flashing in the west; dart in and out of places

동에번쩍 서에번쩍 하다 - to be constantly on the move

[ehalslrk]

some random vocabulary #5

반겨주다 - to welcome/greet someone

미소와 반겨주다, 반겨주는 곳

엎어지면 코 닿는 데 - [literally: a place that your nose can touch if you fall down] within a stone's throw, just around the corner, very close by

공중부양 - levitation, floating in the air

공중부양 하다

유감이다 - That's a shame. / I'm sorry to hear that. / That's too bad.

유감���이 - fully, to one's heart content, 유감스럽다 - unfortunate, sorry, 유감스럽게도 - to my regret, 유감을 표시하다 - to express one's regret

삥땅 치다 - to rip somebody

남의 돈을 삥땅 치다

사기가 떨어지다 - to become dispirited, to be unmotivated

팔자 - destiny, fate

팔자가 좋다, 팔자 좋게, 더러운 팔자, 팔자를 고치다

낯가림 - being afraid (shy) of strangers

까물까물하다 - to be flickering, blinking, dim

기억이 까물까물하다

감싸안다 - to embrace, hold in one's arms

약소하다 - to be insignificant, trivial

약소 - small and weak

약소한 돈, 약소민족

세차하다 - to wash a car

자동세차를 하다

협연 - collaboration, performing together

협연 무대

극본 - script

극본을 쓰다, 극본으로 만들다, 극본을 보다

타자를 치다 - to type, to do the typing

타자 - typing, typewriting

격정적 - passionate, overwhelming emotions

착률 - landing

착률하다, 비상착률

예나 지금이나 - in all ages, then and now

다듬다 - to trim / polish / clean

머리를 다듬다, 손톱을 다듬다 - to trim one's nails, 글을 다듬다 - to elaborate (polish) one's style, 배추를 다듬다 - to clean a cabbage

호우 - heavy rain, downpour

호우가 내리다 - to have a heavy rain, 집중호우 - localized heavy rain, 호우경보 - heavy rain warning

빗자루 - broom

빗자루로 쓸다 - to sweep with a broom

여한이 없다 - to have no regrets

죽어도 여한이 없다 - I can die without any regrets. /I can die in peace.

본디 - originally, origin

만두를 찌다 - to steam dumplings

칠하다 - to paint, apply

손톱을 칠하다 - to paint one's nails

토닥토닥 - patting, tapping

[ehalslrk]

Level 8 / Lesson 9: Other Meanings of 싶다

안녕하세요 여러분! You probably already know that adding -고 싶다 to a verb stem means “to want to [verb],” but 싶다 can have a few other meanings depending on what it is attached to! Mainly, 싶다 can mean “to think” or “to guess.” These structures build off of more basic structures, so if you know some basic grammar hopefully it won’t be too difficult to understand! Let’s start!

-ㄹ/을까 싶다

1. Worrying

The first possible meaning of -ㄹ/을까 싶다 is basically “I was worried that something would happen.” It’s pretty similar to -ㄹ/을까 보다, and you see it a lot in the middle of sentences. For example:

햇볕에 탈까 싶어서 선크림을 많이 발랐어요. = I was worried that I might get a sunburn, so I applied a lot of sunscreen.

나중에 필요할까 싶어 돈을 다 쓰지마세요. = Don’t spend all of your money lest you need it later.

This form can also be translated as “lest” – don’t spend all of your money out of fear/worry that you might need it later, so to speak. 

2. Wondering

The second usage of -ㄹ/을까 싶다 can mean something like “I’m wondering if…” It’s like using -ㄹ/을까요 to say stuff like “I wonder…?” For instance:

집에 일찍 갈까 싶어요. = I’m thinking about going home early. / I’m wondering if I should go home early. 

We already know that the sentence 집에 일찍 갈까? means “should I go home early?” So think of this whole sentence as “I was wondering, ‘should I go home early’?”

(from Go! Billy Korean) 철수가 착할까 싶어요. = I wonder if Cheol-su is kind?  

비행기표가 진짜 비쌀까 싶어요. = I wonder if the plane ticket is really expensive?

파리스가 너무 멀지 않을까 싶어서 뉴욕시에 가기로 했어요. = I was wondering, “wouldn’t Paris be too far away?” so I decided to go to New York City.

Notice how we have -지 않을까 in the middle. This doesn’t mean “I was wondering if Paris wouldn’t be far away,” as if being too close is unfavorable. Instead, it’s more like how I translated it – I was wondering to myself “Paris is too far away, isn’t it?” So I decided to just go to NYC, which is closer.

-지 싶다

We already know that you can add -지 or -죠 to the end of sentence to ask for confirmation about something. For example:

내일은 가���에 갈 거지? = You’re going to the store tomorrow, right?

Attaching -지 싶다 to the end of a sentence means that you were thinking like that. I think some examples will show this best:

그 가방 꽤 비싸지 싶어서 사지 않기로 했어요. = I thought that that bag was rather expensive, so I decided not to buy it. / I thought, “that bag is rather expensive, isn’t it?” so I decided not to buy it.

BTS 콘서트가 너무 재미있지 싶어서 티켓을 샀어요. = I thought that the BTS concert would be a lot of fun, so I bought a ticket.

걔는 정말 피곤하지 싶어서 내버려 뒀어요. = I thought she must have been tired, so I left her alone.

-나 싶다 

You’re probably already familiar with the structure -나 보다, which means something like “I guess…”:

다들 이미 갔나 봐요. = I guess everyone already left.

-나 싶다 is pretty similar. It can mean “I thought” or “I guessed.” For example:

다들 이미 갔나 싶어서 제가 그냥 집에 갔아요. = I guessed that everyone left already, so I just went home. / I thought, “Did everyone already leave?” so I just went home.

민지 씨는 집에 없나 싶어서 전화해 볼까요? = I’m guessing Minji isn’t home, so should I try calling her?

(from italki.com) 음식이 맛이 있나 싶어 먹어 보았습니다 = I ate the food thinking it might taste good.

-ㄴ/은가 싶다

You might also be familiar with -ㄴ/은가 봐요, which is the same thing as -나 봐요 but used for adjectives only. When -ㄴ/은가 is attached to an adjective and combined with -싶다, it means the same thing as -나 싶다. For example:

(from pineapplegame’s Tumblr) 심한 병인가 싶어서 병원에 갔다. = I went to the hospital because I thought it might be a serious illness.

이 바지가 너무 큰가 싶어서 언니 한테 줬어요. = I thought these pants might be too big, so I gave them to my older sister.

싶다 can be attached to a lot of different ways, but this is all I wanted to share for now! This is a lot, but thankfully a lot of these different patterns are actually quite similar! Hope this was helpful and see you in the next lesson! 다음에 봐요!

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[ehalslrk]

some random vocabulary #4

성탄절 - Christmas (Korean name, can also be said as 크리스마스)

[즐거운 성탄절 되시고 행복한 새해 맞으시기 바랍니다!]

정주행하다 - to binge-watch

드라마를 정주행하다

오지랖 - someone nosy

오지랖이 넓다

영롱하다 - to be brilliant

치명적 - to be fatal, deadly

치명적 사진, 치명적 눈빛/미소, 치명적인 독 (poison)

운치있다 - to be tasteful, cozy, elegant, graceful

본가 - the original house, parents' house

깍지를 끼다 - to lock one's fingers together

무디다 - to be dull, blunt

감정에 무디다, 정신이 무디다, 칼은 무디다, 손이 무디다

손재주가 없다 = 손이 무디다

거친 숨소리 - ragged, heavy breathing

뒷담화 - talking behind someone's back

터덜터덜하다 - to keep trudging

터덜터덜

야밤 - midnight, middle of the night

뛰척거리다 - to toss and turn

밤에 뛰척거리다

전력질주 - a spurt, running for all one is worth

재택근무 - working from home, telecommuting

손절하다 - cutting someone off, cut the relationship off

손절

몸부림 - struggle

몸부림하다, 몸부림치다 - 외로움에 몸부림치다

체류하다 - to stay

해외에 체류하다, 외국에 체류하다

감정소비 - waste of emotions

감정소비를 하다, [왜 그런 감정소비를 해?] [굳이 감정소비를 해야 하나?]

[ehalslrk]

some random vocabulary #3

시국 - current situation, state of affairs

숨이 멎다 - to let out a gasp, be breathtaking

숨을 멎을 정도이다, 숨이 멎는 듯

배에서 꼬르륵 소리가 나다 - for stomach to growl

반어법 - irony

반어법 사용하다

재력 - wealth, financial power

재력 과시하다

보금자리 - nest, home

나의 보금자리다

깍듯하다 - polite, courteous, well-mannered

인사가 깍듯하다

자상하다 - thoughtful, considerate, attentive

대변하다 - to represent, speak for

타협 - compromise, meeting halfway

아기자기하다 - charming, cute, pretty

얽매다 - to tie up, fasten

과거에 얽매다, 규칙으로 얽매다

아기자기할 발, 아기자기하게

굴뚝같다 - to strongly wish (to do), to be eager to do

마음이 굴뚝같다

자학 - self-torture, to be cruel to oneself

개기일식 - total solar eclipse

빨대 - straw

빨대를 꽂다, 빨대로 마시다

따근따근하다 - hot, warm

난기류 - turbulence

덜떨어지다 - stupid, idiotic, simple-minded

덜떨어진 멍청이, 덜떨어진 놈

감흥 - inspiration

감흥이 일다

먹통 - dysfunction

컴퓨터/핸드폰/모니터(가) 먹통이 되다,

식감 - the texture of food, mouthfeel

되갚다 - to payback

본보기 - example, role model

감정소비 - waste of emotion

감정소비를 하다

조모임 - group meeting

매정하다 - to be cold-hearted, heartless

[ehalslrk]

lyrics vocabulary (lucy - 떼굴떼굴 rolling rolling)

떼굴떼굴 - rolling (incorrect spelling, correct one is -> 데굴데굴)

데굴데굴 구르다

어질러지다 - to be messy

어질러진 방

엄두 - the very thought of doing something

엄두조차 안 나다, 엄두도 못 내다/내다, 엄두를 잃다

온데간데없다 - to be nowhere to be seen, to suddenly disappear

기지개 - stretch

기지개를 펴다, 기지개를 켜다

부대끼다 - to be troubled, pestered

일에 부대끼다, 더위에 부대끼다, 기침에 부대끼다

시곗바늘 - hands of a clock

홀리다 - to be possessed, bewitched

뭔가에 홀리다

무감각하다 - to be numb, insensitive

무감각함에 잠기다, 통증에 무감각하다

뒹굴다 - to roll over

잠자리에서 뒹굴다

[ehalslrk]

some random vocabulary #2

갈팡질팡 - confused, wavering

갈팡질팡하다 - to be indecisive

진도(를) 나가다 - to make a progress, move forward

"진도가 안 나가네요."

눈이 똘망똘망하다 - to have sparkling, bright, smart eyes

킹받아 - makes me angry, makes my blood boil

협찬 - sponsorship, support

공동 협찬, 협찬하다

흡족하다 - sufficient, enough, satisfactory

흡족한 미소를 짓다, 흡족한 결과를 얻다, 흡적하게

똑쟁이 - the smart one

터놓다 - to open up, pour out one's heart out

속을 터놓다, 마음을 터놓다

연찬회 - dinner party, workshop

연찬회를 하다, 연찬회를 갖다, 연찬회를 열다

마감일을 연장하다 - to extend the deadline

입이 떨어지다 - come to talk about sth

대별 - general classification

대별하다, 대별되다

정적 - silence, quietness, stillness

정적하다, 정적을 깨다

훔척거리다 - to wipe one's tears away

흥얼거리다 - to hum, mumble

혼자서 콧노래를 흥얼거리다, 멜로디를 흥얼거리다, 영어를 흥얼거리다

발성 - vocalization

해당 사항이 없다 - does not apply, not applicable

일탈 - deviation

하루 일탈

욕을 먹다 - to be sworn at, criticized

푹신하다 - to be soft, fluffy

[ehalslrk]

some random vocabulary #1

갈고닦다 - to improve, polish up

실력을 갈고닦다

고막이 - eardrum

고막이 터지다, 고막이 녹다

선구자 - pioneer, forerunner

선구자가 되다

아련하다 - sentimental

아련한 추억

유일무이 - one and only

유일무이하다, 유일무이한

노림수 - trick, scheme

음성 판정 - negative result

음성 판정을 받다, 음성 판정 증면서, 양성

짚이다 - to have a hunch

가슴에 짚이다

'철떡' - perfect

철떡 목소리, 철떡 소화

빚어지다 - to be made

묘한 율동 - weird dancing

버금가다 - to be second to, come close to

천재에 버금가다

우러러보다 - to look up to

창법 - singing method

꼬박꼬박 - regularly

꼬박꼬박 말대꾸하다

꼬치꼬치 - inquisitively

꼬치꼬치 캐묻다

새해 다짐 - New Year's resolution

동안 - baby face, looking younger

동안이다

꼬다 - twist, cross

머리카락을 꼬다, 다리를 꼬다

비무장지대 - DMZ (Demilitarized zone)

[ehalslrk]

my korean study motivation for today...

I was going through my phone today, mindlessly, just trying to delete some unnecessary stuff to make space for new unnecessary stuff.. when I came across this document.

It was homework for my Korean class from about a year and a half ago. Something like a letter to my parents for 어버이날 (Korean Parent's Day). I remembered how satisfied I was when I finished writing it and sent it to my professor, so before deleting it, I wanted to read it once more.

I still remembered some phrases that I wrote because I read them all over and over like a hundred times before submitting it with an audio recording included (it was at the beginning of this strange corona age). But to my surprise, I found so many mistakes.

It was weird because I didn't feel like I made big progress since then. In fact, I kept saying how I feel like I got to a very stagnant point in my Korean language journey and don't see my efforts paying off. But oh, I was so wrong.

Rather than feeling embarrassed about these mistakes today, I suddenly felt so... I don't know. Proud? Motivated? Happy? Ehmm. But I certainly felt like it was an important impulse for me, right after taking the TOPIK exam last weekend.

Whether I learn how to make present tense today, or a super high-level Korean grammar that I might not use for the next few months, it's still progress. Whether I learn 2 new words or 20. Whether I hold a full conversation with someone or practice just one sentence in my diary before going to bed. I guess we just need to keep going.

[ehalslrk]

lyrics vocabulary (lucy - 동문서답 / irrelevant answer)

four characters idiom 동문서답 - giving an irrelevant answer

east / 동녘 동 (東)

question / 물을 문 (問)

west / 서녘 서 (西)

answer / 대답 답 (答)

조심스레 - carefully, same meaning as 조심스럽게

야경 빛 - lights of the night view

얼굴을 붉히다 - to blush one's face

어쩔 줄 모르다 - to not know what to do

마저 - even

나름- in his/her own way

회전목마 - merry-go-round

말을 돌리다 - to change the subject

도저히 - at all, by any possibility

[ehalslrk]

KOREAN PROVERBS (part 1)

돌다리도 두들겨 보고 건너라 - Check the bridge before you cross even if it's made of stone. -> Think before you leap.

A: 난 내년부터 야간 학교에 다닐 생각이야.

B: 시간과 돈을 마련할 자신 있니? 돌다리도 두들겨보고 건너야해.

가는 말이 고와야, 오는 말이 곱다 - If the going words are beautiful, coming words will be also beautiful. -> If you want other people to treat you nicely, you should first treat other people nicely.

A: 어제 여자친구랑 엄청 싸웠어. 걔는 너무 쉽게 화내는 것 같아.

B: 가는 말이 고와야 오는 말이 곱다는 말도 모르니? 너가 먼저 친절히 말해봐.

갈수록 태산 - The more you go, the bigger mountains you have to climb. -> "Out of the frying pan into the fire."

A: 갈수록 태산이네요. 이 컴퓨터도 안 켜져요.

B: 언제까지 해야 되는데요?

A: 오늘까지 끝내야 돼요.

계란으로 바위치기 - Hitting a rock with an egg -> "The elephant does not feel a flea bite."

야, 걔가 얼마나 힘이 센데. 너가 아무리 운동해도 계란으로 바위치기 밖에 안돼.

그림의 떡 - Pie in the sky -> When you hope something really unlikely to happen will come true.

꿈은 서울대학교에 입학하는건데 공부를 못하니.. 이꿈은 그림의 떡이야.

꿩 대신 닭 - A chicken instead of pheasant. -> Something is replaced with something really similar when the other thing is not found.

A: 나 오늘 약속이 취소됐어. 나랑 만날래?

B: 내가 꿩 대신 닭이라는 거야?

남의 떡이 더 커 보인다 - The rice cakes of others look bigger -> "The grass is always greener on the other side."

A: 나는 잭이 너무 부러워. 잭의 직업은 훨씬 쉽지만 돈을 많이 줘.

B: 이봐. 남의 떡이 커 보는 법이야.

도토리 키 재기 - Comparing the hights of acorns -> Reaction to people comparing something over an insignificant detail.

둘이 뭘 비교하고 그래. 도토리 키 재기야.

등잔 밑이 어둡다 - A place under an oil lamp is dark.

우리 학교에 좋은 강의가 있는데, 학원만 찾고 있었네. 등잔 밑이 어둡긴 어둡구나.

땅 짚고 헤엄치기 - Swimming while touching the ground -> Do something that is really easy.

A: 오빠, 이 수학 문제 풀 수 있어?

B: 이런 중학교 수학 문제쯤이야 땅 짚고 헤엄치기지.

누워서 떡 먹기 - Eating tteok while lying down -> Something being super easy. 식은 죽 먹기 - Eating cold porridge -> Something is a piece of cake.

A: 시험 어땠어?

B: 식은 죽 먹기였어.

말 한마디로 천 냥 빚을 갚는다 - One word can repay a thousand nyang -> Even if you are in trouble, you can get out of it if you are an eloquent speaker. 믿는 도끼에 발등 찍힌다 - To get stabbed by an ax that one trusts -> "Trust is a mother of deceit." / "In trust is treason."

A: 지연이 약혼자가 사실은 지연이 친구하고 사귀고 있었대요.

B: 나도 들었어요. 믿는 도끼에 발등 찍힌다더니. 어떻게 약혼자의 친구하고 그럴 수가 있어요?

밑 빠진 독에 물 붓기 - To pour water into a pot with a hole in the bottom -> Unavailing efforts. 발 없는 말이 천 리 간다 - Words without feet travel 1000 Ri -> Rumors spread fast.

A: 내가 해어진 거 친구들한테만 말했는데 벌써 다 알더라.

B: 조심했어야지. 발 없는 말이 천 리 가는 거 몰라?

가는 날이 장날 - Open market is held when you visit somewhere -> Bad timing

A: 어, 비가 오네요.

B: 계속 날씨가 좋더니 갑자기 무슨 비가 이렇게 오지? 가는 날이 장날이라더니 우리가 놀러 가는 날 비가 오는군요.

배보다 배꼽이 더 크다 - Belly button is bigger than the belly - The unimportant part of something will cost you more than the thing itself.

A: 앨범이 만원인데, 유럽으로 보내고 싶으면 배송비가 3만원까지 나올 수 있던데.

B: 배보다 배꼽이 더 크네. 차라리 한국에 가서 살 거야.

소 잃고 외양간 고친다 - After losing a cow one repairs the barn -> It doesn't do any good to regret over something that has already happened.

시험에 떨어졌다면서 공부를 왜 하니? 그거야말로 소 잃고 외양간 고치기지.

수박 겉 핥기 - Licking the surface of the watermelon -> To do something superficially. Studying something without going deeper. Scratching the surface.

수박 겉 핥기 식으로 무엇을 한다면 전문가가 될 수 없습니다.

싼 게 비지떡 - You get what you paid for -> If you buy a cheap product, you should expect it to bee of poor quality.

가격이 싼 침대는 값싼 게 비지떡처럼 될 수 있으니 여유가 되는 대로 돈을 많이 들여라.

열 번 찍어 안 넘어가는 나무 없다 - There is no tree that won't fall if you chop it 10 times -> Don't give up until you succeed!

A: 민지가 너의 고백을 받아 줬어?

B: 아니. 거절 당했어.

A: 이제 그만 포기해. 벌써 몇 번째야?

B: 열 번 찍어 안 넘어가는 나무 없다잖아. 그녀가 내 마음 알아줄 때까지 포기하지 않을 거야.

입에 쓴 약이 몸에 좋다 - Bitter medicine is better for the body. -> Task may be very stressful and painful now but in the end, when you succeed, it will be worth it.

A: 부장님이 다른 직원들한테는 안 그러시는 것 같은데 왜 저한테만 자꾸 엄하게 하실까요?

B: 그게 다 원진 씨 잘 되라고 하시는 걸 거예요. 원래 입에 쓴 약이 몸에 좋다고 하잖아요.

티끌 모아 태산 - One can build a mountain by collecting specks of dust -> Even if it might take a long time, if you work hard it will pay off.

A: 한 달에 만 원씩 모아서 해외여행을 가려고 해요.

B: 네? 티끌 모아 태산이라고는 하지만 한 달에 만 원씩 너무 적은 것 같아요.

하늘의 별 따기 - Picking stars from the sky -> Impossible thing to do.

요즘 직장을 구하는 것이 하늘의 별 따기가 되어 버렸다.

[ehalslrk]

memrise - the best way to study korean vocabulary?

i started to learn korean a few years ago through howtostudykorean website. i still think it’s one of the best ways to learn korean without.. actually paying money to buy textbooks or online courses. i love how the author explains the grammar. maybe it’s because he is also a foreigner and understands well, what is it like for an english speaking person to learn korean. it’s almost like he is giving you a private tutoring, trying hard to explain everything thoroughly. it’s not the textbook-like explanation that you can rewrite word-to-word into your notes. you need to think about it to make notes, which makes the learning procedure much more effective.

in every lesson, there is, of course, new vocabulary. the author’s approach in choosing the words is also praiseworthy. after i’ve started to study korean at university, number of beginner level textbooks went through my hands. i am not sure if it was because most of them are made by koreans, but what i realized was that the order they teach you words in those books is somehow off for me. like... one example that comes to my mind is word 까치 (magpie) that appeared right in the first lesson of the book we used in the first grade. if this was the first time i was learning korean i wouldn’t know how to say ‘hello’, or ‘my name is’, but I would know how to say magpie. i think i never used that word in korean for now, neither in written or spoken way. i am not trying to say it’s useless to learn how to say magpie, just that i appreciate a different approach in learning vocabulary. (and that is to learn words by actually using them) which is also a reason why i recommend howtostudykorean... even though that shouldn’t be the focus of this article. haha. 

i started to talk about this is because this website introduced me to memrise app. i am not sure if it was officially made by the author or one of the learners made it, but thanks to the howtostudykorean course on memrise app, even now, I remember all of those words in a way, i can’t forget it even if i want. people that used it were themselves making so called ‘mems’ to make you remember these words well. for example, to this day, i remember the word 위 (on top), because someone made the mem ‘you say weee, when you fall from the top of a slide’. would you believe everytime i use this word, in my mind i hear ‘weeeee on top’. no? that’s exactly what happens. at first, these prepositions of place were really confusing to me, but after using the app, seeing the mems other learners have made, it became incredibly easy. of course, after using any word in a few sentences, you will remember it even without this kind of “worldplay”, but it can be a good start. sometimes there is an explanation in hanja characters and that is definitely something i want to talk about in the near future on this blog.

source: memrise howtostudykorean unit 1

another reason, why i recommend memrise is because you can learn korean whenever you have some free time - in a bus, during the class, while waiting in a queue for something, during the commercial break when you are watching a TV.. you can download the courses and use the app even if you have no internet connection. and believe me, even 2 minutes can make miracles. because, you know, everyone is saying that when you learn new language, it’s important to study a little by little, every day. but it’s easier to say than done. thanks to memrise, it became a part of my daily routine and i use memrise every time i want to use my spare time to do something productive.

of course, there are many other pros of this app, but the last one i’m going to mention (to not make this article too long), and the one i discovered only recently, is that after registration you can make your own courses. And this was quite groundbreaking to me. because, when you are learning a language, the vocabulary in textbooks is not the only one you come across. you start to note down the words you hear in songs, dramas, the words you look up because you want to use them in a sentence and you want to practice these words too! so i always take notes of them in my phone and when I have at least 10-20, i put them into my own course to practice. if you have more friends that learn korean, you can all add words into one course or make a group and compare your learning score, compete between each other..

so, are you using memrise? do you plan to use it or is there any other app for learning vocabulary you recommend?

- ehalslzk

[ehalslrk]

lyrics vocabulary (day6 - zombie)

떠오르다 - to come across one’s mind

떠올려 보다 - try to remember

별다르다 - particular, special

흘러가다 - to flow, pass

견디다 - to bear, stand, endure

마음껏 - as heart wants, to one’s satisfaction

마음껏 소리치다 - to shout to one’s heart’s content

반복하다 - to repeat

낮과 밤을 반복하다 - days and nights repeat (in circles)

텅 - emptily, vacantly; 비다 - to be empty, vacant 

텅 비다 - to be blank, empty

마음과 심장이 텅 빈 - with an empty head and empty heart

허수아비 - scarecrow

정처 - aim

정처 없이 걷다 - walk / drift aimlessly

잠에 들다 - to fall asleep

어둠 - darkness, dark

눈을 뜨다 - to open eyes

털어놓다 - to take out, empty, confess

내려놓다 - to put down, bring down

마르다 - to dry up, be thirsty, become thin

마른 눈물 - dry tears

돌려주다 - to return, give back