Tag: oakland korean tutor
[Reading] 요즘 수영을 배우고 있어요.
나는 어릴 때부터 물이 너무 무서웠다. 한 5학년 때였을까, 학교에서 친구들과 수영장에 갔다가 수영장에서 미끄러져서 빠지는 바람에 정말 죽을 뻔했기 때문이다. 그 후로 나는 물이 정말 싫어져서 수영장에 가면 항상 밖에만 있었고 수영을 배울 생각을 해 보지도 않았다.
그러다가 작년 여름에 친구들과 오랜만에 바닷가로 여행을 가기로 했다. 일이 너무 바빠서 휴가도 한참 동안 내지 못한 데다가 스트레스도 쌓일 대로 쌓였는데 정말 잘됐다 싶었다. 따뜻한 바닷가에 누워서 바다를 바라보며 차가운 음료수를 마시는 상상을 하며 친구들과 여행 계획을 세웠다. 하지만 내가 수영을 못한다는 얘기는 창피해서 친구들에게는 말하지 않았다.
우리가 간 곳은 남해안에 있는 해변으로 아직 휴가철이 아니라서 그런지 사람이 보이지 않았다. 우리는 해변에 텐트를 치고 의자를 꺼내서 자리를 잡았다. 수영을 잘하는 내 친구들은 벌써 수영복으로 갈아 입고 바다에 들어갈 준비를 하고 있었다. 나는 수영을 못하기 때문에 의자에 앉아 친구들을 구경하면서 친구가 사 온 차가운 커피를 마셨다. 날이 너무 뜨거워서 가만히 앉아만 있으려니까 너무 덥게 느껴졌다. 그래서 나도 바다에 발이나 담가야지 하는 생각으로 바닷물을 걷기 시작했다. 그런데 내가 수영을 못한다는 걸 모르는 친구들이 나를 바다에 밀어 넣었다. 나는 그대로 넘어졌다.
바닷물을 마셔서인지 공포 때문인지 나는 온몸이 굳어서 일어날 수가 없었다. 갑자기 머릿속에서 ‘아, 이제 죽는구나!’하는 생각까지 들었다. 나는 죽고 싶지 않았다. 그래서 있는 힘을 다해 팔을 휘두르고 머리를 물밖으로 꺼내려고 노력했다. 그러다가 친구들의 웃는 소리가 들렸다. 얼굴에 물을 닦고 보니 내가 빠진 곳은 물이 겨우 무릎까지 오는 곳이었다. 친구들은 내가 허우적대는 모습을 보고 웃고 있었다. 너무 화가 나서 친구들에게 소리를 지르고 가방을 챙겨 집으로 돌아왔다. 그 후로 그 친구들과 한참 동안 연락을 하지 않았다. 어느 날, 그 친구들 중 한 명이 문자를 보내왔다. “민아야, 정말 미안해. 나는 네가 수영을 못한다는 걸 어제가 돼서야 알았어. 너무 장난을 심하게 쳐서 정말 미안해. 나는 너라는 친구를 잃고 싶지 않아. 나 용서해 줄 수 있어?”
나는 생각했다. 내가 수영을 못한다는 걸 말했더라면 내 친구들이 나를 바다에 밀어넣지 않았을 텐데... 일이 이렇게 된 데에는 내 잘못도 있는 게 아닐까? 그리고 나도 소중한 친구를 잃고 싶지 않았다. 그래서 나는 친구들을 만나서 화해했다. 친구들이 사과를 해서 나도 미안하다고 말했다. 그리고 그날 집에 오는 길에 수영장에 들러서 수영기초반에 등록했다. 물 공포증을 이겨내고 나도 수영을 배우고 싶다. 아직은 물이 정말 무섭다. 하지만 나는 조금씩 노력할 것이다. 언젠가는 바닷가에서 멋지게 수영하는 그날을 상상하며…
<vocabulary and expressions>
-는 바람에 : because + bad result
-(으)ㄹ 뻔했다 : almost did (used it for bad situation) (Click here to learn more)
-기로 하다 : to decide (Click here to learn more)
-는 데다가 : not only —, but also—(Click here to learn more)
A(으)ㄹ 대로 A하다 : something is severe state. seriously
-다 싶다 : think that
텐트를 치다 : to set a tent
자리를 잡다 : to settle, to take a place/seat
-(으)려니(까) : -(으)려고 하다 + 니까 I was going to do and realize that
-야지 하는/라는 생각으로 : thinking of doing —-
-(으)ㄴ지 : to express ‘doubt’ or ‘question’. (Click here to learn more)
온몸이 굳다 : 온몸(whole body) + 굳다 (to harden)
있는 힘을 다하다 to use every effort
팔을 휘두르다 to swing arms
돼서야 (되다 + -아/어/해서야 : not until then)
장난을 치다 : prank
-았/었/했더라면 -았/었/했을 텐데… to express regret or to have pity (Click here to learn more)
-에 등록하다 : to enroll in
First full moon of the year 정월대보름
Koreans celebrate the first full moon of the year which is January 15th in lunar calendar. It is called 정월대보름. 정월 means January, 대 means ‘big’ and 보름 means ’15th day’. Because we can see a full moon on the 15th of every month in lunar calendar, we call a full moon ‘보름달(the moon on the 15th).
On 정월대보름, there are a lot of things to do. We make a lot of 나물(Na-mool : vegetable dishes) with dried vegetable for winter and make 오곡밥(O-gok-bop : rice with 5 grains) and drink 귀밝이술(Gui-bahl-ghi-sool : traditional alcohol drink) to hope we hear good news for the year.
In early morning on 정월대보름, we crack hard nuts like pine nuts, walnuts or peanuts and throw them outside while we say “부스럼”. 부스럼 is a small pocket of pus on skin. Old Korean hoped not to get this skin disease to crack these nuts and throw them away. These nuts are called 부럼.
And on 정월대보름, when we say “내 더위 사 가라(Buy my heat)” to the first person who we see in order to not to be sick by heat in summer. And the person who hear this can response “니 더위, 내 더위, 맞더위(your heat, my heat, it is even)”. It is a funny joke to greet a person in the morning this day.
At night, in the past, people played 쥐불놀이(Gee-bool-no-ri : set fire on the farm field) in order to burn the field after harvest and chase out rats and also people wished on the first full moon(달맞이).
In modern days, many Koreans don’t celebrate as much as old Koreans, but we still make food and wish on the moon. Did you wish on the full moon? What was your wish?
새해 복 많이 받으세요! Happy New Year!
For Koreans, Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday of the year. For Lunar New Year, we take three days off to see family and relatives. The holiday begins a day before Seollal(설날 New Year’s Day) and ends a day after New Year’s Day. A day before New Year’s Day, we go to our oldest uncle’s house(father side) where usually is held a ceremonial event. On this day, we make tons of food for the ceremony like Namool(vegetable side dishes), Mandoo(dumplings), Dduckguk(rice cake soup) and many more. All of this food is served on a big table in early morning of New Year’s Day for a traditional ceremony.
This ceremony is for our ancestors. In early morning on New Year’s Day, we write our ancestors names on a piece of paper and put it on the table as well as the food. And we bow to our ancestors to appreciate what they did for us. After the ceremony, we can have the delicious food for breakfast!!!!!!
Dduckguk is the most important food on New Year’s Day. Dduck(떡) is rice paste and guk(국) is soup. The rice paste for Dduckguk originally looks like a long tube, and we call it Gah-rae Dduck(가래떡). We slice 가래떡 into thin pieces to make the soup. Because 가래떡 is long and white, Dduckguk(떡국) represents longevity and pureness. Thus, we say that we get one year older after eating one bowl of Dduckguk for breakfast on New Year’s Day. (I wanted to stop eating Dduckguk after I turned 20. Haha!)
After the big breakfast, children give their parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents New Year’s bow(Sebe세배). When we give older generation Sebe, we say 새해 복 많이 받으세요! (Hope you have a lot of luck on new year). And older generation give them hopeful wishes and pretty silk pockets (Bok Joomoney 복주머니). As you can guess, there is money inside of the Bok Joomoney. We call this money as Sebetdon(세뱃돈). When I was a kid, I gave all of this money to my mom because my mom said that she will keep the money for my future. I haven’t seen that money since then, but I guess it is already in my stomach as food. 🙂
In the afternoon, we play Yootnori(윷놀이) which is a traditional game with four wooden sticks. It is very simple, and all of the family can play together, so I really liked it when I was a kid. For lunch, we put all the vegetable side dishes in a big bowl together with Gochujang(고추장), make Bibimbop(비빔밥). I really miss my aunts Bibimbop!!! There are always some special programs on TV for New Year’s Day like Ssirum(씨름, Korean wrestling) or new movies. We only had one TV at our uncle’s house, and we didn’t have the Internet, so I REALLY didn’t like Ssirum(씨름) because that was my dad’s and uncles’ favorite TV program. 🙂
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = “funkorean4u08-20”; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = “manual”; amzn_assoc_ad_type = “smart”; amzn_assoc_marketplace = “amazon”; amzn_assoc_region = “US”; amzn_assoc_design = “enhanced_links”; amzn_assoc_asins = “B01I5HJSG6”; amzn_assoc_placement = “adunit”; amzn_assoc_linkid = “a504dd24d6de3f1b9a647efc6ff20fa9”;After lunch, we usually go to my mom’s side of family. Very fortunately, my parents’ families live close enough, we could do this in one day. And on New Year’s Day, Seoul became a ghost city because a lot of people go to their hometown a day before. We do the same thing with my mom’s side of family, but my mom’s side of family loves singing, so we always have singing contest after dinner.
A day after New Year’s Day, my family usually took a hike on a mountain near my house, or I went shopping with my siblings and friends while everyone else rush back to their house from their hometown. The highway has huge traffic, so my family usually didn’t drive anywhere else a day after New Year’s Day. From Busan to Seoul, it usually takes 4 or 5 hours on a car, but on this day, it sometimes takes 15 hours!!!!
I don’t live in Korea anymore, so I really miss these memories. I am a terrible cook, but this year I made Dduckguk and egg battered fish for myself. I hope we all healthy and happy, Happy New Year to everyone!
새해 복 많이 받으세요!
Space rules
Do you know that you have to leave a space when you write Korean? Spaces are very important in Korean because it can cause misunderstanding if there are no spaces. For example,
아버지가방에들어가세요.
This sentence can be “아버지 가방에 들어가세요.” or “아버지가 방에 들어가세요.” depending on where we leave a space. The first sentence means “Father, please go into the bag(가방).” and the second sentence means “Father is entering a room.(방)”
Then when should we leave a space? It is very simple. It is usually between words and after particles. For example,
오늘 아침에 언니하고 공부했어요.
오늘 today + space
아침 morning + 에(place particle) + space
언니 older sister + 하고(with particle) + space
공부했어요. studied
Let’s practice another sentence.
주말에 친구 집에서 점심을 먹어요.
주말 weekend + 에 (time particle) + space
친구 friends + space
집 house + 에서 (place particle) + space
점심 lunch + 을 (object particle) + space
먹어요. eat
One thing you should remember is there is NO SPACE BEFORE A PARTICLE. Particles are always attached to a noun.
Isn’t it easy?
Can you leave spaces on these sentences below? Please write your answer on reply to this post.
- 어제아침에친구를만났어요. (I met my friend yesterday morning)
- 내일언제학교에가요?(When are you going to school tomorrow? )
- 오늘저녁에우리집에오세요.(Please come to my house this evening.)
- 지난주말에백화점에서옷을샀어요. (I bought clothes at a department store last weekend.)
Mis-spelled/mis-pronunced by Koreans
전화할께(x) -> 전화할게(o) : Actually (으)ㄹ게’s pronunciation is 을께, but the writing is still 을게.
내 꺼야(X) -> 내 거야(ㅇ) : 거 is often pronounced as ‘꺼’ as in ‘(으)ㄹ 거 [을 꺼]’ or ‘noun 거 [noun 꺼]’, but the writing is still 거.
되요(x) -> 돼요 (o) : A lot of Korean can’t recognize the difference between ‘ㅚ’ and ‘ㅙ’, so they often mis-spell these. The infinitive form for ‘to become’ is ‘되다’, so when we conjugate with 아/어/해, it should become ‘돼(되+어)’ like 되 + 어요/었어요 should be written 돼요 and 됐어요. However when 되다 conjugate with (으) or consonants, it remains as 되. For example, 될게요(되+(으)ㄹ게요), 될 수 있어요(되+(으)ㄹ 수 어요), 되면 (되+(으)면), 되고, 되지 되게…
뵈요(X)-> 봬요 (O): This is also the same as 돼요. The writing is 봬요, 뵀어요, 봬서… and 뵐게요, 뵐 거예요, 뵈면, 뵙고, 뵙지, 뵙게 (뵈다 is changed into 뵙 when it is in front of consonant endings like 고, 지, 게)
않 돼요(x) -> 안 돼요(o) : 안 is an adverb, it locates in front of verbs and adjectives to negate verbs and adjectives. 않 is in –지 않아요, which is a long negation.
잠궈요. (X) -> 잠가요 (O) : The infinitive form for ‘to lock’ is ‘잠그다’, but a lot of Koreans read this as ‘잠구다’. Therefore they mis-conjugate 잠구+어요, but the accurate one is 잠그+아/어요(으 irregular) => 잠가요.
사겨요 (X) -> 사귀어요.(O) : The infinitive form for ‘to make friend’ is ‘사귀다’, many Koreans read this as ‘사기다’. Therefore they mis-conjugate ‘사기+어요=> 사겨요(X)’, but the correct one is ‘사귀+어요 => 사귀어요”.
Let me know if you hear or see something that Koreans mis-spell or mis-pronounce!
#사겨요 #잠궈요 #담궈요 #돼요vs되요 #봬요vs뵈요 #봴게요 #뵈요 #되요 #않다 #않 #을께 #꺼
(으)ㄴ/는 척하다 pretend to
verb+는 척하다(present)
verb+(으)ㄴ 척하다(past)
adj+(으)ㄴ 척하다
-(으)ㄴ/는 척하다 is attached to a verb, it means ‘to pretend” or “act like(fake)”. Sometimes we say 는 체하다 instead of 척하다. For example,
자는 척하지 마. Don’t act like you are sleeping.
너 괜히 아픈 척하는 거지? You are pretending to be sick, right?
다 알면서 모르는 척하고 있어요. (she/he) is pretending not to know, even though (she/he) knows everything.
먹었으면서 안 먹은 척하고 있네. You are acting like you didn’t eat even though you ate.
나 안 좋아하면서 그 동안 좋아하는 척한 거였어? Did you pretend to like me even though you didn’t like me?
곰을 만났을 때 죽은 척하고 있으면 안 돼요. You shouldn’t pretend to be dead when you see a bear.
As you can see, (으)ㄴ 척하다 often comes with (으)면서 because (으)면서 means ‘have two opposite actions/situations at the same time”. If you want to learn more about (으)면서, please click here.
#체하다 #척하다 #는척하다 #는체하다 #는척 #척 #는체 #척하지마
How to read phone numbers?
Reading phone numbers in Korean
To read phone numbers, we need to know Sino Korean numbers, which is 일, 이, 삼, 사, 오, 육, 칠, 팔, 구, 십… (Click here to learn Sino Korean numbers), but we need one more number which is 0. 0 in Korean is either 공 or 영. We use 공 for more than 영 because 공 is easy to pronounce.
Then how to ask someone’s phone number?
전화 번호가 몇 번이에요? What is your phone number?
핸드폰 번호가 몇 번이에요? What is your cell phone number?
Phone number in Korean is 전화 번호 and Cell phone number in Korean is 핸드폰 번호(or 휴대전화 번호). I know! 핸드폰 is literally 핸드(Hand) + 폰(phone), it is Konglish. 🙂 It is funny, right?
Korean cell phone numbers mostly start with 010, let’s read them together.
010-4435-0976 공일공, 사사삼오, 공구칠육.
We read ‘-‘ as 에, so you can read it 공일공에 사사삼오에 공구칠육. When you answer for someone’s question, you have to say it as a full sentence. For example, 010-4435-0976이에요. Adding ‘-이에요’ or ‘-예요’, it depends on a final consonant for the last number. I bet you already know this.
Now you can ask phone numbers in Korean!
Practice>
010-2654-7896
018-3236-4568
010-3214-4785
010-7412-2580
010-6548-3571
010-4563-7524
02-996-7896
Phone numbers in Korea
- 119 : emergency phone number
- 82 is Korean country code.
- 02 is Seoul code.
- When you make a phone call from abroad, you will dial 82-10 instead of 010 for cell phones, or 82-2 instead of 02 if you dial to a Seoul phone number.
If you want to learn Native Korean Numbers, please click here.
[reading] 흥부와 놀부 -2 Heungbu and Nolbu -2
<이전 이야기 읽기 Click here to read previous story>
어느 날, 흥부는 집 밖에 있는 나무에서 새 소리를 들었어요. 흥부가 보니까 큰 뱀이 새를 잡아 먹으려고 하고 있었어요. 그래서 흥부는 빗자루로 뱀을 때려서 쫓았어요. 그때 새 한 마리가 둥지에서 떨어져 다리를 크게 다쳤어요. 흥부는 새 다리를 치료해 주고 새를 돌봐 주었어요.
겨울이 되었어요. 새는 잘 커서 따뜻한 남쪽으로 날아갔어요.
다음 해 봄이 되었어요. 날씨가 아주 좋은 어느 날, 그 새가 다시 집에 찾아왔어요. 새는 씨 하나를 흥부에게 주었어요. 흥부와 흥부 가족은 씨를 심었어요. 씨는 아주 빨리 자라서 큰 호박이 되었어요. 흥부 가족은 큰 호박으로 음식을 만들기로 했어요. 흥부와 흥부의 아내는 호박을 자르기 시작했어요.
그런데 호박에서 쌀이 아주 많이 나왔어요. 다음 호박에서는 돈이 많이 나왔어요. 다음 호박에서는 큰 집이 나왔어요. 흥부 가족은 이제 부자가 되었어요!
<새 단어 New words>
소리: sound
듣다 in 들었어요: to listen, hear (Click here to learn more about ㄷ irregular)
A-(으)니까: found out something after doing A (Click here to learn more)
뱀: snake
잡아 먹다: to catch (to eat)
-(으)려고 하다: is going to, is about to (Click here to learn more)
-고 있다: action in progress, -ing (Click here to learn more)
빗자루: broom
때리다: to beat, hit
쫓다: to kick someone out
둥지: bird’s nest
떨어지다: to fall down
다치다: to get injured
크게 다치다: to get injured badly
치료하다: to cure, care, give some medical treatment
돌보다: to take care
–아 주다: to do for someone (Click here to learn more)
따뜻하다: to be warm
–(으)ㄴ: noun modifier for adjective (Click here to learn more)
남쪽: south
날아가다: to fly away
찾아오다: to visit to see someone
씨: seed
씨를 심다: to plant seeds
자라다: to grow
호박: pumpkin, squash
-기로 하다: to plan to do, to decide to do (Click here to learn more)
자르다: to cut
-기 시작하다: to begin to do
쌀: rice
돈: money
나오다: to come out
부자: rich person
-이/가 되다: to become
[reading] 흥부와 놀부-1 Heungbu and Nolbu-1
옛날 옛날에 놀부와 흥부가 살았어요. 놀부와 흥부는 형제였어요. 놀부가 형이고 흥부가 동생이에요. 어느 날, 놀부와 흥부의 아버지가 돌아가셨어요. 놀부는 아버지의 집과 돈을 모두 가지고 싶었어요. 그래서 놀부는 흥부의 가족을 모두 밖으로 쫓았어요.
흥부: “형님, 지금은 겨울이에요. 날씨가 너무 추워요.”
놀부; “나하고 상관없어!”
흥부 가족은 작은 집을 찾았어요. 집은 정말 추웠어요. 하지만 흥부 가족들은 행복했어요. 그런데 흥부는 돈이 없어서 쌀을 살 수 없었어요. 흥부 가족은 매일 배가 고팠어요. 그래서 흥부는 놀부를 찾아갔어요.
흥부: “형님, 쌀을 좀 빌려 주세요.”
놀부: “우리도 쌀이 없어”
그때 흥부는 부엌에서 밥 냄새를 맡았어요. 흥부는 부엌으로 갔어요. 놀부의 아내가 밥을 하고 있었어요.
흥부: “형수님, 밥 좀 주세요.”
놀부의 아내: “밥 없어요. 가세요”
놀부의 아내는 주걱으로 흥부의 왼쪽 얼굴을 때렸어요. 흥부의 얼굴에 밥이 조금 붙었어요. 흥부는 너무 기뻤어요.
흥부: “감사합니다. 오른쪽도 때려 주세요.”
흥부는 얼굴에 붙은 밥을 가지고 집에 갔어요.
<New words>
옛날 옛날에: once upon a time
놀부: Nolbu
흥부: Heungbu
형제: sibling (brothers)
어느 날: one day
돌아가시다: to pass away (honorific)
밖으로 쫓다: to kick someone out
-하고 상관없다: to be not related to
-어서 in 돈이 없어서: because—so—-(click here to learn more)
-(으)ㄹ 수 없다 in 살 수 없었어요: cannot (click here to learn more)
배가 고프다: to be hungry
찾아가다: to go to meet someone
빌리다: to lend/ borrow
-아/어 주세요: do something for someone(Click here to learn more)
냄새를 맡다: to smell
부엌: kitchen
아내: wife
밥을 하다: to cook rice/meal
형수님: a name for one’s sister-in-law of a man
주걱: rice paddle
때리다: to hit, beat
붙다: to stick
-(으)ㄴ in 붙은: a noun modifier(click here to learn more)
Feel free to reply if you have any questions!
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