Is there a quick, easy way to learn Korean?

In the Korea Times article, "School Offers Quick, Easy Way to Learn Korean," the reporter introduces a new school for non-native Korean language students that uses the total-immersion concept by offering on-campus dormitories and seven hours of instruction a day. The school is located in the facilities of the Academy of Korean Studies in Bundang, just south of Seoul.

The program seems to focus on beginning learners since there are only three 4-week course levels offered. The school claims to be able to teach in only four weeks what is taught in other 10-week programs (probably referring to the Yonsei Korean Language Institute regular program) .

The price seems good since it costs only 1 million won for one month's lodging and 180 hours of instruction. Food is not included.

The program sounds interesting, and if I were just beginning my study of the Korean language, I would probably go for it, especially if I were coming to Korea for the first time and had no place to stay. One thing that may not be attractive to some is that the Academy of Korean Studies is pretty much out in the boonies, at least it was the boonies when I was working there part-time in 1982. As for me, I consider that a good thing since it would help me focus on my studies. After you finish the three levels at the school, then you should have enough Korean to come out and face the real Korea. However, do not be fooled by the title of the article. There is no such thing as a "quick, easy way to learn Korean."

Here is a link to the Web site mentioned in the article:

The Korean Language-Culture School (한국어문화교육원)

Who is 이상?

이상 is one of Korea's most famous authors. I only remember reading two things written by him, 날개 and 황소와 도깨비. I did not care much for "날개," but I liked "황소와 도깨비." Maybe the reason I liked "황소와 도깨비" was that it is a children's story, which is fun and fairly easy to understand. Since 이상 is such a famous author, I may try to read more of his stuff later, when I find the time. As for 금오신화, by 김시습, I may have to wait a few more years before I try to tackle that one.

Update: The links do not seem to be working now. If the links do not work, go to the site's "Title Index" page and choose from the links there. Just look for the titles listed below. Maybe the site is designed to force people to go through its own menu to reach the pages?

Works by 이상

12월 12일, Epigram, 공포의 기록, 권태, 김유정, 날개, 단발, 동해, 병상 이후, 봉별기, 실락원, 실화, 약수, 종생기, 지도의 암실, 지주회시, 지팽이 역사, 환시기, 황소와 도깨비, 휴업과 사정

Work by 심훈

그날이 오면

Work by 나혜석

경희, 규원, 회생한 손녀에게

Work by 김시습

금오신화

What is "Korean Lab"?

"Korean Lab" is a great, great, great Web site that provides Korean Language (국어) textbook content for Korean students in the first grade of elementary school through high school. Of course, non-native Korean language learners can use the site, as well.

I have added Korean Lab to my "Links" section, so just click on the link to go to the site and then choose either 초등학교 (Elementary School), 중학교 (Middle School), or 고등학교 (High School) from the menu. Next, choose the textbook for the Year and Semester you want to begin with. After that, choose the story you want to read. The first and second grade textbooks have audio that reads the stories for you. When you finish a page, click 다음페이지 to move to the "next page" of the story. It is a great resource.

I think I will start with grade one in elementary school and work my way up.

No 몸나다 in my Kor-Kor dictionary?

Today, I came across the expression "뭄둘 바 모르고," which I had never seen before. I suspected it might be a misspelling of "몸둘 바 모르고," so I looked it up in my computer-based dictionary. As I suspected, there was no 뭄두다. Then I looked up 몸두다 and found it in my Korean-English dictionary, but then I noticed that there was no Korean-Korean definition for the word. By the way, 몸둘 바를 모르다 means "do not know what to do with oneself," which seems like a useful expression.

Curious about why 몸두다 would be in my Korean-English dictionary but not my Korean-Korean dictionary, I checked the Yahoo! Online Dictionary to see if was there. It was not in Yahoo!'s Korean-Korean dictionary, either, but was in its Korean-English dictionary. Then I checked to see if 몸나다, which means "gain weight," would show up in my Korean-Korean dictionary. It was not there, either, though it was in my Korean-English dictionary. After that, I decided to see how how many other pure-Korean verbs use 몸, which means "body," to make a new verb. Here is what I found:

몸가지다: 1) become pregnant; 2) have the menses
몸나다: gain weight
몸달다: fidget; fret; be eager or anxious
몸담다: be employed in; work for
몸두다: stay in; find shelter with; stay with
몸바치다: sacrifice one's life
몸받다: work in place of an elder or superior
몸져눕다: take to one's bed; be ill in bed
몸풀다: 1) give birth; 2) relieve one's fatigue
몸하다: have the menses

The words in red have a Korean-Korean definition, but all the others do not. I am not curious enough to search for the conventions used in my dictionary, but I would guess that the words not defined in my Korean-Korean dictionary are still not completely accepted as standardized forms. I think they were included in the Korean-English dictionary for the benefit of foreign learners. The words, of course, are just a combination of a verb and the noun, 몸, which either acts as the subject or object of the verb, depending on the verb. Koreans have probably come to drop the subject or object marker so frequently that the verb and the noun are now pretty much seen as one word. I think some Korean-Korean dictionaries already recognize 몸두다, 몸나다, and the others as new words, and it is probably just a matter of time when all Korean dictionaries will.

Here are the original structures of these one-word 몸-verbs.

몸을 가지다: 1) become pregnant; 2) have the menses
몸이 나다: gain weight
몸이 달다: fidget; fret; be eager or anxious
몸을 담다: be employed in; work for
몸을 두다: stay in; find shelter with; stay with
몸을 바치다: sacrifice one's life
몸을 받다: work in place of an elder or superior
몸이 져눕다: take to one's bed; be ill in bed
몸을 풀다: 1) give birth; 2) relieve one's fatigue
몸을 하다: have the menses

Uterine Cancer Risk Greater for Women than Men?

Tonight (Oct. 5), KBS Newsline did a report on the increasing number of women smokers in Korea. The report said that female smokers faced a higher risk for certain cancers than male smokers. Specifically, the report stated that female smokers faced 2 times the risk for lung cancer and 3 times the risk for breast cancer, uterine cancer, and heart disease.

I was surprised by those numbers because I had expected the risk for breast and uterine cancer to be more than 3 times higher for women than men.

Here is a transcript of the relevant section of the news report:

담배 독성 물질은 남성보다 상대적으로 지방이 많은 여성의 체내에 훨씬도 잘 흡수합니다. 때문에 흡연 여성들의 폐암 발병률은 남성에 비해 2배 이상 높고 유방암, 심장병, 자궁경부암 등에 걸릴 위험도 3배 이상 높습니다.

By the way, there does seem to be more Korean women than men smoking in the stairwells of the college where I teach. This pisses me off because the building is supposed to be a no smoking building. However, the administration does not seem to take it very seriously. Here is a notice I found posted in one of the stairwells:

담배를 피우지 마세요. 혹시 피우면 바닥에 꽁초를 버리지 말고 침을 뱉지 마세요.

Don't smoke, but if you smoke, don't throw your butts on the floor or spit.

Here is the link to the KBS Newsline report. Choose the October 5 program.

Gerry Bevers 

Anyone know the son of Idesia Polycarpa Maxim?

Anyone know the son of Idesia Polycarpa Maxim? He has a straight back, sturdy legs, and is willing to support almost anyone. People affectionately refer to him as the "son of 의(椅)." If anyone sees him, do not hesitate to approach, take a seat, and relax.

Do we really need 長(장) as a radical?

長(장) is a Chinese character that means "long." It is also one of the 214 radicals in a Chinese dictionary (옥편). Radicals are the character headings that are used to sort the thousands of characters in a Chinese dictionary. Characters under a radical heading use that radical character as part of its composite structure, similar to how words that begin with an "a" would be found under the letter "A" in an English dictionary. A radical character also can be used as part of another character without being the radical for that character, similar to how "a" can be used in words that are not listed under the letter "A" in an English dictionary (e.g. "cat"). The interesting thing about the radical 長(장) is that there are no Chinese characters listed under it, at least not in my Chinese dictionary.

Why are there no characters under the radical 長(장)? Why make it a radical if it does not organize anything, except itself? Why not just put it under another radical, such as 衣(의)? Can't it be made to fit? Were there once characters under 長(장) that just disappeared over time? Also, 長(장) seems like a very nice character, so why does it appear in few other characters? I can find only four functional characters that make use of 長(장), and none of them use it as their radical. Here they are:

帳(장) curtain; screen
張(장) stretch; display; sheet
脹(창) to have a full stomach; to be swollen
漲(창) to fill up

How much is one 경(京)?

One 경(京) is "10 quadrillion," which is a 1 followed by 16 zeros (i.e. 10,000,000,000,000,000).

According to this article in the Joongang Daily, the Bank of Korea has reported that "the sum of all transactions through domestic financial service companies reached '2.7 gyeong won' or 27 quadrillion won ($26 trillion) last year. (I wish I had a 경 or two in Korean won.)

Notice that the Chinese character for 경(京) is the same character that is used to mean "capital."

What comes after 경(京)? Well, here is a list I typed up a couple of weeks ago:

一(일) = one
十(십) = ten
百(백) = hundred
千(천) = thousand
萬(만) = ten thousand
十萬(십만) = hundred thousand
百萬(백만) = million
千萬(천만) = ten million
億(억) = hundred million
十億(십억) = billion
百億(백억) = ten billion
千億(천억) = hundred billion
兆(조) = trillion
十兆(십조) = ten trillion
百兆(백조) = hundred trillion
千兆(천조) = quadrillion
京(경) = ten quadrillion
十京(십경) = hundred quadrillion
百京(백경) = quintillion
千京(천경) = ten quintillion
垓(해) = hundred quintillion
十垓(십해) = sextillion
百垓(백해) = ten sextillion
千垓(천해) = hundred sextillion
--(자) = septillion
十-(십자) = ten septillion
百-(백자) = hundred septillion
千-(천자) = octillion
穰(양) = ten octillion
十穰(십양) = hundred octillion
百穰(백양) = nonillion
千穰(천양) = ten nonillion
溝(구) = hundred nonillion
十溝(십구) = decillion
百溝(백구) = ten decillion
千溝(천구) = hundred decillion
澗(간) = undecillion
十澗(십간) = ten undecillion
百澗(백간) = hundred undecillion
천澗(천간) = duodecillion
正(정) = ten duodecillion
十正(십정) = hundred duodecilion
百正(백정) = tredecillion
千正(천정) = ten tredecillion
載(재) = hundred tredecilion
十載(십재) = quattuordecillion
百載(백재) = ten quattuordecillion
千載(천재) = hundred quattuordecillion
極(극) = quindecillion
十極(십극) = ten quindecillion
百極(백극) = hundred quindecillion
千極(천극) = sexdecillion

What does 간만(干滿) really mean?

간만(干滿) means the "ebb and flow" of the tide. 간조(干潮) is "low tide," and 만조(滿潮) is "high tide." 간(干) and 만(滿) are supposed to be opposites, but they did not seem like opposites to me, so I looked up their definitions.

간(干) means "shield," but it also has a few other meanings, including "attack," "pursue," "participate," and "dry." Among these meanings, "dry" seems to be the only one that comes closest to being the opposite of 만(滿), which means "full" or "abundant." "Dry" and "full" do not really seem like good opposites to me, but if you are talking about water, which is implied by the "water" radical, 氵(수), in 만(滿), then maybe they could be considered opposites. Nevertheless, I still do not like it.

So, a literal translation of 간조(干潮) and 만조(滿潮) would be "dry tide" and "full tide," respectively.

By the way, if you add "water" to "dry," what do you get? Well, the Chinese think you get "sweat," 汗(한). The logic? You charge in and penetrate the skin with your "shield" (干) and "water"(氵) comes out. Inscrutable? Yes, I think so, too.

What exactly was "adultery" in old China?

Considering that 男(남) means "man" and 女(여) means "woman," which of the following Chinese characters would you choose to mean "rape" or "adultery"?

1. 嬲(뇨)
   -
2. 姦(간)

Me, too, but, surprisingly the Chinese chose Number 2. The first character means "flirting with or teasing a woman."

肛(항)? Where is the hole in "asshole"?

肛(항) is the Chinese character for "anus," as in 肛門(항문). The character is composed of 月(육), which means "meat," and 工(공), which means "artisan" or "craftsman." This combination struck me as strange, so I decided to do a little research.

I knew that 月(육) is often used in characters that refer to parts of the body, but I could not see the relationship between a "craftsman" and an "anus." Yes, I once knew a carpenter who was an "asshole," but I do not think the Chinese would generalize like that.

The Chinese character 孔(공) means "hole," so why was it not used instead of 工(공)? I felt that even 空(공), which means "empty," would have been more appropriate since one of its other meanings is also "hole." Anyway, I looked up the character 工(공) and was surprised to learn that it used to refer to a tool that bore "holes" in stoneware. Moreover, the explanation I read said that since 工(공) sounds the same as 孔(공) and 空(공), it came to also mean "hole." Well, that explains it.

This character will be easy for me to remember because all I have to do is associate it with that carpenter I used to know.

How long have the Chinese played baseball?

The Chinese character 壘(루) means "fort" or "camp." Notice that it is composed of three fields arranged on top of a mound of "earth." The Chinese character for "field" is 田(전), and the character for "earth" or "land" is 土(토).

Now look carefully at the character:

壘

Doesn't it look a lot like a baseball diamond? The field on top would be second base; the one to the right, first base; the one to the left, third base; and the mound of "earth" at the bottom would be home plate.

Koreans refer to "first base" as 일루(一壘), "second base" as 이루(二壘), "third base" as 삼루(三壘), and "home plate" as 본루(本壘).

Is this just coincidence? Or were the Chinese playing baseball a thousand years before Columbus discovered America? I wonder.

What are the scariest Chinese characters?

One scary Chinese character is 妬(투), which means "intense jealousy." It is composed of the characters 女(여), which means "woman," and 石(석), which means "rock." When I first saw this character, I wondered why the Chinese would use a woman with a rock to represent "intense jealousy," then it hit me. When I think of what a jealous Chinese woman might do with a rock, I cringe.

These days, 妬(투) seems somewhat anachronistic. If the Chinese were to update the character, I think they might replace 石(석) with 刀(도), which, of course, means "knife."

Are Koreans also confused by 호박?

Last night I stopped by the local Paris Baguette to pick up my usual loaf of barley bread (보리빵), but they had run out. The manager suggested I try the 호박검은깨 bread, instead. According to the label on the package, the bread's ingredients included 2 percent pumpkin powder (호박분말) and 2 percent black sesame (흑깨). I bought the bread.

Today, while preparing to make a sandwich with my black sesame pumpkin bread, I noticed on the package the Chinese character 珀(박), which I previously talked about here. As some may remember, 珀(박) means 호박, but it is the "amber" 호박, not the "pumpkin" 호박. Therefore, the "珀"on my bread package seems to imply that the bread is made from "amber powder," not "pumpkin powder," which hopefully is not the case. It seems much more likely that the people at Paris Baguette are also confused by the Chinese character, 珀(박).

What does the 찌 in 물찌똥 mean?

물찌똥 has two meanings. One is "loose stool," and the other is "splashing waterdrops." If you were to drop the 찌 in 물찌똥, you would get 물똥, which still means "splashing water," but no longer means "loose stool." That seems to imply that 찌 has a kind of "shitty" meaning in it, but I cannot find anything in the dictionary.

There is the word 꼴찌, which means "the last" or "the bottom," but I do not see any relationship with the 찌 in 물찌똥, unless you want to focus on the word, "bottom." There is also the word 찌개, which means "pot stew," but I cringe at the thought that that might somehow be related. Then there is the word 찌꺼기, which is kind of interesting since it means "dregs," "remains," "leftovers," or "waste," but even with 찌꺼기, I think I am still grasping for straws. Therefore, I guess I just have to give up on my search for the meaning of 찌.

Just remember that if you want to talk about "a water fight," you should use 물똥싸움, not 물찌똥싸움. However, I do think I remember seeing a 물찌똥싸움 is the movie, "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle."

伍(오)? Why five people?

The Chinese character, 伍(오), means "five people." It is composed of 亻(인) and 五(오). 亻(인) means "person," and 五(오) means "five," so this character is easy to remember. However, why did the Chinese create a special character to mean "five people," as opposed to some other number of people? I was curious, so I looked it up.

The smallest unit in the armies of Old China was five men, and it seems that when the Chinese would march, they would usually march in ranks of five, which was called an 伍(오). Five ranks would be twenty-five men, which the Chinese called a 行(항). The Korean word for "rank and file" is 항오(行伍).

By the way, the character 行 is pronounced as 행, not 항, when it is used to mean "to walk" or "to do."

Can one get drunk on "chicken water"?

The Chinese character for alcohol is 酒(주), which is a combination of 氵(수) and 酉(유). The character 氵(수) means "water," and the character 酉(유) means "chicken." That implies that the Chinese considered alcohol to be "chicken water," which is not something I would want to get drunk on. Anyway, I was curious as to why "chicken water" would be used to refer to alcohol, so I did a little research.

I found that 酉(유) was originally drawn to represent a wine barrel, which my imagination can see. The top part of the character, for example, looks kind of like a cork or some kind of lid. A wine barrel with liquid in it for "alcohol"? I can accept that. However, that now brings up another question.

How does one get "chicken" from a "wine barrel"?

Why 膾(회) and not 鱠(회)?

The Chinese character for "sliced raw meat" is 膾(회), which is made up of the characters 月(육) and 會(회). 月(육) means "meat," and 會(회) means "meeting." The Chinese character for "meat" is 肉(육), but it is usually written as 月 when combined with other characters. Notice that the "meat," 月(육), and the "moon," 月(월), look the same, which can be confusing. However, when you see the 月 character, you can usually assume it means "meat," since the "meat" 月 is combined with other Chinese characters about 9 times more often than the "moon" 月. At any rate, the character for "sliced raw meat" is "a meeting of meat," not "a meeting under the moon."

膾(회) refers to both "sliced raw beef" and "sliced raw fish." If you want to distinguish between the two, you must say 肉膾(육회) for "sliced raw beef" and 生鮮膾(생선회) for "sliced raw fish."

My question is why isn't 鱠(회) used for "sliced raw fish" instead of 膾(회)? 鱠(회) is made up of the character 魚(어), which means fish. Wouldn't that make it a more appropriate composite character for "sliced raw fish"?

When one wants to refer to "sliced raw meat and fish" in general way, than 膾 is fine, but when one wants to distinguish between the two, then one should distinguish between the characters. Use 膾 in 肉膾(육회), but 鱠 should be used in 生鮮膾(생선회), not 膾.

Why does 珀(박) mean "호박"?

These days I have been studying Chinese characters, and today I came across the character 珀(박), which means "호박." The character is a combination of 白(백) and 玉(옥). 白 means "white" and 玉 means "gem" or "precious stone." The combination implies "white gem." That confused me because I assumed "호박" meant "pumpkin," which is not "white" and certainly not a "gem." Therefore, I went to the dictionary to see if I could find an explanation.

I found that there are two meanings for 호박-- one is "pumpkin," and the other is "amber." It turns out that the "pumpkin" 호박 is a pure Korean word, which means it is not made from Chinese characters, but the "amber" 호박(琥珀) is a Sino-Korean word, which means it is made from Chinese characters. When Koreans say, 호박색," they are referring to the color of "amber," not to the color of a "pumpkin."

So today I learned that the Korean word for "amber" is 호박, but there is still something I do not understand. Amber is a brownish yellow color, but the character, 珀, implies that it is "white." What gives?