Learn Korean Online - Simple Explanations in PLAIN English

So in class today we learnt the Chinese derivative counting system (일, 이, 삼, 사…), and in one little bonus section we applied those numbers to phone numbers, more specifically, asking and answering “What’s your phone number?” (“전화 번호 뭐예요?”).

So Mark’s question was, does the first part, “전화 번호” refer to a cell phone or a landline? And the answer is neither. In the video just below I explain what I mean in more detail, and how to specify “cell phone” or “landline” if you wanted to. Check it out…

Some notes from the video:

Cell phone 1: 핸드폰 (used way more conversationally, and is just simply AWESOME Konglish!! Hand-phone. It’s brilliant. I feel like inspector gadget when I say that and signal with my hand, “Excuse me while I take this call…go-go gadget hand-phone.”

Cell phone 2: 휴대폰 (is a bit more official, and basically just translates literally to portable phone. My advice, don’t use it. Use 핸드폰. Way more common. Way more fun.)

to call: 전화하다

Cheers Mark, I hope that helps…

P.S. For anyone new to Korean (and can’t read the above Korean words) and would like to perhaps learn some Korean online, you can get over 70 minutes worth of free videos (and the accompanying hand-out) teaching exactly how to read, write, and say the Korean alphabet. Just look underneath the big red “FREE” sign on the right there for more details about the videos and instructions on how to get to them. Cheers!

Hi,

Class#9 is a bit of a heavy one in terms of content, so if you have any lingering questions, just reply to this and ask.

Cheers!

Rob…

P.S. Just a reminder that we’re about 4 classes from really getting into the ‘nuts and bolts’ of Korean – the skills you’ll need to possess to really become conversational in Korean. I’m lookin’ forward to it. Hope you are, too!

This is a fantastic question and when you start to get this skill, it’ll really take you a step further in manipulating and using Korean.

So here you go. Hope this helps.

If you have any more questions on this or anything, let me know.

Cheers owbEe,

Rob…

Hey everyone!

Nice work, we’re almost half-way done the first level!

So same process as the other classes, just reply to this post and leave your question and I’ll try to get it answered as quick as possible.

Cheers!

Rob..

P.S. For those of you new to Korean and new to www.learnkoreanonline.net, keep your eyes peeled for the launch of “hands-down the best free gift any absolute or stuggling beginner Korean-learner can get!”  It’s currently in production and will hopefully be released in the next 2-3 weeks.

The question from Richter was…

“Hey Mr, Julien. How do I conjugate sentence that has two verbs in them? THere is a lot of them, but let’s start with the easy ones, i want to and i like to.”

And the answer is…

Again, this one was a bit above and beyond, but it’s REALLY useful grammar in Korean. So if there’s something that you want cleared up, go ahead reply to this and I’ll try to set you straight.

Cheers,

Rob…

P.S. New to Korean? Leave your name and email above to get my tips on learning Korean while avoiding all the headaches and frustration that so many encounter.

Hey,

This is the page where you can ask questions or read/listen to answers about class #3 where we learned about the verb, ‘to be’ – how to conjugate it into different levels of respect and use it as a statement or a question – and used it in our first second Korean sentence asking and answering, “What is it?” –> “It’s a __________.”

Same process as before. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page, reply to this post and ask away.

Remember, only members of www.learnkoreanonline.net are able to ask questions. If you’re not a member but would maybe like to be, click here (not yet clickable) to find out how you can test out the first 3 classes totally FREE – no obligation whatsoever.

Otherwise, cheers and I’ll see you soon in a video answering your question,

Rob…

P.S.  If you’re just starting your Korean-learning journey, I – and others – highly recommend you check out the box above for how to get your hands on “hands-down the best FREE gift any struggling beginner Korean-learner could hope for” – if there are still any left.  Cheers!

Teaching both English and Korean here for six years (well, Korean for only 3), there are definitely some things that need to change.

Now granted, this will be written from the perspective of a person with a fairly run of the mill North American (Canadian) accent – basically, I’m not from either coast, super south or super north.

On the issue of the system making it easier for foreigners to speak Korean more like a native, there are a few things that need to change…

1a) Writing Korean words phonetically in English, there is often no distinction between the ‘long u’ sound as in ‘blue’ or in Korean, 중, and the ‘short u’ sound as in ‘hung’ or in Korean, 정. Often, the Korean examples I just gave are both spelt ‘Jung’ when romanized. Well, as a native English person reading that, I definitely read that as the ‘short u’ sound, sounding like ‘정’ – so if I couldn’t speak or read Korean I would easily make a mistake with the pronunciation of that.

My suggestion: Add something new. For the ‘long u’ sound, write the same ‘u’, but put a dot over top so that we know it’s ‘long’. It would work for the letter ‘o’ as well. Cause how do you differentiate between 동 or 당 (under the current romanization – see part 1b for my suggestion on that). So just put a small dot over the long ‘o’. Or just use ‘oo.’ That works okay, too. In my opinion.

1b) There’s also a huge problem, if the aim is to get foreigners pronouncing Korean words like the native sound, with the romanization of ‘ㅏ’. It is always romanized as ‘a’, for example ‘당’ is written ‘Dang.’ Ha! I always got a good kick out of my Floridian friend when he, and his slight southern drawl (sp??), would say that, knowing that it should sound like ‘dong,’ not, ‘dang.’ Ah, good memories.

My suggestion: the ‘ㅏ’ should be written as an ‘o’. The hugely common family name, 박, should become Pok, or Bok. Way closer to the original sound than the absolute bastardization, ‘Park’ (if the aim is to get foreigners saying Korean words closer to how they’re supposed to sound, that one got fouled straight back). Then the long ‘o’ be written as an ‘o’ with a dot over top.

2) Going the other way this time. The combination ‘~aw’ is horribly translated into Korean. Every time I say words like ‘saw’ or ‘law’ in class, when my students finally figure out what I’m saying, they say “Ohhhh, 쏘우 (for ‘saw’), or “…로우 for law. It’s crazy. For a country that spends as much on learning English as you do, you might want to consider helping your kids out and actually helping their pronunciation rather than completely ruining it.

3) Back to the romanization of Korean names. Lee! I’ve yet to meet a person in Korea with the last name ‘Lee’, but that’s how they all write it, including my wife. I’ve been saying this for years, and this is the first time it’s hitting a public forum, but change the spelling of the hugely common family name, ‘이’, to ‘Ee’. The only rule I know of governing what a word must or must not have, is that it must contain at least one vowel. We even stretch that out to include ‘y’ on occasion. And if ‘Ng’ can get away with having NO vowels in China, then ‘Ee’ having two, must surely be acceptable. And that’s all I’m going to say on that…for now.

Well, that’s been my rant. Korean scholars, if you’d like to call me up and ask some more, well, I don’t have a phone right now, but you can reply to this if you’d like. I know I’d like.

Cheers all,

Rob…

P.S. This rant was in response to the article written in the Korean Times at this link.

Hey Korean Learners!

This category is for any questions that either don’t necessarily fit into any classes, or perhaps you don’t know which class it should go into. So basically it’ll contain a variety of questions and answers on all sorts of topics. After reading a question, if I do think it belongs to a certain class, I’ll move the answer to that class. So if you don’t want to miss anything, subscribe via email on the right there and you’ll know exactly when a new answer comes up.

The process for asking questions is the same as on other pages. Just reply to this post, and ask away.

Cheers, and happy learning!

Rob…

If you’re not yet a member of www.learnkoreanonline.net but would maybe like to be, click here (not yet clickable) to find out how you can get the first four classes for FREE.

Hey,

This is the page where you can ask questions or read/listen to answers about class #2 where we finished learning all the reading and writing rules of the Korean alphabet, and also learned a bit of speaking.

Same process as class one. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page, reply to this post and ask away.

Remember, only members of www.learnkoreanonline.net are able to ask questions. If you’re not a member but would maybe like to be, click here (not yet clickable) to find out how you can test out the first 3 classes totally FREE – no obligation whatsoever.

Otherwise, cheers and I’ll see you soon in a video answering your question,

Rob…