Words are Hard

For today's study challenge, I'm using a book that a friend gave to me!

Not only is this book super cute, but it also uses a lot of mimetic words (see examples in the pictures below) to help describe sounds! I love learning all of these little words, so here's a list of words I ran across in just the first chapter!

Mimetic Words

콕콕 = poking

벌떡 = sudden movement (sitting up/turning/etc.)

쌔앵 (쌩) = run quickly/strong wind

으아악 = ahhhhh!

반짝 = twinkling (for small things)

끄으응 = sound of using strength (like 영차/으차)

쏴아 = sound of heavy rain

주르륵 = crying tears/sound of water trickling in a very small stream (like a stream of water down a window, not an actual stream)

킁킁 = sniffing

탁 = sound of something hitting a flat surface (like running on the ground/slapping a table/face palm/etc.)

보글보글 = sound of something boiling/bubbling

쿵쿵 = object falling loudly (a large object; like "thunk")

치이익 = sound of something sizzling/frying in a pan

위이잉 (웡) = sound of a machine working

폴짝 = something small bouncing (like on a trampoline)

헉 = sound of surprise

덜덜 = shivering

스으윽 (슥) = movement (but like a subtle movement)

하아악 = hissing (for cats)

할짝 = licking

화악 = sudden action for intangible things (the light get bright, a person's face lights up/etc.)

덥석 = grabbing something suddenly

Of course, these mimetics are all within the context of my book and are rather hard to nail down perfectly via words, but I think this still gets the general idea across!

If you're like and me and sometimes need to trick yourself into studying vocabulary, I present to you some word games that might help make your vocabulary studies a little more engaging! All of these games can be found on 꼬끼오 (linked here) and meet different learner levels really well, so definitely move between games if you feel something is too easy/too hard. There are also directions in Korean or English for all of the games, too, so try them out with confidence. Without further ado, the games!

1. 단어 퀴즈/Daily Word (Aka: Korean Wordle)

If you've ever played English Wordle, then you already know the drill! Try to guess the daily word before you run out of guesses. Each letter will highlight itself in a different color to give you a hint as to its final location, so it's a great game for beginners and intermediate learners or for advanced learners who just want a fun game!

Bonus: if you really like doing this and wish there were more than just one word a day, you're in luck! There's a practice version of this game where you can just play infinite rounds, so go crazy!

2. 끝말잇기/Word Chain

Taken from the classic Korean word game 끝말잇기, where you have to provide a new word based on the last syllable of the previous word, this game takes it a step further by asking players to successfully link two words together in in only three guesses. I'd recommend this for more advanced learners (or passionate intermediate learners), but depending on the day, there might be some words that an upper beginner could try!

Bonus: enjoy this style of game and want to hone your skills? There's also a practice section for this game, too!

3. 가로세로 퍼즐/Crossword

A weekly crossword that works pretty much the same as it does in English. Recommended for intermediate learners (or beginner learners with a dictionary handy for some of the clues) and those who just enjoy a good crossword.

As a final bonus, in case these games really light the studying fire beneath you, and you find you want some writing or speaking practice with feedback, the site also offers mini-tutoring! You can either use hubs/gems to pay (earned as you successfully complete the daily challenges or the infinite practice games) or real-people money if you need something a little more immediate; it's whatever works best for you! In order to help track your hubs/gems, the site does require an e-mail address, but that's literally it! The rest is free!!

As a small disclosure, I am friends with the developer of this site, so if you have any features or games you might want to see, let me know, and I can pass the word along! Otherwise, come join me!! I'm "Mouse" on the leader board, so you can see me around there! :P

As I'm off of work today, I decided to start my morning on a high note by doing some easy dictation to get my Korean skills warmed-up. I forgot how much I honestly enjoy doing dictation, so it was nice to go back to this skill! For anyone who would also like some dictation practice, I used this link here from the well-known howtostudykorean duo; feel free to look through their playlist to find something that matches your level!

And that's all! Study well, y'all!

(Completed as day 9 of this challenge)

-고 나서

Used to express one action following after another (keeps clarity that the first action is wholly finished before the second action starts); kind of equivalent with "and then"

Can only be used with verbs

*Special note: when both clauses have the same subjects and use a motion verb (listed below), do NOT use -고 나서! Instead, you just use -아/어서

Motion Verbs

-가다 (to go) -올라가다 (to go up)

-오다 (to come) -내려가다 (to go down)

-들어가다 (to enter) -일어나다 (to stand up)

-들어오다 (to exit) -앉다 (to sit)

-나가다 (to leave) -눕다 (to lie down)

-나오다 (to emerge) -만나다 (to meet)

Examples:

일을 하고 나서 쉅니다.

텔레비전을 보고 나서 잡니다.

오늘 버스에서 앉고 나서 왔어요. (X)

오늘 버스에서 앉아서 왔어요. (O)

Practice with me:

If you wanna practice this point, write a little sentence below! If you need a sentence starter, try this: "I eat breakfast and then I ____"

And that's all for today's grammar point (and today's language challenge). Study well, y'all!

Hello hello! As some of you may know, my language exchange partner has recently taken the plunge to offer Korean tutoring. To help ease into it, he's currently offering a free Korean group class! He has two different offerings (levels A1-A2 and level A2+) that you can try out for a four week period. If you're curious as to the content, here are the current offerings!

All materials will be provided, so all you need is yourself! Sign-up for tutoring goes on until January 31st, so take your time to poke around the info and see if it matches your goals!

If you are interested in signing-up, you can fill out an interest link (GoogleForm) here. I've also included a link to his original post here, so you can read any extra details (like class dates/etc.)!

새해 복 많이 받으세요!! ^^

To start off the new year, I wanted to share a small side project that I've been working on: helping my Korean language exchange partner share Korean with more folks! They've obviously been a fabulous language exchange partner for me all these years, so I'm excited to see them branch out to hopefully help new people. So as a little plug, here are some places where you can find Korean content from them:

Website/Tutoring: https://kor.mogang.ac/

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@kiwi-koreaninputwithimages

Instagram*: https://www.instagram.com/kiwi_korean_input/

*Fun fact: I'm helping out with the Instagram content! I'm obviously more comfortable with Tumblr content, but it's been fun learning things for Instagram.

He's got plenty of free content to look through and is also offering tutoring (highly recommend if you're nervous about speaking! I literally choked up with nerves so badly the first time I spoke Korean to him, and he was super patient about it!), so if any of those sound up your alley or align with your New Year's Resolutions, check out his materials!

Regardless of whether his materials work for you or not, I hope that everyone gets off to a good start with their Korean goals this year! 여러분, 공부 화이팅 하세요~!!

'Tis the season, so here are some winter and Christmas vocab words to help get you in the spirit!

Winter Vocab

눈 = snow

눈송이 = snowflake

눈사람 = snowman

눈뭉치 = snowball

눈싸움 = snowball fight

핫초코 = hot chocolate

목도리 = scarf

귀도리 = earmuffs

스케이트를 타다 = to ice skate

떨다 = to shiver

Christmas Vocab

선물 = present

북극 = North Pole

요정 = elf

순록 = reindeer

썰매 = sleigh

겨우살이 = mistletoe

크리스마스 양말 = Christmas stocking

(크리스마스) 트리 장식 = Christmas ornament

크리스마스 리스 = Christmas wreath

As you can tell, a lot of these words are loan words, which makes sense as Christmas isn't really as big of a holiday in Korea. Regardless, hope the words help bring some holiday cheer your way!

작년 = last year

교사 = teacher

고사 = exam

이웃 = neighbor

관광지 = tourist attractions

양날의 검 = double edged sword

And that's all for today's challenge. Study well, y'all! :)

평일에 저는 오전 6시쯤 일어나요. 매일 아침 식사를 먹어요! 안 먹으면 너~무 배고 파요. ㅋㅋ 월래 계란을 먹는데 요즘 무생채 비빔밥 먹어요! 너무 맛있어요!!

7:15-7:30에 저는 버스를 타고 학교에 가요. 학교에 올 때 저는 수업을 준비 돼요. 8:30에 가르치기를 시작해요! 12:30까지 수업을 가르치고 점심을 먹어요. 1:30에 다시 가르쳐요. 오후 4:30에 퇴근하고 집에 가요! 5:30이나 6시쯤 저녁을 먹어요. 저녁 후에 설거지하고 집안일을 해요. 가끔 언어교환 하거나 가족이랑 전화해요. 저녁을 샤워를 하고 유트브 보거나 책을 읽어요. 오후 11시에 잠을 자요! ^^ 끝~!

While I was having my students practice this skill in class, I realized that describing a picture would actually be a really good skill for me to start practicing, too! I know that these kinds of photos are always goofy, but they really do make good material to practice with! So if you're looking for a way to make yourself do some writing (or speaking!) practice today, describe the picture below!

가족은 바다에 있어요. 사람 육 명이 있어요. 딸 한 명하고 아들은 테니스 같은 게임을 같이 놀고 있어요. 엄머니, 아버지, 다른 딸이랑 모래성을 만글고 있어요. 왼쪽에 큰 파란색 우산이 있어요.

Short and sweet, but it still counts! (And I realized how much vocab I used to know and have now forgotten!)