KoreanClass101.com Blog

My cousin is visiting for a while. I thought it would be interesting to get his thoughts on what it is like to learn English here in the United States. He has only written in Korean but I will post a translation in the comments later.  Enjoy.  내가 여기 미국온지 25일정도 됐다. 처음여기에 올때에는 오면 영어정도는 쉽게 배우고 내뱉을수있다고 생각하고 왔다... 미국하면 흔히 무법자들이 흔하는도시...or  법이지배하는도시라고 생각하고 미국에 왔다. 그런데 영화나 내가 듣고 생각하는 미국과는 다르게 .조용하니 사람살기에는 참좋은 곳이라고 생각하고있다. 지금 내가 있는곳이 도시의 중심가가 아니기때문에 그럴지 모르겠지만. .사람들과 만나고 고모식구들과 생활하면서 많은 영어를듣고 배우고 있는중이다..흔히 한국에서는 미국가면2.3개월이면 듣고 6개월이면 말하고 1년이면 대화가 된다고 하는데 흔히 이건 한국에서 어느정도의 영어실력을 가지고 미국가서 유학을 가서 공부를 하는사람들의 기준이다. 나와 같은 경우는 형편없는 영어실력으로 미국에와서 듣고 배울려고 왔는데 막상 부딪혀보니 한국에서 쓰는 영어와 많은 차이가 있었다. 내가 생각하기에 한국에서 "너 영어 매우 잘한다" 라는 소리를들을 정도에서 여기오면... Show more

Last week I wrote about the Korean experiences I had during my first week here in NYC. It's been another week, and I've had many more experiences that I can share! Here we go.. First, I went to the larger Korea Town area in Flushing Queens last Saturday for a few hours. It was just me and my trusty map (in Korean, no less) and the 7 train.. As soon as I stepped out of the subway station it was like I had gone to Korea instead. All of the signs were in Korean, everyone was speaking Korean; It was much more "Korean" than the area in Manhattan. There were quite a few amazing shops that I found - a few bookstores, The Face Shop (it's the Korean version of The Body Shop, basically), and a little novelty store called Magic Castle. ... Show more

Drinking Water. No, not quality. quantity. There is a serious void in the stomachs of Koreans. That void is water. I drink a boatload of water. Realistically I drink probably three liters of water a day on average. Oh and 3.8 liters to a gallon there, people. Most doctors recommend that at least 2 liters be consumed daily to simply replace the lost fluids by normal functions such as excretion, respiration, and perspiration. But if you consume about 2 liters of water in a day, then you're probably doing fine by most - and probably more than most. Most being Koreans. Koreans straight up do not drink water at meals. It's amazing. I go to fill people's water cups and they haven't even touched it. Mind you that we're eating Korean... Show more

Last week we picked up two Korean children to stay with us for a couple of months. They are brother and sister and so far they are fairly shy with speaking English even though their understanding seems to be pretty good. San Francisco is about three hours from our house so we decided to do a little touring prior on our way home. We went to the Golden Gate bridge where it was a windy 62 degrees and then we stopped off at Stanford University before heading home to a warm 106. My wife's nephew caught a ride here on the same flight last minute so we have a full house. He is in his early twenties and just out of his 군대 service. He is here to (drum roll please) learn English and tour a bit before getting back to real life in Korea. He has... Show more

Well, I've made it safely to New York City! I have been here for less than a week and have only made it to the city 3 times (I live just across the river in NJ) but I have already had some awesome Korean experiences I'd like to share. First, Korea Way. There's a block of Korean shops and restaurants in Manhattan (W 32nd St between 5th and 6th Aves). It is pretty small, and mostly consists of restaruants, but it is undeniably Korean. One minute you're walking towards Times Square from Macy's, then you turn the corner and it's like you've gone to Korea. All the signs are in Korean, most of the people are speaking Korean - It's fairly awe-inspiring. There is one restaurant on Korea Way that I particularly enjoy called 우리 집 (woori... Show more