KoreanClass101.com Blog

This picture also happens to have been taken in 신촌, and 신촌 is not only a major entertainment district but also a neighborhood that are surrounded by four universities (연세대학교, 홍익대학교, 이화여자대학교, 서강대학교). And if you go near a univeristy in Korea on a weekend, you can easily see something like this. What do you think it is? Why would somebody do this? Where does it lead to? These *marker* lines are usually used for guiding people from the 지하철역(subway station) or from 캠퍼스 안(inside the school campus) so that they can easily find the right 술집(bar) or 모임 장소(meeting point) for a reunion. :) While it's funny when you think about all the work that has to go into making this long long line (one line is usually 400m ~ 500m long or even... Show more

If hope you can wait another week or so for an orphan story. Since Thursday was Teacher's Day (스승의날) I thought I'd share a little bit about that, since I am currently teaching in a Korean school. 스승 is kind of a fancy word or "teacher" but it means the same thing as "선생님" with some more nuance of "mentor" or "master." Anyway, that's what they use to name the day. Traditionally, it was a holiday and schools were closed, but sometime in the past few years that changed....oh well! Students typically give carnations and a letter to their teachers. I am sort of a novelty at my school, and for a variety of reasons never know what to expect on a day like 스승의날. Since I am not a homeroom teacher, there is virtually zero obligation for... Show more

여러분 안영하세요! I just wanted to write a quick note to say hello, and also to introduce myself and the new blog that I am excited about sharing with you. My name is Emily (username: holdfast). I am 24, I have been studying Korean for just over one year, and I currently live in Nashville, TN, USA (and just for the record, no, I am not a country music fan^^). It is not a very large city, and at first glance I wasn't able to find much Korean learning help, but now it almost seems to find me! The biggest help recently has been my experience teaching english to a little boy named 승진 (and if you haven't seen the picture I posted in the forum, go check it out, he really is the cutest kid I've ever seen). I unashamedly love kpop... Show more

I was walking in 신촌(Shinchon) the other day and saw this big picture on the wall of a 갈비(kalbi) restaurant. I am usually trying to introduce interesting store names and signs but this week, I wanted to share this picture with you. I hope you'll enjoy this nice picture of a traditional market/festival scene of Korea (until about 100 years ago) hung on a very modern building. In the middle of this photo is the picture. In front of this building there's a 관광 버스(tour bus) waiting for its passengers. Reading from the menu that's written on the windows, this place sell 돼지 갈비, 소갈비, 냉면, and etc. :-) all of which I like very much! And if you look more closely at the picture, you can see what kind of clothes "normal" or... Show more

Our exchange student, Michael, goes home this week. We spent this weekend in Yosemite. For an 11 year-old I was surprised at how impressed he was with the sights. The typical response we have gotten from children and adults alike has been something along the lines of, "that is nice and all but we have rocks and trees in Korea too..." We asked him what he enjoyed or found different about his time in the United States and here are some of his thoughts: He was surprised that younger children needed a babysitter, that they couldn't stay at home alone for extended amounts of time. In Korea this is no big deal. He was also surprised that we don't have any 학원 here to speak of whereas in Korea everyone takes some kind of after school... Show more