KoreanClass101.com Blog

When my wife and I first had children (child actually since you have to start somewhere) we decided to try to raise her by speaking Korean to her at home. This worked for a while, her first spoken words were in Korean (although I can't remember exactly what they were -shame-). She probably said 마마, I'll have to look this up in her baby book now... Some of her first sentences were in Korean as well. I think that my parents were frustrated and amused at her bilingualness. Once her socialization expanded beyond our immediate family her Korean language use decreased to the point that after beginning school she hardly spoke it at all. Now, as a teenager, she is trying to regain her Korean ability. With our younger two children we have... Show more

These children have precious few possessions. Most of what they have is shared. They wear whatever fits, and often it fits several kids. Seems like an unfortunate way to live. But the alternative isn't really any better is it? Simply having lots of stuff doesn't bring happiness or stability to your life either. But it is a real honor to bless the kids with something even if it's just a new pair of awesome Spiderman shoes.  Giving the presents was a real treat.  It was a lot of fun, as you saw in the video from last week's post.  The children were overjoyed, and surprisingly grateful.  They usually don't have the best of manners, so it was refreshing to see them say thank you! 

Walking around in Korea, among many other interesting shop names, you will see a lot of names that have the letter "존" in it. But even if you look up the dictionary, you wouldn't find just the right meaning for what you see in some of the store or product names, other than the meaning of 'respect' or 'existence', and of course they're not what 존 means in most sign boards. Look at the name of this PC Bang. It says 존앤존 PC방 and in English it's written Zone&Zone. But what does Zone&Zone mean and where does it come from? And look at the beverage below. What does 모메존 mean? What does 모메 mean and what's the meaning of 존 here? Of course you can't find any of those words in the dictionary because this name is also a word... Show more

안녕하세요! I'm Taliana, and a new member of this blogging team. Every Tuesday, I'll be bringing you entries about the Korean music scene. Music in general has always been a big passion of mine. I am almost always listening to music - while I'm travelling, while I'm studying, while I'm sleeping, while I'm just doing my usual daily things, while I'm reading... all the time! I'd even go as far as to say that I'm addicted to music since if I don't listen to any for a few days, I get really restless and aggravated. For several years now I've been interested in Asian music. Like most people I know, my interest started off with Japanese music, but over the past couple of years my interest has changed to Korean music. In fact, it's almost all I... Show more

This past summer we hosted the 여도초등학교 traditional Korean orchestra. The students ages ranged from 8 to 12 years (3rd through 7th grade). The 여도 elementary school is a private school funded by multiple chemical companies in the 여천공단. The orchestra came to the United States to promote the World Ocean Expo 2012 bid. (Congratulations to 여수시 for winning the bid!) For the two weeks that the students spent here we had two boys, two girls, and the school principle and his wife stay at our house. We arranged for the remaining 40 students to stay with various families in the area. Finding host families was not easy in this small community but everyone that hosted these children had a very memorable if not experience. The children had a total of... Show more