KoreanClass101.com Blog

Last week the 23rd 골든디스크상, the Golden Disk Awards, were held. I'm not entirely sure but apparently the results are calculated by a formula that consists of : 60% music sales, 20% popularity vote and 20% committee evaluation from December 2007 to November 2008. There's a whole lot of politics under the surface though, some labels in the past have boycotted the event, and it's all really just a big mess waiting to happen. But instead of getting into that, we'll just take a look at who won what. There's a few awards you can grab for yourself at the Golden Disk Awards. The biggest is the 대상, it's the holy grail of the night. The next is the 본상 award, and then finally there are YEPP awards for various categories. 동방신기 grabbed themselves the... Show more

Korean sleeping arrangements Let's draw a picture. I prefer pencil and paper. It's a nasty hot summer night. I'm in a one room hotel room with twelve (count them) twelve other people in a room smaller than anything Holiday Inn has to offer. Air conditioning comes in the form of a thick piece of paper attached to a wooden handle. I'm on the central west coast of Korea in a small resort town with a bunch of warm and friendly Koreans aged anywhere from newborn to unmentionable. I've got a single buckwheat shell-filled pillow the size of a large ziplock bag and a tissue-thin blanket to keep me covered. Everyone is occupied with something. The older people are up late playing card games while the younger ones are watching a variety show.... Show more

Hi everyone. Hyunwoo here. I've made a video to introduce some common phrases using the word "갑자기" (gapjagi), meaning "suddenly". I hope this will be of some help! If you can't watch the video here, click on the direct link below. Thank you!

There were quite some interesting comments on my last post, about censorship in the Korean music industry. A few conflicting opinions, but I definitely enjoyed reading each and every comment. Thanks, guys! Today I bring you an MV. I may have mentioned 박효신 before - he's one of my favourites, with a smooth, soulful voice that's perfect for the ballad style he sings. He's actually been pretty quiet in the music scene for quite some time now. There were a few legal issues that I'm not entirely sure about (some problem with the label he's signed to, sueing, court battles, I don't even know what was happening but whatever it was it sucked), and to be honest I was a little worried that all of it would mean an even longer period of silence... Show more

Expatriate bloggers in Korea. No, I'm not talking about people who were once proud defenders of their country but have since disregarded their loyalty (ex-patriots) nor am I talking about former professional athletes for a certain Eastern division NFL team (ex-Pats). No, I'm talking about people who are currently living in a foreign country while still holding allegiance and identity to their home country (expats). There's a large foreign population in Korea. There are approximately one million foreigners living in Korea (an estimated 2% of the total population). Most English speaking foreigners work as English teachers at various levels and positions in and around the Korean education system. Some love it, some don't. See below. ... Show more