You just want to learn how to construct a simple sentence right? This is one of the first things I wanted to do after I figured out the basic pronunciation of the Korean alphabet and memorized a few nouns. I didn’t want anything complex. I wanted the equivalent of an English sentence in the simple present or present continuous -something like, “I’m eating lunch.”, “I’m going home.”, or “This is good.”  Here’s the answer. The examples below are grammatically correct, but if you form your own you should know that there are exceptions to this rule (Yes, It’s a language after all). In my opinion, at this stage, it’s not important. You just want to say a sentence all by yourself, and for the Korean to respond with a o네{yes}!

• [SUBJECT] + [OBJECT ] + [VERB/ADJECTIVE].

1. English: I’m going home.
   Korean: [나는] + [집에]+ [가요].
   Literal translation: [I] + [home+to] + [go].
   Transliteration: [na|neun]+[ ji|bae]|[ka|yo].
2. English: This is good.
   Korean: [이거]+ [좋아요].
   Literal translation: [This thing]+[is good].
   Transliteration: [i|geo] +[jo|a|yo].
3. English: I’m eating lunch.
   Korean: [나는]+[ 점심을]+ [먹어요].
   Literal translation: [I]+[lunch]+[eat].
   Transliteration: [na|neun]+[ jeom|sheem|eul]+[meo|geo|yo].

Got an email today from group94, my favorite design group. They just put up a tribute site to Michael Jackson. Nicely done. Like the rest of the world, his music and his moonwalk were a part of life. While I’ll never get the high notes, I still believe I’ll be able to do a decent moonwalk one of these days.  www.eternalmoonwalk.com

Pronouncing Korean is difficult. You will find that differentiating between certain vowel sounds is nearly impossible. I wish it was easy, but it’s not. The biggest pronunciation tip ( for vowels, consonants, phrases, sentences…)  is the following. Listen carefully (and I mean carefully) to the vowels voiced by a native speaker or at the very least, from a recording. Try, in any way you know how, to reproduce the sounds you hear.  This will require you to think about the position of your tongue, the tenseness of the lips, and openness of the mouth. I provide  English words that approximate vowel sounds, but they are truly not the sound you ultimately want to achieve. They are simply starting points. Through many hours of practice you will be able to refine your tones and achieve greater accuracy.

Monophthongs

There are eight basic one tone vowels. In theory, if you learn these, you can form the two tone vowels. In reality it’s almost the case. Get these down though, and you will have the other ones almost figured out.

1. ㅏ - a in ha, ha, ha!
2. ㅓ - aw in law. It’s like when the dentist is in your mouth and s/he has asked you to make an awww sound. Drop your jaw down slightly and throw your tongue back.
3. ㅗ - o  in police.
4. ㅜ - oo  in hoot. Mimic the sound of an owl but don’t push your lips out as much.
5. ㅐ - ai  in bait.
6. ㅔ - e in egg. Or, mimic the sound of an lamb. “Bahhhhh!”.
7. ㅡ - u in put. Smile and  keep the lips somewhat tight. Another way to think of this is to imagine someone punching you in the gut. The resulting sound is a nice approximation.
8. ㅣ-  ee  in feet.

Diphthongs (i)

There are six two tone sounds created by taking monophthong  and placing a “y” sound in front of it.

1. ㅑ - ya in yahoo.
2. ㅕ - yaw in yawn.
3. ㅛ - yo  in yoga.
4. ㅠ - you  in you.
5. ㅒ- ya Yankee.
6. ㅖ- ye in yesterday.

Diphthongs(ii)

There are seven in this group. You might find that, in the beginning they become clumped in the brain as a bunch of “w” sounds. The inability to visually differentiate between characters, I believe, is at the heart of the problem. Using a rote method to get them straight proved to be difficult. A  more effective method for me, was a pictorial system mixed with word associations. Use or modify this to suit your learning style.

1. ㅘ - wa in water. (”w” +  “ㅏ” )
2. ㅟ - wee in wee. More accurately, it is like a French “oui”. Picture:  the “ㅜ”  is the “wee”.
3. ㅚ - whe in whey. “Like dude, there’s no whey with my curds “. Picture: imagine liquid filling the space between the verticals of “ㅗ” and “ㅣ”. The liquid spills out the lower left side and makes everything wet.
4. ㅙ - wai in wait.  (”w” + “ㅐ”)
5. ㅢ - uh-E.  “Uhh, is that letter an E?”. Say “uh” and “E” together quickly. ( “ㅡ” + “ㅣ”)
6. ㅝ - wa in wander, or wo in won.  (”ㅜ” + “ㅓ” or “w” + “ㅓ”)

The Century Gothic typeface wasn’t working for me as a handwriting example for my lessons. I recently found a few alternatives that were perfect. More  can be obtained by going to about.com, but the ones below are the most accurate handwriting typefaces. Download the opentype and truetype versions in one nice little zip package. More awesome typefaces are available for download at www.bvfonts.com.

What kind of kimchi do you want?

This fouth of July weekend I spent with my friend in Gwangju, then followed it with a quiet 4th party in Jeonju.  These photos are from Yangdong market in Gwangju. Here you can buy kimchi, multicolored plastic tubs, all kinds of seafood (octopus, squid, clam, eel), pig parts (ribs, heart, head, or skin), in season vegetables, bright colored bedding, or traditional Korean dresses. We were looking for all of these things and none of these things. In the end, we took home the wonder of the market.