korean language resources

well.  i'm trying to study korean again.  on my own, for a while, with (hopefully) a return to a less-intense school in spring or summer.  this post by The Korean gave me some inspiration. 


i've updated the links on the left to include more info about korea.  will periodically update as i find other helpful sites.  but, the language section is pretty short.  i don't want to link to a bunch of schools, so here's a post instead about places you can go to study korean, inspired by a friend's recent article on korean-language resources online.


please note that the following is just my opinion, based on my experiences and what i've heard from friends.  and i know i'm missing a ton of places to study.  please add your recommendations!


so.  in no particular order:  Language Schools (Not Free)


1.  sogang university, my korean-language alma mater.  they have a fantastic program, if you want to start to speak really fast.  it moves fast.  it doesn't cover as much grammar or vocabulary as other schools, from what i've heard.  but you can speak well much more quickly than at other schools (again, this is based on what i've heard from other people).  if your learning style doesn't go well with listening and speaking, you might want to try a different school.


2.  yonsei university.  have heard it's a great program.  very difficult.  lots of grammar.  speaking comes later.


3.  konkuk university.  their book looks really good.  (YBM uses their book at the moment.)  don't know anything else about their program.


4.  ganada language institute.   less intensive than the university programs (and less money).  have friends who liked this place a lot.


5.  ybm language institute.   similar to ganada, but larger (and even less money).  have friends who also like it here, possibly due to a recent book change & a good leveling system.  they're now using a university program's book.  


6.  yonsei's online program.    it's not free, but it only takes 6 months to complete, all online.


7.  korean class 101.  another online program.  


if you don't want to pay, in no particular order: Language Schools/Resources (Free)


1.  seoul global center classes.   the global center has a great class.  the boyfriend went to class last year and had a really good time.  they use a university program book and his teachers were university professors.   this link goes to the 2010 spring term announcement info.  for future reference, check out the SGC news section under the communication board.  


2.  sogang online program.  an online tutorial.  registration might be required, i can't remember, but it's free.  it's based on sogang's old books, i think?  but the lessons are still very good, though sometimes a tad cheesy.~^^   


3.  let's speak korean on youtube.  let's speak korean is an arirang tv show to help teach korean to foreigners.  this link just takes you to the season 2 videos, but you can find season 1 & 3 on youtube.  or maybe here at the arirang tv homepage?  hrm.  well, it looks like season 3 is here.


4.  if you are a korean-adoptee, some of the adoptee service organizations offer language resources.  GOAL has a free tutoring program and a language course (not free, but very minimal fee).  also, if you are a korean adoptee, GOAL and INKAS offer language scholarships to the university programs.  


Finally, here's a list of links on GOAL's site.  it's much more extensive than mine.~^^


hope this is helpful!

Emart has Froot Ring (aka fruit loops) + photo op part II

more photos. many, many photos. they're not that great. am learning how to use my camera, bought the canon powershot A540 over christmas. i loved my other powershot, but this one, mehhhh. i might sell it and buy the canon S2 IS instead. we'll see.

random tangent.... i never realized before how good fruit loops smell. they taste okay, but the smell... they smell like childhood mornings, sitting in the kitchen, eating cereal and reading a book.

Emart has fruit loops now. rod bought the last box in the store today. he was really excited. :)

anyhoo. i apologize for crappy photo quality.

more folk village photos.

this photo was pasted in an old horse stall. ~lol~

many, many pots of gochujang, doenjang, and i'm not sure what other kinds of spicy pastes.

another walking bridge.

making a stamped ink picture.

cuteness.

magpie.

acupuncture/herbal remedy room.

there's now an amusement park-like area attached to the folk village. i don't remember it being there 15 years ago, but maybe it was. this cracked me up. of all the strange rides...

there was also a sculpture garden park. this sculpture bugged me for some reason, but i couldn't figure out why. i'm not a huge fan of abstract sculpture, i just don't get it. i didn't get this either...

...but figured out it was the turkey/chicken thing atop the stone that bothered me so. it looks like the penguin-pretending-to-be-a-chicken in Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers. doesn't it? is there some sort of universal cartoonish turkey/chicken/penguin prototype?

sculpture:

penguin:

'k, the eyes and nose are different. just the head shape is similar. hrm...



valentine's day. bought rod some chocolates. this one had my favorite packaging. back:

front:
so romantic. ~snort~


had kun hee, her boyfriend, and her older sister over for dinner a few weekends ago. l to r, older sister, kun hee, hyun-sung

they tried to teach me how to play "go, stop". it's a korean version of poker. once upon a time i had directions written out in english, but i lost them. my card set was a gift from one the the parents on my first trip to korea 15 years ago. (eeeeeeeeee. 15 years ago. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.)

two weekends ago rod and i went hiking. we were just going to walk to see the largest man-made waterfall in asia, but ended up climbing a mountain. we think we climbed youngmasan, but we're not sure. got kind of lost. ^o^

city view.

small part of a whopping big park near the waterfall.

waterfall in the background. er. yeah. waterless waterfall. i guess they don't turn the water on until summer. whoops.

view from above.

farming on the mountain.

on the trail.

less than halfway up.
gym at the halfway point. i guess this is common on korean hiking trails. you'll come to a rest stop, only to find jump ropes, weight machines, stretching machines, etc. they're serious about fitness.

with dog. i was shocked to see so many people hiking with their dogs. not big dogs, either. little lap dogs, legs shaking with effort, walking and panting in every direction.


closer to the top.

around the top.

top. there was a sort of human-sized compass at the very top. many people jumped up to have photos taken, or to just enjoy the view.
the view.

the path down. steep.


up next, photos from my trip to jeju-do for the jeongwol daeboreum fire festival. got to see a whole mountain lit on fire. super cool.

i missed it

nooooooooo! i missed international talk like a pirate day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a little history, here.

bummer. arrrrrrrrrrrrr. shiver me forgetful brain. boo.

random thing~

my new favorite meal is a version of bokumbap, Korean fried rice. it has a fried egg draped over a mound of steamed white rice and drizzled with sriracha. i've ordered this kind of bokumbap before from a couple korean-chinese restaurants. sometimes from chinese restaurants the eggs are scrambled and then cooked into the top of the rice.

you'd think it would be a bit pedestrian. sounds a bit dull, yes? a bit boring? a little simple? a little tasteless?

no! it's heavenly. usually, bokumbap is like chinese fried rice at home, with mixed chopped vegetables and some kind of meat. it's always served steaming hot. i've been told that koreans don't like to order this in a restaurant - it's supposed to be a food you make at home when you don't have time to cook. you can get bokumbap with vegetables, with spam and vegetables, kimchi bokumbap, kimchi cheejuh (cheese) bokumbap, jamji (tuna) bokumbap, etc. i like the plain runny-yolk-steaming-hot-mmmmm egg over plain hothothothothot fresh rice with lots and lots of spicy sriracha.

in fact, i just had this for dinner.

yay.

^o^

weeeeeeeeeeeeekend!!!!!!!!!!

ohohohoh, just had a super fun weekend!!!!!!! friday night, went to hongdae with michelle, kyung mi, rod, noah, and andrew. noah is moving to england for a few months, so he's been trying to hang out with everyone before he leaves. we had a good time on friday, though i think the boys got a little frustrated. michelle & kyung mi & i kept stopping to take pictures. ^o^

saturday night, michelle and i went shopping in hongdae (interesting article here), saw a traditional korean dance show at korea house, went shopping again at dongdaemun, and then ended the night with michelle giving me a makeover. hee!

sunday evening, michelle & i went to see Nanta, did a little wandering around city hall and gwanghwamun, and had dinner in insadong.

i'm tired, but it was worth it. so much fun!

photos ~ friday:

there is a cool part of hongdae filled with abstract, random art pieces. this is a blurry shot of the street with most of the art.


suave.


kyung mi.


michelle.


devil rod.


yo con la cerveza del rod.


photos ~ saturday

a cool subway station that looks like it was blasted out from rock, that was then painted to look fake. strange.


some of the dancers from the Korea House show. we weren't allowed to take photos during the show. rats.


in dongdaemun, a b-boy showcase. i think these were amateurs? still, they were pretty awesome. so young! they looked like there were still in high school. i have lots of video, am looking for a way to share video with y'all. hopefully soon.

random cool lights in dongdaemun.

the cheonggyecheon stream. this used to be a shallow, stinky, polluted stream running through the northern part of seoul. this past year (?) renovations were finally finished, and now it's a beautiful place to walk and get away from the city a little.

Doota, the only store in dongdaemun michelle & i made it too. we spent 2 hours on dinner and 2 hours on shopping ~ and we only looked around on one floor. holy cow! to say dongdaemun is a little overwhelming is the Massive Understatement of the Day. i will definitely go back, though. and take more photos next time.

we spent most of our time on the accessories floor. michelle loves jewelry, and i wanted to buy a wig for halloween if we could find something cheap. i feel sort of weird posting tons of photos of me. er. here's my wig shopping experience. oh, plus michelle's makeover photos. ~lol~ well. i shouldn't laugh. i'm definitely in need of a makeover something.

the wigs.

rick james & cleopatra's love child.

maybe? naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.


orang-ee!!!!!!


strung-out, stressed, old, tired, broke &... yeeps. hell, no.



i couldn't decide, so i picked up two. they were pretty cheap. michelle then proceeded to give me a massive make-over, 'cuz she loves that stuff. she also loves taking pictures, and next went off on a photo shoot. she's really good at making people look good in photos. what do you think? i think they don't really look like me. shows the power of makeup and accessories. although, they make me think i'd best stop being lazy and actually start wearing makeup. sometimes. maybe. ~lol~

anyhoo, these are the two i decided to get.


blue!


long red-brown with bangs, taken with my camera.

with michelle's hat, taken with her camera.




bein' stoopid. (man, i want this hat. michelle's friend knitted it for her. am going to get started on knitting again when i get home, want to make a hat like this. dang.)

oop. late. time for sleep. will post sunday photos next time. i don't have many. they're still on my camera; i didn't upload them onto the ol' laptop yet.

can't wait for the next weekend. ^o^

hope you are all well!

love,

~s