우리 as “my” (also 네 and 저희)

In Korean, 제 (“my”) isn’t used for things you don’t actually posess (such as people and buildings like house/school/bank etc)

When I was a beginner, I learned that spouses, children, pets, and 친구 were exceptions. You could use 제(저의) for those.

When I received tutoring, I learned that this wasn’t completely true. When writing, those are exceptions; however, when speaking, you should still use 우리.

When I was reading “나보다 우리” (“our” over “my”) from “Reading Korean with Culture book 3”, It said the same thing. The author was confused why their friend was saying 우리 남편 instead of 내 남편. (This goes with what I had learned about exceptions existing in writing vs speaking) and the Author also mentioned how 우리 can be added in front of individual names too to show closeness and affection.

This is also how 우리 is explained in the “Learn! Korean with BTS” series. They explain that they say 우리 아미 because 우리 shows affection.

So while you may learn that exceptions exist with 우리, they exist in the written language rather than speaking (at least from what I have been encountering)

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네

-> when you want to refer to someone elses “posession” that would use 우리 rather than 제 when speaking in the first person, you use 네.

애들린네 아빠 Adelyn’s dad

우리 친구네 집 my friend’s house

etc. but in some cases (like 애들린네 아빠), it may be more natural to drop the 네. (I was told 친구 집 and 친구네 집 are both used)

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저희

-> This is the honorific/more polite form of 우리. This is used when you are speaking in more formal situations or to someone way older for example. The usage of 저희 vs 우리 depends on who you are talking TO, not who you are talking about (when it’s being used as “my”)

I think 123learnkorean may have explained it better so here is theirs

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Let me know if you have questions or see any mistakes!

~ Shelbi

What is Bunshinsaba ? TREASURE The Mysterious Class ep 1 notes

남고 is a 남자 고등학교 or “all boy school”

괴담 is a ghost story or an urban legend

“all boy highschool ghost story” is a more literal translation

분신사바 (bunshinsaba) is an incantion (주술) for calling a spirit that came over to Korea from Japan. This incantation is said to have been famous in Daegu first, but this isn’t certain. It is actually unclear of how and when it spread in Korea. According to a Japanese wikipedia article, kokkurisan (콧쿠리상, a Japanese version of the Oujia board where a mixed animal spirit answers questions about the future) came over to Joseon during the Japanese rule (일제시대) becoming 분신사바. To call the ghost forth you chant 분신사바 분신사바 오잇데 구라사이, “please come to us, bunshinsaba”. (info from here).

-> If you watch that part with Japanese captions, it says “こっくりさん” or “kokkurisan” which is what that article is saying it originated from.

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Yedam is listening to “wayo” as his demo (https://youtu.be/k-U9YOXG4Qg)

The word for a “night terror” or “sleep paralysis” in Korean is 가위눌리다 (and 가위 means “scissors” so thats why they talk about “rock beating scissors”)

They are in the 4th class and 사(四) means “four” but is also similar to the chinese for “death” (which is why 4 is seen as an unlucky nunber)

from the wiktionary on 四

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Anyway, these are just the tidbits I was able to notice so I thought I’d point them out! I thought the roster might have clues (like 4 is death but thats not a member and then I realized that duh…it’s alphabetical….lol)

Handwriting progress (Shelbi)

I just think it’s fun to watch our progression. Unfortunately, I only have a couple examples with time stamps (another reason I decided to post this)

SUMMER OF 2018 (somewhere between august and October)

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MARCH OF 2019

Less blocky, but pretty sloppy for my “neat” handwriting. I have noticed that I’m not the only student to use sloppiness to cover up blockiness in an attempt to look more natural in my writing😅

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NOVEMBER OF 2021

my “neat” handwriting

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SPEED WRITING AUGUST 2019

The purpose of the speed writing is to not only see your sloppy writing, but to also test your retention. We can only retain so many words as we copy. The more familiar you are with the language, the more words you can retain as you copy.

SF9 RPM lyrics

about 19 minutes! (for full song)

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SPEED WRITING NOVEMBER 2021

Enhypen Fever lyrics

Kor: 4min 11sec, 2 typo, 0 mistake. Eng: 3min 29sec 1 typo, 2 mistake

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As I look back through my handwriting, I’m not sure what possessed me to think drawing a wide ㅂ and putting a verticle line through the middle would be easier than writing a w and putting a horizontal line 🤔

I dont know the point of this other than it’s fun for me to document and to show others you will get less blocky and more neat with time 🙂

HOPE YOU ENJOYED ~

Cancer Vocab

발암물질 carcinogen
-> 발암물질은 사람들에게 암을 일으키다
(a carcinogen causes cancer in people)
(->a sentence I saw on naver)

암 cancer

-> for the most part, add 암 to specific types. examples:
폐 -> lung. 폐암 lung cancer
피부 -> skin. 피부암 skin cancer
자궁암 / 자궁경부암 uterine/cervical cancer
유방 breast 유방암 breast cancer
유방자가검진 self breast exam

So far, I have found brain cancer, bone cancer and leukemia to not utilize 암:
뇌종양 brain cancer (tumor)
백혈병 leukemia (white blood cell disease/illness)
골종양 bone cancer

뇌혈관장벽 blood brain barrier

암에 걸리다 to get cancer

항암화학요법 chemotherapy

생체 검사 biopsy
(-> I’m not 100%, but seems it is sometimes shortened to 생검)

암성 세포 cancerous cell

종양 tumor

악성 종양 malignant tumor

양성 종양 benign tumor

골수 bone marrow
-> 골수 이식 bone marrow transplant

차도 remission
-> 차도가 걸리다 to be in remission

재발 recurrence
-> 병의 재발 disease recurrence

EXAMPLE SENTENCES

차도가 오래 걸릴수록 암 재발 가능성이 낮아요
The longer you are in remission, the less likely it is for the cancer to come back

만약 담배를 피우면 폐암에 걸릴 가능성이 있어요
If you smoke, theres a chance you could get lung cancer

그 남자의 차도는 1년 이상 걸렸어요
He has been in remission for over a year

뇌종양에 걸리면 머리가 많이 아플 수도 있어요
If you get brain cancer, you may get alot of headaches

골수 이식 받으면 혈액형이 바뀔 가능성이 있어요. 그래서 환자의 안전을 위해서 O형 혈액을 수혈해요
There’s a chance your blood type could change if you get a bone marrow transplant. So for the patient’s safety, type O blood is transfused.

백혈병에 걸린 사람 중 대부분은 아이예요
Mostly children get leukemia

Winter Weather

진눈깨비

sleet

진눈깨비가 오다

for sleet to come

진눈깨비가 내리다

for sleet to fall

눈이 오다

for snow to come (snowing)

눈이 내리다

for snow to fall (snowing)

눈이 쌓이다

for snow to pile up (stick to the ground)

눈송이

snowflake

눈보라

blizzard

눈보라 몰아치다

for a blizzard to strike

폭설

heavy snow fall

폭설이 내리다

for heavy snow to fall

첫눈

1st snowfall

첫눈 오다

for the first snow to fall (of the season)

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진눈깨비가 싫어요

I hate sleet

진눈깨비가 내리면 길에서 운전하기가 위험해져요

Driving on the roads is dangerous when it is sleeting

폭설로 인해 길이 막힐 것 같아요

I think the roads will be blocked by heavy snow

눈보라를 조심하세요

Be careful of the blizzard / take precautions

눈이 쌓이면 좋겠어요!

I hope the snow sticks!

눈송이 하나하나가 모두 특별해요
Each snowflake is unique

KSL Formality (존댓말 있나요?)

Hey guys! To make this blog one sentence, yes. 반말 style signs tend to be more short and curt while 존댓말 signs are done more fully. There’s also your body language indicating politeness vs more casual closeness. And of course the infamous “you”. In 존댓말 you put your hand out, palm facing up, with finger outstretched while in 반말 you just point at the person. (seen at 1:02 in the above video).

Throughout this blog I will refer to time stamps of the below video for example of formal vs informal speaking through sign language and give brief descriptions of what is happening. I will also add another video at the end of another youtuber saying the same kinds of things except her video has English captioning. Keep in mind that I am not native and still working on my listening skills, so if I made a mistake just let me know. I understand the gist more than I do every single word (and I understand the signs more than the spoken *cries*)

From 0:18 to 0:33 he is talking about how the honorific words themselves don’t exist in sign language. (such as 댁 instead of 집. by the way, the 에 particle he is signing is 장소. 에 and 에서 are signed as 장소 meaning location)

0:53-1:05 demonstrating how to say thanks if one of his kids were to give him candy “사탕 줬어? 오 고마워 You’re giving it to me? oh, thanks!”

1:07-1:28 here he talks about how if his teacher were to give him a gift, the sign he uses is the exact same, but his body (language) is different.

1:28-1:54 When speaking to someone under you (like his kid) he can speak easily and make eye contact, but when talking to someone higher than you it’s like how dare you bother them (감히 -> impudently/how dare you)

1:55-1:59 asking a child their age: 너 나이 몇 살이니? “how old are you?”

1:59-2:22 talking about how the formal word for 나이 (연세) doesn’t exist. From 2:16 to 2:17 you see him do the sign that other videos translated as “몇 실입니까?” (he says 몇 살이니 but he is talking about the phrase as a whole “when asking, how old are you, to a grandfather”.

2:29-2:41 “할아버지.. 죄송하지만.. 혹시혹시.. 나이 알려주시면 좋을 것 같은데.. sir… excuse me… but perhaps… I think it’d be good if you could share your age…” (I couldn’t understand the spoken after 주시 so I asked a native for the rest lol)

And then after that, he recaps saying that 존댓말 doesn’t exist but if you speak easily and comfortably it’s like 반말.

START AT 2:50 TO SEE HER EXPLANATION OF HOW IT DIFFERS

For my video listed first, I basically combined what I learned from both of their videos lol

HOPE THIS WAS HELPFUL!

~Shelbi

When and How to Switch to 반말

This post goes hand in hand with Hannah’s! She gave you real life examples of how she experienced a switch that you can read here-> ( https://satyanghaekorean.org/2021/11/07/a-note-on-korean-formalities-dropping-them-examples/ )

Remember that I am not native, so this is just my own conjecture based on the response given by my language partner to a sample conversation where 존댓말 is used and suddenly dropped once the elder finds out they are older:

IMPORTANT NOTE
He said it really depends on the context of the situation and the individual person you are talking to. There really is no “set rule”

WHEN CAN I FREELY USE IT
With people who are OBVIOUSLY children and with fellow classmates (primary and middle school. I recently learned this doesnt necessarily hold true in highschool. In Korea, strangers are owed a level of respect despite age). Since koreans count age by year vs actual date of birth, you are technically the same age as everyone in your class, so you can freely use 반말 (at least til high school)

SO WHEN CAN I USE IT?
If you find out the person is younger than you, you DO NOT automatically switch to 반말 of your own accord! You either ask for permission, or permission is granted.

SO HOW DO I GET PERMISSION?
The older person can ask the younger permission by saying 말 놔도 되요?

grammatically correct= 말 놓아도 돼요
(놓아 is often spelled as 놔 due to pronunciation)

놓다- release/let go of

literal translation- Can I let go of words?

The younger can give the elder permission by saying:
  말 놓으세요– Please let go of words (you can speak casually)

People of the same age:
말 놓을 까요? = Shall we let go of words? (shall we speak comfortably?
반말 할까요? Shall we do 반말? (speak casually)

WHEN IS IT OK TO ASK TO DROP WORDS?
This is when the individual person and your closeness is key

It can seem rude if the elder asks to speak casually (you are still strangers afterall, which requires a level of respect in korea)

It can be rude for the younger who feels close to the elder to ask to speak casually (as the elder deserves a level of respect and may not feel close enough to the younger)

If your same age and past middle school stage, you are still strangers which deserves a level of respect so it can still come off as rude. (He told me he was roommates with someone of same age and they used 존댓말 for about 3 months)

HOW TO NOT COME OFF AS RUDE?
Use 존댓말 until you are given permission to drop it as even koreans struggle with this at times (just my opinion though)

INTERNET SETTING= SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE
As the internet is extremely informal it has lax rules

He said someone switching to 반말 once finding out theyre older on here is acceptable as we are just conversating; however, doing so to their face (in person) can seem rude.

Feel free to add your own takes on this in the comments!

To sum up this blog, always always use 존댓말 unless you received permission to use 반말

[image source|http://m.nk.chosun.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=8545]