Korean translation, 년[neon,nyawn]: year



Korean translation, 년[neon,nyawn]: year




To whoever is looking at this blog, know that while although one of the functions of this blog is to inform others of my time here, I also use this blog as a way to document what I am doing in Korea for myself. I do this so that come a year, two years, ten, twenty from now, I can look back and remember some of the the amazing people I met, the places I went and the meaningful experiences I had.

Why am I in Seoul, anyways?

Why am I in Seoul, anyways? I'm studying language in Seoul for the year through the National Security Language Initiative for Youth operated by the U.S. State Department. While in Seoul, I attend a local Korean high school as a regular Korean student and have intensive language classes three times a week at an international institute in Seoul. My school is a digital media vocational school. Both in school and in many other settings, I am often the only American they have met and almost always the only Jew. As such, I have an important role, not only as an American or a Jew, but as The American and The Jew. Because of this, I have been prone to some alarming, but insightful questions. Like when it was drizzling outside, weather that does not necessarily warrant carrying an umbrella, but being asked by my host brother, "Do all Jews not use umbrellas?" I am constantly being put in new situations. I make mistakes sometimes. Like when I clearly asked for "not spicy," however later realized, tears in my eyes, that the woman's shocked expression when I ordered "meh-un tteokbokki" was not from my Korean ordering skills, but was because I had probably been the first foreigner to specifically ask for the spiciest food on the menu. These year as the non-umbrella-carrying-spicy-food-eating-American-Jew living in Seoul has been exhausting and exhilarating, but a year of experiences I will bring with me for the rest of my life. .

Peppero, Palestine and Presentations

Peppero:

Supposedly started in 1994 by a girls school in Busan- Peppero Day has become somewhat of a phenomenon in Korea. Peppero, made by Korean company, Lotte, is similar to the popular Japanese candy, Pocky.  The candies are fairly simple: long, thin and round crackers covered in chocolate. Peppero resembles the number 1 and since today's date is 11/11, it is customary to gift peppero to teachers and friends. Less known, but also relevant is Garratteok Day, which involves the same theme. Tteok are rice cakes that, like Peppero, resemble the number 1 and so many people will also eat tteok today. I found an interesting statistic that said Lotte sells 55% of its peppero during the month of November.

  • Gave peppero to my Korean friends and teachers, and to the vice principal of the school. 
  • Received peppero from three kids in my Korean class
  • Ate too much peppero 

Palestine: 

Kelsi and I were able to meet with a man working with the United Nations for Palestine. We talked for over a half hour and although we did not get into the nitty-gritty Palestinian conflict (which I did want to discuss), he talked more about life in general and offered some solid advice. 
  • Life becomes just a memory when you are old and in sitting in a wheelchair somewhere; you'll want to do things worth remembering. 
  • If you give a baby a single color and a piece of paper, its drawing will be boring. Life needs lots of colors- lots of varied experiences. 
  • Make mistakes, just not big ones. 
  • Things come as they are supposed to. Don't force time. You'll learn things. You'll travel.  You'll get a job. You'll get married. You'll have kids. Time will take care of itself, you just worry about you in the now. 
  • He told us he had grown up Muslim, but no longer believes in religion, persé. When asked what he believes in, he says he believes in human beings. 
Danaan was in Seoul working with the YES Center to organize some workcamps (intercultural camps) with the Palestinian youth.

Presentation:
Went to a lecture given at the Somerset Palace (where I stayed last year) by Seoul National University professor, Dr. Robert Fouser, sponsored by the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch (RASKB). The lecture was titled, "Early Western Learners of Korean: What Can They Teach Us?" The talk focused primarily on the people who had first come to Korea to learn the language. Missionaries and linguists like John Ross, Homer Hulbert, James Scarth Gale, Horace Underwood and George Aston came to Korea for a multitude of reasons, all influential in introducing Korean language to the Western world.

Some main points of the presentation included:

  • Methods of language acquisition 
    • Grammar-Translation: memorize grammar first, ultimate goal is reading and translating texts and literature, and test of fluency was ability to understand and translate literature. Most popular form of language education in the 19th century West. 
    • Direct-Natural Method: focus on memorizing useful and practical language, and later learn the grammar rules. Ultimate goal is conversing with locals, and test of fluency is ability to be understood. Was promoted by Horace Underwood at the turn of the 19th century.
  • In 1933, the Korean Hangeul (alphabet) was standardized. 
  • "Let him not be afraid of mistakes, by mistakes he must learn." -Horace Underwood, namesake of Underwood College (now part of Yonsei University) 
  • "Hear with Korean ears and see with Korean eyes. Live heartily in the life and surroundings of the Koreans to appreciate all of their circumstances and to think Korean,"- Horace Underwood 
But where do we go from here? What can we learn from these linguistic pioneers to Korea?
  • Motivation: Inner drive, desire for perfection and a passion for Korea are necessary components to learning the language. 
  • Teach Chinese characters: Only the more advanced students learn the Chinese characters present in the Korean language. But when one does learn the characters, it offers new insights into the cultural similarities of China and Korea, in addition to expanding one's vocabulary tremendously. 
It's always interesting to learn about an aspect of history I had no previous knowledge about. In addition, being on a language scholarship, I was able to learn more about how Korean language was first introduced to the West and about the current methods of language education.