Addicting Korean Typing Game

I don’t have problems typing since I’ve been typing even before I started school! I think I learned typing while I was learning how to read. My mom owns a typewriter since she used to work as a secretary and I am so amazed at how fast she can type and how she can talk to me while typing. So I mimicked her a lot and before I knew it I can also type fast.

I can touch type in both Filipino and English. Thus when I started learning how to type in Korean, it was really not difficult for me. And I didn’t even need a Korean keyboard nor stickers.

I did learn through some old Korean typing tutor games at first but I didn’t continue with it. I just practice by writing on Kim Sun Ah’s fansites. Of course I still suck at Korean typing AND spelling.

And today I found this TYPING GAME in Daum from Picking Up Korean‘s blog. I tried it and I love it!

I don’t know much about the game/s since I just played away with it the moment I clicked the link never bothering the scoring and levels. There are 3 sets of games. Character practice, Word practice and Sentence practice. I didn’t check the character practice but I’m sure it’s fun for beginner Korean typists.

I tried the word practice first and it was fun. The first levels were easy. And what I love the most, aside from practicing my typing skills, I can test my vocabs and spelling. So as I type I think of the meaning of the words I’m typing and I try to remember the spelling of words that I often misspelled. I can’t help but smile when some of the new words I was studying today appeared. My “lives” were intact from Levels 1-5 but I “died” on Level 6!

Then I tried the sentence practice part and it’s also fun! You get to choose the category of what type of sentences you’ll want to practice with. And this time, again aside from typing, I can test both vocabs and grammar and see if I can understand the sentences and the entire story.

Now, who cares about Angry Birds? O.o This is waaaay more addicting!

[Learning Korean with Kim Sun Ah] V – ㄹ 수밖에 없다 There is no choice but to…

NOTE: As I’ve mentioned I’m starting to make studying Korean more fun by learning from Kim Sun Ah’s dramas. This may be too over the top (?) but I’m sure other Kim Sun Ah fans who’s learning Korean can find it interesting (and I know a number of her fans are learning Korean too).

DISCLAIMER: This is not really posted as a lesson and I have no intention of teaching anyone – leave that to the awesome TTMIK teachers. Simply take this as my personal ‘open’ notebook that I just want to share to anyone who’s interested. And since this is ‘personal’ the grammar points and vocabs cater to my own need alone. ^^

If you are already familiar with the V – ㄹ 수 있다/없다 and 밖에 it’s not difficult to get what V – ㄹ 수밖에 없다 means.

This pattern denotes a lack of choice or that one has no choice but to do something. It can be used to establish a reason for an outcome. – Bonewso Korean Grammar

My Name Is Kim Sam Soon

Episode 3: After Sam Soon agreed to the contract relationship, Jin Heon explains to her that they not only have to make his mom believe that they are really a couple, but they have to deceive her spy too – and unfortunately no one knows who the spy is, therefore they must trick everyone.

진헌: 나사장을 속일려면 스파이도 속여야 되요. 문제는 그게 누군지 모른다는 겁니다. 그러니 전직원 보는 앞에서 연애하는 척을 할 수 밖에 없어요.

Jin Heon: If we are going to trick/deceive President Nah (mom), then we must also trick her spy. The problems is we don’t know who the spy is. Therefore we have no choice but to pretend as lovers in front of all the employees.

속이다 – (verb) to deceive, cheat, trick, fool

전직원 – (noun) all employees

척하다 – (verb) to pretend

City Hall

Episode 1: Mi Rae suddenly felt the urge to use Jo Guk’s bathroom, but unfortunately the toilet was clogged!!!

미래 : 변기가 오래 됐나 봐요. 물이 잘… 죄송해요. 저지를 수밖에 없었어요.

Mi Rae: Seems like the toilet is old. The water doesn’t really… I’m sorry. There was nothing I could do about it.

변기 – (noun) toilet

And my most favorite (I would probably never forget this pattern all because of this scene):

Scent Of A Woman

Episode 7: Eun Seok confronts Yeon Jae and asked her why she let herself get misunderstood. As Yeon Jae tries to explain, she ended up confessing her feelings towards the currently eavesdropping Ji Wook. ♥

연재: 집 앞에 갔었어! 고맙다고 말하고 싶어서. 아니 고맙다고 말하러 가서… 그 핑계로 얼굴 한 번 더 보고 싶어서. 근데 못했어. 너무 보고 싶었는데… 그냥 돌아올 수밖에 없었어.

은석: 무슨 말이야? 너 혹시, 아까 그 남자… 좋아하니?

연재: 안 그러고 싶은데 그게 잘 안 돼. 그 사람이… 너무 좋아.

Yeon Jae: I went to his house because I wanted say thanks to him. No, going there to say thanks was just an excuse to see him again. But I couldn’t do it. I really wanted to see him but… I have no other choice but to just turn back.

Eun Seok: What do you mean? Do you perhaps like that guy (that we saw) earlier?

Yeon Jae: I didn’t want to to be like this but I can’t help it. That person… I really like him.

♥ awww~

Me on Creativity Japanese’s “Life is a Journey”

When fellow blogger, Creativity Japanese, launched her blog’s first giveaway, I never thought that I’d end up joining. It’s not that I’m not interested, in fact I really am. But sometimes I procrastinate a lot and end up not meeting the deadlines of contests like this O.o. But I find Creativity Japanese’s question really interesting thus I decided to give it a shot (and managed to defeat my lazy self and was able to write something decent before the deadline!).

I never expected that I’d get chosen as one of the 3 winners – more so being chosen as a “favorite reply”.

Creativity Japanese’ blog, Life is a Journey, is one of the first language blogs I’ve known and consistently follow. Definitely one of my favorites! I find a lot of useful information on her blog(s) and I love her no-nonsense insights on languages, culture and language learning. Thus  I am really thrilled to be “featured” on her blog. Thanks Creativity Japanese!

So, which aspect of Korean culture I like the most and which aspects of it I would like to experience in future? READ HERE.

Unlocking Intermediate TOPIK Papers 2: Plus my newfound way to study grammar and vocabs

As I’ve mentioned on my previous post Unlocking Intermediate TOPIK Papers, I’ve changed my TOPIK review style and now I don’t just read the questions and correct answers and settle with the list of new grammar patterns and vocabs I encounter. I now search each item on Naver dictionary and read (and note down) many sample sentences per grammar pattern/vocab. And then I review them.

It’s not too long ago since I started doing this strategy and I’m terribly busy with school so I actually haven’t progressed a lot – as far as the number of pages of TOPIK exam is concerned (I’m just on the 6th page of my first paper!). But I did progress a lot! When I review the pages I have studied, I can perfectly understand everything now. Unlike before when all I can do is pinpoint the correct answers just because I have memorized what’s the correct answer. I also find the succeeding pages easier to answer because I have learned a lot from the previous pages/items.

And today, out of boredom (and probably missing my Suna Unnie) I discovered a little crazy idea. I thought why not try googling 김선아 and the new grammar pattern / vocab I’m learning.

And low and behold! News articles about Kim Sun Ah appeared on the search result one after another – with the new pattern/vocab I’m studying highlighted!  And what’s making it more fun is the fact that almost all of the articles (or at least the top 5 or so results) were articles I have opened/read before; or articles I’ve read translated in English on some fan sites; OR articles I have translated myself (or at least attempted to translate) for Suna Unnie’s English-speaking fans. It makes the recall easier!

I don’t have any worries that it will distract me either. Though I’m a big fan of Kim Sun Ah, long Korean articles scare me since I probably can’t understand more than half of it anyway. Plus I don’t really have to open the articles all the time because almost everything I need is already in the short excerpt appearing on the search result page.

Then, I thought why not do it on Kim Sun Ah’s dramas too? So, I compiled the scripts of my top 3 favorite Kim Sun Ah dramas into one html file (color-coded by drama) and open it on my browser and Ctrl+F my way to the grammar pattern/vocab I’m learning! I’ve been doing this for quite sometime – looking for words in Kim Sun Ah’s dramas, but only when I recall a particular scene where whatever I’m studying was used. And it’s quite time consuming to search one episode at a time. Ha! Why have I not thought of compiling it into one file before?

Anyway I’m glad with these two new strategies! And will definitely gonna stick with it – not only for TOPIK preparation!

*Urgh! Don’t know what’s wrong with me today, but I think I wrote quite sloppily on this post… probably due to tons of papers I’m trying to finish writing – all my writing skills (if any) seeped out of my system. But anyway, I’m just eager to share (to anyone who stumbles upon my blog, if there’s any) and hopefully can give ideas to other Korean learners looking for new learning strategies.

Unlocking Intermediate TOPIK Papers

I took the beginner TOPIK last 2010. Despite getting a grade 2, the intermediate TOPIK is still difficult for me. Unlike for the beginner TOPIK, I don’t have a textbook for the intermediate TOPIK. I borrowed one book before – KLPT Intermediate (and I liked it), but I think I’d rather go straight to the TOPIK papers instead. When I attempted to take the intermediate TOPIK last year, all I did was:

1.) answer the questions on my own

10% of the questions I understood perfectly; 40% of which are guesswork (relying heavily on context clues and the process of elimination); 50% of which were based purely on luck (♬ 어느 것을 고를까요? 알아 맞춰보세요. 딩동댕! ♬).

2.) check and mark the correct answers

3.) look for unfamiliar words in the dictionary and jot down the meaning.

4.) read the questions over and over (urgh!).

I think I end up not really learning anything. So this time I changed my TOPIK study style.

1.) Answer the questions on my own (still relying heavily on guesswork and luck O.o).

2.) Check and mark the correct answers.

3.) Go over each item and note the grammar patterns and words that I am not familiar with.

3.a) For unfamiliar words: I wrote them down, then search it on Naver Dictionary and now, I don’t just stop on checking the definition, but I also read and copy as many sample sentences as I deemed enough, and then write sentences on my own. And as I review the words on my notebook, I don’t just read the definition, but I also read the sentences I wrote and I try creating impromptu sentences using that word.

3.b) For unfamiliar grammar: I search the pattern first on Korean Grammar Database. I wrote down the explanation and the 2 or 3 sample sentences. Since Korean Grammar Database is not a textbook, there’s not much explanation about the grammar and the sample sentences are very limited. So, afterwards, I go to Naver Dictionary and search for the grammar pattern (and sometimes I pair it with words), then sentences that will appear on the search result. And I write them down and I also try creating sentences on my own. Sometimes I also freely google the patterns/words just to see how people use them on say news, or personal blogs, or twitter.

I’m learning a lot with this method and I find it easier to remember the words and grammar patterns. I even find it addicting to “unlock” those difficult sentences on the TOPIK exams! 🙂 I’m also loving Naver Dictionary more now.

*Nibbling on some chocolates to keep myself awake! Too sleepy today, I don’t know why… O.o

How to say “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” in Korean

When you are given options and you are stuck and can’t decide what to eat, where to go, which road to take, which food on the menu to order, what to choose, what answer should you pick on a multiple choice exam, do you let fate decide and use “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.”?

I remember asking my Korean teacher, during one of our classes months ago, if there’s a similar rhyme in Korean and how to say it. But I can’t remember the exact words. I just know it starts with 어느 or 어떤 _____ and ends with a 딩동댕.  So, I googled and found some interesting variations. The content of the rhyme depends on the situation, but it always end in 알아 맞춰보세요. 딩동댕 (or 딩동댕딩동).

Photo from: 크리스천 라이프

어느 것을 고를까요? 알아 맞춰보세요. 딩동댕!

어떤 것을 할까요? 알아 맞춰보세요. 딩동댕!

어느 것이 맞을까요? 알아맞춰보세요. 딩동댕!

어느 쪽으로 갈까요? 알아 맞춰 보세요. 딩동댕!

어떻게 할까요? 알아 맞춰 보세요. 딩동댕!

어느 것이 좋을까요? 알아맞춰 보세요. 딩동댕!

어느 것을 먹을까요? 알아맞춰보세요. 딩동댕

I love being able to google/naver (naver should be used as a verb too!) questions in Korean now and find the answers I need.

One year of blogging!

I’ve been blogging for a year now! And I just can’t believe it!

God knows how many times I attempted to maintain a personal blog before, but all failed. But this time, focusing on what I love the most – Korean, I managed to maintain this blog for a year now despite being busy with my studies (and fangirling!).

Thanks to everyone who visited my blog. When I started I never thought I’ll get any visitors, more so, comments. I’m also happy to have met a lot of fellow Korean learners and so glad to find new friends through my blog.

And to celebrate My Korean Corner’s first year anniversary, I created My Korean Corner’s Facebook Page. I still haven’t put anything there yet (I will… soon) but I am going to use it for uploading photos, sharing some stuff, study logs, and practicing my Korean (so as not to flood my blog with study logs and very random rants).

See you there!

Kim Sun Ah – Latest endorser of “Waffle Bant”

Kim Sun Ah is now the latest endorser/model of the Belgian waffle franchise in Seoul – Waffle Bant.

Urgh! We don’t have Waffle Bants here in the Philippines. 😦

I can’t wait for her endorsement photos to come out. I’m kinda missing her lately… 🙂

SOURCES:

Yahoo Korea

TV Daily

Hyunwoo and Mikyung – Manila Meetup

캬악~!!! 빅뉴스!!!!

Guess what?!!!

Talk To Me In Korean‘s Hyun Woo Sun, pretty wife Mi Kyung, and family are coming to the Philippines and will be having a meet-up in Manila on February 12th!

Yes, him! THE Hyun Woo Sun!

OH.MY.GOD! *Fangirl mode*

I dunno why I’m sooo excited! We can meet Hyun Woo! I’ve been listening to his voice since I stumbled upon TTMIK. And I can’t believe we’ll get to meet him.

I DEFINITELY AM GOING! And I’m also quite excited (albeit shy) to meet fellow Korean learners from the Philippines.

Again, that’s February 12, 2012. Sunday. Mark your calendars!

RSVP here: Hyunwoo and Mikyung – Manila Meetup

[드라마] Drunken To Love You – My Taiwanese “My Name Is Kim Sam Soon”

It was my mom who’s into this Drunken To Love You (醉後決定愛上你) thing (just like how she was into My Name Is Kim Sam Soon first). I was actually in the middle of watching a different Taiwanese drama In Time With You. It was o~k, and Ariel Lin is so pretty and all, but the drama is not good enough to hold my interest thus I stopped watching midway. Maybe I just can’t relate to it.

My mom loved Drunken To Love You and I got envious so I downloaded it and started watching it on my own. And I loved it!

It reminds me so much of My Name Is Kim Sam Soon. There were a lot of similarities, but of course Kim Sam Soon is a hundred times better (forgive me Drunken To Love You fans).

I thought it was just me because I have a tendency to compare each and every romantic comedy to Kim Sam Soon, but a friend also shares the same thought (but please note that my friend is also a Kim Sun Ah fan. XD).

So we both have a girl that is far from being feminine (though Lin Xiao Ru’s character is not consistent and can be oh so feminine at time, then be so rough the next) who loves cooking and eating (and I wonder why Lin Xiao Ru is not fat!). Both were betrayed by their first great love and the lead guy coincidentally witness the gruesome and break-up. Lead guy is also suffering from a heart break from a very lovely girlfriend whose looks are far better than the lead (or at least that’s what they want to imply. I believe both Kim Sun Ah and Rainie Yang are very pretty!). The lovely girlfriend thinks the guy can’t let them go because they are very confident because they are the prettiest thing on earth and it’s very unlikely that their men will fall for someone like Xiao Ru and Sam Soon. Guys get into a contract relationship with the girl. Girl agrees because she needs money all of a sudden. They have a contract that they will later on violate each and every clause. Girl ends up preparing for ex-boyfriend’s wedding. Then the girl falls for the guy. Guy falls for the girl after realizing they are better than pretty ex-girlfriends. Ex-girlfriends obsessively try to get the guy back while a half-Westerner loves them unconditionally. Ex-girlfriend won’t succeed and will end up with the half-Westerner. Lead girl and lead guy will end up being together and will have sweet moments together. Oh, not to forget, the pig!

Of course there are lots of differences as well and there’s more to Drunken To Love You than what I’ve mentioned above.

Sometimes I hate Lin Xiao Ru. Because she is just too good to be true. If it was Sam Soon on her place, Sam Soon would definitely raise hell. I also hated the adoption thing, kidnapping, gansters and all the action stunts. It was sooo Filipino drama. And I hate it. I also hate the kisses! Darn! There were a lot. But they wasted each one of them. Do Taiwanese kiss that way? Or am I just too spoiled with Kim Sun Ah and her hot kisses on her dramas? I am often thrilled during kissing scenes, but on this drama I think it’s even better not to have any kissing scenes if it would just be as lousy as that (the bed scene was better though! haha!).

But I love Samantha. For once, there’s a mother-in-law who doesn’t hate her future daughter-in-law – finally! And I also love Song Jie Xiu more than Sam Shik. He is sweeter and caring and more matured.

And I love the OST as well. Just like how I love Kim Sam Soon’s.

Despite its flaws, I still love it. It has captured my heart in a way that no other dramas within the past few years had. I also can’t help but love Lin Xiao Ru. It feels like how I felt when I watched my first Korean drama and my all time favorite Kim Sam Soon (coincidentally, they have a similar plot line).

What’s important to me though, is it’s helping me a lot with my Mandarin lessons. Just like how My Name Is Kim Sam Soon has helped / is helping me with my Korean. Although it didn’t spark my interest in Mandarin, just like how Kim Sam Soon has sparked my interest in Korean, it did increase my interest in Mandarin a few notches higher.

I’m just so glad that I liked my first Taiwanese drama this much. Thanks mom!

I don’t think I’ll watch some more Taiwanese dramas, especially when my Korean drama to-watch list is getting longer and longer each day. I’ll just watch Drunken To Love You over and over until I get tired of it (though I think that won’t happen soon. Ha ha!) 🙂