Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Classically Fake Korean "Advertising"

Oh man.. Sookyoung De Hakyo has a reputable Korean Language Program.

But the placed article below in the The Seoul Times as allegedly written by an English speaker.

It's like... like.. they don't know how an English speaker writes, or that an English speaker wouldn't spot this as a fraud in about 3 seconds.

The first paragraph, alone, is a classic Korean version of English:

Learning the most scientific phonetic language in existence to attain the ability to communicate well in Korea does not have to be so difficult, because I aspired to express myself beyond speaking louder, slower, or continuing to mime out my expressions and requests.

I attended several Korean language programs. The type of program I desired needed to be convenient to attend, professionally taught, and provide good cultural insights of Korea and its people.

The LinguaExpress located at Sookmyung Women's University (SWU) in Seoul exceeded my expectations. Located in Yongsan-Gu, Sookmyung Women's University is accessible by public transportation. I currently attend the Regular Intensive Program beginning at ten in the morning and lasting until one in the afternoon, Monday through Friday.

Expats in Sookmyung Women's University's Korean class

I appreciate the class hours because they avoid the rush hours of cars entering the university and bypass the onslaught of noisy lunch hour crowds.

Entering the first floor lobby of the Social Education Building for the first time, I was impressed with the bright and comfortable space of LinguaExpress. The open lobby is flanked by large glass windows allowing the sun's rays to flow in.

Many table settings and sofas make this area an excellent location to relax. With a snack from the coffee corner, students exchange conversations, watch the large screen television, or practice their new language skills. Additionally, on each floor of LinguaExpress there are supplementary tables and chairs next to wide windows offering a good view of Seoul.

Expats with locals at Sookmyung Women's University

I appreciate the computer terminals located. I check my e-mails before and during my class breaks. On the second floor, the roomy and modern multimedia library has great individual workstations to practice language proficiency.

The library services are open daily at 7:30 a.m. and close at 9:00 p.m. Students utilize the audio and video materials quickly with assistance from courteous media library staff.

LinguaExpress's professional teaching staff instructs a wide variety of nationalities the Korean language by integrating listening, speaking and writing skills in relaxed and functional classrooms. Utilizing modern and updated textbooks, music, movies, and diverse dialogues to introduce a variety of everyday situations, so learning Korean is easier to understand and retain.

I appreciate my instructors approach to teaching, initially my poor vocabulary and limited ability to communicate made me shy to speak Korean. Under my teachers patient guidance, I am able to say more complex sentences. I respond more effectively to questions and engage in conversations.

Fun at Sookmyung Women's University's Korean class

My progressive ability to communicate in Korean is assisted by learning more about Korea's culture through the Special Program Workshops hosted by the LinguaExpress.

Various Korean language programs offer field trips to various sites within Korea, however, SWU's LinguaExpress promotes hands on workshops that are informative, occasionally messy, but always enjoyable.

The Kimchi 김치 Making Workshop gave all who participated a deeper appreciation of the time and effort it takes to prepare a complicated and delicious dish. Using a recipe handed down from generation to generation.

Students blend vegetables, pickled fish and spices to wrap Chinese Cabbage to produce Kimchi. Besides preparing Kimchi, my class group cooked Chap Chae 잡채, Pulgoki 불고기, Pachon 파전, Kamchachon 감자전, and Kimchichon 김치전.

The Korean Calligraphy Workshop promoted the skills of a Korean scholar. Students used brush strokes to create Korean texts with traditional ink and paper. Each stroke is praised for its own attributes. The ink for its color and the composition for its configuration's use of space and strength
of the message.

Expats learn ink painting at Sookmyung Women's University.

The Korean Paper Craft Workshop introduced an artist's skill to manipulate paper to create umbrellas, rain hats, or fans in a traditional manner. Because of our novice student status, we created paper boxes by pasting layers of paper on a prefabricated framework. Being slightly prejudice, my creation was the most artistic.

The quality of my studies and special workshops at SWU's LinguaExpress are excellent. The facilities used and the professionalism of the instructors make learning Korean enjoyable.

Everyone from the friendly housekeeping staff, to the cheerful and beautiful clerical staff with whom I chatted and practice my new skills, continue to encourage and ease my frustrations.

Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, once stated, "The only way the magic works is by hard work. But hard work can be fun." The LinguaExpress's Korean Language programs consisting of it's professional staff and special workshops makes the work of learning the Korean language easy and fun. It is magic!

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Friday, October 31, 2008

SCRAPS -Midterms; Editing; Language; Assorted

I'm not normally a big fan of bullets, but a couple of unrelated things:

  • I have a nasty cold which syncs well with the crappy grey and damp weather we are having around here. Thank God this will be a stay-in weekend.

  • In the course of one of the oral mid-terms I asked my students to describe their father. One of them did the normal thing "nice, etc." but then, struggling for something to add, said..."and.. and... he's a.... a supergenius!" I nearly fell out of my chair, but I was happy that at least one student listens to things I say. (Apologies to the only true superJenius, the MAF)

  • The BKF may have lined up a big project for us to work on. I hope so, since I've missed that kind of work. It's with Ewha, so it's prestigious, but it is also a lot of work for BKF, over a hundred pages, due in late November.

  • I have found yet another free Korean class which I will attend for the remaining four weeks of my five week plan to dominate 한국 말. It's on Monday nights from 7:30 to 9:00 and it is on campus.

  • Finally, I did get my holiday schedule, so I will be flying to SFO on January 24th and leaving from SFO on February 12th. Everyone alter their existing plans accordingly. ;-)

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Monday, October 27, 2008

Mens of Letters

Hehe.. got my first letter back from my penpal and it was excellent and humbling. The penpal is, by nurture or nature, a teacher.

I received some corrections and a letter back with some new verbs and very simple terms. I could figure it out (translation dictionary in hand), but it stretched me.

The humbling bit? Missing a marker like “에서” (meaning “from”). Crap, I’d just “learned” that one. ;-)

Yet, with that having happened, “에서” should now be burnt into my brain just above the spot where the lizard things end and where the pornography ones begins. Meaning, this marker should not be forgotten! ;-)

I will be, forever, a bloody 에서 (uh… you need to do that phonetically, and mispronounce it a bit, to understand the “joke”).

It’s all part of the five week plan.

Because that is as long as I can stay on one. ;-p

Not that I would stop trying to learn, but I hope this 5 weeks will demonstrate that I can learn something in a different language.

As it turns out (I await the “I told you so” guffaws)? I may be too stoopid to learn a new language. ;-)

Luckily, I’m not to stoopid for RawknRoll and so I’m off to the store to purchase a beer. Then back home to listen to “Tommy”.

I’m sure it will make me wish that I were Canadian.

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Friday, October 24, 2008

In Which I Get an Overseas Penpal

Living in a far-away country like Korea, it has always been my wish to have a pen-pal in the United States.

Today I took the first step towards that, by sending my friend OX a letter. I've been staring at the written aspects of Korean for about 10 days now and thought it was time to take a shot at writing something. At the beginning levels, at least, the language seems very rational - conjugation is easy right now, but I suspect I'm not learning any irregular verbs and that as I go on things will become more murky. Unfortunately, my Friday afternoon free class canceled, but I have picked up a 1.5 hour lesson (with a previous student) on Thursdays, so I should still have Korean lessons four days a week.

I'll try to do something on Fridays, but I'll need to find yet another tutor.

Anyway, the letter is below and, at least, nothing should be misspelled as my Korean operating system and Word with a Korean dictionary kindly points out how poor my spelling is. I think this should actually help with it.

황소,

안녕 하세요,

나는 대전에서 너는 쓰고 있어요. 학생을 오늘 가르쳐요. 한국말 약간 쓸 수 있어요. 수주를 오늘 밤 마시고 있어요. 지금 가요. 피곤해요. ;-)

안녕 가세요,

Charles…
OK.. not so many words, but my head started to hurt. ;-)

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