Korean ABCs

안 녕 하 세 요. (Hello)
저 샌 디 진 입 니 다. (I'm Sandy.)
싱 가 폴 에 서왔 어 요. (I'm from Singapore.)
다 음 주 한 국 가 요. (I'm going to Korea next week.)

For the past month, I've been busy trying to pick up Korean language. And it's been really tough when it's DIY. What spurred me on? Well, it was brought on partly by the Korean craze. But more importantly, I started learning because I had plans to travel to Korea this year. In fact, I’m going next week which is why I’m desperately trying to learn and write down as many phrases as possible.

While it's been difficult, I managed to learn how to recognise, read, write and type some words... all thanks to 2 reference books, the Korean Tourism Website and a friend or my 사 부 (teacher). And of course not forgetting all the Korean VCDs that I've been watching. (My parents think I'm nuts watching them in Korean when I can do so in Mandarin.)

It's been challenging because Korean sentences are structured very differently compared to English, Chinese or even French. And the way words are pronounced, how it changes when words are linked up can also be quite a challenge. Not to mention the different verb endings, tenses etc which I plan to learn when I take up formal lessons later part of the year. Learning a new language makes meI feel like a five-year old all over again. And a very impatient five-year old too - because I think I'm learning too slowly and I don't have the opportunity to practise.

Having said all these, I've had fun learning it. It's interesting that some Korean words are similar to Chinese words or some spoken dialects.

Guess I'll test out my very limited Korean when I go to the Land of the Morning Calm next week!