About Learning Korean!

Since I decided to apply for the Korean university Kyung Hee for my next master degree (I'm planning to follow Ritsumeikan's DMDP-program) I have started to take classes in Korean!
The truth is, there is only one class in Korean for master degree - students at Ritsu, and that class is a "reading and discussion"-class. Yeah, right.. As if I have the ability to read or discuss in a language I've never learned.
However, the teacher of the class was very kind, he let me register for his Friday-class, but instead of going to the Friday-classes he let me participate in his beginner-level classes on Wednesday. This way I can learn some Korean and get grades as well! Yay..!

So far I have found that Korean grammar seems weird.. I mean, I had hoped it would be more similar to Japanese, but it seems that they use different verbs talking about others than about one self. Of course, you can find this in Japanese too, but then we are talking keigo (extremely polite language which you wouldn't use in daily speech). That is to say, I am currently using Pimsleur to learn Korean by myself, perhaps they are teaching me some phrases one usually wouldn't use..? Hmm..

Putting the grammar aside though, there are actually a lot of words that are similar in Japanese and Korean!!! Perhaps this just is the work of our teachers, because they tend to point to all the similarities instead of the differences between Korean and Japanese. I guess they just want to make it easier for us students..

Anyway, here are some examples on words you can use both in Korean and Japanese:
無理　무리 (muri) Impossible
安心　안심 (anshin/anshim) Relief
道路　도로 (douro/doro) Road/highway
家族　가족 (kazoku/kajok) Family
理由　이유 (Riyuu/Iyu) Reason

And by the way, did you know that Japan' ancient capital Nara actually got it's name from Korean? The original meaning of Nara (나라) is actually "country"..

It makes things a little bit easier knowing that at least there are some words I can understand just because I know Japanese. But on the other hand I know there is a lot of hard work ahead if I want to become fluent in Korean as well.
So.. I guess that means I should get back to studying..
나증에 봬요!

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.