Billy Go's Blog, page 33

Important Hanja: 자 (字) (한자) | Korean FAQ

Hanja are a useful way to expand your vocabulary, and knowing more of them can help you to better understand words that you already know more in depth.

This week's "Korean FAQ" lesson is all about the Hanja 자 (字), which means a "character."

The post Important Hanja: 자 (字) (한자) | Korean FAQ appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #18: Talking to Yourself

When it comes to talking to yourself, there are certain forms you'll want to use and other forms you'll want to avoid. These are also a part of Politeness Levels, but it's not as simple as just using casual speech out loud. This lesson will cover a few specific common forms that are used when talking to yourself.

Remember that YouTube channel Members can watch this entire series - all 24 episodes - right now. For everyone else, I'll upload one new episode every week until it's complete.

The post Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #18: Talking to Yourself appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

‘직역하지 마’ (Don’t Translate Literally) MV | Music by C.SWAG (씨스웩)

One thing I often tell learners is to avoid using any machine translation when learning Korean. This isn't because machine translation is useless (it's useful), but because it can often give incorrect answers that the learner may not be able to understand are incorrect. Using machine translation can also help form bad habits when studying, and can become a crutch that learners rely on - instead of practicing by making their own sentences. Dictionaries are an absolutely necessary tool for learning, but it's important to think when writing sentences so that you can avoid some of the pitfalls that come with just using a translator or translating things directly.

I wanted to make a song about avoiding not only translating things directly, but also relying too much on literal translations (machine translation, etc.) when trying to learn Korean. Simply using what you know in the best way possible, and then learning and practicing, will be far more effective than keeping yourself trapped in a cage of translating everything literally.

What started out as a joke between friends is now officially a fully produced song and music video. Although it's my first song, hopefully it won't be my last. You can watch it here, and there are links in the video description to where you can download the song.

I've also included the full lyrics below the video.

직역하지 마, 어색하잖아
고민하지 마, 어렵지 않아
네 실력에 맞게 쉽게 한번 풀어봐.

나는 한국어 초보자, 하지만 모르는 게 너무 많아
빨리 말하고 싶지만, 맞는 표현이 생각 안 나
그러다 좋은 방법 하나 찾았어, 한국어 몰라도 말할 수 있어
그런데 번역기로 만든 문장이, 알고 보니 말도 안 되는 거였어

직역하지 마, 어색하잖아
사전 열어보기 전에 잘 생각해 봐
고민하지 마, 어렵지 않아
네 실력에 맞게 쉽게 한번 풀어봐!

직역하지 마, 어색하잖아
고민하지 마, 어렵지 않아
네 실력에 맞게 쉽게 한번 풀어봐!

습관처럼 나오는 번역기 찾기
역시 쉽지 않지 필요하긴 하지만
의존하지 말기, 언어는 말하기
바퀴처럼 구글 파파고 돌리기 stop please
같이 연습해 볼까
문법 발음 서툴러도 괜찮아
연습만이 살길 알잖아
너도 할 수 있어 말해봐 자신 있게!

직역하지 마, 어색하잖아
사전 열어보기 전에 잘 생각해 봐
고민하지 마, 어렵지 않아
네 실력에 맞게 쉽게 한번 풀어봐!

직역하지 마, 어색하잖아
고민하지 마, 어렵지 않아
네 실력에 맞게 쉽게 한번 풀어봐!

The post ‘직역하지 마’ (Don’t Translate Literally) MV | Music by C.SWAG (씨스웩) appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #17: Intro to the Plain Form

The Plain Form is an essential grammar conjugation that's used in both writing and in speaking. It's useful not only in various grammar forms, but also as a regular speech style. However, it plays a unique role when used together with politeness levels, and I'll explain how that works throughout this course.

Remember that this course is completely free, and every week I'll post one new lesson until it's complete. The series will have 24 episodes in total. If you're a YouTube channel Member, you can even watch the rest of the episodes right now in advance.

The post Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #17: Intro to the Plain Form appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #16: Informal Grammar

Let's start talking about Informal grammar, and how it relates to Politeness Levels. Specifically this video covers the adverbs 되게, 진짜, 너무, 막, and 완전, the particles 한테(서), (이)랑, and 하고, as well as the form 가지고 or 갖고.

Also remember that channel Members can access the entire series (all 24 episodes) right now!

The post Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #16: Informal Grammar appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #15: Casual Speech and ‘You’

A commonly used word to say "you" is 너, but this word is frequently misused and overused by many Korean learners. There are several other common ways to refer to people in Casual Speech besides just saying 너, so here are the most common and useful ones that you should know.

This series is a free 24 lesson course all about Korean Politeness Levels. Every week I'll upload a new episode, but if you're a YouTube Member of my channel you can watch the entire course right now!

The post Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #15: Casual Speech and ‘You’ appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Important Hanja: 자 (子) (한자) | Korean FAQ

This week's episode is all about the Hanja 子 meaning "child" or "offspring." But this character also shows up in many unexpected places, such as at the end of nouns that have nothing to do with a child, as well as at the end of many older-sounding Korean names. Find out how to use this character in various ways with today's latest Korean FAQ episode~!

The post Important Hanja: 자 (子) (한자) | Korean FAQ appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #14: Making Casual Speech

No matter how you typically speak Korean or who you speak with, it's essential to know about Casual Speech and how it relates to politeness levels. This lesson will introduce the basics of Casual Speech, including several common grammar forms.

Also remember that if you're a YouTube channel Member you can access all 24 lessons in this course right now. If you're unable to join, don't worry! I'll continue to make one new episode free every week.

The post Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #14: Making Casual Speech appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #13: Intro to Casual Speech

In this lesson you'll learn about Casual Speech, and how it fits into the rest of the politeness levels. You'll also learn some of the most common situations where this style of speech is used.

Note that YouTube channel Members have access to watch this full course (all 24 episodes) right now. If you can't wait for each new episode to be uploaded (once a week), please consider signing up to get the whole course right now~

The post Master Politeness Levels with Billy Go | #13: Intro to Casual Speech appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

10 ways to use Naver dictionary to support your Korean study

I've been using Naver Dictionary as my main Korean dictionary since as long as I can remember, and it's only gotten better over the past few years. However, since many learners are still unaware of how to use this dictionary to its full potential, I made this video to explain all of my tips for how to get the most out of it.

I'll show you how to look up words and their pronunciation, check how common words are, find synonyms and etymology, Hanja origins, example sentences, and more. (This video is not sponsored in any way.)

The post 10 ways to use Naver dictionary to support your Korean study appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.