Billy Go's Blog, page 41

Important Hanja Pairs: 전 (前) and 후 (後) (한자) | Korean FAQ

전 (前) and 후 (後) are two useful Hanja pairs that learners should know - not how to read and write them necessarily, but knowing what they mean, how they're pronounced, and how to use them.

In this week's Korean FAQ episode, I show how you can use these two Hanja words to help expand your Korean understanding by recognizing new words that have these Hanja in them.

The post Important Hanja Pairs: 전 (前) and 후 (後) (한자) | Korean FAQ appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Kenny guesses Korean snacks while blindfolded

How many of these famous snacks can you recognize? How many of them do you think you would recognize without looking at them?

The snacks Kenny tried in order were 새우깡, 양파링, 포스틱, 오!감자, 고래밥, 꼬깔콘, 짱구, Gardetto's, 초코송이, 초코파이, 자유시간, and 폴로.

The post Kenny guesses Korean snacks while blindfolded appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

고 보니까 "Realizing" | Live Class Abridged

Last Sunday we had a live Korean lesson about the grammar form ~고 보니까 (or ~고 보니), which is used to show that you've realized something after you've done something. We also compared it to the similar form ~고 나니까 (or ~고 나니), and showed where the grammar form came from.

~고 보니까 is an Advanced level Korean grammar form.

The post 고 보니까 "Realizing" | Live Class Abridged appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

“Can’t” 못 vs 지 못하다 vs 수 없다 | Korean FAQ

There are three common ways to say "can't," and all of them can have the same meaning - 못, 지 못하다, and 수 없다. However, although all three of these forms can have the same meaning ("can't") they're not always interchangeable, and each has a different nuance. I wanted to break down all three and how they're used, what they actually mean, and when you should pick each one.

The post “Can’t” 못 vs 지 못하다 vs 수 없다 | Korean FAQ appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Learn Korean with "Korean Made Simple"

The "Korean Made Simple" series is finally complete. Three textbooks, three workbooks, and audio files for all of them. To celebrate, I made a video showing off what you'll get when you order them.

You can check out my book, "Korean Made Simple" on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2bDBi6h (affiliate)

Or get your copy of the eBook from my web site (where you are now) here: http://www.gobillykorean.com/p/learn-korean-with-korean-made-simple.html

And you can download the free audio content from the books here: https://gobillykorean.com/download-the-audio-content-for-korean-made-simple-for-free/

The post Learn Korean with "Korean Made Simple" appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

~다기보다는 "Rather" | Live Class Abridged

This past Sunday I did a live stream about the grammar form ~다기보다(는), which is also ~(이)라기보다(는). This form is used to describe things, and shows that the description that comes after this form is better than what comes before it. There are several ways to translate it, including "rather."

The post ~다기보다는 "Rather" | Live Class Abridged appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

What happened to the ㄴ/ㄹ? Simplifying 두음법칙 | Korean FAQ

I was recently asked by a viewer to explain the concept of 두음법칙, and that's when I noticed there weren't yet any videos about it in English.

두음법칙 is a set of rules for how to read Hanja words - specifically it's for when the Hanja word begins with the letters ㄹ or ㄴ. This is a specific case, but happens frequently when reading Hanja words using Korean. It is why the word 여자 isn't read as 녀자 despite the Hanja word for 女 being read as 녀, and also why 소녀 isn't 소여. It's why 용 ("dragon") isn't read as 룡, when the Hanja word is 룡.

The post What happened to the ㄴ/ㄹ? Simplifying 두음법칙 | Korean FAQ appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

What helped you the most when learning Korean?

What do you think has been the most helpful to you while learning Korean?

For me, a lot of things have been helpful such as having Korean friends to practice with (or dating with a native speaker), or having lived in Korea (I did this too), as well as practicing speaking in general, or watching dramas and listening to music, and many other things.

I talked with my friend Andy, who's also a fluent Korean speaker, about what we felt have been the most helpful things in our Korean learning journey to bring us to where we are now.

The post What helped you the most when learning Korean? appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Does 고 싶다 use the Subject or Object Marker? | Korean FAQ

When using the ~고 싶다 form, do you mark the noun using the Subject Marker or the Object Marker?

Both the Subject Marker and the Object Marker can be used for marking the noun with the ~고 싶다 form.

However, one of these forms will often sound more natural than the other form, and that's the Subject Marker. Find out the reasoning why, and how you can use this form.

The post Does 고 싶다 use the Subject or Object Marker? | Korean FAQ appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.

Speaking ONLY KOREAN with my bilingual son | Korean ice cream stores with no staff

My son is bilingual, and also happens to like ice cream (who doesn't). So I took him to an ice cream store that's open all day without any staff members, since it would be easy to film there, and let him pick out a few of his favorite flavors. Then we brought them back to our apartment and tried each of them. The whole time we're speaking only in Korean.

The post Speaking ONLY KOREAN with my bilingual son | Korean ice cream stores with no staff appeared first on Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean.