Learning Korean has been a struggle for me. I have been trying for so many years that I lost the ability to rejoice over any accomplishments. I am a slow, almost imbecile, learner. But that is okay! We are all different. In the Korean public space there are a lot of foreigners flaunting their success and incredible ability speaking the language. This is rather off-putting to me, and a reason why I sometimes post on this blog. The world is not only populated by successful people, who pick up a new language in a year and mingle effortlessly with the native speakers. There are also freaks, creeps, weirdos, people with learning disabilities who start, and start again but never break the perceived glass ceiling.
For these people I share my experiences of learning Korean in my limited free energetic moments. Today I quote an ad from craigslist that contained a lot of vocabulary that I wasn’t aware of. A simple ad from craigslist, written by an American, and after more than a decade of (admittedly erratic) learning, it contains a lot of new words for me. I don’t know if I will retain these words. Maybe writing them down on this blog will help. Here is the ad:
안녕.
제 이름은 xxx이고 영어를 모국어로 하는 텍사스 출신의 여성입니다. 관심 있는 분들에게 1-1 개인교습과 단체교습을 제공합니다.
유치원부터 고등학생까지, 대학생에서 성인까지 가르칠 수 있습니다. 과목에는 영어 회화, 토플, SAT I &II, ACT, SSAT, IGCSE가 포함되지만 이에 국한되지는 않는다.저는 공학을 전공해서 수학과 과학을 배우고 싶은 사람들을 영어로 가르치는 일을 할 수 있습니다.
저는 2-3년의 교육/강습 경험을 가지고 있으며 항상 학생의 필요에 맞게 즐겁게 수업을 진행하고자 합니다. 한국말도 해요.
요금은 (주제에 따라) 50000~70000원입니다.
평일에는 한가해요.
관심이 있으시면 xxx 로 연락 주시면 최대한 빨리 연락드리겠습니다!
And here are the words I didn’t know. So next time you feel like “Oof! I’ve studied so hard for 3 years and still don’t know this basic words”, remember this. I am stupider than you. Cheer up!
모국 native language
출신 native speaker
개인교습 private lesson
성인 adult
포함되 include
국한되 limited
공학 engineering
과학 science
교육lesson
주제 subject
평일 weekdays
최대한 as possible