#learn korean with me

[salanaii]

Learn Korean with me - Part 31! – Vocab Part 7

Kind/friendly – 친절한 – chin jeol han

Lazy – 게으른- gee u reun

Happy – 행복하다- haeng bok ha da

Sad – 슬퍼- seul peo

Sick – 아픈- a peun

Boring – 지루한- ji ru han

Glad – 기쁜 -  gi ppeun

Tired – 피곤한 – pi gon han

Camera – 카메라 – ka me ra

Building – 건물- geun mul

That (over there) – 저/저것 – jeo/jeo geos

I/self – 저 – jeo

Desk – 책상 – chaeg sang

These – 이 것 -  I geos

That – 그 – geu

Those – 그것 – geu heos

This – 이 -  i

Monitor – 모니터 – mo ni teo

Bathroom – 화장실 -  hwa jang sil

Restaurant – 식당 – sig dang

That way – 그 쪽 – geu jjog

Here/ over here – 여기 – yeo gi

There – 거기 – geo gi

Over there -  저 기 – jeo gi

Tree – 니무 -  na mu

Bag – 가 방 -  ga bang

[dailyhatsune]

the tiger draws close

[catmadeofsalad]

Mammon: MC is speaking in tongues, I think they've been possessed!

MC: 아니요. 나는 한국어로 말하고 있어요.

Satan: MC said, "No. I'm speaking Korean."

Mammon: You can speak two languages!?

MC: 확실히

Satan: Obviously.

[royalarchivist]

This video is only available to people who are members of Acau's ( 악어 ) Youtube, but one of his fans posted a short clip Acau shared of his and Quackity's conversation testing out the QSMP translator!

[ Original Tweet ]

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Fun language fact: "please take care of me" is a very common phrase in Korea for when you're meeting someone knew, especially if you're under their hospitality

[vivicantstudy]

Random Korean Gen-Z Slangs

1. 래전드 (raejeondeu) – Derived from the English word “legend,” this term is used to describe someone or something that is legendary or incredibly impressive. 

2. 미친 개쩐다 (michin gaejjeonda) – This phrase translates to “crazy awesome” and is used to express that something is extremely cool or amazing. 

3. 열받네 (yeolbatne) – An expression used when someone is frustrated or annoyed, equivalent to saying “I’m so irritated” or “That’s infuriating.” 

4. 구라치지마 (gurachijima) – A warning to “stop lying” or “don’t bullshit,” used when someone suspects that another person is not being truthful. 

5. 감성있네 (gamseonginne) – This phrase means “That’s emotional” or “That has a lot of feelings,” used to describe something that is touching or sentimental. 

6. 농협은행 (nonghyeop eunhaeng) – Literally translating to “Agricultural Cooperative Bank,” this term has humorously become slang for “You are so pretty,” stemming from a misunderstanding where a foreigner’s question about the bank was misinterpreted as a compliment. 

7. 새금 더 내라 (saegeum deo naera) – Originally meaning “Pay more money,” this phrase is humorously used to express jealousy, often in response to someone showing off or having something desirable. 

8. 추구미 (chugumi) – A cute way of saying “I’m cold,” often used in a playful or childish manner. 

9. 느좋 (neujot) – Short for ‘느�� 좋다,’ meaning ‘good vibes.’ You can use it to describe anything that gives you a good feeling. 

10. 코스크 (koseukeu) and 턱스크 (teokseukeu) – These terms refer to wearing a mask incorrectly: ‘코스크’ (koseukeu) describes wearing a mask below the nose, and ‘턱스크’ (teokseukeu) refers to wearing it on the chin. 

[sajra-savera]

2024 . 12 . 09

[rusquared]

imagine reading a novel about the apocalypse and how fiction can save your life in both an ordinary and extraordinary tragedy... and two years later watching the novel wrap up in the middle of a worldwide pandemic ??????????????

[dropthedemiurge]

Love for Love's Sake | Things You Didn't Notice #4 | Fight with Homophobes

Honestly, I wanted to dissect these scenes right away but then we got the rest of the show uploaded and the emotions overshadowed me. But now we're diving into informal Korean speech, swearing and slurs! It's going to be a fun post, let's go :D

Disclaimer: I'll be writing down both English and Korean slurs strictly in educational manner, obviously.

"Fuck. You two are always so fucking close together. (to Myungha) Are you also a faggot (homosekki)? Wow, Kyunghyun's skills are so good." "Why are you so vulgar? What's wrong with being homo?" "You're really crazy. Are you criticizing me?" ... (Myungha kisses Tak Junho) " Ah fu— You damn faggot!" "We both kissed. I'm not the only one who's homo. You're homo too~" "You did it yourself, you faggot!" "Ah, our Junho keeps saying 'homo'. Tss, slurs are forbidden." "Shut up, you faggot." "If you call me homo one more time, I can steal your lips for real. (Junho is silent) Ha, afraid you'll be robbed?"

Honestly, I like the translation in subs this time, I just wanted to give you a more technical version (and to show you the difference, because in Gaga subs the f slur is also used by Myungha but it's not exactly that)

So, as far as I noticed, the slur in Korean is a derivative from the term "homosexual" - thanks to the similar sounding, it became "homosekki" (from sekki - asshole, bastard, bitch etc). This is the word Junho keeps using in almost every sentence. And the socially accepted common term is now "gay" (at least, the cast and couple from Korean reality dating show "His Man 2" refers to themselves as 'gay' and not 'homo').

Myungha uses the original term, just "homo", which also gained a negative connotation but doesn't include a 'sekki' swearword. So he keeps saying "homo" to talk back in the language Junho used, only less derogatory. We'll see later but it's amazing, because both Myungha and Sangwon confidently used this word about themselves (Sangwon even went further and proudly reclaimed the slur itself).

Still, Myungha did threaten gangster Junho not to even call him "homo" or any similar terms. And here's the moment which made me laugh: in the next scene with Sangwon, Junho was angry ranting about Myungha, but he caught himself using the slur "homosekki" and quickly changed to the modern and neutral term "gay". LOL

Which is what Gaga subs failed to show it to us. Again, let's see more technical translation:

"I'll go after Tae Myungha and Ahn Kyunghoon soon, just so you know. Those fa– Those gay bastards must die. That fucker Tae Myungha kissed me in the lips, shit. Isn't it fucked up? It was disgusting." (Sangwon, pouting) "Wow, really? It must've been nice." "Jeez, you asshole. You're not a victim so you dare talking shit." "I'm being serious, though?" (Junho, appalled) "What the hell are you talking about? You're not a faggot." "I am a faggot, though?"

One, why is it so funny that the first reaction Sangwon had, hearing about Myungha kissing someone in a fight, was: awww :( i wish it was me :((( you so lucky :((

Second, it's hilarious how the gangster ends up the ONLY person who ever uses nice and modern term "gay" once in this show because our protagonists both hit him back with the derogatory terms (Sangwon even attached the slur to himself, when he only liked girls before falling in love with Myungha at first sight, what a legend).

Let's wrap it up with slurs and check out another small detail: informal speech in Korean.

(Sangwon to Myungha)"Why would we fight here?" (Yeowoon to Sangwon)"Hey, watch your tone (don't use informal speech)" "Was I talking like that with you?" "Talk curt (informally) only with me." "I'm already being curt (talking informally) with you."

This one is definitely a cultural thing that always gets lost in translation (but "being curt" is a nice way of putting it). There are two general styles of speech in Korean: Formal (존댓말, jondemal) and Informal (반말, banmal). Of course, it's a lot more complicated in the language, but I'll paint briefly the differences that are pointed out in the scene.

I talked in previous posts about properly addressing your senior in korean (usually by title/position). To convey respect to your senior, you also use 요 (yo) at the end of the sentences – and both Sangwon and Yeowoon talk politely to Myungha. UNTIL Sangwon uses the rude version of a question, without polite ending ("Why would we fight here?"), to which Yeowoon protests and tells Sangwon that it's banmal, informal speech, and he should only use it with him.

Because with your friends, same age people (Yeowoon and Sangwon in this case) or people younger than you, it's normal to use their names with different intonations (Think Myungha's "Yeowoon-ah, Yeowoon-ie") and talk informally.

(Yeowoon to Myungha) "I asked who it was." "You're being curt (that's an informal speech)".

Fast forward – Yeowoon loses patience and demands Myungha "I asked who it was", question without polite ending as well. To which Myungha cheekily says "that was an informal speech", reminding Yeowoon of his own remark to Sangwon.

Fast forward again – and now I have to take back my previous statement from another post that Yeowoon never called Myungha by his name because I found the rare case of him doing it xD

"Tae Myungha is so frustrating." "You're speaking informally more often these days."

Again, a youngster! calling his senior! by his own name! Not using the polite ending! The horrors of informal speech. He's not being too rude but he's sulking therefore he's rebelling. Though I can swear, again, Yeowoon hears Myungha's scolding and resorts back to speaking politely, and from now on, he'll keep using 'senior'.

If you survived until the end of this post, congratulations! The second half probably wasn't needed but in case you're learning Korean or you want to know why these seemingly normal phrases are being considered "curt" out of nowhere, I hope you understand it now a little bit better :)

// Previous messages translation + other language moments here //

[downtownsdead]

I didn't even know that Sunjae was still in Eclipse!! I thought he was only an actor. Next goal, learn Korean so that we can understand the texts that they don't translate.

[jimpagne]

Would it be possible for you to make a post talking about/explaining batchim? I watched two videos about it on YouTube but I was still really confused… I found your explanations (and guide in general) very helpful and interesting so I was thinking you could make a post that was clear and understanding.

Hi anon, sorry it took me like... *checks calendar* ... three weeks to answer this... I got a little busy. Maybe very busy. Oh well.

But oh boy, yes, I remember the days of having to learn batchim... Well, if I'm being entirely honest, in my Korean classes my professors actually never touched on the topic besides some of the most basic forms. They just hoped that we would pick it up by ourselves through listening and reading practices.

And in a way, that's exactly what happened.

However, I do know it's pretty hard for someone just starting out, especially if you've only just learned Hangul. I will keep it real with you: don't view batchim as some type of roadblock or something that stands in the way of you progressing with your learning. With enough practice, you'll begin to pick up on these changes and eventually integrate them fully with your speaking skills.

Despite this, I will explain batchim as best as I can, and I will do it from a more linguistic type of view, since I actually study linguistics/phonetics (한국어로 '언어학' & '음성학')! A lot of sources will try to explain batchim in its most simplest form, but I'll try to get a bit more technical with it, but hopefully not in a way that is confusing.

Alright, let's begin!

받침 BATCHIM OVERVIEW

Batchim, in the most simplest terms, is the final consonant at the bottom of a Korean syllable block. However, depending on which consonant it is and which sound proceeds it, can have a pretty big impact as to how its pronounced.

I know everyone (including me) goes on and on about just how perfect the Korean writing system is, and how it's phonetically consistent -- until it's not. But we try not to scare Korean learners away from learning the language, and to be fair, even though batchim can be confusing, it is still way easier than English orthography (writing).

Intervocalic Forms: Voicing

Okay, before I actually dive into the more complex batchim forms, I'm actually going to start off with something that is not batchim. Wow. I know, this is a little inconsistent.

But anyways, have you ever looked at a Korean Hangul chart and asked yourself: why can the ㄷ, ㅂ, ㄱ all be read as both a d & t, a b & p, and a g & k? Many might answer this question with a simple, "because Korean sounds are not like English sounds", which yes, but also because these characters can be read like voiceless and voiced variants depending where they are in a sentence.

For a bit of background, in linguistics, we classify consonant forms as "voiced" or "voiceless". All vowels are voiced sounds, so they don't have a voiceless classification. Basically, to make it as simple as possible, this just means that some sounds produce more buzzing in the throat, whereas others do not. I think the best way for me to really show this to you is for you to say "s" and then for you to say "z"... you feel that difference, right? That's voicing. B, G, D are all voiced, whereas P, K, T are not.

So to try to sum this up: vowels are voiced, liquids (r & l ㄹ) are voiced, nasals (m ㅁ, n ㄴ, ng ㅇ) are voiced.

In Korean, you can have words where one character can be read as both its voiced and voiceless variant. How do you know when to voice versus when to leave it voiceless? Intervocalic positioning.

Intervocalic, in this case, basically just means between voiced sounds.

Let's take the word "idiot" in Korean. 바보. Notice that when you said this word, the first sound in 바 is more like a p, right? And then the second sound in 보 is more like a b, right? That's because the ㅂ in 보 is sandwiched between two voiced vowel sounds, ㅏ & ㅗ.

Other words where this trend is apparent:

바다: pa-da; ocean

아버지: a-beo-ji; father

예쁜 구름: ye-ppeun gu-reum; pretty cloud(s) Again, the ㄱ in this one is read like a g because it comes after a nasal (m, n, & ng), and a vowel, and nasals & vowels are voiced.

You don't need to memorize/learn any of this linguistic mumbo jumbo, but it's just a way of showcasing a pattern that many people learning Korean might have not noticed. You don't need to hyperfixate or constantly look out to see which characters are sandwiched between which characters... because that would be exhausting. A lot of this voicing occurs because it's just more natural to the human articulators to pronounce it that way, so you might just end up doing it without thinking. I just thought I might answer that quick question that some people might've had about Hangul.

But anyways, isn't that cool?! It's cool to me. The linguistics student.

Coda Neutralization

I know, that's kind of a scary linguistic term. Coda. In the simplest words, it's just a term that means the final sound in a syllable. Like the batchim. But in this case, Korean has a lot of batchims that when they are the final sound and not followed by an additional vowel (again, they're the coda), then their sound will neutralize/sound the same as other consonant sounds.

The first rule you should know is that if the sound is aspirated (ㅋ, ㅌ,ㅊ, ㅍ) or doubled/tensed (ㄸ, ㅆ, ㅉ, ㅃ, ㄲ) in the batchim, if it is by itself and does not connect to a vowel, it will unaspirate/untense.

EX) 있 -> 잇, 밖 -> 박, 엌 -> 억, 밭 -> 받, 빛 -> 빚 etc...

The 'T' Variant

Many consonants in the Korean batchim will come out sounding like a 't' if there is no vowel to follow them.

ㅅ

ㄷ

ㅈ

ㅎ

So, words like 곧 (soon, immediately) will sound like got. 빛 (light) will sound like bit, and not bich. Remember, ㅊ had to unaspirate first as well.

The Normies

These are the batchims that are more loyal to their sounds, and will only undergo the aforementioned unaspirating and untensing.

ㅂ

ㄱ

ㅁ, ㄴ, ㄹ don't have tensed/aspirated forms, so they're just chilling fr.

But like I said multiple times, this is only if there is no vowel sound to carry over the batchim sound. If there is a vowel, the sounds will be pronounced as normal.

Like 있다, when added to ~어요, the ㅆ will undergo resyllabification and will be read as i-sseo-yo (있어요).

Cultural notes: Sometimes Koreans will pronounce the batchim as its original sound for comedic effect. I've heard Jimin do this a lot with the ~ㅅ/�� batchim.

Tensification

This section will focus on ㄷ, ㅂ, ㄱ, ㅈ, ㅅ and their tensed/doubled variants ㄸ, ㅃ, ㄲ, ㅉ, ㅆ. Basically the rule goes that if a non-tensed consonant that has the ability to be doubled/tensed is in the batchim, and it comes into contact with another consonant that has the ability to be doubled/tensed, the latter consonant will be doubled/tensed.

Kind of a wordy explanation, but let me try to clarify it.

Take the word 식당 'restaurant' for example, the ㄱ is in the batchim and the consonant that proceeds it is a ㄷ. Both of these sounds have tensed variants. So instead of reading this like sik-dang, you would read it more like sik-ddang. The latter consonant of ㄷ has been doubled into a ㄸ.

학교; school: hak-kyo -> hak-kkyo

먹방 mukbang, (taken from the verb 먹다 [to eat] and the noun 방송 [broadcast/stream]); muk-bang -> muk-bbang

낮잠; nap (낮 day, 잠 sleep): nat-jam -> nat-jjam

있다; to have, to exist: it-da -> it-dda

Nasalization

The process of nasalization occurs when a stop consonant (p ㅂ, t ㄷ, k ㄱ) comes into contact with a nasal consonant (m ㅁ, n ㄴ, ng ㅇ). Though the 'ng' sound can't ever be a proceeding consonant since the 'ng' sound can only be voiced in the batchim, but you know...

I'll explain further.

This is BTS' wonderful MAKNAE LINE. The word maknae in Korean is spelled like 막내. As you can see, the batchim ㄱ (a stop consonant) is coming into contact with the nasal ㄴ sound.

So how will that impact the pronunciation of this word?

When the batchim ㄱ comes into contact with the proceeding ㄴ sound, the ㄱ sound transforms into an ㅇ sound. So instead of saying the word mak-nae with a prominent 'k' sound, you would say it more like mang-nae. The process of nasalization has just occurred!

Other Instances of ㄱ + ㄴ interactions:

학년; school year/grade: hak-nyeon -> hang-nyeon

먹는다; to eat (in the plain form): meok-neun-da -> meong-neun-da

ㄷ&ㅂ Interactions with Nasals

When a batchim ㄷ (and its other variants) comes into contact with a nasal, it assimilates and turns into a ㄴ sound.

받는다; to receive (in the plain form): bat-neun-da -> ban-neun-da

However, if the batchim ㅂ (and its variants) comes into contact with a nasal, they can take on an ㅁ sound. Also, remember, I taught coda neutralization first, because remember, the ㅅ turns into a 't' sound in the batchim if it is not followed by a vowel!

있는데; 있다 [to be] + ~는데 grammar form: it-neun-de -> in-neun-de

앞문; front door: ap-mun -> am-mun

~습니다; deferential conjugation form: seub-ni-da -> seum-ni-da

So, to sum it up, just remember this quick little chart.

ㄱ -> ㅇ ㄷ -> ㄴ ㅂ -> ㅁ

ㄹ Nasal Interactions

ㄹ is a bit of a special case; if nasals like ㅇ & ㅁ are in the batchim, or if ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ are in the batchim BEFORE a ㄹ, the ㄹ will change into a ㄴ sound.

심리; psychology: shim-ri -> shim-ni

통로; aisle: tong-ro -> tong-no

This makes a lot of sense! Just try saying tong-ro or shim-ri... it just feels a little uncomfortable, right?

Lateralization: Progressive & Regressive

Time for some more fun ㄹ forms! This particular form circles around ㄹ & ㄴ. I want you to think of these characters as siblings, and ㄹ is the older sibling, and ㄴ is the younger sibling that wants to copy everything that ㄹ does. Basically, if ㄹ and ㄴ are right next to each other, the ㄴ will turn itself into a ㄹ phonetically. Remember, these are still spelled the same way, but when spoken it just sounds different.

There are two instances in which this structure can occur, and it's formally known as progressive or regressive lateralization.

Progressive Lateralization: the ㄹ is in the batchim and turns the proceeding ㄴ into an ㄹ sound.

설날; Korean New Year: seol-nal -> seol-lal

실내; indoor: sil-nae -> sil-lae

Regressive Lateralization: the ㄴ is in the batchim and turns into a ㄹ upon connection to a proceeding ㄹ sound.

신라; Silla Dynasty: sin-ra -> sil-la

난로; stove: nan-ro -> nal-lo

Again, you don't really need to memorize these linguistic terms. As long as you know that ㄴ changes to a ㄹ if they're next to each other, that's good enough.

Palatalization

This will focus mainly on ㄷ and its aspirated (again, just meaning its just spoken with more air) variant ㅌ, and their interactions with 이. This form is quite easy and there's not really a lot of content that goes into this one. Basically, all you need to remember is...

When ㄷ is in the batchim and meets 이, the following sound that carries over will not be ���, but instead 지.

맏이; the eldest/firstborn (like Seokjin!): ma-di -> ma-ji

When ㅌ is in the batchim and meets 이, the following sound that carries over will not be 티, but instead 치.

같이; together: ka-ti -> ka-chi

Syncope (Deletion) & Fusion

This is primarily going to focus on the function of ㅎ, who has been up until this point pretty impartial toward most of the changes that we have covered. However, the ㅎ undergoes deletion and fusion when meeting certain vowel and consonant forms.

If ㅎ comes into contact with unaspirated stops (ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ) & affricates (ㅈ), it will aspirate them/carry an aspirated sound over. This can occur with ㅎ in the batchim, or if its proceeding one of these characters. This explanation might be confusing, so bear with me if you can.

DELETION: ㅎ in the batchim

A common process that ㅎ undergoes is having its sound "deleted" when proceeded by a vowel sound. ㅎ is a "weak" consonant, and therefore just falls silent, even going as far to be overpowered by other consonants in its double-batchim forms.

좋아요; it's good [좋다 to be good] + 아/어요 conjugation form: jo-ha-yo -> jo-a-yo

많이; a lot (adv.): man-hi -> ma-ni

괜찮아요; it's alright [괜찮다 to be alright] + 아/어요 conjugation form: gwen-chan-ha-yo -> gwen-cha-na-yo

As you can see, in both 괜찮아요 & 많이, they have the double batchim ㄶ, but in this case, the ㅎ is completely ignored in favor of the ㄴ.

FUSION: ㅎ in the batchim

This is when ㅎ comes before an unaspirated stop (ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ) or affricate sound (ㅈ). The ㅎ will turn its proceeding sound into its aspirated form (ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅊ, ㅍ).

좋다; to be good: joh-da -> jo-ta (조타)

넣다; to put/insert: neoh-da -> neo-ta (너타)

싫지만; 싫다 [to loathe/disagree] + ~지만 but: shil-ji-man -> shil-chi-man (실치만)

FUSION: Following Stops and Affricates

This is when ㅎ proceeds an unaspirated stop (ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ) or affricate (ㅈ) batchim. The ㅎ will carry over the sound from the batchim much like a vowel would, but it will carry its aspirated form (ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅊ, ㅍ).

막히다; to be blocked: mak-hi-da -> ma-ki-da (마키다)

입학; matriculation (entering a school): ib-hak -> i-pak (이팍)

축하하다; to congratulate/celebrate: chuk-ha-ha-da -> chu-ka-ha-da (추카하다)

When you sing Happy Birthday in Korean, the process of fusion takes place!

생일 축하합니다 생일 축하합니다 사랑하는 [이름] 씨 생일 축하합니다~🎵

Double Batchim Battle!

Well, we've reached the end of the road... for now, anyway. The reason why I decided to include this last is because this is something that'll just require memorization. I don't really have any cool hacks for you here, it's just something you'll have to manage to cram into your brain. So, let me make a WHO WILL WIN!!! type of guide for you. Again, this is in the case of reading it without a vowel for the other batchim to attach itself onto.

ㄱ WINS!

ㄳ - ㄱ ㄺ - ㄱ

ㅂ WINS!

ㅄ - ㅂ ㄼ - ㅂ

ㅁ WINS!

ㄻ - ㅁ

ㄴ WINS!

ㄵ - ㄴ ㄶ - ㄴ

ㄹ WINS!

ㄽ - ㄹ ㄾ - ㄹ ㅀ - ㄹ ㄿ - ㄹ

Alright, did you get all that? I hope so because I have no other way of explaining this.

The End ... ?

Congratulations, or 축하해요! You made it this far. If you managed to get through that without a headache, I applaud you. As I stated in the beginning, trying to memorize/learn all of this in one go is motivation suicide. So, I really don’t recommend that you get stuck on this. Don't worry about it too much, you'll pick it all up eventually!

Also, there are a fewww more details when it comes to batchim, however I thought it would be better to save that for a Korean conjugation/present tense lesson instead, since I feel like it fits a bit better into the "curriculum" of my brain. The conjugation lesson would be devoid of linguistic terminology, but would still answer some questions some may have about it.

Well, until next time!

[salanaii]

Learn Korean with me - Introducing Yourself!

[mynameisnotthepoint]

So yesterday, I binged Love in the big city. I had read the book, and as I am wont to do, i skimmed through to get back to the episodes and really sit down and watch them later (hopefully in small increments over the next two weeks).

I have been scrolling around on twitter since then (as one does, I am sick in bed with nothing to do but an assignment I don't have the brain power for right now) and really made me think.

First, I looked at international fans' reactions in English e.g. a gay guy I follow who parties a lot and talks openly about his sex life said it felt real, another guy kept complaining about Go Young's taste in men but also the people who watched it for the romance and only focused on that (and the sex scenes, which have racked up 100.000s of views). Some excitedly writing about how handsome the actors were, how they wanted to see a second season, a shame about this or that plot point (the "endgame" not being there). And as @lurkingshan said, it is NOT a romance drama or even a BL drama. This is a chronicle of one's man's life and his trauma, his relationships and his triumphs.

A lot of English-writing commentors praise the actors for their bravery. And that is always the debate, isn't it? Without them taking the role, this thing might not have been made. But the people behind it, who wrote, filmed, assisted, the writer who is a gay man himself, they all had such high stakes too, even higher (the author kept urging people on twitter to give the drama high views, one of the actors offered free hugs and an eating live stream if they managed to trend at no. 1). The drama is a depiction of a queer person's life as it could happen. Taking on this role, playing the part and then leaving it behind, is that as brave as people who live this life every day? Not to say that none of the actors in this production could be queer, bc some probably are.

One of the people i follow on twitter pointed out this feels like the drama shows queer sex, not sensationalised sex, just, that sex is a part of life so it is depicted in a series that is about life. With reading that, I began to wonder what queer koreans were saying about the series. Thanking the fact that google translate has not yet dropped their support of X, formerly twitter, I began by searching up Nam Yoon Su's name in Korean. A lot of people were calling him handsome, saying they cried about his performance. And then I stumbled upon several things:

1. The club scenes/music they used seems outdated to some Korean queers. They wrote that this feels more like a man in his 30s reminiscing his 20s than someone actually in their 20s, which, fair, the drama is told over the span of like 10 years I believe. Also the commentors thought the dancing was bad. But they said, even if some of it felt not true to gay life/the actors couldn't completely sell it as believable, that the drama was important and shouldn't be criticised too harshly.

2. They were having a linguistic debate about the usage of Korean gay slang (i think it was the word 기갈, but I could be wrong bc my Korean vocabulary is like 30 words) and that it has come into vogue with straight girls who go to gay bars, as Mi Ae does in the drama. In a way, it is a risk bringing a subculture that is/was quite closed to the mainstream (I think similar critiques have been made about drag race).

3. That the drama was not reaching its intended audience (queers) and was instead something for straight BL fans to screech over. It does feel kind of weird that something that veers more into raw territory (if you disregard the casting of Nam Yoon Su, who is super pretty and not at all like Young was described in the book), is treated the same as the stylised/trope-ified human experiences we see in some BLs (nothing wrong with those! Media is in its essence always a distillation of an experience),

I think that there is always a risk of depicting something that is close to the way actual individuals experience it and running into voyeuristic territory, on display for millions of people. Is it weird to want people to take this more seriously? To look at it in depth, treat the characters like humans that could actually be living out there and not Ken dolls you can mash together? Or is that too reductive of me, dictating what other people's experience with media should look like?

These are just my initial thoughts, I need to ruminate on them more, and I could be completely wrong about all of this.

I myself rarely go outside and have not had many queer IRL friends, which is why I am drawn to these series. To be honest, I don't even know the local queer slang bc I have been to the queer bar here once before it closed down due to internal disputes. Reading Love in the big city made me feel like i was hit with a sledgehammer, the series makes me want to go out and live again (once I am feeling up to it).

[darlinguistics]

a mindset that helped me a quite a bit in the past and still presently whenever studying a language gets really difficult or overwhelming or you feel like you are making no progress/not retaining anything or that its all pointless is that 1, there is literally nothing wrong with slowly learning a language. and more importantly, 2, sometimes shit needs time to sink in! i remember finishing korean 101 feeling genuinely like i had learned basically nothing and still struggled with the most easy concepts but! when 102 came along suddenly focusing on new material made me realize that the old stuff became intuitive! and that same pattern happens over and over, where a concept seems so awkward and complicated and impossible to grasp and then a few months later while focusing on an entirely different concept i realize the old confusing things are somehow now the 'easy' part that comes naturally! so i guess basically what im saying is i learned to MOVE ON! let yourself zoom out from this one little piece of the language and see the pieces surrounding it and overlapping with it! if a lesson was hard, good! it should have been! you probably wont feel confident in it during or even right after! but the work and energy you put into it isnt a waste just cuz it doesnt immediately pay off, sometimes you have to look away and just move on and trust that the knowledge will settle itself comfortably into your brain while you work on other things, especially if you keep reinforcing it here and there. consistent work will never be a waste even if you dont get immediate payoff. and one day youll wonder when the hell you got so quick at reading or when you memorized a rule or when you learned something you literally were never taught but just observed with your own intuition. so much of language learning is trusting yourself, and trusting this invisible force and process of learning thats bigger than you. it isnt all up to conscious studying and conscious effort and learning, you also need to give yourself time to unconsciously internalize things. and that takes much much longer than a week-long grammar lesson!!

[jamieleecvrtis]

GREG HSU as Wu Ming-Han

Marry My Dead Body (2022)

[inkandintellect]

Friday | 02/05 | 9:30 p.m.

Hello friends.🌙

I spent about one and a half hours learning Korean, and let me tell you — it's SO fun! There’s something about the way the words just feel right in my mouth, if that makes sense. But I love how smooth and rhythmic the language sounds. I was literally giggling while practising! 😂

Now I'm switching gears to do some chemistry (wish me luck!). 🧪

Oh, and I need to plan a birthday gift for my mom. It's the day after tomorrow, and I'm thinking of painting something for her. Just need to figure out what to make. 🎨

Anyway, that's my little update for now! Just a couple more minutes before I call it a night. Hope you all had a lovely day, too! 💕

P.S. Those grapes were really sweet. 🍇