What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Pronunciation
저는 공부해야되요/jeo-nun gong-boo-hae-ya-dwae-yo

Translation
I should study.

I took a TOPIK practice exam last night and realized that I am nowhere near as good at Korean than I want be at this point. My real problem is that I just don't know enough vocabulary. So, I've decided to start working a lot harder on it. I have a list of vocab that I need to study and I'm going to start hitting it hard. When the winter TOPIK comes around, I should hopefully be ready.

What I learned in Korean Today:

Hangul/Pronunciation

• 술고래/sool go-rae

Translation

• alcohol whale

While the literal translation means alcohol whale, it's an expression for someone who drinks a lot.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Pronunciation

• 모든 여자 사랑해요, 하지만 내 첫 사랑이에요/mo-deun yeo-ja sa-rang-hae-yo, ha-jee-man neh cheot sa-rang-ee-eh-yo

Translation

• I love all women, but you are my first love.

I've decided to take the TOPIK.

The TOPIK is the Test of Proficiency in Korean. I always say that I'm going to start studying Korean more, but it has been difficult. I have been wading through my books and trying to study for the past year. To be honest, I feel like that I have learned some stuff, but at the same time, I probably don't know as much as I could. My studies have been unguided and lack structure. For the most part, I've only been studying things that I thought were useful or things that I think are really funny. As a result, I don't know much vocabulary and I can say some pretty dumb sentences. Studying for the TOPIK should structure my studies more and give me direction. Now only if I could somehow give the rest of my life some structure and direction.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Romanization

• 핸드폰 번호 주세요/haen-du-pon beon-ho joo-sae-yo.

Translation

• Lemme get those digits.

I'm actually surprised I didn't already know this.

Doing normal shit makes me feel accomplished.

Today I did a bunch of random stuff that I need to take care of before I move out.  I had to go get my pension, take some things to the dry cleaner, and buy a bunch of random shit.  It's not that I just do these things and I feel good about myself, but it's that I do these all and speak to everyone in Korean.  I was able to ask for where shit was, get to places, read signs, and tell people when I needed shit done by.  I remember when I got here, doing all this would have been a major hassle.  Even though it's been a year and I feel like I could have studied a lot more, it just feels good to know that I've accomplished something, no matter how small, in terms of speaking this language.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Pronunciation

• 탁구 ë°°ìš°ê³  싶어요/tak-gu bae-oo-go ship-eo-yo

Translation

• I want to learn how to play ping-pong.

I'm going to sign up for lessons next week at the place in my neighborhood.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Pronunciation

• 취했어요/chwee-haess-eo-yo.

Translation

• I'm drunk.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Pronunciation

• 냉면/naeng-myun
• 지금/ji-geum

Translation

• naengmyun (a cold noodle dish)
• now

I get a lot of messages on the school messaging system that I just don't even understand.  However, I do try to read them when I'm bored.  I got one about 20 minutes ago that said a whole lot of shit, but I saw these two words and figured out that there was naengmyun to eat in the teachers' lounge.  Little things like this make me feel like I'm making progress.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Pronunciation

• 그조셉/gu jo saep

Translation

• It's what I tell people when they ask if I have a Korean name. It literally translates to "that Joseph."

I made this up without the intent of being funny. I got 그 from taking the first character when I transliterate my whole last name, 그티에레스, I was told afterwards by my co-workers it meant "that Joseph."

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Pronunciation

• 공부하거나 집 에 가거 싶어요?/kong-boo-ha-geo-na jipe eh ga-geo ship-eo-yo?

Translation

• Do you want to study or go home?

I was able to put together this sentence yesterday while studying. My study buddy decided that we should stop studying and go home, so not much else was accomplished.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Pronunciation:

• 사진 찍어도 되요?/sa-jeen jjik-eo-do dweh-yo?

Translation:

• May I take your picture?

This question sort makes me sound like a creep. I think I'd rater just take pictures without asking and have people get mad at me.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul - Pronunciation:

• 트렌스셴더 - tu-raen-su-jen-duh

Translation:

• Transgender

It's same same.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul/Pronunciation

• 내가 한국어를 충분히 공부를하지 않는것./Nae-ga han-guk-uh-lul choong-boon-hee gong-boo-lul-ha-ji ahn-nun-geot.

Translation

• I don't study enough Korean.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul - Pronunciation

• 나랑하고 싶어요. - Naranghago shipoyo.

Translation

• I want to do it with you.

I actually studied Korean yesterday, like actually useful phrases and words, but I went to a bar afterwards and some dude taught me this. It might be more correct to say, 나랑색스하고 싶어요 [narangseksuhago shipoyo], which means I want to have sex with you.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul - Pronunciaton

• 블링 블링 - beul-ling beul-ling

Translation

• bling bling

Yesterday, one of the students in the broadcasting club was making poster. She wrote this at the top of the poster and I was really confused by it so I asked her what it meant. Of course she didn't understand me. It turns out that she finished the poster yesterday because I walked into school today and saw the poster. There was a big diamond drawn on it.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul - Pronunciation

• 너 없인 살수 없어. - Nuh obseen sarsoo obseo.
• 제발 가지 마. - Jebal gajee ma.
• 날 언제나 사랑할 거야. - Nar eonjena saranghal geoya.
• 우리 그래도 친구야? - Oori guraedo chingooya?

Translation

• I can't live without you.
• Please don't go.
• I'll always love you.
• Can we still be friends?

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul - Pronunciation

• 나는 워요일에 허슬링할거야. - na-neun wol-yo-il-ae heo-sul-ling-har-geo-ya.
• 나는 화요일에 허슬링할거야. - na-neun hwa-yo-il-ae heo-sul-ling-har-geo-ya.
• 나는 수요일에 허슬링할거야. - na-neun soo-yo-il-ae heo-sul-ling-har-geo-ya.
• 나는 목요일에 허슬링할거야. - na-neun mok-yo-il-ae heo-sul-ling-har-geo-ya.
• 나는 금요일에 허슬링할거야. - na-neun geum-yo-il-ae heo-sul-ling-har-geo-ya.
• 나는 토요일에 허슬링할거야. - na-neun to-yo-il-ae heo-sul-ling-har-geo-ya.
• 나는 일요일에 허슬링할거야. - na-neun il-yo-il-ae heo-sul-ling-har-geo-ya.
• 매일 난 허슬링해. - mae-il nan heo-sul-ling-hae.
• 매-매-매일 난 허슬링 - mae-mae-mae-il heo-sul-ling-hae.

Translation:

• On Monday I'm hustling.
• On Tuesday I'm hustling.
• On Wednesday I'm hustling.
• On Thursday I'm hustling.
• On Friday I'm hustling.
• On Saturday I'm hustling.
• On Sunday I'm hustling.
• Everyday I'm hustling.
• Ev-Ev-Everyday I'm hustling.

What I learned in Korean today:

Hangul - Pronunciation

• 우리 집 이애요! - oori jipe ee-eh-yo!
• 이집을 보호해야되요. - ee-jipe-eul bo-ho-he-ya-dwe-yo.

Translation

• This is my house!
• I must protect this house.

I beat the biggest boy in my school at an arm-wrestling match earlier today. When I won I actually said, "This is my house and no one beats me in my house," in the middle of my classroom. No one understood it, but I thought that it was something that I should learn in Korean. My co-worker said it wouldn't make any sense if I said it to anyone, but that doesn't really matter.

What I learned in Korean today:

Since I've decided to start taking Korean more seriously, I'm going to change the "What I learned in Korean this week" to a more regular feature. I won't be posting something new everyday but just whenever I decide to study. I'm also going to open this more up to rules about grammar and shit, instead of just vocabulary.

There's two things that I learned today.

1. I have to speak Korean with more feeling. I don't really consider voice monotone, but I'm not speaking with the proper intonations in Korean. This is the most apparent when I'm asking questions. When asking a question, you say the same thing as you would as a sentence, but sort of raise your tone at the end of the sentence.
2. Pronouns are often dropped when speaking in Korean, especially the word for "you." This makes things confusing sometimes.

Here's a good example of how both these things work.

Hangul - Pronunciation:

• 남자친구 있어요? - Namja-chingu isseoyo?

Translation:

• Do you have a boyfriend?

Translation when I say it without intonation:

• I have a boyfriend.

As you can see, no intonation + no pronouns = me looking gay.