Month: June 2012 (Page 2 of 6)

Learning English F and P

2012/06/25 / Nic / 6 Comments

When my husband first came to Australia about 6 years ago he didn’t speak much English. I did not know him back then so it’s hard for me to imagine him not being able to say much! This is a story he told me about being in English class in Brisbane. I’ve mentioned before that Koreans often have trouble with F and P. Usually they pronounce the F as a P when first learning English. There is good reason for this as they don’t have the F sound in Korean and when English words with F are translated to hangul the Korean P sound ㅍ is used.

He was lying anyway, I know his favourite food is not fruit… it’s meat! Lots and lots of meat!

I can’t help wondering though, why this English teacher didn’t know that Koreans have trouble with F and P? Was she new at teaching English? There are many many Koreans in Australia learning English and you’d think she’d have some experience with this before. Anyway he got quite upset!

Comments

2012/06/25 / Nic / 9 Comments

Hi guys!

I started this blog not long ago and I’m surprised at how many people have said they like it and read it. So thanks so much. I’d love for this site to become a place where people can meet other people who have similar interests and where we can have a little community. Feel free to comment on any post even if it’s not directly related to the post. Feel free to talk to others and have conversations.

I’ve installed the new Disqus comment system which allows you to comment using your facebook, google or twitter name. Or you can get a Disqus screen name. Many other blogs use Disqus commenting so it means you can use your screen name for any of them.

And, if you’d like a post or comment about anything in particular, just ask!

만약에 영어로 댓글 달아야 해서 불편하시다면은 한글로 댓글 달아 주셔도되요. 저도 한국어를 공부하고 있고, 제 남편이 한국사람이라서 이해할수 있거던요. 댓글 하나하나가 많은 도움이 됩니다. 많은 댓글 부탁드려요.

Scary Number 4

2012/06/24 / Nic / 7 Comments

Like many other Asian countries, Tetraphobia (the fear of the number four) is common in Korea. This is because the Chinese word for ‘four’ is quite similar to the word for ‘death’. In Korea there are two numbering systems: Pure Korean numbers and Sino Korean numbers. Sino Korean numbers are taken from Chinese numbers so the aversion or fear of the number four is found in Korea too. Many buildings in Korea skip level four and simply go from three to five because of this superstition.

My mother, quickly remembering what I’d told her about this, realised why my husband’s face was so shocked that the ground entrance was actually level four. The hospital is on sloped ground which is why it’s like this. My husband had not realised this when he had entered the hospital, and was alarmed for a second while in the lift my mother pointed this out and pressed the 4 button. So probably not a good idea for Koreans to go to this particular hospital if they are sick…

Thankfully my father is out of hospital and fine now.

Big Bang Tour Date Australia

2012/06/23 / Nic / 12 Comments

Big Bang have released most of their tour dates for their world wide tour. Every time a new date is released. I’m excited… then disappointed. I thought with the successful K-Pop Concert in Sydney last year that Australia would be an obvious choice for Big Bang to go to. Now I’m not so sure. There are still some dates to be released but I’m not that hopeful anymore.

Sorry Peru fans… I was just a bit upset. My husband is a Big Bang fan but he will be quite happy if they don’t come to Australia because he knows I will spend all my money on getting the best tickets.

I should remind him though, that if it wasn’t for Big Bang then he would never have been able to use that terrible pick up line on me about him being in the same family as G-Dragon: Found Here.

He should be thankful to Big Bang because that line kinda worked… hey I ended up marrying him right?

In conclusion: this is my current feeling.

Korean Drama Arm Grab

2012/06/22 / Nic / 10 Comments

I have no idea why they do this… I guess just cultural difference where it’s completely fine to grab someone’s arm or wrist like that and drag them in the direction you want to go. If an Australian guy did this to me I would assume he was really angry with me and I’d likely get defensive and slap him. I’ve said a few times to my husband that when he does it to me in Australia it does kinda look like he is an abusive husband dragging me somewhere!

But like many things, it’s just different in Korea and this type of movement is shown a lot in Korean drama. Either dragging the girl somewhere to talk or pulling her in for a kiss.

All my comics are about real things that happened and the above one is no exception So although my husband does do the arm grab thing it is usually in a mundane situation like that. No romantic kisses or dramatic confessions.

K-pop Dreams

2012/06/21 / Nic / 9 Comments

Japan Edition #1

2012/06/20 / Nic / 6 Comments

My younger brother goes to a music school in Japan. He has some interesting adventures and meets many interesting people. I’ll be drawing pictures of some of the things he tells me. Here is just one of them.