Over the past week, I’ve been playing around with habits. Actually, habits have fascinated me for some time – particularly since I started studying them in the book by Charles Duhigg: The Power of Habit. I’ve written a number ofContinue reading My Experimentation (and Success!) with Habit Creation
Hardships – Korean Expressions #7
Gotta love those Korean expressions!~ My favorite this time is clearly #1 – the Forrest Gump style picture. But the last one (the Hanja one) is also quite good. 공수래공수거 (空手來空手去) This expression is very religious (or “zen” as othersContinue reading Hardships – Korean Expressions #7
ALL Intermediate Vocabulary Pages
Korean Grammar in Use: Intermediate provides quite a step up from the previous book. There is TONS of new vocab and plenty more grammar points. As such, the book really ought to be studied at a slightly slower pace thanContinue reading ALL Intermediate Vocabulary Pages
Master the Art of Finding & Using Korean Subtitles for Hollywood Movies in GOM Player
Getting Korean subtitles on Hollywood movies isn’t nearly as hard as it seems. In fact, there’s a feature to do so built right into GOM Player (I knew there must be a good reason Koreans prefer GOM to VLC). DependingContinue reading Master the Art of Finding & Using Korean Subtitles for Hollywood Movies in GOM Player
The SECRET to Motivation lies in the Difference between Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation
I’ve recently been listening to the Internet Business Mastery podcast with Jeremy Frandsen and Jason Van Orden because they focus on the types of things that can help make anyone successful in an online business: Motivation Habits Actually, these areContinue reading The SECRET to Motivation lies in the Difference between Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation
Expressions #6B: Descriptive adjectives
Since Koreans have such a wide variety of ways to explain people’s lives based on how an adjective describes something, I decided to list a bunch of those here: Which one best describes you? I’ve definitely got a “long mouth”Continue reading Expressions #6B: Descriptive adjectives
Korean Legal Terms RE: Contracts
The following is a GUEST POST coauthored by Yuna Lee, Korean attorney and Darren Bean, California attorney. We’d like to thank them for their contribution to this blog. You can read Ms. Lee’s blog at askakoreanlawyer.blogspot.com and if you need legalContinue reading Korean Legal Terms RE: Contracts
BHAGs and High Performance Achievement in Korean
Just read this article from Dave Ramsey’s team about High Performance Achievement and goal setting. The question posed at the beginning of the article is: When it comes to life, do you want to just roll with it, or willContinue reading BHAGs and High Performance Achievement in Korean
Expressions #6: Belly Buttons, Balls, Tails, and Feet
The Nine-Tailed Fox (picture #6) In legends, the nine-tailed fox is a monster that disguises itself as a beautiful woman. It needs a tenth tail to become human, and in order to acquire one, it tries to seduce a manContinue reading Expressions #6: Belly Buttons, Balls, Tails, and Feet
Kim Yuna in Sochi Olympics Skating Silver “아, 짜다” and Expressions
Kim Yuna, the obvious favorite in Korea for women’s figure skating individual gold medal in Sochi was beat out for the top spot Thursday night by Russian skater Adelina Sotnikova. A bit of a controversy has arisen from the resultsContinue reading Kim Yuna in Sochi Olympics Skating Silver “아, 짜다” and Expressions
Expressions #5: Liver, Gallbladder, Insides
Liver: Koreans think of the liver as a symbol of courage and vitality, the most important part of the body. In many legends, monsters only eat the livers of their victims. Gallbladder: The gallbladder is also a symbol of courage.Continue reading Expressions #5: Liver, Gallbladder, Insides
Slow (Patience) and Steady (Consistency) Wins the Race
You know the old fable of the Tortoise and the Hare: Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on aContinue reading Slow (Patience) and Steady (Consistency) Wins the Race
Korean Expressions #4: Anatomy
For more posts in this series, check out our Expressions Category. **These expressions are from How Koreans Talk: A Collection of Expressions.For more in-depth explanations, buy the book. Which of these expressions is your favorite?
Learn How to Read ANYTHING in Korea by Learning Hangul
If you’re coming to Korea for the first time, the most important thing to do FIRST is learn the alphabet.
Even if you study absolutely no grammar or vocabulary, learning the alphabet is essential to your happiness and success in Korea. It’s also the easiest part of Korean to learn. You can learn the entire alphabet in a single afternoon (or in a single blog post!).
How to Apply for KIIP Online Classes (After the Pre-Test)
How To Apply for KIIP Online Classes (after the Pre-Test) from Aaron Snowberger Download the original PPT here A few things to be aware of when registering for the Online KIIP classes: Classes are limited to only 9 students. TheseContinue reading How to Apply for KIIP Online Classes (After the Pre-Test)
Watch the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Korea LIVE without TV
My wife and I don’t have a TV at home. This is good and bad for a number of reasons: The Good We are far more productive with our time. We have more “face time” as a couple and moreContinue reading Watch the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Korea LIVE without TV
Understand that ALL Learning Happens in Cycles
I’ve recently been pondering the truth of the title of this Post: “all learning happens in cycles.” I can see this truth played out very well in my own study of Korean. Most noticeably, my interests in different aspects ofContinue reading Understand that ALL Learning Happens in Cycles
Food Expressions #3 + North Korea’s Godzilla Movie (Pulgasari)
Here’s the third edition of Visual Korean Food Expressions. For the other two Posts in this series, see below: Visual Korean Food Expressions #1 Visual Korean Food Expressions #2 The last one is the most interesting to me. Actually, inContinue reading Food Expressions #3 + North Korea’s Godzilla Movie (Pulgasari)
What to Expect at the KIIP Level Test
Saturday, I took the level test (사전평가) for the Korean Immigration and Integration Program (사회통합 프로그램). Here are some notes about the experience: What to Prepare BEFORE the Test Although the KIIP website says you need to prepare three items,Continue reading What to Expect at the KIIP Level Test
Hurry! Hurry! Wait…? (빨리! 빨리! 기다려…?)
빨리! 빨리! Culture As is obvious from the video above (and for anyone who’s lived in Korea for any length of time), Korean culture is one of speed. Business is booming, profits are soaring, and Korean has steadily enjoyed outstandingContinue reading Hurry! Hurry! Wait…? (빨리! 빨리! 기다려…?)
Visual Korean Food Expressions #2
You can find the first post in this series here. Which of these is your favorite? I like the one with Gru and the “If it looks good, it probably tastes good too” rice cake one. Also, Shintoburi is quiteContinue reading Visual Korean Food Expressions #2
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Hanja
Quick Link: Hanja Learning Resources I studied Chinese for 3 years in university, so I already have a pretty decent idea of what goes into studying Chinese: Repetition, repetition, repetition I’ve recently been interested in the use of Hanja (ChineseContinue reading Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Hanja
Stay Motivated by Keeping Your Interests Fresh
Another term for “keeping your interests fresh” is “novelty seeking.” I read an interesting book back in 2006 about novelty seeking called “Satisfaction: Sensation Seeking, Novelty, and the Science of Finding True Fulfillment.” It was an intriguing read (that IContinue reading Stay Motivated by Keeping Your Interests Fresh
Saturday Idioms, Expressions, and Slang #1
I’m a big fan of learning Korean idioms, expressions, and slang. I’ve also recently been given a nice book called “How Koreans Talk: A Collection of Expressions” by Sang-Hun Choe and Christopher Torchia that has a ton of good onesContinue reading Saturday Idioms, Expressions, and Slang #1
Why Don’t Korean Students Care About Verb Tense When They Write Paragraphs?
If you’re teaching English Writing to Korean students, you’ve probably come to the same conclusion that nearly every teacher eventually comes to: Korean students just cannot seem to get a grip on using consistent verb tenses throughout sentences and paragraphs! WhyContinue reading Why Don’t Korean Students Care About Verb Tense When They Write Paragraphs?
The 100 Awesomest People in Korean History (List)
Korean history + Trot (트로트) = Required karaoke for all Korean 5th graders (or at least, so I was told by my Winter Camp 5th graders). Anyone who’s interested in Korean culture or Korean history would be greatly interested in thisContinue reading The 100 Awesomest People in Korean History (List)
How to Register for the FREE KIIP Korean Class
How to Register for the FREE KIIP Korean Class from Aaron Snowberger Download the ORIGINAL PPTX here KIIP is the Korea Immigration and Integration Program. The website is located at www.socinet.go.kr. They offer a FREE Korean course for foreigners upContinue reading How to Register for the FREE KIIP Korean Class
What’s the Difference Between a Vision and a Goal?
If you’re anything like me, you recognize at least a few keys things you need to do in order to accomplish your goals. Well, what should you do when those few key things are hardly motivating? Or when they seemContinue reading What’s the Difference Between a Vision and a Goal?
ALL Previous TOPIK Writing Topics for ALL Levels
This page is a collection of ALL the previous TOPIK Writing topics from ALL the levels from 2006-2014 (Tests 10-32): Beginner (1급-2급) Writing Topics Intermediate (3급-4급) Writing Topics Advanced (5급-6급) Writing Topics Each link contains a full text of theContinue reading ALL Previous TOPIK Writing Topics for ALL Levels
Weekly TOPIK Writing Podcast
What’s this all about? I want to take the Intermediate (soon to be Intermediate/Advanced) TOPIK test this year and pass with a Level 4. I think TOPIK Writing (+ the grammar, structure, and vocabulary necessary) is the hardest part ofContinue reading Weekly TOPIK Writing Podcast