[COLUMN] Learn Korean with Soshi: September Edition

30 days have passed, and it is now time to get your monthly dose of Learn Korean with Soshi. Five new phrases are available for you to learn, and I hope you have fun using them! You can also learn how to type the Korean characters on your keyboard here. 너희 아주 제정신이야? (Neohui aju jejeongshiniya?) = Are you guys seriously… in your right minds? How to type: sjgml dkwn wpwjdtlsdldi The nine girls were putting themselves in the ranks they thought would be appropriate but Jessica was disagreeing with the situation, so she used the phrase. 너희 (너 “you” + plural marker 희) means you (plural), the adverb 아주 means fairly, quite, 제정신이야 means to be sane, to be conscious (제정신 “sane” + informal questioning sentence ending -이야). An example situation where the phrase 너희 아주 제정신이야? would be used: On a rare day where Yuri and Yoona were alone together in their dorm, both of them decided to plan out a surprise for the birthday girl, Tiffany. The two stumbled upon the same idea: to scare her with bugs. As childish as it seemed, Yuri and Yoona didn’t seem to mind. Just when the two were immersed in their work, Taeyeon opened the front door and saw what they were doing. Without thinking, she questioned, “너희 아주 제정신이야?” 만나서 반가워요 (Mannaseo ban-gawoyo) = Nice to meet you How to type: akssktj qksrkdnjdy As one of the most commonly used phrases in self-introduction, Yuri used it for her little “drama” on stage. 만나서 literally means Because (I) met (you) (만나- “meet” + -서 “because”) and 반가워요 means it’s nice to meet you (반가- “it’s nice to meet you” + polite sentence ending -어요). Whether you use this as whole or cut off the “만나서”, it will still mean the same. An example situation where the phrase 만나서 반가워요 would be used: Despite the fact that Yoona has met a lot of new people due to her status as an artist, she still feels somewhat shy when a few dancers came to the SM dance studio to practice for her solo performance. She tried to brush off that feeling away, though, and started to greet each dancer personally, “만나서 반가워요.” 어디예요? (Eodiyeyo?) = Where is (it)? How to type: djeldPdy Seohyun and her virtual husband Yonghwa were searching for their new “house”, thanks to a note from the “We Got Married” cast. 어디예요 means where is (it) (어디 “where” + polite sentence ending -예요). An example situation where the phrase 어디예요? would be used: For their mission in Phuket, all nine girls had to go to a special place to receive their final prize. With so many clues but no correlations, questions like “어디예요?” kept getting asked amongst the group. 잘 들어봐 (Jal deureobwa) = Listen carefully How to type: wkf emfdjqhk For “Gag Concert”, Yuri had to act as a teacher’s assistant so she used a few phrases to emphasize her character. 잘 means well, and 들어봐 means listen (들- “to listen” + sentence ending -어 + imperative particle -봐). An example situation where the phrase 잘 들어봐 would be used: On the ride home from a movie premiere event, Taeyeon decided that she wants to organize a secret santa event for the girls but she had to announce it first before picking out those special somethings. When she entered the dorm, she wasn’t really surprised to find the busy chatting noise coming from the living room. Without hesitating—she had done it hundreds of times before—she stepped in and called out, “Kids, 잘 들어봐. I have an announcement to make.” 좋아하는 음식은… (Johahaneun eumshikeun…) = My favourite food is… How to type: whgdkgksms dmatlrdms The girls were answering several questions from the fans and Tiffany received a question about her favourite food. 좋아하는 means favourite or “something (I) like”; adjective (좋아하- “to like” + adjective marker -는) and 음식은 means food is (음식 “food” + topic marker -은). An example situation where the phrase 좋아하는 음식은 would be used: It was a new school year, and that meant new homeroom classes. The teacher this year wanted to know his students a little bit better so he made a little game of passing the ball around while the students introduce themselves along with a fun fact. When it was Sunny’s turn, she spelled out her name and said, “좋아하는 음식은 songpyeon (something like a rice cake).” Written by: spiceshoe@soshified.com Contributors: michaelroni@soshified.com Banner by: Chef@soshified.com Have a news item that you think Soshified should know about? E-mail us at tip@soshified.com. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/soshified for the latest on Girls’ Generation.

URL: http://soshified.com/2011/10/column-learn-korean-with-soshi-september-edition