K-Pop Academy [Week 2]

Today was the second day of the K-Pop Academy and the focus of todays class was Hangul (한글), the Korean writing system. Although I am able to read Hangul, I was keen to find out more about the Korean writing system and the history behind it.

Hangul written in Korean

I actually rushed to class thinking I'd be late but when I arrived at the Korean Cultural Centre I realised it was only 1:15 not 2:15. -______- Typical of me to do something like that eh. So I killed some time doing some Korean homework in the library while I waited.

When it was almost 2pm, I went back upstairs and saw other students waiting so I chatted to them before the lesson started.

First we told to find out names on a huge board full of name tags that were written in Korean. Luckily, I know Hangul so it wasn't too difficult. It was nice to see everyones names written in Korean. My name look pretty long right? Normally Korean names, both first name and surname, are only 3 syllables whereas my name is 6 syllables long.

My name in Korean

Korean alphabet chart

We proceeded to the lecture room where we watched a brief video about Hangeul and how it was invented. It was fascinating how the King Sejong, the fourth king during the Joseon dynasty, went out of his way to create a new writing system to make it easier for all Korean citizens to read. The video also illustrated that Korean is based on the anatomy of the mouth or tongue when producing a particular sound.  For example, when you say 'ㄱ' which produced a 'g' sounds, your tongue is on the roof of your mouth and the shape of the letter reflects this.

During our break we filled in a brief sheet about what we learnt from the video.

After the break we were given a lecture about Hangul byDr. Jaehoon Yeon, a lecturer at SOAS University. He told us about the various theories that were hypthesised about the creation the the Korean language. In addiction to this, he told us the difference in North and South Korea which was insightful. Overall, it was areally interesting and I felt like I have taken a lot from the lecture. Thank you Dr Yeon.

Oh yeh, I'm was elected as the class representative. Thanks guys~.. =D

After class I was as hungry as a horse, a couple of classmates & I went to Seoul Bakery again for some delicious Korean food. I think we'll just make it a regular thing as we went there last week straight after class. =) Lol.

Next week we have a Korean cooking class. Nom nom, can't wait. I'll keep you posted on the horrible mess I'll make.. Haha.. ^^

-Tamanna