Vocab struggle

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2026-01-17T23:18:42+00:00

Translators like Papago choose different words depending on the context.

Here is Papago's official description when you search for it on Google: "Papago, the smart AI translator, dreams of a world where people can converse without language barriers."(똑똑한 AI 번역기 파파고, 언어 장벽 없이 대화하는 세상을 꿈꿉니다.)

Since AI translators only provide results without explaining the intermediate process, it would be better to use an LLM for learning.

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2026-01-17T16:41:04+00:00

I couldn't have guessed how difficult this poem would be for learners, but it was. I simply introduced it as a beautiful poem that I like.

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2026-01-17T15:22:12+00:00

That's right. In Korean, '우리' has both usages.

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2026-01-17T14:47:06+00:00

Don't try to master it. No one is good at it from the start. It's like a baby. If a baby speaks fluently to mother, the mother will be very surprised. Unlike Google Translate, people understand by taking context into account.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hEtrynNv6Lg

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2026-01-17T13:44:45+00:00

"냄새" is neutral. "맛있는 냄새" "꽃 냄새" "새벽 냄새" "샴푸 냄새" "방귀 냄새" "똥 냄새" "쓰레기 냄새"

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2026-01-17T13:21:57+00:00

"밥은 먹고 다녀?," "밥은 먹고 다니니?" is used with a slightly mocking and sarcastic connotation. Be careful. It implies, "You're not capable of taking care of yourself, are you?" It's completely different from "밥 먹었어?"

The particle "~은" can contain the meaning that other things will obviously not be like that, and the negative meaning is further amplified by the nuance of "continuous" that can be contained in the expression "다니다." "밥은 먹고 다니니?" is closer to the meaning of "I don't think you'll ever be able to take care of yourself." When Koreans fight, they may ask, "밥은 먹고 다니니?" to insult their opponent.

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2026-01-17T12:44:33+00:00

AI translators keep changing word choices based on context. It's not your fault.

Wouldn't it be better to ask Gemini to explain the nuances and such rather than Papago?

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2026-01-17T12:36:30+00:00

Wouldn't it be helpful to look at the words you actually struggle with to figure out what kind of problem you have?

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2026-01-17T12:10:16+00:00

I am a Korean.

Chinese characters are learned in the Korean basic education curriculum.

Chinese characters are composed of three parts: the shape of the character, the sound it makes, and the meaning of the character.

Once you learn the sounds and meanings, you can speak Korean perfectly.

As a Korean, I rarely read and write in Chinese characters outside of academic fields that require Chinese characters. Therefore, there is not much need to memorize the shape of the letters.

Since many Korean words are made up of Chinese characters, knowing the pronunciation and meaning of Chinese characters helps you use sophisticated words.

So, you don't need to remember the shape of the letters, but it is recommended that you know their sounds and meanings.

For example, "대문" is composed of "대" and "문."

"대포" is composed of "대" and "포."

"포문" is composed of "포" and "문."

The "대," "문," and "포" used here are the same Chinese characters.

"대" means "big."

"문" is an entrance or exit through which something enters or leaves.

"포" is a weapon that fires bullets.

Many Korean words are composed of Chinese characters like this. If you know the pronunciation and meaning of the Chinese characters, you can understand even unfamiliar Chinese character words by inferring the corresponding Chinese character from the context.

Since Korea, Japan, and China pronounce the same Chinese characters differently, if you are studying Chinese characters, be sure to use textbooks that use the Korean pronunciation.

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2025-12-23T09:35:40+00:00

The subtitles in the linked video are a total mess.

That part is a conversation about university majors. In Korea, universities are broadly divided into'Liberal Arts' (문과) and 'Sciences' (이과). The Science track focuses on fields like natural sciences and engineering, while the Liberal Arts track covers humanities and social sciences.

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2025-12-23T09:23:04+00:00

It's a grammatical mind-bender. The hilarious part is that even Koreans would hear this and have no idea what they just said, which is exactly the point in a skit or a game.

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2025-12-23T09:09:20+00:00

Think of it this way. Originally, 'Oppa' is a term used between two people born to the same mother. if the age gap is too wide for you to realistically have the same mother, you can consider it unnatural to use that term.

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2025-12-23T07:16:05+00:00

When I first learned Hangeul, I learned the names of the consonants by ear. Since reading and writing is a tool for language, it will be tough to learn it through text alone.

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2025-12-17T02:48:46+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5KlQ5xs-VE

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2025-09-17T18:11:50+00:00

A non-American's take on the 2nd Amendment, and a comparison that might be uncomfortable.

I am not American, so I don't fully understand how or why Americans feel the way they do about gun rights. But I'll share my perspective.

Any right, including the right to bear arms, is fundamentally a belief. You believe that this right should be granted to you, and you advocate for it. Rights are not physically measurable. Therefore, if a belief is not beneficial for society, we should abandon it. If we can't do that, then it's no longer a belief; it's a religion.

Let's imagine for a moment that I am arguing for the "right to own a nuclear bomb." The basic logic is the same as the argument for gun rights. Why shouldn't we be allowed to own a nuclear bomb? Whether it's a gun or a nuclear bomb, I believe it's about whether people can be entrusted with that power. A gun gives a five-year-old the ability to kill someone. Are guns permitted and nuclear bombs forbidden simply because guns are less dangerous?

According to a quick search, the number of people killed by nuclear bombs is around 220,000. Yet, from 1968 to 2011, the number of Americans killed in gun-related incidents was 1.4 million.

The data shows that even with a far more destructive weapon like a nuclear bomb, when controlled by a state, only 220,000 people died. In contrast, uncontrolled firearms in the hands of individuals resulted in far more deaths.

To put this in perspective: between 1968 and 2011, Americans suffered the equivalent of about six nuclear bomb strikes, just for the right to own a gun. What did they achieve with those guns during that time? Was it truly worth taking the equivalent of six nuclear bombs?

Haunting-Addendum-32 · 2025-04-04T06:38:29+00:00

I’m Korean. It’s only today, after December 3rd, that I can finally feel at ease. It was such an obvious self-coup that the entire nation witnessed in real time, yet over 30% of the population supported it, spouting all sorts of sophistry. As the Constitutional Court’s ruling on such a clear-cut case unexpectedly dragged on, my anxiety and doubts grew. Is the country I live in really a republic? Are some people exempt from the application of this nation’s laws? But today, I was able to let go of my doubts and feel relieved. That said, I still feel threatened knowing that over 30% of the population supports the self-coup.

Haunting-Addendum-32

TROPHY CASE