[MANNAM] Have you ever heard about Korean famous poem 진달래꽃(jin-dal-rae-ggot)?

[MANNAM] Have you ever heard about Korean famous poem 진달래꽃(jin-dal-rae-ggot)?

When spring comes, you can see streets are full of colorful flowers.
Among them, I want to talk about the pink flower the Azaleas.
There is a famous poem named Azaleas and in this poem, you can see what this flower represents.

진달래꽃
                              김소월

나 보기가 역겨워
가실 때에는
말없이 고이 보내 드리오리다.


영변(寧邊)에 약산(藥山)
진달래꽃
아름 따다 가실 길에 뿌리오리다.


가시는 걸음 걸음
놓인 그 꽃을
사뿐히 즈려 밟고 가시옵소서.


나 보기가 역겨워
가실 때에는
죽어도 아니 눈물 흘리오리다.

AZALEAS
                 Kim so wol

When you leave, tired of me,
I will be ready to let you go,
no complaints, whatsoever.

And I will carpet your way
with azaleas, armfuls,
from the familiar Yaksan hill.

May you enjoy light steps
on the flowers for your path
as you go ahead, if you like.

When you leave, tired of me,
I surely won't cry,
no tears, never.

This is one of well known Korean famous poem.
In this poem, the 진달래꽃(jin-dal-rae-ggot), Azaleas represent love, blame, devotion and sadness.
You can also see Korean culture in this poem.
As you see, in the poem, he expressed sad feeling as blessing and beautifully.
Korean used to be patience and keep resentment rather than shout it out to others.
Also they are very devoted and love consistently.
Although many things has changed but still, these characters are involves in Korean.
This poem is so famous that it has made to a song.
You can find singer 'Maya' sing this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myqdnWKmDvc&playnext=1&list=PLD1671FC8E287E291

Moreover, you can learn these kinds of Korean language culture in MANNAM KOREAN CLASS:)

MANNAM: Where are you going? Did you eat?

MANNAM: Where are you going? Did you eat?

On the street, if you meet your friend or people you know, Korean usually say "Where are you going?" or "Did you eat lunch?" I heard from a friend that a Korean spoke this way to a foreigner, and the respond was "Hey! It's not your business. Why do you ask?" And the Korean was very surprised. I mean, they both were.

Korean says these words to greet people they know. To speak frankly, they don’t care and don’t mind if you really ate lunch or not. Also the place where you go is not a matter to them. They just ask you this because this is their way of saying hello.

Then, let’s find out where and when this saying began. This saying comes from Korean history. When Korea had war in 1950’s many people died. They died because of weapons and bombs but also by starvation. They didn’t have enough food for the people to eat. Since thousands of people died because the lack of food, eating was a big issue in the daily schedule. So “Did you eat food?” became an expression for caring each other. It was an important matter because it depends on life and death.

 What about ‘where are you going?‘? In the old times of Korea, we had many mountains and hills so, if we want to move and do something, I was a big thing for the people. Naturally if someone meets a person who he knows on the road, that became a saying for care and interest. Also when we use this word, we can continue the conversation.

 If your friend says this, we can of course answer to what they ask. Or just answer, ”Near here to do something.” They won’t ask until you answer it. Koreans mind what you do, where you go and about what you eat. It is the way to express that they care for you. They don’t want to bug you or make you feel bad.

Now do you understand why people say this? If we explain about our acts, we can understand each other. No one is right or wrong. Everyone is right and must be respected. Although these saying are from sad history, we can remember the past and try not to happen again. MANNAM is a place where we respect and understand your culture and language. In MANNAM Korean class you can learn about not only words or just language, love and peace. Plus! History! Think if we didn’t have war in the past, we might have not used these words. Or maybe it could have been another word. We can’t change the past, but we can change and make the future! Join MANNAM!

MANNAM: King Sejong was shocked! and made ‘훈민정음(Hun-min-jung-uem)’!

MANNAM: King Sejong was shocked! and made ‘훈민정음(Hun-min-jung-uem)’!

 In Joseon Dynasty period, there was a murder. A son killed his father by his own will. Even today, if we hear this kind of news on the media, people get shocked because we think, ‘how can a person kill his own father or mother?’ Especially, Korea is a country which has words and acts to respect the elders. So it must have been a big and shocking issue to all the people in Joseon.

 The king, who was Sejong at that time, was also shocked about this news. He couldn’t let the people commit a crime anymore. So he gathered his vassals to talk about this fact. After the meeting, King Sejong decides to make a book about how to act polite and have manners. So Sejong gathered all the information into one book. The book is [삼강행실도(Samgaghengsildo)]. It has many good examples of people who served their parents well.

 He wanted to make the people to follow the good examples. But there was a big problem. Although the book was published, the people couldn’t read it because they didn’t know how to read at all. To improve this problem, this time, Sejong made another book with pictures followed by words. So the people who can’t read can guess the content by the pictures. First this looked liked it was going on well rather it brought misunderstanding and confused the people.

 This is why King Sejong made ‘훈민정음(Hun-min-jung-uem). This is the background of the story. The people who learn Korean made by King Sejong! Come to MANNAM Korean class! Let’s share our information about Korean, and also Korean history. The small knowledge that we have can grow by informing each other! We can do that in MANNAM!

[MANNAM KOREAN CLASS] 동음이의어(dong-eum-i-ui-eo), one word, different meaning.

[MANNAM KOREAN CLASS] 동음이의어(dong-eum-i-ui-eo), one word, different meaning.

When you were listening to Korean, have you ever experienced that there is something wrong in the sentence?

Which is like, you know this word means something, but it doesn't make sense with that meaning in that sentence.

Today, I will give you a solution to that weird situation.

The reason why you felt something wrong was there were other meaning.

In Korean, it is called 동음이의어(dong-eum-i-ui-eo).

동 means same, 음 means sound, 이 means different, 의 means meaning and 어 means word.

Altogether, it means a word that has same meaning but different meanings.

In a one word, because it sounds same but has many meanings, that is why people can confuse.

So, let's learn them so we can understand!
 

# Korean Vocabulary

- 사과(sa-gwa) : Apple/ Apology

- 눈(neun) : Eye/ Snow

- 말(mal) : Language/ Horse

- 배(bae) : Stomach/ Pear/ Ship

- 타다(ta-da) : To ride/ Burn

# Examples

* 아침에 사과를 먹어요

- A-chim-ea sa-gwa-reul muk-eo-yo

- I eat apple in the morning

* 친구에게 사과를 했어요

- chin-gu-ea-gae sa-gwa-reul hat-eo-yo

- I apologied to friend

* 얼굴에 눈이 두 개가 있어요

- eol-geul-ea neun-i do-gae-ga it-eo-yo

- There are two eyes in the face

* 겨울에 눈이 내려요

- gyeo-wul-ea neun-i nae-ryeo-yo

- It snows in the winter

* 한국말로 해 주세요

-han-guk-mal-ro hae ju-sae-yo

-Please speak in Korean

* 옛날에 한국에서는 말을 탔었어요

-yet-nal-ea han-guk-ea-seo-neun mal-eul tat-eot-eo-yo

-Long time ago in Korea, people rode horse

* 배가 아파요

- bae-ga a-pa-yo

- Stomach hurt

* 배가 맛있어요

- bae-ga mat-it-eo-yo

- Pear is delicious

* 배로 제주도에 가요

- bae-ro jea-ju-do-ea ga-yo

- Go to Jeaju island by ship

* 음식이 타고 있어요

- eum-sik-i ta-go it-eo-yo

- Food is burning

* 차에 타고 집에 가요

- cha-ea ta-go jip-ea ga-yo

- Go home by riding a car

There are many 동음이의어(dong-eum-i-ui-eo), but these are the most famous words.

If you have a words like this in your language, share with us.

Even it's a Korean class, because WE ARE MANNAM INTERNATIONAL, we share not only language, but also cultures too:)

[MANNAM] Would you like to be 귀요미(gui-yo-me)?

[MANNAM] Would you like to be 귀요미(gui-yo-me)?

Being a cutie become a sensation in Korea.

The word 귀요미(gui-yo-me) is from 귀엽다(gui-yeop-da) which means cute in Korean.

So, 귀요미(gui-yo-me) represents a person who does cute things or looks like cute.

Have you ever heard 귀요미(gui-yo-me) song?

It goes like this. 1+1= 귀요미(gui-yo-me), 2+2= 귀요미(gui-yo-me), and so on till 5.

The lyrics doesn't mean anything but it has its own cutie action in each number.

It might looks like very childish, but is in famous in all ages.

One of Korean culture, Koreans like to be seen younger than they are.

To be younger, they try to eat healthy, exercise, and also they dress younger.

Because of this trend, there are lots of cute words to be cutie.

When you are asking for a favor to someone, how about saying 뿌잉뿌잉(bbu-ing bbu-ing)?

It's a charming action of earnest request. When you say this word, there is an action that you should do with.

First, clench your two fist and then, put it on your cheek. this is not it. There is one more step.

At the same time you say the word 뿌잉뿌잉(bbu-ing bbu-ing), bob up and down your two fist.

Also the main point in here is your shining, twinkling eyes that looks like diamonds in it.

If you do that when you do something, there will be no one to refuse your request.

Second word that we will learn is 부끄부끄(bu-ggeu-bu-ggeu).

This word is from the word 부끄럽다(bu-ggeu-rup-da) which means shy.

When people are shy, they don't know what to do but being ruddy cheeks.

In this situation, you can say 부끄부끄(bu-ggeu-bu-ggeu).

There is also an action, but it is just same as 뿌잉뿌잉(bbu-ing bbu-ing).

This will make you look cute and also to escape from that situation.

Lastly, if see this situation that someone is doing this and if it's too cringe, you can say 오글오글(o-geul o-geul).

The word 오글오글(o-geul o-geul) is kind of mimetic word that describe your body shrinking because of cringe situation. It is mostly used when people are going way over than how they are.

For this word, spread your two hand and fold it one by one like your body is shrinking.

Isn't this words cute?

It is also good to use within friends, coworker, families, but! how about using this with kids?

What kids? Many branches in MANNAM International Volunteer association goes to kids center or orphanage to volunteer.

When we go there to volunteer, we share our culture and love, but sometimes, it's hard to communicate with kids.

However, how about using these cute words with them?

I'm sure they will smile and open their heart.

It's not just because you are saying famous Korean words, but it's because they will know that you are trying to get close to them.

This might be a very little thing, but there is nothing bigger than to open someone's mind.

So, will you join us to share your light, your culture and love to kids?

Write some reply if this has worked:)

# Korean Vocabulary

- 귀엽다(gui-yeop-da) : Cute

- 귀요미(gui-yo-mi) : Cutie

- 뿌잉뿌잉(bbu-ing bbu-ing) : charming action

- 부끄럽다(bu-ggeu-rup-da) : Shy

- 부끄부끄(bu-ggeu-bu-ggeu) : Shy, bashful

- 오글오글(o-geul o-geul) : Sappy, cheesy, cringe

MANNAM KOREAN CLASS: “여보세요, Yeo-bo-sae-yo!”

MANNAM KOREAN CLASS: “여보세요, Yeo-bo-sae-yo!”

When the mobile phone rings, Korean say “Yeo-bo-sae-yo(여보세요)” It is a Korean way of saying ‘Hello’ to the other person who is on line. We say this many times, BUT! Do you know the meaning of “Yeo-bo-sae-yo”? Actually, Koreans don’t really know about the meaning or why we began to use it. So, let’s find out!

 Yeo-bo-sae-yo is a short way to say “Yeo-gi-bo-sae-yo(여기 보세요)”. It is like ‘Look over here!’ to others. Korea first had telephone on the late 19C. When people used the telephone for the first time, it was very surprising for them. Since they can hear the voice of someone, people thought the other person can see them too. “Yeo-gi” is ‘here’, “Bo-sae-yo” means ‘look’.

 If you live or know about Korea, Korean uses “Yeo-bo-sae-yo” is different cases too! Do you know in which situation people also use this word? For example, if I go inside a house for the first time, I say this word to say ‘Is anyone there?’, ‘Hello?’ Or to call a person who I don’t know, but have to shout for help or something, we use this way of saying. Listen carefully then you can hear people say this even without noticing.

 I learn the meaning in MANNAM Korean class. Both Koreans and foreigners, we learn many things that I didn’t recognize, plus Korean as well. Also by sharing this kind of culture is very interesting and helpful. In the class, MANNAM friends taught some of their way of saying ‘Hello’ in their way. In China people say “Wey”, Japan “mo-si-mo-si”. Do you know any other words for saying Hello? Let’s share and learn more in MANNAM Korean class!

[MANNAM KOREAN CLASS] Korean four character idiom '인산인해(in-san-in-hae)'

[MANNAM KOREAN CLASS] Korean four character idiom '인산인해(in-san-in-hae)'

Today's four character idiom is '인산인해(in-san-in-hae)'.

It indicates immeasurable people have gathered.

In this four character idiom, 인(in) means Person/ People, 산(san) means mountain and 해(hae) means Ocean / Sea.

So, altogether, it means mountain of people and sea of people.

As you can't count mountain and also sea, it shows situation which lots of people have gathered.

You can this situation of 인산인해(in-san-in-hae) on festivals or holidays.

However, not only for those kinds of fun things, what if lots of people gather to do volunteer work?

If MANNAM is 인산인해(in-san-in-hae) with lots of volunteers, then, won't it be impossible to achieve peace?

If lots of people gather and work for world peace, what can't be impossible?

If we gather and share lights in us, that will be the one what we can make peace with.

By sharing lights, cultures, we can understand each other, then, there will be no reason to fight each other.

So, let's make MANNAM 인산인해(in-san-in-hae) and achieve WORLD PEACE:)

# Korean Four character idiom

- 인산인해(in-san-in-hae) : Immeasurable people has gathered

- 인(in) : Person/ People

- 산(san) : Mountain

- 해(hae) : Ocean / Sea

* In the sentence, is used with 이루다(i-ru-da) which means to make and form.

- 인산인해를 이루다 (in-san-in-hae-reul i-ru-da)

[MANNAM] North & South Korea, different language, same hope

[MANNAM] North & South Korea, different language, same hope

You know North and South Korea have same nationality.

Even now there is a line between us, we have same language, culture and ancestors.

However, since the Korean war, it has been already more than 60 years.

During that time, because of our different political system, we had different life styles.

As you experience in South Korea, it's more opened to other countries so that, here, there are not only pure Korean culture but also there are other various cultures coexisting.

On the other hand, because North Korea was not very opened to other countries, they still keep their own Korean culture.

With this different life styles, now, there are differences in North and South Korea.

Especially, today, I will introduce difference in languages.

In South Korea, people just use English word doughnut when we see a bread that has a hole in the meddle.

However, in North Korea, they call it 가락지빵(ga-rak-ji-bbang) which means ring bread.

가락지(ga-rak-ji) is a old word for ring and 빵(bbang) means bread.

The Korean famous noodle 라면(ra-myeon) is also in North Korea too.

However, they call it 꼬부랑 국수(ggo-bu-rang guk-su).

꼬부랑(ggo-bu-rang) is usually used to describe grandmothers who has bent back.

But as 라면(ra-myeon) has curl, they also call 라면(ra-myeon), 꼬부랑 국수(ggo-bu-rang guk-su)

Last, let's see how North Korean people call the Konglish word hand phone, 핸드폰(hand phone) in pure Korean.

They call it 손전화(son-jeon-hwa). 손(son) is hand and 전화(jeon-hwa) is phone.

A telephone that you can carry with your hand.

Like this, if South Korea use lots of word that has Chinese meanings and English word, North Korea use pure Korean words.

However, even we have difference in our language and cultures, our hope is not different.

Our hope is reunification and live peacefully with our separated family.

But it takes long time to do this if only Korea tries it.

We need your help to make peace in us.

It's not only Korean's problem, when Korea reunificate, the world is one step forward to peace.

So let's work together in MANNAM to get close to world peace.

Help us that there are no more differences in North and south Korea so that we can still communicate we families meet together.

# North & South Korean Vocabulary

* To help : 도와주다(do-wa-ju-da) - 방조하다(bang-jo-ha-da)

* To provide : 예방하다(yea-bang-ha-da) - 미리막이하다(mi-ri-mak-i-ha-da)

* cell phone : 핸드폰(haen-deu-pon) - 손전화(son-jeon-hwa)

* Ra-men : 라면(ra-myeon) - 꼬부랑 국수(ggo-bu-rang guk-soo)

* Doughnut : 도넛(do-neut) - 가락지빵(ga-rak-ji bbang)

- 전쟁이 없도록 방조해주세요

- jeon-jaeng-i eop-do-rok bang-jo-hae ju-sae-yo

- Help us not to have a war

- 전쟁을 미리막이하기 위해 함께 노력합시다

- jeon-jaeng-eul mi-ri-mak-yi-ha-gi wi-hae ham-ggae no-ryeok-hap-si-da

- Let's work together to prevent war

MANNAM is a mountain 만남은 산과 같다(MANNAM-eun san-gwa got-da)

MANNAM is a mountain 만남은 산과 같다(MANNAM-eun san-gwa got-da)

On 6th of April, we went to the mountain for volunteer work.

As I mentioned on last article, because 5th of April was a tree planting day, we went there to plant and also to clean the mountain.

On that day, way to go up there, the view was awesome.

Although flowers weren't blossomed yet, lots of trees and some waterfalls were beautiful.

While I was on the mountain, I felt that MANNAM is like an mountain!

It's not just a whimsy thinking. Here are the reasons why I felt this way.

There are lots of different kinds of trees on the mountain.

As a one itself, it is just a tree. However, together, they make one big mountain.

Even though they are different, they stay together, and become strong that no one could remove them.

Whenever tsunami comes, they keep their position and withstand it.

When you see under the ground, you can see their roots are grabbing each other.

This is how trees stay together and survive the danger.

How about us? MANNAM International members?

We are all from different countries. We speak different languages, nationalities and religions.

However, in MANNAM, we stay together and make strong possibilities of world peace.

Others might think we are just a group of people, but inside, we work together and by sharing each light, cultures we can have the material for the world peace.

This is how we overcome the difference between us and achieve peace in the world.

So now, does MANNAM International looks like one big mountain?

I can see a MANNAM mountain with various colors shinning with the light.

However, we need more trees, the light to save the Earth from the war.

We need you to twinkle with us so that we can achieve the world peace with stronger light.

One light can be dark, but if we stand together, it will be bright enough to light up the world.

# Korean Vocabulary

- 와/과 같다(-wa/gwa got-da) : same to/with, equal to

- 만남은 여러 종류의 나무가 모인 산과 같다

- MANNAM-eun yeo-reo jong-ryu-ui na-mu-ga mo-in san-gwa got-da

- MANNAM is equal to a mountain which many kinds of trees has gathered.

[MANNAM] It's a spring now!!!

[MANNAM] It's a spring now!!!

 

봄 봄 봄 봄 봄이 왔어요~(Bom bom bom bom bom-yiwat-eo-yo) Spring has come!

What comes into your mind when you think about spring?

It reminds me of a new start, warm aura, and growing up and etc.

in spring, because of lots of flowers, the image of spring is very bright.

However, a few days ago, I heard in the radio that, because most of the atmosphere is bright, on the other side, there are more people who are depressed deeply.

When the room is dark, we can flatter that every side of the room is bright.

However, as the room is bright, the dark side is darker than it used to be.

Same as this, we might feel spring is the season that everyone can start new thing and grow up but there are excluded people we forgot about.

They could be people who are harmed from the war and disaster or natural environment.

Living in the same planet means we care each other, right?

Let's share our warm and hopeful energy with those people.

So that not only a one side but all the side of the earth can be bright.

The material for this is your LIGHT!

Like the slogan of MANNAM, When Light meets Light there is Victory.

Share your light, your culture. By sharing, we can make world brighter than ever.

MANNAM International Volunteers share their own lights through volunteering hoping for world peace.

Don't you want this spring to be the happiest for EVERYONE?

If you do, join us:)

 

# Learning Korean Vocabulary

-계절(gye-jeol) : Season

-봄(bom) : Spring

-여름(yeo-reum) : Summer

-가을(ga-eul) : Fall

-겨울(gyeo-ul) : Winter

[MANNAM] Cultural difference in food

[MANNAM] Cultural difference in food

We had Korean class today and we talked about Korean counting units.

Among many other units, we specially talked a lot about ‘인분(in-bun)’.

‘인분(in-bun)’ is a count unit of food specially soup or something that is in a pot.

You know Korea has influenced a lot from China.

In Korean language, there are pure Korean and also Korean word based on Chinese character.

Chinese is an ideogram which has meaning in every character.

Many other units you know might be pure Korean but ‘인분(in-bun)’ is a Korean word which is from Chinese character that has meaning included in each character.

‘인(in)’ means person and ‘분(bun)’ means amount or quantity.

So, ‘인분(in-bun)’ altogether, it means amount of food for a person.

Therefore, not like other units, ‘인분(in-bun)’ is used to Sino numbers.

For example, '삼인분(sam-in-bum)' instead of '세인분(sae-in-bun)'.

You might have heard ‘인분(in-bun)’ mostly in Korean restaurants.

Especially when you order soup(찌개 jji-gae).

There is a reason why they order soup(찌개 jji-gae) in ‘인분(in-bun)’.

In western culture, food is usually served in a separate plate.

Not an appetizer like salad, but main dish.

So when you order dish in western restaurant, you might order the number of dish, like one steak and two pastas.

However, in Korean restaurant, you will order it as a number of people.

It is because the food is usually come out in a big pot.

It's not the number of dish but it is about the size of the pot and amount of the food.

This is why people can't really count but use unit ‘인분(in-bun)’.

Even in learning Korean counting units, you can feel the difference of the culture and can experience the culture of each country.

This is why learning another language is not just about knowing alphabets, but is learning a culture.

[MANNAM] Q&A about MANNAM VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATION

[MANNAM] Let's Know More about MANNAM!


We know that MANNAM Volunteer association is biggest volunteer group in Korea.

We are also aware of many volunteer events and activities through MANNAM official website and blogs. But still, there are some questions that we want to know more about this amazing MANNAM volunteer association!

Then why don’t we ask it to person who established MANNAM volunteer association?

So, in order to know more about MANNAM, here is the interview of Chairwoman of MANNAM volunteer association!


Q. What do you think about volunteerism mean as the Chairwoman of MANNAM?

-> I think that every basic foundation of ideology is filial piety, and it is not limited to only Korea. When one is dutiful to one's parent, it is filial piety; when the same devotion is shown to a country, it becomes loyalty; and in religion, it becomes faith. And they are based on sacrifice, thinking of other before oneself, which is the spirit of volunteer service. MANNAM's service is voluntary and dedicating oneself as if he or she is doing work at one's home, even when picking up garbage on the street. This is the spirit of MANNAM.


Q. What are the plans for the future of the organization?

-> A. Our vision is to work as pure volunteers who give back to the community.


Q. MANNAM's slogan is "When Light meets Light, there is Victory!".
What does it mean by then?

-> A. Each person is light, also should become a person like light. As these people who are like light meet, we can defeat the darkness from the world.


Q. What is Cultural-art volunteer meant to MANNAM?

I heard MANNAM is alike true volunteerism and a great planning. Supporting the poor is not only MANNAM’S volunteer work but also letting a delivery of the message of hope through the Cultural- art performance and a receiver who experience the love to be met and become one is our Cultural-art volunteerism.

Q. Why does MANNAM do country-related events?

->A. It is very natural to dedicate time and efforts to those we love. As MANNAM loves its country and sincerely appreciates those who sacrificed their lives for the country, it is logical to give our time and effort. We do not see this as sacrifice. The question of "Why do you do country-related events? is equivalent to the question of "Why do you love another?"

Source from MANNAM Judo Club

http://MANNAMjudo.blogspot.kr/2013/03/would-you-like-to-know-more-about-MANNAM.html

[MANNAM] April Fool’s Day, 만우절(man-u-jeul)

[MANNAM] April Fool’s Day, 만우절(man-u-jeul)

Hey guys~ its April fool’s day!

Did you do any tricks on others or any lies?

I did to my friends and we had lots of fun :)

I sent fake present on online and they believed it was real.

Even there are lots of countries celebrating April fool’s Day, the way and culture of celebrating is different.

In Korea, especially in schools, we used to do many tricks on teachers.

For example, we changed all of our chairs and desks facing back of the class so that teacher came in and thought he/she went into wrong door.

Also, two classes’ students changed the classroom and made teacher confuse the classroom.

Moreover, only few of the students, like five of them in the class, snick into other classroom and pretend like he/she was used to be there.

Last, student made fake another classmate with their clothes.

Even though teachers know that it is a fake, we spend happy time on 1^st day of April.

This is the memory that I have when I was in school.

How do you guys celebrate April fool’s day?

It would be more fun if we share various culture of celebrating fools day.

But, even it is an April fool’s Day, don’t go so far.

Everything and everyone is happy when it is ENOUGH.

You know this, right?

On different perspective, someone can be rude to you, but understand them and be generous. Because it’s April fool’s Day!

It’s the only day that people can be understood even they are lying: P

Have fun!

# Korean Vocabulary

- 만우절(man-u-jeul)  : April fool’s day

- 진짜(jin-jja) : Real, genuine

- 가짜(ga-jja) : Fake

- 진실(jin-sil) : Honest, truth, fact

- 거짓(geo-jit) : Lie, false

- 뻥(ppeong) : Fib, lie

- 뻥 치지마(ppeong chi-ji-ma) : Don’t lie, Don’t fib

[MANNAM] Table manner in Korea

[MANNAM] Table manner in Korea.

How many times we do eat meals in a day?

Do you usually miss your breakfast or lunch? It would be different among people, but usually people eat 3 times a day.
Then we have 21 meals in a week, and around 90 meals in a month!
WOW. It seems like a big number,
Then how about learning phrase that we can use when we eat meal? Then you can practice and use that phrase at least 3 times a day!

Then let’s learn the phrase that Korean people use when they eat meal.

잘 먹겠습니다. (jal-meok-get-seub-ni-da)

This is very common phrase that Korean uses before meal.
Then what does it mean?
If it is translated it literally, then it means “I will eat it well.”
잘(jal) refers to ‘well’
먹겠습니다 is future tense of ‘먹다(to eat, meok-da)’ in polite way.

잘 먹었습니다. (jal-aot-get-seub-ni-da)

This is the common phrase that we use after we finished meals
Doesn’t this spelling look similar to one above?
Actually the spelling is exactly same except the second third word.
Again, 잘(jal) refers to ‘well’
먹었습니다 means ‘had eaten’ in polite way.
It is also past tense while 먹겠습니다 is the future tense.
 
Now, when you eat meal with Koreans or when you visit Korean restaurant, you can practice these phrase 잘 먹었습니다 and 잘 먹겠습니다.
This is one of Korean table manner to say these phrases, in a way to show gratitude to one who cooked the food, and also for elders that you share the food with.
By saying these phrases, you would become a person who respects the one you are sharing meal with.
Also, don’t forget that you are allowed to eat any food after eldest eat start eating.
This is very important table manner in Korea.

In this way, you can understand Korean culture of respecting adults even in an occasion of eating meal.

If we learn each other’s culture one by one, this is a small step forward for better world; starting from table manner to understanding spirit of one’s culture.
Understand culture from small thing, than it will lead to the peaceful world that MANNAM always desire to make.

[MANNAM] Let's exercise with MANNAM Sports club

[MANNAM] Let's exercise with MANNAM Sports club

Even few days ago, it was hard to wake up in the morning.

Cold and darkness made me can't wake up.

However, it's a spring now! It warm and sun is shinning in the morning.

Also, when we walk along the street, beautiful flowers are welcoming us.

So, let's stretch our crouched bodies and excercise!

Do you think exercise is too hard and boring? No way.

If you join MANNAM sports clubs, you might not say that.

Do you like to run, but it's boring to run alone?

Don't worry there are MANNAM running club.

You can run with many other international friends.

Not only being with them, you can also share cultures.

Do you want to play sport with a team? Like basketball and soccer?

Here is a MANNAM team waiting for you!

MANNAM team is consist of international friends who love sports.

By being a team with them, you can feel the world's different sport cultures.

You want something else like cultural sport? Why not?

How about Judo and Tae-gwon-do?

There is a awsome teacher who can teach you.

Also, there are lots of international friends to play with you.

Why don't you join MANNAM sports clubs and start your healthy life?

You don't have to be professional of talented.

We only need your compassion of the sports and mind set of sharing your culture.

As you know, MANNAM is an international group. You can feel the different cultures and see the small world in MANNAM International.

Moreover, by sharing your culture with MANNAM friends, we are moving one step forward to world peace.

Out there, there are countries facing each other.

However, in MANNAM, we work together as a team and looking for one goal.

Isn't this achieving world peace?

We support each other and make victory in us.

Don't you want to feel this amazing movement?

I am sure you will love it:)

# Learning Korean Vocabulary

- 농구(nong-gu) : Basketball

- 야구(ya-gu) : Baseball

- 축구(chuk-gu) : Soccer

- 배구(bae-gu) : volleyball

- 탁구(tak-gu) : Ping pong

- 유도(u-do) : Judo

- 태권도(tae-gwon-do) : Tae-gwon-do

- 배드민턴(bae-deu-min-teun) : Badminton

- 테니스(tae-ni-ceu) : Tennis

- 달리기(dal-li-gi) : Running

- 걷기(geot-gi) : Walking

- 수영(su-young) : swimming

* -구 has meaning of 'Ball'. that is why ‘-구’ is added to the name of the sports that is playing with ball.

* -기 is a grammar form which make noun.

The verb form of ‘달리기’ is ‘달리다’ and verb form of '걷기' is '걷다'. Which means 'To run and to walk'. However, the form changes when you are talking about this as a sport.

MANNAM! Do you know the background of the invention of Hangeul?

MANNAM! Do you know the background of the invention of Hangeul?

As we learn, or before we learn do you know the background of the invention of Hangeul?

You may have heard that king Sejong made Hangeul, but why?

Long time ago, in Korea, people communicate with speaking Korean but there were no letter to write down.

So, before Hangeul was invented, people use Chinese character for literature.

However, it was very hard to write in Chinese character because it was based in Chinese.

Writing with Chinese which is totally different from Korean was hard that people has to study a lot to write.

Therefore, only rich people could write and enjoy literature.

It wasn’t universal to ordinary people to write and read the letter.

This makes Hangeul as a method to maintain their power for ruling class.

So, king Sejong had to progress inventing Hangeul secretly.

Therefore he couldn’t borrow many hands to scholars.

If he had caught in the middle of the invention, he might have not succeed it.

Even after he pronounce Hunmin-chungum, lots of aristocrat resist to publish it.

Inspite of all these resist, king Sejong contributed Han-geul for ordinary people.

After that, the Korean culture of literature got vitalized and ordinary people’s knowledge got improved.

As a result, king Se jong contributed Han-geul to give a better life to Ordinary people.

This is why many Korean respect king Se jong and print his portrait on 10,000won.

I think the mind set of caring others and work for a better life, peace is similar with MANNAM.

So, today, when you study Korean, think of king Sejong and let’s work like him in MANNAM International to payback his love!

What culture classes does MANNAM have?

What culture classes does MANNAM have?

Mostly, I was talking about MANNAM Korean class in this blog.

However, MANNAM runs not only Korean class but also other culture classes too. There are sports clubs like Judo, Tae-gwon-do, Soccer, basketball and running, language classes like Korean class and DoranDoran, culture classes like cooking, K-pop and Druzei.

As you know, MANNAM’s slogan is ‘When light meets light there is victory’. In this slogan, the light means culture. We know that through sharing culture, we can make victory. Because MANNAM International has various country members, there is no better chance to share culture than here. To share these various cultures, we runs many different classes and share cultures through clubs. Through clubs, we are not only enjoining just that club, we share and learn cultures through those times.

Don’t you want to join MANNAM culture classes?

It’s a chance to experience world wide:)

On the left side of this blog, you can see the link to each MANNAM culture class blogs. Visit and see which culture class you are interested in.

# Korean Vocabulary

- 유도(u-do) : Judo

- 축구(chuk-gu) : Soccer

- 농구(nong-gu) : Basketball

- 달리기(dal-ri-gi) : Running

- 태권도(Tea-gwon-do) : Tea-gwon-do

- K-POP : K-POP

- 요리(yo-ri) : Cooking

- 드루제이(deu-ru-zae-i) : Druzei

- 한국어 교실(han-guk-eo gyeo-sil) : Korean class

- 도란도란(dorandoran) : DoranDoran

Why MANNAM International runs Korean class for free?

Why MANNAM International runs Korean class for free?

This might be the one of the most curious questions for all of you who know MANNAM.

Why do they run free Korean class?

It’s because we are volunteer group! We are just sharing the ability that we have. Ability doesn’t run down because we use it. It will improve rather than decrease.

Is it too obvious? You want something else, right?

Then, I will start from MANNAM’s history.

You know how MANNAM started and you know where Gangnam is. Nowadays in South Korea, Gangnam is known as rich town. Before Gangnam was famous for that, people who were not rich were living there.

However, because of the plan to make richest town, Gangnam, there, the people who were living there had been kicked out from there. It makes two antithetic groups to live next to each other. At this point, MANNAM’s chair woman Nam Hee Kim saw this and thought she should help them. She saw the people disregarded because of mammonism. This is how she started to volunteer. As this volunteer going on, many people gather to join this. Also, Gangnam mayor saw this and he promised to help MANNAM. Moreover, MANNAM’s honorary chairman Man Hee Lee heard this and he also start started to join MANNAM. With these people’s help, MANNAM could hold 54^th Memorial day events. On this day, MANNAM’s honorary chairman saw many foreigners joining this event and thought it will be good to work with foreigners too. So, from then, MANNAM made MANNAM International.

This is how MANNAM International has started.

Then, how about MANNAM International Korean class?

Man Hee Lee was a soldier at the Korean war. At the war, there weren’t just Koreans, there were also soldiers from other countries fighting for us. He was so thankful for them offering their life to fight for us. After that, at the mud festival in Boryeong, he saw many foreigners in Korea. He said those young men must have hard time living in Korea. Also, those young men are whom had fight for us long time ago. So, this is why he recommended about Korean class to help those who have language difficulties.

Not only Korean class, but also all the other MANNAM activities are from those mind set of sacrifice. Not selfishness but considerable thinking.

Also, for my case, when I was young, I have experience living in another country. Maybe, only the one who has experience will know how it feels like. Start from the difficulties in language, all of the little things were hard and stressful. In addition, being alone is the hardest thing that makes me tired. Because I know how hard it is to live in another country, I want to help others who are having hard time with this. At that time, my friend introduced me MANNAM and I started to join MANNAM and volunteer in MANNAM International Korean class. Even I might not be professional like other academies, I am trying my best to help others.

I hope, this MANNAM International spread to the world and make world peace through MANNAM.