Reflections and Answers

After nearly two months of hiatus i realized that there are hundreds of people reading my blog and there are questions left unanswered.  I personally get frustrated when I don’t get answers to questions so i know how it feels to be waiting for one.  I am actually inspired with all the encouragements I get from reader’s messages so i already registered this hanguladay.com domain which means i really had to renew my dedication towards learning this language.  However, I would like to apologize to those who requests for email correspondences, I may not be able to return emails one on one as I have a day job.

A lot of visitors requests for translations of names.  Just to clarify, I only write names in Hangul and never translate any name to Korean.  Unless your name is a common noun then chances are I can provide the Korean counterpart; like if your name is Rain then 비 (bi) is the Korean for this word.  It’s totally different when you write it straightforward as Rain which is 레인 (Rein).   So I hope readers would understand this, if you want to get a Korean name you need to have someone, a Korean native perhaps, to give you one.

Also, to set things straight, I am not qualified to teach Korean so please don’t go ask me to coach you or teach you the language.   I myself is learning, I can only impart what I have learned from the point of view of someone who is not speaking English as first Language.  Similar to how I have learned English back on my primary days in school,  I try to relate learning Korean with the way English has been taught in school.  This is why I looked for books and other reference materials to learn.   I have question on tenses, grammar, word use etc.  I wanted to understand the Language just like how a young student may seek to learn a second language so I am trying to explain my learnings with this in mind.  With my interest in Korean culture, I read books about their history and promised to visit South Korea at least once every year.   So some questions not related to Hangul but relevant to South Korea, I may be able to answer or provide opinion on. Most specially, I also learn from suggestions. Likewise, I may commit some errors when i type some words so I would appreciate if you can point it out nicely.  I am not competing with anyone’s competency in Hangul.

Thank you for visiting my site.  I hope we learn together and become conversant one day =)

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Translation

I have been doing all this self study and effort to learn Korean and I still think I am poor at it.  I have watched tons of Korean Dramas and listened to a lot of Korean songs so I won’t get alienated with my own little world of  learning Korean Language.   I just finished watching 찬란한 유산  (Shining Inheritance as commonly translated but it also means Glorious Heritage or Brilliant Heritage/Inheritance).

Shining Inheritance

It’s been a while since I get to finish watching a feel good Korean  drama and I am so happy i got the chance to see this drama in one long weekend doing marathon.   What interests me more is one of the songs in the Official Sound Track (OST).   The song that I have been addicted to lately is 사랑에 미쳐서 (Sarange Michyeoso) which  means Crazy in Love.  I instantly wanted to get hold of the Korean lyrics of the song which I found out was sung by 지선 (Jisun from the group Loveholic).  More than wanting to sing along while i play the song over and over,  I said to my self I will translate the song in English.

I thought its going to be at least not so difficult with a little help from my dictionary and with all the things I learned about the language…well i am not going to be discouraged that easy so I am giving it a try at least for the first few stanzas.

웃고 싶어서 그냥 하는 말인데
I wanted to smile just as I speak
그댄 왜 이렇게 내맘을 몰라 정말..
why it is like this you really don’t know my feelings
다짐했는데 다시 사랑에 미쳐서
with all the things I did, again with my crazy love
지독하게 내마음을 쥐고 흔드나봐요
I am trying to hold on the hurting in my heart

그대 떠난 그 자리에 서서
When you left that place where you stood
나는 아직 그대만 보죠
I still could see only you.
너무 아픈데 언제쯤 우린
It hurts the thought that we
서로 남이 될까..
finally will be to each other…

가슴이 멈추질 않아
My heart will not stop
이별을 말하고도 한동안 사랑했잖아
him to say goodbye. For a while this love is okay
아직까지 그런듯한데
Until it will be like this

아픔이 가시질 않아
The pain will not go in time
다시 몇번을 참아봐도
Having to see again
너 없는 하루하루가 너무 힘이 들어
Day by day without you is just too hard
내겐 너 뿐인데..
For me there is only you.