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Korean Vocabulary Lesson 06

admin — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:33:29 +0000

supervisor	과장님	科長님
number of books	권	卷
dormitory	기숙사	宿舍
dream, borrow	꾸다
weather	날씨
fill into	넣다
news	뉴스
worn out	닳다
help	돕다
strawberry	딸기
drink	마시다
bright, clean	맑다
park	멎다
Trojan horse	목마	木馬
America	미국	美國
clap	박수	拍手
rice	밥
hundred	백	百
compare	보다
to blow	불다

Taiwanese pronunciation of ë

admin — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:33:08 +0000

In traditional romanized orthographies for Taiwanese, it’s common to see the letter “o” in words like “hó (好)”. The correct pronunciation is not like the “o” we have in most European languages, instead it’s much closer to an English schwa (ə).

In the Campbell Universal Pinyin romanization system, I use instead an umlaut over an “e” to indicate the middle of the mouth pronunciation of ”eh”. An umlaut normally centralizes a vowel and this gets pretty close to the Taiwanese pronunciation.

But not close enough.

The ë in Taiwanese is somewhere halfway between ‘ö’ and ‘ë’. In order to pronounce a good ‘ë’ in Taiwanese, it’s going to take some practice. Try to copy the recordings as best you can.

Taiwanese Lesson 18

admin — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:05:08 +0000

Note: these lessons use Campbell Universal Pinyin which I use for transcribing all Sinitic languages-there are only a few changes from Mandarin Pinyin.

I’m starting to study Taiwanese this month.	ggua jit-gë-ggueh kai-xi ëh dai-ggi	kai-xí = 開始 start, ëh = 學 study
I’m going to Taiwan next month.	ggua au-gë ggueh bbeh ki dai-wan
when?	xiaN-mih xi-zun
get up	ki cng	起床
sleep, go to bed	kun	睏
take a nap	kun diong dau
get there, arrive	gau
take a test, a test	kë-qi	考試
have a birthday	gue-seN-lit	過生日
What time are you going out?	li xiaN-mih xi-zun bbeh cut-kiº
Going out in a little while.	xië-dan dë bbeh cut-mng-aº	xió-dán = 稍等 in a little while / wait a little
When are you coming back?	lí xiaN-mih xi-zun dë dng-laiº	dò dńg = 倒轉 come back
Probably around 7	dai-yok qit-diam
What time do you get up in the morning?	li zai-ki xiaN-mih xi-zun ki-cng?
I get up around 7.	ggua dai-yok qit-diam ki lai.
What time do you get up?	li xiaN-mih xi-zun ki-cng?
What time do you go to bed?	li xiaN-mih xi-zun bbeh kun?
When do you have a vacation?	li xiaN-mih xi-zun hong-ga?
When do you arrive?	li xiaN-mih xi-zun e gau?
When are you getting married?	li xiaN-mih xi-zun giat-hun?

Korean Vocabulary Lesson 05

admin — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:43:12 +0000

adults	어른
the station	역	驛
on the right	오른쪽
umbrella	우산	雨傘
music	음악	音樂
interview	인터뷰
oneself	자기	自己
a light	전등	電燈
good	좋다
pass by	지나가다
participate	참가	參加
toothpaste	치약	齒藥
nose bleed	코피
especially	특히
ticket	표	票
student	학생	學生
waist	허리
sometimes	가끔
uncomfortable, not feeling well	거북하다
high school student	고등학생	高等學生

Taiwanese Lesson 17

admin — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 01:18:28 +0000

Note: these lessons use Campbell Universal Pinyin which I use for transcribing all Sinitic languages–there are only a few changes from Mandarin Pinyin.

buy groceries	bbe-cai	買菜
attend a wedding	lim hi-jiu	lim = drink, hí-jiú = 喜酒
study English	oh ing-bbun	學英文
learn how to paint	oh ue-do	學畫圖
learn calligraphy	oh xiá mo-bit-li	學寫毛筆字, xiá = write, mơ̂-bit = brush, lī (jji) = word/character
learn computers	oh dian-nau	學電腦
Are you free this Saturday?	jit-e le-bai-lak li gam-u ing?
There are two days off this weekend (Saturday)	jit le-bai-lak xi jiu-hiu nng-lit	jiu-hiu = 週休 weekly rest day (=day off), nn̄g-lἰt = 兩日 two days. In many of the Chinese languages, there is another word for two, similar to ‘a couple’, that replaces two when counting things.
Let’s go to a department store, ok?	zë-hue ki bah-hue-gong-xi, hë bbëº	bah-huè-gong-xi = 百貨公司 department store
Ok, I haven’t been there in such a long time.	hë aº, ggua jin-gu bbë ki aº	jin-gú = a long time, bbô kì = haven’t gone
Today’s Sunday.	gin-a-lit xi le-bai
We get tomorrow off.	bbin-a-zai u hong-ga
The day after tomorrow is for hiking.	au-lit ki be-suaN, hë bbëº
I ran into Ms. Li yesterday.	za-hng ggua du-dioh li xië-jia	dú-dio̍h = 遇著 meet/run into
I’m going to go buy groceries in the morning.	ggua zai-ki bbeh ki bbe-cai laº
It’s probably going to rain in the afternoon.	e-bo kë-ling e loh-ho	lo̍h-hơ̅ = 落雨 fall-rain/raining
It’s very hot during the day.	lit-xi-e tiN-ki jin luah	日時的天氣真熱
I’m going to a wedding this evening.	am-xi bbeh-ki lim hi-jiu	àm-xî = 暗時 evening/night
It’s very cold at midnight.	buaN-mi-xi tiN-ki bien lieng	bièn líng = 變冷 become/get cold, puaN-mî-xî = 半暝時, add xî (時) after a time to indicate something happening at that time.
I was very busy last month.	ggua ding-gë ggueh jin bbë ing

Korean Vocabulary Lesson 04

admin — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:56:22 +0000

As in the last lesson, this lesson will review the Korean vocabulary from previous lessons before introducing the new vocabulary. Remember just using your ears helps more than reading along. Actually saying aloud each Korean word as it’s said greatly enhances your ability to remember the words. As words get reviewed over several days you’ll remember them even better.

to return	돌아돌아
daughter	딸
massage	마사지
speak, tell	말하다
to bark	멍멍
scarf	목도리
of course	물론
doctor, PhD	박사
staying up late	밤샘
white	백
see, read	보다
fireworks	불꽃
fast	빠르다
employee	사원
life	생활
to wash one’s face	세수하다
to swim	수영하다
downtown	시내
dry, bitter	쓰다
morning	아침

Korean Vocabulary Lesson 03

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:27:27 +0000

In this lesson’s MP3, we first review the vocabulary from lessons 1 and 2 before going on to the new material. Try not looking at the words for maximum memory enhancement.

now	지금
nice	착하다
skirt	치마
cocoa	코코아
special	특별
fork	포크
erudite	학문
happy	행복
takes a lot of effort	힘들다
close to	가깝다
character, personality	개성
high class	고급
cookies, snack	과자
soldier	군인
driver	기사
very	꽤
every day	날마다
wide, large	넓다
to lie down	눕다
chicken	닭

Taiwanese Lesson 16

admin — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:23:54 +0000

Today is October 20th.	gin-a-lit xi zap-ggueh li-zap-hë
Today is November 25th.	gin-a-lit xi zap-it-ggueh li-zap-ggo-hë
Today is December 30th.	gin-a-lit xi zap-li-ggueh saN-zap-hë
How many months in a year?	jit ni u gui-gë ggueh?
There are 12 months in a year.	jit ni u zap-li gë ggueeh
When does summer vacation start?	xiaN-mih xi-zun hioh-luah?	hioh-lua̍h = (休熱=暑假) summer vacation, literally “rest-heat”
Vacation starts in July.	dui qit-ggueh kai-xi hong-ga	hòng-gá = 放假 take a vacation
It’s January now.	jit-ma xi it-ggueh
It’s February now.	jit-ma xi ji-ggueh
It’s March now.	jit-ma xi saN-ggueh
It’s April now.	jit-ma xi si-ggueh
It’s May now.	jit-ma xi ggo-ggueh
It’s June now.	jit-ma xi lak-ggueh
It’s July now.	jit-ma xi qit-ggueh
It’s August now.	jit-ma xi beh-ggueh
It’s September now.	jit-ma xi gau-ggueh
It’s October now.	jit-ma xi zap-ggueh
It’s November now.	jit-ma xi zap-it-ggueh
It’s December now.	jit-ma xi zap-ji-ggueh
go hiking	be-suaN	爬山

Korean Vocabulary Lesson 02

admin — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:41:41 +0000

study	배우다
hospital	병원
roast beef	불고기
tight	빠듯하다
sauna	사우나
birthday	생일
full name	성함
swimming	수영
a watch	시계
to write	쓰다
not yet	아직
difficult, not easy	어렵다
travel agency	여행사
an orange	오렌지
we/us	우리
food	음식
a salutation, say hello	인사
author	저자
ahead of time	전
paper	종이

Korean Vocabulary Lesson 01

admin — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:43:28 +0000

furniture	가구
a piece of	개
a plan	계획
fruit	과일
flag	국기
happy, like	기쁘다
flower	꽃
day	날
too	너무
a tear	눈물
lunar calendar	달력
money	돈
warm	따뜻하다
number of animals	마리
without speaking, unspoken	말없다
handsome	멋있다
necklace	목걸이
bite	물다
museum	박물관
chestnut	밤