안녕하세요!

Recently, I’ve been particularly interested in dissecting famous sayings/quotes in Korean. Or not so famous ones. Any quotes in Korean, in general, are super interesting. I’ve always loved ‘collecting’ sayings in English – I absolutely adore Quotables and I even buy the cards just for myself. When I said collecting…I mean it. I do actually collect quotes.

And all of my family and friends know it so guess what kind of card I ALWAYS get? Hehehe.

Anyways, it’s easy to just grab a sample sentence from Naver dictionary’s sample sentences (for when you’re looking up a word or making vocabulary lists) and dissect it. I find it more interesting and worthwhile, however, to copy down what I hear in dramas or shows. The subtitles are there of course, but it’s an excellent source for new vocabulary and structural phrases. Another great source is children’s books and any Korean books in general.

I mean, who doesn’t keep a hoard of Dumbledore, 세상에 너를 소리쳐!, and Lord of the Ring quotes saved somewhere or taped to their wall? (And special thanks to Korean Notebook for the idea of buying Big Bang’s book – I love it even though I’ve only translated a tiny portion of it so far!! ❤ )

Do something fun with the quote after you dissect it, too. I’ve been accumulating little post-it notes on my desk (alongside my love for quotes, I have a huge obsession with having post-it notes on things) AND when I’m really struggling with writing a paper or just stressed out in general, I put everything out of my mind and draw little pictures around the Korean quotes that I’ve dissected. Totoro is pretty much always involved.

It’s a great way to learn, de-stress, and enjoy yourself ^_^

Do you ever try dissecting Korean quotes?

감사합니다!