I cannot remember how I stumbled on to this little gem, but I did, and I own it now.
Initially, after reading about it, I had a look on Amazon to find the ISBN number and then tried to see if Kyobo Books here in Korea have it. One of the teachers at my school went to see if she could find it, but she was unsuccessful. I took a chance on Saturday at a bookshop I passed in Seoul and they had it.
The little gem is a travel language book called “Making out in Korean.”
The book deals with the slang of the Korean language, but with a name like this, I was more interested in things I would not read in other language resources. I was not disappointed. Here are some examples…
A Korean equivalent of “Fuck!” is 씨발 (Shibal), but an online translator says it is “Shit”. I suspect the Korean Language is more in to insulting that using actual swearing. I do not swear that much myself, but it is always useful to know when others are insulting you.
An great insult/threat is 좆 까 (Jot Ga!). It literally translates as “Penis Kick” Interestingly, the Google Translate says THIS is “Fuck You!” It is suppose to be “I’ll kick your penis”, but I keep on getting this image of a game character, like in Street Fighter, with a special move called “Penis Kick”. I can just imagine him, instead of saying “Hatooooooooget!”, say “Peniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis, KICK!” I wonder what you will say to a woman. Do you say: “I will kick your virgina”?
The book also goes in to phrases like “I am a virgin”, “Don’t worry” and “I’ll be careful”. It them tells you how to say “Take off your…”, and then gives a list of clothing items. It gets even more intimate than that.
I am sure the book is partly a joke, and in that, I think it succeeded.
If you are interested in seeing how I am progressing with my Korean, then have a look at my Blog where I put down what I learned every day. It is something that I make public because the thought that someone might have a look at what I do and see that I am being lazy keeps me going. It is also a good reference for me when I want to ask questions about Korean at school.
2 comments:
.... great little treasure of a book, isn't it? It was given to us as a "...have a laugh..." gift - which has kept us laughing, not to mention our visitors who find it on our book shelf!!!!! Keep blogging - we're enjoying your observatory comments about this '...land of the morning calm...'
cheers
'a friend of Sue'
Yes, like I said, it is partly a joke, but lets face it, what other book will teach you how to ask a girl to take her clothes off, of how to tell someone you are going to kick their penis?
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