A short expression about "Time" in the Land of Morning Calm

기뻐하자

선저이(인도)

지나간 시간이 그립다면

그 시간이 다시 온다고 생각해라

그리운 것이 우리 안의 생각이다

생각이 바뀌면 행동이 바뀐다

또 행동이 바끼면 운명이 바뀐다.

시간이야말로 만약 있으면

생각을 바꿔서 그를 제일 소중하게 만들라

바꿔는 것이 우리 인생의 한 부분이다

부분이 계속 잘 되면 성공이고

그 성공은 인생의 목표다.

지나간 시간이 그립다면

살아 있다는 것 그 자체를 기뻐해라

시간은 사람이 세상 떠나는 것을 본다

그 떠남 후에도 시간이 지나가고

후회하지 않도록 기뻐하자

후회하지 않도록 기뻐하자

My first article in Korea: "Korean Language Learning and Conversation"

The importance of language  learning as an indispensable means of communication cannot be over- emphasized. The history of language as a means of communication is as old as the history of mankind. Language  is a legacy that has been passed on from generation to generation. However, getting to be fluent in any language initially requires interest, effort andpractice. The Korean language is not an exception.The Korean language is one of the most recently developed languages and it is said to be a scientific language. With some inputs from Chinese language and recently from Englishlanguage, it is fast becoming a language that is spoken by many nationalities.“Hallyu” which is a term in Korean language that means a growing popularity of Korean movies and television dramas across the Globe has also immensely contributed to growing pace of the language. Due to its simple characters with 21 vowels and 19 consonants and their distinct sound, it is simple for a foreigner to quickly graspand hence can easily read .Pronunciation may seem difficult at first but becomes quite easier later. As a graduate of Korean language, literature andculture studies, I have come to appreciate the language and its People.Like any other language, learning Korean as a secondlanguage may initially seem difficult but soon becomes quite interesting once started. We must resist the temptation of being afraid of making mistakes as nobody is perfect in the initial stage of learning any language. Speak as much as you can but also take time to listen. A popular Korean maxim states: ”얼굴이 다르듯이 생각도 다르다” which means as the faces of people are different, so are their thoughts. Some people are very expressive while others may be inexpressive. This may be due to lack of confidence and can be a barrier while learning alanguage. I find that committing to memory the basic everyday expressions and greetings as well as the pattern help at the beginning stage. Afterwards we can then treat each aspects of grammar to be practiced and improved upon. Since languageemerges from culture, practical benefit derived from conversation with the native Korean speakers is the learning of both the languageand culture of Korea.In conclusion, making an appreciable progress in the learning of a language like Korean starts with a keen interest in thelanguage. Thereafter, with effort and continuous practice andwithout the fear of making mistakes in speaking, somebody can quickly and easily become a proficient Korean speaker