Monday, January 19, 2009

Saturday Morning Korean Lessons

I've studied the Korean alphabet for some months, now, but the co-students in my YMCA class are less studied, so on Saturday we practiced writing our names in Korean. It's hard because they don't have the z sound, and they don't have double consonants (like the tr in trailer). So I write mine out--both Kate and Kathleen--easily because in the hospital I wasn't Kathleen, I was Kaesulin.

After helping Heather with hers, I look around the classroom and try to read other peoples' names. "Suh tee ben" being Steven, "Mae tuh" being Matt, and so on. I get to one guy's, and I still haven't mastered the r versus l conundrum, so I sound it out: Kuh ree puh. Kuhreepuh? Creeper? His name is CREEPER? I wave over one of the teachers with wide eyes, "What is that guy's name?" I whisper. "Oh, Cliff!"

What lead to creeper? you may ask. Well, because of not having double consonants, it has to be Kuh lee. Then, because Korean does not have an f sound, it's "puh." Kuh lee puh. I like Creeper better, though.

2 comments:

Julie Southern (Studio Sherwood) said...

LOL. I've read this 4 times and I'm not sure I get it, still, but it's funny :)

Miss Chris said...

Ouch, that made my feeble brain hurt!