Baguio City, the Philippines (2013)

I have been in Baguio City, the Philippines to study English for 3 months, from OCT, 2013 to DEC, 2013. To me, who knows only tourism spot such as Manila and Cebu, Baguio City was so strange.

Baguio City is inland province where 6 hours far from Manila by Bus. It requires over 2 hours by bus to see the beach. The city is located on 1,500 meters (4,500 feet) high. Average temperature is 18 centigrade (64 fahrenheit). The weather of Baguio City is so nice and cool, so there are many foreign people.

The day I arrived in Baguio city, I saw banana tea and bought it. As soon as I got back, I realized it was not banana tea. It was banaba tea. Until now, I do not know what banaba is.

As I said, Baguio city is located on 1,500 meters (4,500 feet) high. So the city is surrounded by mountains and clouds. Clouds are as closed as I could touch, on the mountains many small houses were clinging. Those made a beautiful night view every day, with a nice sun-set and twinkling houses.

There are only few land marks in Baguio City. One of the famous is Burnham Park. It was made by architect Burnham. In the park, we can ride a bike and a small boat. There are various boats in the lake. Pink red boats, swan boats, the most impressed boat was Disney cartoon character shaped boats.

In front of main gate, there is a bust of Burnham. His name is Daniel Hudson Burnham, architect, died in Germany in 1912, at that time he was 62 year-old.

Majority of the people visiting the park is young couple and children. Some of the children play climbing trees.

From time to time, beautiful sceneries that might be captured were spread everywhere. Outside of the windows, there were sun-flowers and clouds, I could not even look other things, could not even stop smiling.

Any cloth store in Baguio City, any tourism spot in Baguio City, we can easily see the t-shirts that 'I ♥ BAGUIO' is printed on. Various colors and designs of T-shirts were sold everywhere. Like the sentence bellow, "SUMMER CAPITAL OF THE PHILIPPINES", the summer of Baguio City is not that hot and so pleasant.

Terminal in Baguio City. Many stores sell their specialties such as straw berry jam and unknown snacks. The spring is the season of straw berry, so the jam is so sweet.

On Session Road, one of the most crowded, there are many hotels, stores and restaurants. But one thing we have to focus on is people. Session Road is crowded with people including pocket-pickers. The day I took this picture, my friend had stolen cell-phone.

One day, I bought a cheep pair of shoes on Session Road. That was 300 Pesos, about 7 USD. By the time tried to wear it, I spot that there were 2 labels on the shoes. VANS and TOMS, the shoes were neither VANS nor TOMS.

San Fernando, the Philippines (2013)

Vigan, the Philippines (2013)

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Grammar for Beginners

Grammar for Beginners

How The Korean Alphabet Is Written

Korean Basic Consonant Letters (자음)

Korean Double Consonant Letters (쌍자음)

Korean Vowel Letters (모음)

The Differences Between English and Korean

Nouns (명사)

Predicates of Sentences

Top 11 Tips for Learning Korean

Endings of Sentences

The Deferential Speech Level

The Polite Speech Level

Personal Pronouns (인칭대명사)

Copula (Be & Be Not, 이다 & 아니다)

Particles Part.1 (What are the particles in Korean)

Particles Part.2 (Case Particles)
- The Subject Case Particle 「이/가」
- The Direct Object Particle 「을/를」
- The Case particle 「(으)로」
- The Case particle 「의」
- The Case particle 「에」
- The Case particle 「와/과, (이)랑, 하고」
- The Case particle 「에서」
- The Case particle 「한테, 에게, 께」
- The Case particle 「한테서, 에게서」

Particles Part.3 (Special Particles)

- The Special Particle 「은/는」
- The Special Particle 「만」
- The Special Particle 「도」
- The Special Particle 「이나」
- The Special Particle 「부터, 까지」

Numbers & Ordinals (숫자와 서수)

Counter Nouns (Numeral Classifier, 분류사)

Question Words (의문사) & Indefinite Pronouns (부정대명사)

The Verb of Existence and Location (있다 & 없다)

Past tense and double past tense (과거시제)

Korean Is One of the Hardest Languages to Learn (for native English speakers)

Negation (부정문)

Irregular verbs and adjectives (불규칙동사와 형용사)

Grammar for Intermediates

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The Special particle 「부터, 까지」

부터

The particle 부터(from) is used to indicate a beginning temporal point. Consider the following examples:

We learned that the particle 에 can be used after the time expression as well. However, as seen above, while the particle 에 simply means “at”, the particle 부터(from) indicates a starting temporal point.

까지

The particle 까지 indicates an ending point, and it corresponds to “to”, “up to”, “until” or “as far as” in English. When the particle is used with a place noun, it indicates an ending location, as in:

When the particle is used with a temporal noun, it indicates an ending temporal point, as in:

The particle 까지 can be used with a non-time and/or a non-place noun, such as persons, clothes, and so forth. When it is used with a non-place or a non-time noun, the particle 까지 means “including (even)”. Consider the following examples:

[starting]부터 [ending]까지

The particles 부터 and 까지 are often used together to express “from [time expression] to [time expression]”.

In a similar manner, the particles 에서 and 까지 frequently show up together to indicate “from [location] to [location]”.

* Click to read related posts.
Grammar for Beginners
Particles Part.1 (What are the particles in Korean)
Particles Part.2 (Case Particles)
Particles Part.3 (Special Particles)

- The Special Particle 「은/는」
- The Special Particle 「만」
- The Special Particle 「도」
- The Special Particle 「이나」

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The Special particle 「이나」

The special particle (이)나 is a two-form particle. 이나 appears after a noun that ends in a consonant, and 나 appears after a noun that ends in a vowel. The particle indicates four different meanings depending on the context in which it is being used: (1) or something (like that), (2) or, (3) as many as, and (4) about.

or something

First, the particle (이)나 means “or something (like that)”, when it is used after a single noun. Consider the following examples.

As seen above, the particle (이)나 marks the object of the sentence and reduces the importance of the object noun. For instance, the object being chosen may not be the best possible action or item for the given situation or there may be more choices. In addition, when the particle (이)나 is used with certain question words such as 어디(where), 무엇(what), and 누구(who), the particle (이)나 reduces the interrogative meaning of these question words and generalize their meanings, as in:

or

Second, when the particle (이)나 is used between two nouns, it simply means “or”. Consider the following examples:

as many(much) as

Third, when the particle (이)나 is attached to an expression of quantity, the particle means “as many as”, “as much as” or “up to”. The particle expresses the speaker’s surprise that the quantity of the item is more than the speaker’s expectation. For example, consider the following sentences:

about

Fourth, the particle (이)나 means “about” or “approximately”, when it is used with certain question words, such as 몇(how many) and 얼마(how much).

* Click to read related posts.
Grammar for Beginners
Particles Part.1 (What are the particles in Korean)
Particles Part.2 (Case Particles)
Particles Part.3 (Special Particles)

- The Special Particle 「은/는」
- The Special Particle 「만」
- The Special Particle 「도」
- The Special Particle 「부터, 까지」
Question Words(의문사) & Indefinite Pronouns(부정대명사)

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The Special particle 「도」

The one-form special particle 도 adds the meaning of “also”, “too”, or “even” to the noun it attaches to. Just like the particle 만, the special particle 도 can appear in place of the case particles 이/가 or 을/를.

The particle 도 can also be attached to an existing case particle, such as 에 and 에서.

The particle 도 can appear after an adverb as well.

Koreans use the particle 도 when they list additional items. For instance, consider the following sentences:

Notice that the speaker lists “wine” as an additional item, by using the particle 도. Here is one more example:

Notice that the particle 도 also serves to add the additional activity 수영(swimming) to the first activity 요가(yoga).
Meanwhile, the particle 도 can also generate the emphatic meaning “even” to the noun it attaches to, as shown in the example below:

In negative sentences, the particle 도 is translated as “either”. Consider the following examples:

* Click to read related posts.
Grammar for Beginners
Particles Part.1 (What are the particles in Korean)
Particles Part.2 (Case Particles)
Particles Part.3 (Special Particles)

- The Special Particle 「은/는」
- The Special Particle 「만」
- The Special Particle 「이나」
- The Special Particle 「부터, 까지」

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The Special Particle 「만」

The one-form special particle 만 adds the meaning of “only” or “just” on the noun it attaches to. The special particle 만 can appear in place of the case particles 이/가 or 을/를.

The particle 만 can also be attached to an existing case particle, such as 에 and 에서.

The particle 만(just) can also appear after an adverb, such as 맛있게(deliciously) and 빨리 (fast).

* Click to read related posts.
Grammar for Beginners
Particles Part.1 (What are the particles in Korean)
Particles Part.2 (Case Particles)
Particles Part.3 (Special Particles)

- The Special Particle 「은/는」
- The Special Particle 「도」
- The Special Particle 「이나」
- The Special Particle 「부터, 까지」

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The Special Particle 「은/는」

The special particle 은/는 is a topic particle since it marks the noun as the sentence topic. The particle 은/는 is not a case particle; hence it does not indicate the grammatical function of the noun it attaches to.

Marking topics

In a similar way that the subject particle has two forms 이 and 가, the topic particle also has two forms: 은(after consonants) and 는(after vowels). Consider the following two sentences:

Notice that 수잔 is marked by 은, whereas 데니 is marked by 는. In addition, the above two sentences are “topic-comment” structures: a sentence begins with a topic of the sentence, followed by the predicate. In the first sentence above, 수잔 is the topic and 한국 사람이에요 is the comment. In the second sentence, 데니 is the topic, while 미국 사람이에요 is the comment. Such a topic comment structure is the most basic sentence type in Korean.
To understand its usage in more detail, let us consider the following examples:

Notice that the first three sentences are about Leah. Because of the fact that Leah was noted as the topic in the first sentence, it would be redundant to raise Leah as the topic again. Consequently, the second and the third sentence omit the topic 리아. However, as the fourth sentence is about a different person 제임스, the sentence begins with the new topic, 제임스.
The noun marked by 은/는 appears to be the subject of the sentence. However, 은/는 is not a subject particle and it does not mark the noun as the subject. For instance, consider the following sentence:

Notice that the hamburger is the topic of the sentence, whereas “Smith Hamburger” is the subject of the predicate “tasty".

Compare and contrast

When two sentences, marked by the topic particles 은/는, are used in parallel, the particle 은/는 serves to compare and contrast the two topics of the sentences. Consider the following two examples:

Notice that both Justin and Chieko are the topics of each sentence. Since these sentences are used in parallel, these two topics are compared and contrasted.

Switching topics

Koreans use the topic particle 은/는 when they switch the topic from one thing to another. For instance, consider the following conversation.

Let us assume that speaker A is a customer and speaker B is a saleswoman in the above conversation. Notice that speaker A uses the topic particle 은/는 when she changes the topic from one item to another.

Interplay between the subject and the topic particles

When asking a question in Korean, the question word is usually marked by the subject particle 이/가. However, when answering the question, the question word is often marked by the topic particle 은/는. Consider the following examples:

In Peter’s question, the particle 이/가 is used since 전공(major) is the subject of the question. However, when responding to this question, Susan answers 전공은 한국어예요 (As for my major, it)is Korean), instead of 전공이 한국어예요(The major is Korean). Notice that 전공 is marked by the topic particle 은/는, not the subject particle 이/가.
When Peter asks the question, 전공 is the subject of the sentence and it is not the topic of the conversation yet. In other words, the word 전공 is new information which was just brought up in the conversation. However, after Peter’s question, 전공 becomes the topic. As a result, Susan replies with 전공이 rather than 전공은.
This may sound confusing but, it should become clear with more examples. Consider the following examples:

Appearing at the beginning of the sentence

You can make any element of the sentence the topic by adding the topic particle to it and placing it at the beginning of the sentence, except the verb/adjective that appears at the end of the sentence. For example, consider the following sentences:

As a SOV language, in Korean the most important sentential elements tend to appear at the end of the sentence. The less important or least unknown information tend to appear toward the beginning of the sentence. Notice in the above sentences that the 은/는 -marked elements appear at the beginning of the sentence. The topic of the sentence in Korean tends to be the contextually understood element, and thus it can be often easily omitted during conversation.
This contrasts with the subject marked by the particle 이/가. The subject particle 이/가 is used to mark a subject. For instance, this explains why most interrogative words such as 누구(who), 무엇(what), 언제(when), and 어느(which), are used with the particle 이/가, as in 누구(가), and 무엇이, but not with the topic particle 은/는:

* Click to read related posts.
Grammar for Beginners
Copula(Be & Be Not, 이다 & 아니다)
Particles Part.1 (What are the particles in Korean)
Particles Part.2 (Case Particles)
Particles Part.3 (Special Particles)

- The Special Particle 「만」
- The Special Particle 「도」
- The Special Particle 「이나」
- The Special Particle 「부터, 까지」
Question Words(의문사) & Indefinite Pronouns(부정대명사)

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