Dr. Yoon's Korean LearningKorean Resources

Korean Agencies and Ministries

Jamie — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:06:42 +0000

Agencies and Ministries

Independent Organizations

Constitutional Court
National Election Commission
National Human Right Commission

Information

Constitution of the Republic of Korea
National Assembly – Korean Language Site

Legal Institutions

The Supreme Court of Korea

Military

ROK – US Combined Forces Homepage

Regional Government

Seoul Metropolitan Government

Political Parties

Grand National Party
Democratic Labour Party
The Millennium Democratic Party
United Liberal Democrats

Korean Universities

Jamie — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:06:33 +0000

United States

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII Center for Korean Studies
The Center for Korean Studies at UH Manoa was established in 1972. Now with eighteen faculty members offering courses and conducting research related to Korea in fields such as Asian studies, dance, economics, history, language, linguistics, literature, music, political science, and sociology, the Center is home to the oldest and largest Korean Studies program outside of Korea.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY Korea Institute
The Korea Institute is Harvard University’s only non-departmental entity for the support and development of Korean Studies at Harvard. Originally established in 1975 as part of the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, it became a completely autonomous organization in 1993.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES ?Center for Korean Studies
Established in 1993, but has the largest Korean Studies program on the mainland of the United States, with the most specialists dedicated to Korea on its faculty and the largest number of students studying Korean subjects, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Center for Korean Studies
The Center for Korean Studies (CKS) is a part of the Institute of East Asian Studies, and is a research unit of the University of California at Berkeley’s International and Area Studies program. The Center is one of the nation’s most active academic centers for the study of Korean humanities and social sciences.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Korean Studies Institute ?br> One of the leading centers for Korean studies in the United States.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Center for Korean Research
Established within Columbia University’s East Asian Institute in 1988. In cooperation with other organizations from inside and outside the East Asian Institute, the Center has sponsored visiting scholars and research associates as well as cultural events such as movies and concerts, monthly Contemporary Korean Affairs Seminars, and noon lecture series on Korea-related topics.
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: UW Korean Studies
The University of Washington maintains one of the oldest programs in the United States providing undergraduate and graduate training in Korean studies in a variety of disciplines.

Korean Resources

Jamie — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:06:24 +0000

Introduction to Korean – David Eisenberg made learning Korean very easy! This site contains sound player for pronunciation! You can learn Korean alphabet, basic conversational phrases, basic vocabulary and grammar, and it’s made easy because he illustrates and uses photos. Also, includes more links to learn Korean, and finding textbooks. Also available from this site, you can download the total tutorial, so you don’t have to be on-line to learn Korean!
Hanbooks – Find textbooks to learn Korean on-line. order instantly!
king Sejong – He’s the one who invented Hangul, so called “Korean alphabet”. Celebrates 600th anniversary of king Sejong’s birthday. Find all about hangul, its history, development etc.

Mr. Oh’s “Korean for Dummies” – if you’re a dummy and want to learn basics in korean, go here. Mr. Oh makes it easy to learn, through glossary, hanja (chinese characters), and special section “korean for Dummies”.
Korean Language Classroom – Offers lots of basic vocabulary under 7 different catagories. Listening comprehension and on-line quiz are one of the best feature. Also, offers link to on-line courses.
Declan’s Korean Language Page – Lots of links & resources. short history of hangul (korean alphabet), topics in grammar learning. also features “reading hangul on web”.
Say hello in korean! – Learn how to say hello in Korean. Also learn about korean culture. After looking at this site, you’ll be able to say hello to any of 72,000,000 korean speaking people in the world.
Reading Korean – This program is designed to help students get a good start reading Korean. It can also be used a reference tool or an aid for teachers.
Korean Tutor – KoreanTutor’s educational content has been contributed by Seoul National University’s Korean Language Education Research Institute and has been modified for online studying. It is composed of 3 components (the Korean Alphabet, Sentence Patterns, and Level Study), providing systematic study programs ranging from low to high levels.
korean through english – chapter 1-10. learn Korean, read text on-line!

on-line dictionary – yahoo provides dictionary. Korean-korean, korean-english, english-korean.
Dictionary – many many links to korean/ english dictionary

Korean Macintosh Software
(Note: Korean language capability is now a part of Mac OS 9 – see Apple’s website for details.
On-line courses – offers on-line courses for learning Korean. Includes search, index, resources etc.
MONASH UNIVERSITY – all about Korean. Computing in Korean, finding Korean programs, resources etc. Links to useful Korean sites.
Seoul – An American guy who stayed in Korea for awhile, wrote a journal. Interesting to read, if you want to find out about experience in Korea. He talks about the language and the culture.
Downloads – get in contact with people like you, who wants to learn Korean on-line. Downloads, e mail address etc.

Korean Holidays

Jamie — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:05:24 +0000

New Year’s (January 1)

Some Koreans still celebrate the New Year on this official holidays, while many more now celebrate on the Lunar Calendar’s New Year’s Day, Seollal.

Seollal (First Day of the First Month by the Lunar Calendar)

It is one of the most important holidays in Korea like Christmas in the Western world. Family members who live scattered around the nation reunite on this day to spend time together. This Holidays features family rituals honoring ancestors and many traditional games.

Samil Independence Movement Day (March 1)

This day marks the beginning of the independence movement against the Japanese during their colonial rule. On this day in 1919, leaders of social and religious circles gathered at a park in central Seoul and declared Korea’s independence from the Japanese colonialists.

Buddha’s Birthday (Eighth Day of the Fourth Month by the Lunar Calendar)

Solemn rituals are held at Buddhist temples across the country. The day’s festivities reach their climax when monks and laymen march through city streets with beautiful paper lanterns.

Children’s Day (May 5)

Children are the center of attention on this day as their parents shower them with presents and take them on outings.

Parents’ Day (May

Though not an official Holidays, it is still observed in many homes. Children give their parents carnations along with letters of thanks.

Teachers’ Day (May 15)

Teachers occupy a special place in this society which still has a strong Confucian influence. There was a time in Korea when students were forbidden to walk in the shadow of their teachers, literally. Students give their teachers flowers on this day.

Constitution Day (July 17)

This national holidays celebrates the establishment of the first Korean Constitution on July 17, 1948. The Republic of Korea was established about a month later.

Liberation Day (August 15)

Taegeukgi, the Korean national flag, fly from nearly every building on this day, which marks the end of 35-year Japanese colonial rule in 1945.

Chuseok or Harvest Festival Day (Fifteenth Day of the Eighth Month by the Lunar Calendar)

This is one of the great national holidays of the year. On this day a feast is prepared and families hold memorial services at family grave sites. Viewing the full moon is a feature of the evening.

Hangeul Day (October 9)

Perhaps the only alphabet to have its own day, hangeul is the crowning achievement of the brilliant King Sejong. Among the many inventions of his court, this scientifically-based phonetic alphabet was the most influential, as it freed the populace from the tyranny of memorizing thousands of Chinese characters.

National Foundation Day (October 3)

Called Gaecheonjeol Day, this is the day when Dangun founded the first Korean kingdom.

Christmas (December 25)

Christianity took hold in Korea only in the 19th century, so this day has less religious significance. Just as everywhere else, though, it is a time to exchange greetings and gifts. Grandfather Santa, as he is called in Korea, is somewhat smaller in build than his Western counterpart.