The Aspiring Polyglot is on Hiatus..

I wanted to let you all know that I will be taking a hiatus from updating this blog as I want to concentrate on my other blog, Eye on East Asia, for the time being.

Eye on East Asia is not a language learning blog per se but I will be posting plenty of links to useful language learning resources and other language-related posts over the coming months. Anyone who is learning (or thinking of learning) Mandarin, Japanese or Korean will be able to find links to blogs, dictionaries and online courses over at Eye on East Asia.

I won’t be deleting Aspiring Polyglot as there’s a good chance I will return to it in the not-too-distant future, but I felt it was time for me to take a small break and concentrate on something slightly different for now.

Happy Hangul Day!

The day may be nearly over for those of you who are reading this in South Korea but I wanted to wish all Korean readers (and learners) “Happy Hangul Day”. Hangul Day (한글날), which is celebrated on October 9 in South Korea and on January 15 in North Korea, is a national commemoration day which celebrates the invention of the hangul alphabet. The Korean alphabet is said to have been invented by King Sejong the Great (세종대왕; 世宗大王) in the fifteenth century and it is generally accepted that the alphabet made its debut in 1446 in the document Hunmin Jeongeum (훈민정음;訓民正音).

Hyunwoo Sun, author of the blog Send Me to Korea,  asked readers from around the world to send in short messages written in the hangul alphabet. The video below is a montage of the messages he received.

More information on Hangul Day and the origins of the hangul alphabet can be found below :

• Wikipedia : Hangul Day
• Language Log: Hangul Day
• The Korea Herald : Why We Celebrate Korean Alphabet Day

The Korea Times : Korean Language

People looking to learn some basic Korean phrases or learn more about Korean culture and traditions might be interested in The Korea Times’ language section. There are currently 120  lessons and new lessons are added every week. Each lesson highlights a few key phrases and words on a particular theme, e.g. “Korean Side Dishes”, “University”, “Weather” and “Office Seniority”.

The lessons are quite short and don’t include grammar points but they can still be of use to learners wishing to expand their vocabulary. Each item of vocabulary lists its Korean (in romanized Korean and hangul) and English name and often includes a picture of said item, which is a handy feature for those language learners who rely on visual aids for memorizing new vocabulary. The only drawback is the lack of audio files to help learners master the pronunciations of each new word or phrase. Having said that, many of lessons include cultural tips which explain the origins and significance of certain Korean customs and traditions, which, I feel, more than makes up for the lack of audio files.