Photo Frenzy 1: Korean Yotsuba&!

While in Japan, I will continue to endeavor updating regularly. However, given my rather hectic schedule here, I thought I'd replace origami a day with a photo series of little things I've found interesting during my time here and leave the larger, in-depth stories for later.

My friend had heard that I was studying Korean. As she too is learning the language, she ordered a few Korean comics online. Among them was a gift for me.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Yotsuba&! is one of my favorite manga to read in Japanese. As it is a book about a young girl's experiences in a new town, it deals with everyday situations and uses a lot of common words and expressions.

My friend and I both bemoaned the same frustration I imagine many novice Korean learners have. While we could open up this book and read it cover to cover, we would understand very little of it. Hangul (the Korean alphabet) is much like Japanese hiragana in that it is made up of fixed sound characters. These characters are then arranged into syllable blocks, which I gather is rather unusual for an alphabet language. Reading Korean is therefore only a matter of learning 24 letters and familiarizing yourself with the arrangement of syllable blocks.

I've honestly been slacking a bit in my Korean studies. Maybe having this book will be the push I need to get going again. It was a really thoughtful gift and I'm excited about flipping through these stories again.