Celebrating a language-Hangul day

Hanguel day is a National holiday here in Korea to celebrate the creation of the script of the Korean language. It was created by King Sejong who is depicted on the 10,000won note. Though the Korean people have always had their own unique language, they had been using Chinese scripts which was ill adapted to their spoken language and also too complicated and cumbersome for the common man to read. King Sejong then created the unique Korean scripts which is so easy to learn for anybody in the world even now. (I learnt to read Korean in about 2 days.) The tongue movement while pronouncing each letter is said to be the basis on which the King created the shape and structure of the letter. I watched this drama called the Deep Rooted Tree which is also about how the king creates and implement the language. It was a good one.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jbourj/images/money/sejong01.jpeg

I found learning to read Korean was actually very easy. Figuring out what it means is the tough part :)
I found it very interesting to learn Korean. Reading, remembering the vocabulary and later on constructing a sentence from the bits and pieces that I learnt was actually a rewarding experience. (Even more so when you need to use it on a daily basis when you are living in Seoul :) The global centers located strategically through out Seoul runs free classes to help you learn Korean. The Koreans are quite encouraging and sweet to you when they see to trying to converse with limited vocabulary. I get sobees (konglish for service= free stuff) for my effort :D Sometimes, though, people think I am an expert in Korean and talk to me in rapid bouts of Korean and I am left stumbling for words. Best part in Korea though is when the person who irons the clothes for us tries to improve his English by talking to me in English and I am determined to make some improvements in my Korean by replying to him in Korean. It is good fun! The most complicated sentence I understood so far is that a taxi driver told me to go and cheer India in the Asian Games so that they move up from the 10th spot. People love and respect Indians here. Anyway, learning Korean is not only interesting for me but also useful in many ways. So, I am glad King Sejong created Hangul. I am happy to be in Korea and happy to learn Korean. Thrilled to celebrate Hangul. Secretly ecstatic that my kids and husband are home on this Hangul day, which, in case i forgot to mention, is a national holiday!

Happy Hanguel Day!

Doodled Seoul in Hangul