Korean 101: My Kind of #ThrowbackThursday

Today is another #ThrowbackThursday. And while looking for a possible #TBT picture to post, I suddenly saw this A4 paper which is about two to three years old already.

Numbers 1 to 10 plus 100 and 1,000 in English and Korean.

Yes, what you are seeing are numbers one to ten, one hundred and one thousand with a Korean translation below it (not written in Korean though).

Since I am working in a multinational Korean company, my Korean boss back then gave this to me, well, noted this to me with one basic goal:

For me to learn Korean (speak Korean, understand Korean).

Unfortunately, setting aside basic Korean words such as Kamsahamnida and Saranghae, my Korean 101 have to temporarily end as “my teacher” have to go back to Korea.

And although the picture above shows just a piece of paper, I am grateful to have this and the experience behind it -- written and translated by a Korean for a Young Professional Filipina.

Not just for plain reminiscing, I feel like I really have to post and share it with you, because I know, if not for work, some “Koreanovela” aficionados or simply Korean fanatics would love to learn this as well.

For those who cannot see it clearly, here's how the numbers are being translated: 

What's interesting with Korean numbers is that for you to derive other figures you have to compute it based on these. (I must say that Koreans are great mathematicians it must be because of their quite complicated way of computing numbers). 

How they compute? See example below: 

• 200

         Korean translation : i-bek 

         Computed as: i (2) x bek (100) = 200 

• 85 

         Korean translation: pal-sip-o 

         Computed as: pal (8) x sip (10) + o (5) = 85

• 3100

         Korean translation: sam-choeon-bek

         Computed as: sam (3) x choeon (1000) + bek (100) = 3100 

There. Hope you enjoyed learning this in the same way that I did! :)  

And I'm sealing this experience with a lesson of : 

Try learning at least two to three foreign words. It will not just feed your mind, it will heck be a lot of fun!