Yesterday saw the biggest turnout for our Saturday Korean class. In total, 22 students were present. I believe it is going to be a record that is hard to beat for a long time to come. Count in our teacher and an external assessor, there were 24 persons packing the class to the brink. I felt like I was back to Basic level 1 once again because only back then did I have such big class. However, it didn't seem that it was going to be perfect turnout when the class started at 10am yesterday.
Only about half the class was present when the lesson started. Then slowly, latecomers started streaming in one by one. One would be forgiven if he thinks that our lesson start-time is 10:30am. Our teacher apparently felt the same as well when she suggested in jest that perhaps she should start lesson at 10:30am instead. By the way, the last student arrived at class just before 11am and that is the opening time for many shops in Singapore. There must be some reason why Singapore shops choose to open in the late morning.
The focus of yesterday lesson was the practice of three grammars, ~(으)라고 하다, ~자고 하다 and ~(으)ㄹ 텐데. ~(으)라고 하다 and ~자고 하다 were the last two indirect speech grammars that were taught and as a summary, our teacher provided us with a table for the different forms of indirect speech. By the way, I have reproduced the table below without her permission. Knowledge is meant to be shared, isn't it? ^^;
Studying the table above is not enough to understand all the language points about indirect speech. Below are some more notes to further clarify.
Note 1: ~지 않다
않다 as a verb itself is a descriptive verb or stative verb (상태동사, 狀態動詞). However, when it exists in the form of ~지 않다, it can both be an action verb (동작동사, 動作動詞) and a stative verb, depending on whether action or stative verb appears before it. Example:
1. In 먹지 않다, 않다 behaves like an action verb since 먹다 is an action verb. Hence, if someone says, 먹지 않아요 (direct speech - I am not eating), you shall quote him as 먹지 않는다고 했어요 (indirect speech - he said he is not eating).
2. In 바쁘지 않다, 않다 behaves like a stative verb since 바쁘다 is a stative verb. If someone says, 바쁘지 않아요 (direct speech - I am not busy), you shall quote him as 바쁘지 않다고 했어요 (indirect speech - He said he is not busy). You should notice the missing "는" after the word "않".
Note 2: ~아/어 주세요
In a 명령문 (imperative sentence), ~아/어 주세요 (formal honorific ~아/어 주십시오) forms the sentence ending. When ~아/어 주세요 is changed to indirect speech, depending on the situation, it can take the form of ~아/어 주라고 하다 or 아/어 달라고 하다.
1. Situation 1: ~아/어 주세요 is quoted as 아/어 달라고 하다.
Billy tells Naoko, 책을 빌려 주세요. In this situation, Billy, who told Naoko "책을 빌려 주세요" will also be the receiver of the book. Hence, when Minjeong asks Naoko what Billy told her, Naoko will say, 빌리 씨가 책을 빌려 달라고 했어요. If Minjeong is to ask Billy what he told Naoko, Billy will similarly say, 책을 빌려 달라고 했어요.
2. Situation 2: ~아/어 주세요 is quoted as 아/어 주라고 하다.
Billy tells Naoko, 선생님한테 책을 주세요. In this situation, Billy will not be the receiver of the book. His teacher will be the person receiving the book from Naoko. Hence, when Minjeong asks Naoko what Billy told her, Naoko will say, 빌리 씨가 선생님한테 책을 주라고 했어요. If Minjeong is to ask Billy what he told Naoko, Billy will similarly say, 선생님한테 책을 주라고 했어요.
Note 3: ~지 마세요/~지 맙시다
The verb stem in both ~지 마세요 and ~지 맙시다 is 말다. ~지 마세요 is a sentence ending of 명령문 (imperative sentence) and ~지 맙시다 is that of 청유문 (propositive sentence). Based on the indirect speech learned for 명령문 and 청유문, the following conversion shall take place when direct speech is changed into indirect speech.
1. ~지 마세요 (direct speech) → ~지 말라고 하다 (indirect speech)
Billy tells Naoko, 가지 마세요. When Minjeong asks Naoko what Billy told her, Naoko will say, 가지 말라고 했어요.
2. ~지 맙시다 (direct speech) → ~지 말자고 하다 (indirect speech)
Billy tells Naoko, 가지 맙시다. When Minjeong asks Naoko what Billy told her, Naoko will say, 가지 말자고 했어요.
Note 4: 청유문
청유문 (propositive sentence) doesn't always need to end with ~ㅂ시다. So long as the sentence carries with it a request for a certain action to be done together, it is considered a 청유문. In fact the following sentences, which may look like 평서문 (declarative sentence) or 의문문 (interrogative sentences) are all 청유문.
1. 이따가 정문에서 만나요. (A request to meet later)
2. 같이 춤을 춰요. (A request to dance together)
3. 같이 시험공부를 할까요? (A request to study together)
4. 우리 사귈까요? (A request to go steady)
Once you can recognise the above sentences as 청유문, their indirect speech form will be as shown below:
1. 이따가 정문에서 만나자고 했어요.
2. 같이 춤을 추자고 했어요.
3. 같이 시험공부를 하자고 했어요.
4. 우리 사귀자고 했어요.
Note 5: ~이/가 아니다
In case you are wondering how to change ~이/가 아니다 to its indirect speech form, it is ~이/가 아니라고 하다. For example, Billy tells Naoko, 그 분은 선생민이 아니예요. When Minjeong asks Naoko what Billy told her, Naoko will say, 그 분은 선생민이 아니라고 했어요.
After covering the grammar ~(으)라고 하다 and ~자고 하다 in great details, our teacher introduced the grammar ~(으)ㄹ 텐데. She didn't exactly explain it, instead, she let us listened to an old song (produced in 2002) by Sung Si Kyung - 좋을 텐데. Just then, my classmate who sat beside me asked who is Sung Si Kyung? I ended up telling her, 한국 유명한 가수예요. On the topic of Sung Si Kyung, our teacher said that not everyone in Korea like him. Apparently, they have bone to pick with his "softness". Regardless, Sung Si Kyung is still one of her favourites. She went on to say that Sung Si Kyung is the deejay for a midnight radio programme which starts at 12 midnight and ends at 2am. Many people including herself actually stay up until 2am just to hear Sung Si Kyung says "잘 자요", at the end of his programme, with his signature tender and melancholic voice.
Just before our class ended yesterday, our teacher invited the external assessor to give her comment about our class. The assessor's first obeservation was that our class is a very big one considering that it is an intermediate class. Despite that, she was rather impressed by the atmosphere in the class and the interation between teacher and students. To her surprise, our Korean language standard is much better than her expectation. Actually, I wasn't surprise because more than half the class has studied, for different length of time, in Kyunghee, Sogang and Yonsei previously. Anyway, the assessor's comment was enough to make our teacher's day and as a proof of her happiness, she wrote us the following e-mail after the class.
"너무너무 좋은 우리 중급2반 학생 여러분!!!
저는 여러분이 너무 좋아요. 여러분이 한국어를 정말 잘 하시고 열심히 공부하셔서 오늘도 여러분이 정말 자랑스러웠어요. 오늘 우리 수업을 본 다른 한국어 선생님도 여러분의 수준이 높아서 많이 놀랐다고 했어요.
감사합니다!!!
다음 주에 만나요!!"
Only about half the class was present when the lesson started. Then slowly, latecomers started streaming in one by one. One would be forgiven if he thinks that our lesson start-time is 10:30am. Our teacher apparently felt the same as well when she suggested in jest that perhaps she should start lesson at 10:30am instead. By the way, the last student arrived at class just before 11am and that is the opening time for many shops in Singapore. There must be some reason why Singapore shops choose to open in the late morning.
The focus of yesterday lesson was the practice of three grammars, ~(으)라고 하다, ~자고 하다 and ~(으)ㄹ 텐데. ~(으)라고 하다 and ~자고 하다 were the last two indirect speech grammars that were taught and as a summary, our teacher provided us with a table for the different forms of indirect speech. By the way, I have reproduced the table below without her permission. Knowledge is meant to be shared, isn't it? ^^;
Studying the table above is not enough to understand all the language points about indirect speech. Below are some more notes to further clarify.
Note 1: ~지 않다
않다 as a verb itself is a descriptive verb or stative verb (상태동사, 狀態動詞). However, when it exists in the form of ~지 않다, it can both be an action verb (동작동사, 動作動詞) and a stative verb, depending on whether action or stative verb appears before it. Example:
1. In 먹지 않다, 않다 behaves like an action verb since 먹다 is an action verb. Hence, if someone says, 먹지 않아요 (direct speech - I am not eating), you shall quote him as 먹지 않는다고 했어요 (indirect speech - he said he is not eating).
2. In 바쁘지 않다, 않다 behaves like a stative verb since 바쁘다 is a stative verb. If someone says, 바쁘지 않아요 (direct speech - I am not busy), you shall quote him as 바쁘지 않다고 했어요 (indirect speech - He said he is not busy). You should notice the missing "는" after the word "않".
Note 2: ~아/어 주세요
In a 명령문 (imperative sentence), ~아/어 주세요 (formal honorific ~아/어 주십시오) forms the sentence ending. When ~아/어 주세요 is changed to indirect speech, depending on the situation, it can take the form of ~아/어 주라고 하다 or 아/어 달라고 하다.
1. Situation 1: ~아/어 주세요 is quoted as 아/어 달라고 하다.
Billy tells Naoko, 책을 빌려 주세요. In this situation, Billy, who told Naoko "책을 빌려 주세요" will also be the receiver of the book. Hence, when Minjeong asks Naoko what Billy told her, Naoko will say, 빌리 씨가 책을 빌려 달라고 했어요. If Minjeong is to ask Billy what he told Naoko, Billy will similarly say, 책을 빌려 달라고 했어요.
2. Situation 2: ~아/어 주세요 is quoted as 아/어 주라고 하다.
Billy tells Naoko, 선생님한테 책을 주세요. In this situation, Billy will not be the receiver of the book. His teacher will be the person receiving the book from Naoko. Hence, when Minjeong asks Naoko what Billy told her, Naoko will say, 빌리 씨가 선생님한테 책을 주라고 했어요. If Minjeong is to ask Billy what he told Naoko, Billy will similarly say, 선생님한테 책을 주라고 했어요.
Note 3: ~지 마세요/~지 맙시다
The verb stem in both ~지 마세요 and ~지 맙시다 is 말다. ~지 마세요 is a sentence ending of 명령문 (imperative sentence) and ~지 맙시다 is that of 청유문 (propositive sentence). Based on the indirect speech learned for 명령문 and 청유문, the following conversion shall take place when direct speech is changed into indirect speech.
1. ~지 마세요 (direct speech) → ~지 말라고 하다 (indirect speech)
Billy tells Naoko, 가지 마세요. When Minjeong asks Naoko what Billy told her, Naoko will say, 가지 말라고 했어요.
2. ~지 맙시다 (direct speech) → ~지 말자고 하다 (indirect speech)
Billy tells Naoko, 가지 맙시다. When Minjeong asks Naoko what Billy told her, Naoko will say, 가지 말자고 했어요.
Note 4: 청유문
청유문 (propositive sentence) doesn't always need to end with ~ㅂ시다. So long as the sentence carries with it a request for a certain action to be done together, it is considered a 청유문. In fact the following sentences, which may look like 평서문 (declarative sentence) or 의문문 (interrogative sentences) are all 청유문.
1. 이따가 정문에서 만나요. (A request to meet later)
2. 같이 춤을 춰요. (A request to dance together)
3. 같이 시험공부를 할까요? (A request to study together)
4. 우리 사귈까요? (A request to go steady)
Once you can recognise the above sentences as 청유문, their indirect speech form will be as shown below:
1. 이따가 정문에서 만나자고 했어요.
2. 같이 춤을 추자고 했어요.
3. 같이 시험공부를 하자고 했어요.
4. 우리 사귀자고 했어요.
Note 5: ~이/가 아니다
In case you are wondering how to change ~이/가 아니다 to its indirect speech form, it is ~이/가 아니라고 하다. For example, Billy tells Naoko, 그 분은 선생민이 아니예요. When Minjeong asks Naoko what Billy told her, Naoko will say, 그 분은 선생민이 아니라고 했어요.
After covering the grammar ~(으)라고 하다 and ~자고 하다 in great details, our teacher introduced the grammar ~(으)ㄹ 텐데. She didn't exactly explain it, instead, she let us listened to an old song (produced in 2002) by Sung Si Kyung - 좋을 텐데. Just then, my classmate who sat beside me asked who is Sung Si Kyung? I ended up telling her, 한국 유명한 가수예요. On the topic of Sung Si Kyung, our teacher said that not everyone in Korea like him. Apparently, they have bone to pick with his "softness". Regardless, Sung Si Kyung is still one of her favourites. She went on to say that Sung Si Kyung is the deejay for a midnight radio programme which starts at 12 midnight and ends at 2am. Many people including herself actually stay up until 2am just to hear Sung Si Kyung says "잘 자요", at the end of his programme, with his signature tender and melancholic voice.
Just before our class ended yesterday, our teacher invited the external assessor to give her comment about our class. The assessor's first obeservation was that our class is a very big one considering that it is an intermediate class. Despite that, she was rather impressed by the atmosphere in the class and the interation between teacher and students. To her surprise, our Korean language standard is much better than her expectation. Actually, I wasn't surprise because more than half the class has studied, for different length of time, in Kyunghee, Sogang and Yonsei previously. Anyway, the assessor's comment was enough to make our teacher's day and as a proof of her happiness, she wrote us the following e-mail after the class.
"너무너무 좋은 우리 중급2반 학생 여러분!!!
저는 여러분이 너무 좋아요. 여러분이 한국어를 정말 잘 하시고 열심히 공부하셔서 오늘도 여러분이 정말 자랑스러웠어요. 오늘 우리 수업을 본 다른 한국어 선생님도 여러분의 수준이 높아서 많이 놀랐다고 했어요.
감사합니다!!!
다음 주에 만나요!!"
Thank you for this! You provided better explanation than the book we're using. :-)
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