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- Korean Sentence Structure The Korean language works differently from other languages.For comparison, let’s take a look at a simple sentence in English:"I kicked the ball."The English language uses a S.V.O. sentence structure –Subject, Verb, and Object. This means that the subject comes first ("I"), followed by the verb ("kicked"), and then the object("the ball"). However, the Korean language uses a S.O.V. sentence structure– Subject, Object, and Verb.Here’s the same sentence written again, but using Korean sentence structure:"I ball kicked."jeo neun eul seub ni da. You’ll see in future lessons how sentence structure works, and it’s not that complicated once you’ve practiced with it. As I mentioned, there are over 80 million people speaking Korean currently, and I’m sure that you can learn it as well.Why Korean?But why are you learning Korean?•Business?•Travel?•Making friends?•Dating?•For fun?•"Because I can, that’s why."All of these are great reasons to study Korean. No matter your reason, you’ve truly chosen a fun, interesting, and useful language. I hope that this book will help you reach your own goals for learning Korean.Note About the ni da Form If this is your first time learning Korean and you have never heard of the ni da form before, you can feel free to skip this section and begin learning the Korean alphabet. I would like to discuss my usage of the ni da form in this book.This book has been designed to help people to learn the Korean language clearly and correctly, including proper grammar rules, and is not a phrase book. As such, I’ve chosen to introduce the ni da form (a very polite way of speaking) first and foremost in this book, and only introduce the ࠾ form(used for the majority of informal speaking) toward the end,beginning with Chapter 19. As a disclaimer, the 니다 form is not commonly used in real,regular Korean conversations. This is because it is a for malform, and is used most often for formal and business situations. I also discuss this in detail, including when to use the 니다 form, in Chapter 19. In addition, the 니다 form can sound awkward when used to friends or to people who are younger than the speaker. Regardless, I felt it was best to introduce it first for several reasons. However, the ni da form has several advantages over the ࠾form for first time students of the Korean language.1. It’s simpler to learn, helping to ease the learner into Korean,to save mental resources for focusing on adjusting to the Korean alphabet and grammar.2. It’s better to be too polite than to be rude.3. Students who have just begun studying Korean will likely not be able to hold a full conversation, so knowing the ni da form is unnecessary for introductory concepts.While some students of Korean who have already passed the basics may see the ni da form as useless, or counterproductive to learning Korean, I strongly believe that it is not, and decided to structure the book in this way after intensely comparing the options.While studying the ni d࠾ form first can help to adjust the learner to conjugating and using it, it has its own share of problems that I feel outweighs its benefits – at least in the beginning. 1. It requires knowledge of several rules in order to conjugate.This can be intimidating to first time learners.2. Although it is not rude in itself, when used in situations where formality is required, the ni da form can sound rude.3. It should not be used to ask questions to people who are older. As such, the learner must also learn honorific grammar and vocabulary in order to properly speak using the ni da form.Nevertheless, I understand the importance of knowing the ࠾form in order to hold a real conversation in Korean. Although it is introduced late (Chapter 19), I have included every conversation from every chapter re-written using the ࠾ form in the back of this book, for practice and also for study.My ultimate goal is for this book to give you a comprehensive introduction to the Korean language – consider it a solid stone step up a tall mountain. I hope that you can trust my methods long enough to be able to take over on your own.Good luck in your language learning, and feel free to contact me with any questions or comments at any time (just please don’t call me late at night when I’m sleeping).
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