How I Learned to Read and Write Korean (2)

The first word I learned to read in Korean was bibimbap (food cook in the stone bow), a famous Korean dish. My Irish coworker taught it to me at a restaurant. "It's easy to find on a menu," she said. "It has so many 'b' sounds in the name. " She wrote out the whole Korean alphabet and described how to put letters together. I learned that the letters go together to form "blocks," or syllables. Blocks go together to form words.

From then on, I learned written Korean quickly. Every day held dozens of opportunities to practice. I sounded out words I read on subway ads. I sounded out items on menus. I even sounded out movie titles that appeared on TV. It became a fun game! My students loved it when I wrote Korean and helped me learn even more.

Learning to read and write Korean didn't equal fluency. Most of what I read I didn't understand. But mastering this small skill was a big step in adjusting to my new life in Korean.

Info Cloud

If you live in a large city, chances are your city has a mass rapid transit system. In Taipei, we call it the MRT for short. But depending on the city, such a system may go by different names.

In today’s lesson, we see the word subway. That’s a very common name for a rapid transit system. The New York City Subway is one of the most famous subways in the world.

But the word “subway” literally means a path that’s underground. In fact, in British usage, subway refers to an underground crossing for pedestrians. So if you’re referring to a rapid transit system that is built above ground, then it wouldn't really qualify as a subway.

And that’s probably why in Chicago, it’s called the L, which is short for elevated. A big part of the L system is above ground, elevated over the roads.

Another common name is metro. The rapid transit systems in Washington D.C., Paris and Moscow are all referred to as the Metro.

And finally, there’s the London Underground. But most locals call it the Tube.

subway n.
1. [英]地下道、地道
2. [美]地下鐵、地下鐵火車
1 chiefly US : a system of underground trains in a city
2 Brit : a road or passage for walking under a road, set of railroad tracks, etc.

the New York City Subway 紐約地鐵
the L (elevated) 在芝加哥，行走在街道上方的高架地鐵
the Underground = the Tube 倫敦地鐵
the Metro華府、巴黎、莫斯科的地鐵

Grammar Gym
equal
1. to talk about math problem
- One plus two equals three.
2. to be as good as
- Learning to read and write Korean didn't equal fluency.
- Having a higher job position equals greater responsibility.
- Poor time management at work equals less productivity.
- Having the latest technological gadget does not equal being cool.
- Being rich does not equal being happy.

Hello, friends. Welcome to the Grammar Gym. My name is Liz. We find this sentence in today’s article: Learning to read and write Korean didn't equal fluency. That’s our Grammar Tip sentence. And today we’re looking at the word “equal.”

Normally we use “equal” to talk about math problems like: One plus two equals three. But in today’s sentence, the writer is not talking about math. Instead, she uses “equal” to mean to be as good as.

So today’s sentence just means: Just because the writer learned to read and write Korean didn't mean she was as good as being fluent.

We use “equal” like this when we want to talk about how something naturally means or leads to something else.

For example: Having a higher job position equals greater responsibility.
Or:
Poor time management at work equals less productivity.

And when we want to talk about how something does not lead to something else, then we use “not equal.”

For example:
Having the latest technological gadget does not equal being cool.
Or:
Being rich does not equal being happy.

If you have a copy of this month’s magazine with you, do please check out today’s Grammar Tip section for more example sentences. That’s it for today. This is Liz from the Grammar Gym. See you next time.

Language Lab
coworker = colleague n.同事 [co字首- 一起]
a person who works at the place where you work : someone you work with
- Marian used to be my coworker at IBM.
Marian以前是我在IBM的同事
- George and his colleagues are throwing a "welcome-back" party for their boss.
George和他的同事們要為復職的上司舉辦歡迎的派對

syllable n.音節
/ˈsɪləbəl/
any one of the parts into which a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced  
- The word "attack" has two syllables.
Attack這個字有兩個音節
- The stress of the word "computer" is on the second syllable.
Computer這個字的重音在第二個音節
- When you say the word "debut" accent the last syllable.
當你說debut，重音要放在最後一個音節

sound out [phrasal verb]  說出來、發音
- It's hard for some people to sound out the "r" sound.
某些人很難發"r"的音
- Chelsea tried to sound out the complicated word.
Chelsea試著要發出這個發音很複雜的字

fluency n. [uncountable]流利、流暢
the ability to speak easily and smoothly;
the ability to do something in a way that seems very easy
- William's fluency in English helps him excel in his job.
William流利的英文幫助他在工作中表現傑出
fluent adj.流利的、流暢的
able to speak a language very well
- Frank is fluent in three languages.
Frank能夠流利的使用三種語言


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