Lesson 23
Welcome to the first Word Builder lesson of Talk To Me In Korean! Word Builder lessons are designed to help you understand how to more efficiently expand your vocabulary by learning/understanding some common and basic building blocks of Korean words. Many (not all) of the words and letters introduced through Word Builder lessons are based on Chinese characters, or 한자, but the meanings can differ from modern-day Chinese. Your goal, through these lessons, is to understand how words are formed and remember the keywords in Korean in order to expand your Korean vocabulary from there. You certainly do not have to memorize the Hanja characters, but if you want to, feel free!
Today’s keyword is 학.
The Chinese character for this word is 學.
The word 학 is related to “learning”, “studying”, and “school”.
Sample Expressions
학 + 생(person, member, participant) = 학생 (學生) = student
학 + 교(school) = 학교 (學校) = school
학 + 원(house; garden) = 학원 (學院) = private academy
수 (numbers) + 학 = 수학 (數學) = mathematics
과 (subject; class; species) + 학 = 과학 (科學) = science
어 (word) + 학 = 어학 (語學) = language learning
언어 (word+word) + 학 = 언어학 (言語學) = linguistics
경제 (economy) + 학 = 경제학 (經濟學) = economics
학 + 자(person) = 학자 (學者) = scholar
유 (to stay) + 학 = 유학 (留學) = studying abroad; staying abroad to study
유학 (studying abroad) + 생 = 유학생 (留學生) = student studying abroad
전 (to roll, to move) + 학 = 전학 (轉學) = to change schools
전학 (to change schools) + 생 = 전학생 (轉學生) = student who moved to another school
학 + 년 (year) = 학년 (學年) = school year
학 + 기 (period) = 학기 (學期) = semester
방 (to release, let go) + 학 = 방학 (放學) = school vacation
장 (recommending) + 학 + 금 (money) = 장학금 (奬學金) = scholarship
장 + 학 + 생 = 장학생 (奬學生) = student on a scholarship
복 (return) + 학 + 생 = 복학생 (復學生)
= student who has returned to school (usually) after a long break
학 + 습 (acquire) = 학습 (學習) = (formal) learning, studies
한국어 학습 (韓國語 學習) = (formal) Korean learning
독 (alone) + 학 = 독학 (獨學) = self-study, studying by oneself