Every word has its own story

Every word has its own story. Where did it come from? What does it mean? And how did it get into the language? Today's word is "crow."

The crow has long been a part of man's history. More than any other bird, the crow has been both denounced and praised. Some have feared it as a messenger of evil.



denouce: 비난하다, 탄핵하다; 비난
praise: 칭찬하다; 칭찬
evil: 악마
까마귀는 우리나라에서는 불길한 소식을 전해주는 새로 여겨지지만, 다른 여러 나라에서는 긍정적인 이미지를 갖는다고 한다. 하지만 그 고기는 어디서나 맛이 없는 모양. 그래서 to eat crow (까마귀 고기를 먹다)는 ‘울며 겨자 먹다’란 뜻을 갖고 있는데, 그런 뜻을 갖게 된 유래를 살펴본다.

The caucus system

The caucus system, in time, broke down and was replaced by national conventions. Every four years, Republicans and Democrats hold separate conventions. Delegates are chosen by the people.

Yet, even today, major decisions are made in small, smoke-filled rooms. But the results of these decisions quickly reach the people who closely watch the convention on television.



in time: 시간은 오래 걸리지만 결국. 보통 in time은 '때 맞춰, 머잖아' ex. In time you'll forget him. (언젠가는 그를 잊을거야.)

밀실회의 (7)

나중에 결국 밀실회의 방식은 없어지고 전당대회로 대치되었다. 4년마다 공화당과 민주당은 각각 전당대회를 연다. 50개 주 전체에서 대의원들이 참석하는데 대의원들은 국민에 의해 선출된다.

하지만 오늘날에도 아직 중요한 결정은 담배연기 자욱한 작은 방에서 이루어진다. 그렇지만 그 결정의 결과는 TV에 나오는 전당대회를 뚫어져라 지켜보고 있는 국민들에게 삽시간에 전해지는 것이다.

When Galileo went to his room

When Galileo went to his room he began to experiment. He took a number of cords of different lengths and hung them from the ceiling. To the free end of each cord he fastened a weight. Then he set all to swinging back and forth, like the lamp in the cathedral. Each cord was a pendulum, just as each rod had been.
He found after long study that when a cord was 39 1/10 inches long, it vibrated just sixty times in a minute. A cord one fourth as long vibrated just twice as fast, or once every half second. To vibrate three times as fast, or once in every third part of a second, the cord had to be only one ninth of 39 1/10 inches in length.



a number of: 수많은.
weight: 무거운 물건, 추.
a cord one fourth as long: 1/4길이의 줄.
just twice as fast: 2배의 빠르기로.
once every half second: 1/2초에 한 번씩. cf. once every other day: 이틀에 한 번씩.
once in every third part of a second: 매 1/3초마다 한 번씩.
one ninth of 39 1/10 inches: 39 1/10 인치의 1/9.


갈릴레오와 램프(3)

자기 방으로 들어간 갈릴레오는 실험에 착수했습니다. 그는 길이가 각기 다른 여러 개의 줄을 천장에서 늘어뜨렸습니다. 각 줄의 고정되지 않은 끝에는 추를 매달았습니다. 그리고서 그는 대성당의 램프처럼 이것들을 모두 앞뒤로 흔들었습니다. 막대기가 그랬던 것처럼 줄 하나 하나가 모두 진자였습니다.
오랜 연구 끝에 그는 줄의 길이가 39 1/10 인치일 경우, 1분에 꼭 60번 진동한다는 것을 발견했습니다. 줄의 길이가 1/4 로 줄어들면 진동은 2배로 빨라져 1/2 초에 한 번씩 진동했습니다. 진동 속도를 3배 빠르게, 즉 1/3 초만에 한 번씩 진동케 하려면, 줄은 그 길이가 39 1/10 인치의 1/9이 되어야 합니다.

Actress and MC Park Jung-sook

Actress and MC Park Jung-sook, star of ``hallyu'' or the Korean wave thanks to her performance in the hit soap opera ``Jewel in the Palace'' (Daejanggeum), added a scholarly touch to her resume with her completion of a thesis on hallyu at Columbia University this month.

In her master's dissertation ``Hallyu, Organic Power in Asia,'' Park defined it as a new power, which has organically developed in Asia with its increasingly popular Korean TV dramas and K-pop.

One of the most important characteristics of the phenomenon is that hallyu grew from the bottom up not the other way round.

``Though I based my thesis on constructivism and soft power for a theoretical framework, there is one thing different between soft power and hallyu,'' she told The Korea Times Tuesday. ``Soft power is intended to generate something like cooperation but hallyu just naturally starts as more and more people like it and its power snowballs.''

Actually, Korean soap operas including ``Jewel'' are now spreading beyond Asia to businesses in European countries, which have signed various types of memoranda of understanding and contracts with Korean production companies.

She explained the changed international environment such as the end of Cold War and the development of information technology helped hallyu grow very fast.

From an academic viewpoint, she said traditional international theories like realism and liberalism are giving way to constructivism, which predicts that cross-border sharing of similar cultural content will lead to the development of a common identity among various peoples of a region.

Park was sure that the 21st century would see increasing cultural exchange, saying that the New York Philharmonic concert held in Pyongyang Tuesday was a good example of how cultural events can positively affect international relations.

``From the New York Philharmonic concert in Pyongyang, we can see a `cultural' gesture was used in a bid to promote international relations,'' Park said.

She added Seoul's relations with Tokyo and Hanoi had greatly improved because of the cultural influence of hallyu. People in Japan and Vietnam, who used to look at Korea without affection, began to study it after watching Korean dramas.

Even North Koreans reportedly enjoy watching South Korean soap operas secretly, making the isolated people wake up to the real truth, she said.

Against this backdrop, she suggested the government should not try to force cultural policy on artists and the public given that real cultural strength is not a top-down phenomenon, but rather grows naturally.

``In short, unless cultural aspects develop power organically, I mean, in a natural way, the culture loses its power,'' she said.

Park also said Koreans need to expand the idea of hallyu to a regional identity as she thinks it is the right way for it to prosper in the future.

``Asia is facing a new phase, and it is time to create a regional identity with the great opportunity of hallyu,'' she said. ``If we just try to show Korean culture under the name of hallyu, it will not grow further. With our experiences and networks, we need to help other cultures develop in Asia and that's how Korea can become a cultural hub in Asia.''

Park graduated from Columbia University with a masters in international affairs on Feb. 13 and will teach cultural exchange and communication at the Institute of International Education of Kyung Hee University in Seoul as a visiting professor, starting next month.

A goodwill ambassador of Seoul City, Park didn't fail to mention that the city opened the Global Center last month to offer a one-stop service for foreign residents.

Reporter-Turned-Actress Debuts in 'Night and Day'

New actress Seo Min-jeong is attracting attention for her supporting role in the critically acclaimed film ``Night and Day.'' It was recently revealed that Seo used to work as a reporter at the Kwangju Ilbo.

``Night and Day,'' directed by Hong Sang-soo, received praise from critics and audiences when it premiered in the 58th Berlin International Film Festival last week. It was one of four Asian films competing for the much-coveted Golden Bear award.

The film revolves around a successful artist, played by Kim Young-ho, who faces arrest for smoking marijuana and flees to France. He meets an art student, played by Seo, who introduces him to another beautiful art student, played by Park Eun-hye.

Seo started working as a reporter for the Kwangju Ilbo's culture desk in August 2004. Last year, Seo went to France to study. While studying there, she heard about an audition for a supporting role in Hong's film. She tried her luck in the auditions and was cast in the film.

Seo was overwhelmed by the experience of walking the red carpet in Berlin. ``I never dreamed that I would step on the red carpet in my lifetime,'' she said.

After attending the Berlin film festival, Seo returned to France to continue her studies.

Secrets of European English Teaching Method

President-elect Lee Myung-bak's transition team has announced a series of measures to improve the nation's English ability such as getting teachers to teach English in English not in Korean in primary schools and above.

The rationale behind the whole package of English education lies in Koreans' poor performance in English even though they spend a huge amount of money on learning the language.

For example, South Korea stood at the 107th out of 143 non-English native countries in terms of the average Internet-based TOEFL score from September 2005 to December 2006, according to the test administrator ETS. The average score of Korean examinees was 72 out of 120.

Here are similar features of English education in countries that belong to the top 10 in the ranking excluding Singapore as the Asian country has adopted English as an official language.

Teaching English in English

Most northern European countries teach English in English from the first class, or introduce it in a gradual way.

Klaus Herzog, counselor in charge of science, culture and education at the German Embassy, said that he had his first English class at the age of 10 in the 1960s and the teacher just began teaching English in English without saying a single German word.

Of course, teachers used German to explain the grammar but the use of German was exceptional, Herzog said. Classes taught in English are an established teaching method in Germany and now students at have their first English class at the age of eight.

``Korea seems to put strong emphasis on visual comprehension and not so much on comprehension by listening,'' Herzog said. ``Meanwhile, in Europe, listening comprehension is important. For example, I took a listening test for high school graduation in which I summarized what I heard in English.''

He further said that people learn English just as a baby learns their mother tongue by listening to his or her mother speak.

Martin Hauge Torbergsen, first secretary of the Norwegian Embassy, echoed Herzog's view but said that students learn English gradually in English. By the time students enter high school, they will attend English classes all taught in English, he added.

Torbergsen said that English tests consist of written and oral examinations. In fact, English tests in Korea are mainly written examination of reading comprehension, grammar and spelling.

Meanwhile, Riku Warjovaara, first secretary of the Finnish Embassy, stressed that though English is taught in English, other subjects such as Finnish and history are not.

His point reflected that the transition team dropped its original plan to teach all subjects in English.

Qualified English Teachers

The second and probably the most important feature is that countries, whose TOEFL scores are quite high, are all proud of qualified teachers with a masters degree in English or experiences of studying in English-speaking countries.

Warjovaara said, ``Every English teacher must have masters degree in English. In addition, they must have degree in teaching.

Herzog said that all English teachers are fluent in English without exception.

``Even in the 1960s, teachers in their 30s and 50s were also very fluent and most of them were German,'' Herzog continued. ``A majority of Germans who teach English have studied mainly in the U.K. or other English-speaking countries.''

Torbergsen also said the English teachers in Norway are all fluent with a masters degree in English.

Most Koreans would be quite envious of the diplomats' description of their English teachers in terms of quality because the majority of Korean English teachers are not fluent in English. That's one of the reasons why Korean teachers are strongly opposed to President-elect Lee's drastic plan to get teachers to teach English in English.

Austrian Ambassador to Seoul Wilhelm Donko said, ``Most of our English teachers have either the experience of studying in English-speaking countries or learned English directly from people with such a background.''

Those European diplomats echoed that almost all English teachers are their nationals and people don't think they particularly need foreign English teachers because of the high quality.

However, Korean students prefer to learn from foreign English teachers largely because of their much better pronunciation.

Thanks to the excellent teachers, European students don't have to get private tutoring, which is very rare in Europe but very popular in Korea.

``Private tutoring is very rare and it only happens when a student is really bad at school,'' Herzog said.

So the diplomats said more focus should be given on the training of good teachers.

Torbergsen noted he could understand why Koreans spend lots of money on English when the return on the money spent was not that rewarding.

Exchange Program

An exchange program is also a distinguished feature responsible for better English ability of Europeans.

It is very common for students of secondary schools to study in Britain and other European countries as well as the United States. One of the advantages in the program is that students generally get financial support: for example, they only pay living expenses while tuition is covered by the program organization.

Herzog said, ``Almost all middle and high schools have exchange programs and students who are willing to go on the program can apply.''

Method Matters

Warjovaara said attention to the Finnish teaching method in overall education would be helpful for Korea's education authorities. He stressed that Finnish learn not to pass a test but for life.

``The relations between a teacher and a student is equal and teachers do not just give knowledge. Instead, they discuss issues and teachers encourage students to learn by themselves,'' he said.

In addition to teaching methods, diplomats suggested more balanced English education, particularly on listening and speaking.

``Theory such as grammar is much less important than the ability to use the language,'' Donko said. ``English language education is an important part of the education system from primary school onward.''

New US Ambassador to Seoul Taught English in Korea

Baek Won-kyu, an English teacher at Yesan Middle School, shows a photo of Kathleen Stephens, who was appointed as next U.S. ambassador to Seoul. As a Peace Corps volunteer, Stephens taught English to students and Baek was one of them.


Kathleen Stephens, who will likely serve as ambassador to Seoul, taught English at middle schools in Buyeo and Yesan, South Chungcheong Province, until 1977.

Last week, the White House appointed her to head the U.S. Embassy here. If confirmed by the U.S. Congress, she will replace Alexander Vershbow who has been in his post since 2005.

Stephens currently serves as political advisor for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department.

She is said to have a broad understanding of Korea's circumstances and culture and can speak Korean fluently. She is also fond of Korean cooking.

Stephens began to have a connection with Korea when she came to Korea as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1975.

With a deep affection for Korea, she has Korean name, Shim Eun-kyung.

Stephens, who was born in western Texas, served as principal officer at the U.S. Consulate in Busan between 1987 and 1989, and internal political unit chief at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul from 1984 to 1987.

She also served as director for European affairs at the National Security Council in 1994 and 1995 and, earlier in her career, worked at U.S. missions in China between 1980 and 1982.

Recent assignments include director of the officer of Ecology and Terrestrial Conservation at the State Department from 2001 to 2003, and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal, between 1998 and 2001.

Stephens can also speak Serbo-Croatian and Chinese.