Welcome (어서오세요)

~ What is this place exactly?

It’s K.F.C!!

No. Not Kentucky Fried Chicken…and no, not even Korean Fried Chicken. This is Korean from Context.

I have been an avid Korean Pop and Korean Drama junkie for the last four or so years.

Since getting into said Korean things, I realized I was slowly starting to pick up words and phrases used fairly often. I’m sure many fans of the genre can agree that they have also picked up certain phrases.

After getting my start on the knowledge train, I wanted to learn even more of the language. So I bought study books and tried to dive in head first. It was so BORING! For me, at least, the breaking down to the point I was stressing out over something that was supposed to be fun, made me hate the idea of learning a new language. It was frustrating! I wanted to bang my head against a wall and throw in the towel. If you want to make something fun, try to not make it so clinical. I mean, that’s probably why my high school Spanish never stuck.

The only thing I could say the books helped with was the pronunciation and grammatical symmetry of the Hangul. Other than that, I wasn’t able to get any sort of enjoyment or feeling of accomplishment from the books.  

What I realized, was that simply watching K-dramas and listening to K-pop was more helpful to me. I even had a Korean mail lady at my old surf and skate shop who I would ask questions and she would give me the correct pronunciations. Soon, she had let me start calling her 언니 (older sister spoken from another female). I came to realize I was learning from what I heard in context. And from that I’ve grown in my knowledge and have chosen to continue my studies in a unique way. I want to use my writing and I want to bring you guys along.

So here is my pitch: How fun would it be to learn a new language while falling in love?

Korean From Context is my baby. It’s the idea that a person can learn from what’s being said around what they don’t necessarily know. It’s my platform for a new type of genre. Educational Romance. 

Yes, this will be predominantly romance. My plan is to create one or two large novels (who knows maybe more!), while also making small scenarios, where you the friendly readers can ask me how a saying would be used, or how something would play out in a particular situation and I will write a scenario in which the statement would be used. 

What’s with the blog and portfolio then?

I’m creative in a lot of different ways. And I tend to learn from different creative techniques. The blog will be where I have interviews with Korean artists (Yes, that is in the works and I can’t believe it!) as well as going out to NYC’s K-town, Flushing, and even my own hometown, to try all the amazing Korean food the areas has to offer and teaching you guys on the way.

The portfolio is…well…as it says, a portfolio. I have been doing concert photography as a fun side project for a friend and now I’ve decided to venture out on my own. ‘Vividly Wild’ is my photography name. Click on the link above to find out how and why.

All in all, this is a site to learn and 재미있게 보내세요 (have fun)