Social Media

At the bottom of my blog, in the footer, there are the links to all of the social media that is associated with this blog. There are three social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On each of these platforms, I have looked into audience engagement and the brand identity of my blog. The use of hashtags and images were an attempt to inspire audience engagement. I used the same logo and headers (if there were available) across of the social media platforms that were used. I tried to create engaging posts that would encourage the audience to click on the link to my blog that is provided on every post. Each of the platforms use the same content as I am aware that not everyone will use all three platforms. This ensures that all audiences receive the same information and opportunities to engage. I also made my social media accounts made aware of by telling my friends and family about them. This inspired some audience engagement.

Facebook

Link to the page: https://www.facebook.com/acwInMySeoul

Facebook was the first platform that I wanted to use for my blog. I see Facebook as a professional-looking platform that is used by a lot of companies to promote their brand and products. There are plenty of ways to organise the information and posts that I wish to share with the audience. All of the information that the audience would need is easy to access which is important as user experience needs to be made simple to encourage further engagement.
The information provided by facebook about audience engagement is very easy to find in the Insights page. It gives a good overview to see how well the brand is reaching with the audience on this platform. Facebook also provides good ways to help with audience engagement to further boost the number of people that it reaches through their free business tools.

Instagram

Link: https://www.instagram.com/ACWIn_My_Seoul/?hl=en

Instagram is another good platform to use to promote a blog. Images have a better chance of encouraging the audience to engage with the media. Instagram is not able to function without an image. Therefore, it should allow for more audience engagement.
The simple layout of the platform, whether on desktop or mobile, allows for the audience to easily find the content that they want to view. This is why it was important that appropriate images were used for each post to not confuse the audience. But they also needed to be interesting enough for the audience to actually interact with the post, such as liking and sharing the post.
I also tried to make good use of the stories feature. Although this feature is available on other platforms, Facebook being another prominent platform, Instagram is most known for it. So I tried to promote my posts as well as sharing other Instagram accounts’ posts that were related to my blog. This was an attempt to encourage further audience engagement.

Twitter

Twitter was the last platform that I wanted to use to promote my blog. Twitter is often regarded as very professional as this the platform that a lot of brands use to promote their content and products to a wide audience. Often, there can be more engagement on Twitter than other platforms as bigger announcements are made on this platform.
However, Twitter does have a character limit for its posts. So I had to be selective about my word choices. The same goes for the information at the top of the page. Since only one link could be used for the account, I created a Carrd which had all of the links to the blog itself and other supporting social media accounts. This way, the audience could easily access all of the accounts and the blog in a clear way.

3 Korean games to play with your friends

There are plenty of games that are not seen in British culture and I have only seen them in Korean culture. I want to teach you some of my favourites.

아이엠 그라운드 The Name Game

(a.k.a I am Ground)
You will need at least two players, but more is better.

In Korean programmes, this game is often shown by the players using hats in which the ears move up and down. You don’t need them – you can just use your hands. There are four motions that you need to know:
1. Right ear (if using a hat) or slap your legs with both hands
2. Left ear (if using a hat) or clap your hands
3. Both ears (if using a hat) or point with your right thumb up
4. Both ears (if using a hat) or point with your left thumb up
These are the motions you’ll be doing to counts of four throughout the game.

To start the game, the first player beings by saying “아이 엠 그라운드 토끼임하기” (“ai em geulaundeu tokkigeimhagi”) (“I am ground let’s do rabbit game”).
Motion 1, motion 2 and then on motion 3 you call someone’s name and on motion 4, you say how many times between 1 to 4. Here is an example with my name:
아이 엠 그라운드 토끼임하기 (ai em geulaundeu tokkigeimhagi). *Motion 1*. *Motion 2*. Abbie. 둘 (dul) (2).
If you are chosen, you have to say your name in time with the beats and motions according to the number of times you need to say your name. So:
한 (han) (1) = *Motion 1*. *Motion 2*. *Motion 3*. Abbie.
둘 (dul) (2) = *Motion 1*. *Motion 2*. Abbie. Abbie.
셋 (set) (3) = *Motion 1*. Abbie. Abbie. Abbie.
넷 (net) (4) = Abbie. Abbie. Abbie. Abbie.
Then you call out the name person with *Motion 1*. *Motion 2*. Chaeyoung. 한 (han) (1).
You continue until someone makes a mistake.

Let’s watch BTS play the game!

If the gif isn’t working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/ZY02ogO

If the gif isn’t working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/ZdYJYkw

If the gif isn’t working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/aRV2VeO

Here is a gif of Yoongi being cute, because why not.

If the gif isn’t working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/4oKJKAm

Gifs created from: BTS Run episode 60

Pushing Game

This game needs two players only.

The two players face each at a fairly close distance. Both players hold their hands up after if they are giving each other two five-hands. The aim of the game is to try and stand in one spot whilst attempting to push over the other person using their hands.

Make sure you have space behind both players.

The games can get intense, so be aware.

Let look at some K-pop idols playing the game.

If the gif isn’t working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/ZOJnx9z

If the gif isn’t working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/ZPq28Ar

If the gif isn’t working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/ZxDJqb5

If the gif isn’t working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/Zk7exYp

If the gif doesn’t work, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/amQJMY5

If the gif isn’t working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/4wDxYJd

The gifs were created from: K-pop Idols Funny Pushing Game

The ABCD Game

You will need at least two players, but three is a good minimum.

There are four hand gestures that you need to know for this game that correspond to four letters (A, B, C, and D):
A = both hands pressed together as if you are praying
B = both hands pressed together but shifted in opposite directions
C = both hands are apart with your palms facing down
D = both hands are apart with your palms facing up

To start the game, decide on the first caller. Then start with your hands in gesture A. The caller with call out a letter A to D by saying either “한, 둘, 셋, *letter*” (“han, dul, set, *letter*”) (“one, two, three, *letter*”) or “A, B *letter*. This is down to personal preference.
The other players must move their hands to NOT match the letter that was called. If your gesture is the one that was called, you get slapped depending on the letter that you matched to. They go as follows:
A = 1 slap
B = 2 slaps
C = 3 slaps
D = 4 slaps
If no one matches the letter called, then another letter is called by the next player.

Let’s watch BTS playing the game.

If the gif is not working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/ZxDJD65

If the gif is not working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/4ARpkrO

If the gif is not working, you can view it here: https://gph.is/g/E1pYXGr

Gifs created from: BTS 花樣年華 (2015 LIVE On Stage Concert Prologue & VCR Making)

Screenshots

Here are screenshots of the gifs working if they are not working:

6 Korean learning resources to kick start your journey

I thought some of you might find it useful to have a list of some good resources that I like to use for learning Korean. Of course, there are many more out there. But these are just the main ones that I use.

1. TTMIK (Talk To Me In Korean)

Image sourced from: https://twitter.com/ttmik

This is a very well-known website that a lot of Korean learners use. Despite this not being the first website that I used to start learning Korean, I would say that this is the best website that I have discovered and use to learn grammar. They explain concepts in a very clear and concise way that is easy to understand.

You can learn Korean without having to pay for anything. Their free essential courses take you right from the beginning. So it is an excellent place to start learning Korean. However, it would be ideal to know how to read and write 한글 (hangul) (the Korean writing system) before starting. Often, people say you can learn it all within an hour. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that teach you the letters. But I found that it took me a little longer to get used to and remember all of the letters. Thankfully, TTMIK has the romanised versions of words until level 4 of their free courses.

They also have a wide range of books types for all levels. At the point of writing this, they have the free essential courses from level 1 to 9 in book form. They also have workbooks that work alongside their free essential courses to help you practice the grammar. Additional to these, they have books full of example sentences, conversations and vocabulary. They offer most of them as physical copies and ebooks. I purchased the ebook versions of ‘My Weekly Korean Vocabulary Book 1’ and the workbooks for level 3, 4 and 5. I have found them to be beneficial. But by all means, you do not need to feel like you have to buy their books to learn Korean.

Here is the link to their website: https://talktomeinkorean.com/

Here is the link to their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/talktomeinkorean

Here are the links to their podcast: Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud, Google Podcasts

2. How To Study Korean

Image sourced from: https://www.howtostudykorean.com/

This is the first website that I used to start learn Korean. The reason I moved over to TTMIK was because I found it a little difficult to understand the grammar concepts that they were trying to explain. Often, their explains are a little lengthy too. That being said, having learn a lot of grammar from TTMIK and understanding how I learn Korean best, coming back to this website helps me fill in a few little gaps in my knowledge. They are very minor.

The thing I like about this website is that at the beginning of each lesson, they offer a list of vocabulary as well as using a wide range of vocabulary in their example sentences (of which there are plenty of). I find that TTMIK uses a lot of the same vocabulary. So this website helps to widen your vocabulary range.

Here is a link to their website: https://www.howtostudykorean.com/

Here is a link to their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWwkebe58DeuZw-Lf1QRC7g

3. Papago

Image sourced from: https://papago.naver.com/

This is a translation website and app that is owned by Naver. Naver is like the Korean version Google. The thing that is special about Papago is that it “uses a neural machine to learn from its mistakes and learn what type of translations the user requires” (Wikipedia, 2020). I actually found out about this through BTS’s 전정국 (Jeon Jungkook) from a V Live. He uses to help him learn English.

The main thing I like about this translator is that it takes the words that you type in and links them to the Naver dictionary underneath. If you click these links, you can see a more in depth explanation with examples of that word. I find this to be very useful for verbs as some of their verbs are very specific, such as 감다 which means to close one’s eyes or to wash one’s hair. Or when a word has more than one meaning, such as 바람 which means wind and also wish, dream or desire.

Here is a link to the website: https://papago.naver.com/

Here are the links to the app versions: Google Play Store, Apple App Store

4. Duolingo and Memrise

Image sourced from: https://www.duolingo.com/
Image sourced from: https://twitter.com/memrise

These are apps that I have heard a lot about and often seen adverts for them. Some people say these apps and websites are very good. But I should warn you that they do not teach grammar as it suggests in the adverts and on their websites and apps. I would recommend using them as a way to practice grammar, hearing other people speaking the language and practicing and learning vocabulary. Rather than using theses resources alone, I suggest to use them as a support for other resources. The apps are good for on the go, such as on the bus, for quick practices. Please do not rely on these only as they only teaches you phrases – you will not learn the speak freely with these only.

Here are the links to the websites: Duolingo, Memrise

Here are the links to the Duolingo app: Google Play Store, Apple App Store

Here are the links to Memrise app: Google Play Store, Apple App Store

5. Korean Hamin

Image sourced from: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCPJMTZlpZnzPrL0Tj-iECA

Hamin is a fairly new discovery of mine. I first found him on Tik Tok. His content is great for learning and understanding the pronunciation of words. You can also do duets with him on Tik Tok to practice your convocations. He also has an Instagram account with similar content and YouTube channel where he goes into a little more depth about grammar. He is a really great person to listen to as his voice is very clear. I am also very impressed by him as he is in his early 20s.

Here are his links: Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube

6. Flashcard app

Image sourced from: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz-GP449NJSstWUOEdIHvDA/about

One thing I struggle with a lot is remembering vocabulary. When I started, I had several lists for new words I found: verbs, adjectives etc. But I found that I would write them down and forget to look at them. Then I discovered some flashcard apps. But one stood out to me called dA Flashcards. I do believe that is to only on the Google Play Store. I like that you can sort them into folders and add tags to them. So I have verbs, adjectives, nouns, adverbs, verb endings and a few more. But the thing I like the most is that every 15 minutes (if I look at my phone), a new card is show as a notification. So throughout the day, I can be reminded of a range of different words and grammar points.

Here is the link to the app: Google Play Store


References:

Feature image: https://pixabay.com/ko/photos/%EB%B0%94%EB%9E%8C%EC%B0%B8%EC%A2%8B%EB%8B%A4-%EC%97%AC%EC%9D%98%EB%8F%84-%ED%95%9C%EA%B8%80-603698/

K-Dramas You Should Be Watching

It’s coming up to Christmas and often, we have a lot of time on our hands once we break up from school, college, university, work, you name it. So here are a few dramas that you could watch in that time.

This is a screen shot of the custom HTML (as the HTML block will not function correctly):

You can take a look them using this link: https://wakelet.com/wake/P_BR2pPYUiwmzToq0UyH4

I hope you will give one of them a watch if you have not watched them before and that you enjoy them.