Kakao Talk_ No.1 National messenger in Korea
What kind of smart phone messenger do you use?
You might have experienced that many of your Korean friends do not use What’s app and normally they don’t even have its account. Do you know why?
Many Korean people from primary school kids to elderly people use an app called ‘Kakaotalk’ instead of what’s app. Kakaotalk is a free smartphone messenger (similar to What’s app) which enables users to make group/individual calls, group chats in the common/ individual chat rooms.
When the free messenger has newly developed and released in ios/android markets, only Korean people used it. The company ‘kakao’ CEO and developers had been through huge pressures from the tele-communications companies who were upset by the fact that users did not use their texts and calls anymore because of Kakao’s free texts and call features. Furthermore, Kakao company nearly bankrupted due to the massive loans. But they did not change it to paid app which resulted in them surviving and achieving huge success to gather 90 million users worldwide now.
Kakaotalk is one of the most powerful messenger apps now and the company makes a lot of profit by kakaotalk-based games (such as anipang and cookie run)’ success and marketing campaigns liaised with major telecommunication companies in Korea.
If you are looking for something cute and convenient smartphone messengers, try Kakaotalk. Its’ creative, cute and funny animated emoticons and custom themes, smart features in multimedia sharing will make you a big fan of the app in no time.
By the way, I do not work for Kakao. I am just one of the Kakao power users. 🙂
Ashley (Korean teacher)
Top Destination: Bohol – Part 2
What do you call one of the smallest primate in the world with its eyes heavier than its brain?
Philippine Tarsier
Shy, mysterious and nocturnal animals measuring only between 85 to 160 millimetres in height and which you can place on the palm of your hand is an endemic and endangered specie in the Philippines. The Tarsier Conservation Center in Loboc is the best place to get a close encounter. Be sure to take off the flashes of your cameras and to observe silence as they easily get stressed and “commit sucide” by hitting their heads against objects that crack their thin skulls.
Top Destination: Bohol – Part 1
One of the Philippines’ top destinations and the tenth largest island, Bohol (Bo-hol) is known for its pristine beaches and resorts, Chocolate Hills and the Philippine Tarsier.
What do you call those giant mole hills that are covered in grass and turned chocolate brown at the end of the dry season?
Chocolate Hills
The Chocolate Hills, which some claim to consist of exactly 1268 hills, are natural limestone formations mostly between 30 to 50 metres high. Local legend explains that the hills are a result of the messy fight between two giants who threw sand and stones to each other for days. Exhausted, they made peace and left the island. Another legend tells of Arogo, a young and strong giant who fell in love with Aloya, a mortal girl. When she died, Arogo cried terribly with his tears transformed into hills. To this day, the mystery still exists to how these hills are formed.
Another tips for OET Writing
“The” patient
A common mistake that ESL students make in the writing section is when making reference to the patient. This is done as necessity all throughout the letter.
Letter header
The patient’s full name and date of birth or age should be mentioned right at the start of the letter in the letter header “Re: (patient’s first name AND surname, date of birth).” This should always be included in a referral letter as the doctor or health specialist that you are writing to will most likely have hundreds of patients they see and need a quick way of filing and identifying patients without mixing them up.
First paragraph
In the introductory paragraph of the letter, you will invariably be mentioning the patient. It is important to mention at least the patient’s first name or their surname with appropriate title of Mr/Ms when referring to them.
Body paragraphs.
Ideally you would mention the patient’s name at the first sentence of every new paragraph. You would refer to the patient by their name if there is more than one person involved in the patient’s case. For example, the patient’s name may be mentioned when describing reports from a collateral account like a parent to not confuse the two.
Otherwise, you can refer to the patient as “the patient” or she/he etc as appropriate grammatically. Oftimes I see students just writing “patient” instead of “the” patient. It is always “the patient.” It may seem like a pedantic pointer but always remember this is a English test so proper grammar counts!
Cooking expressions in Korean
If you have been to SLS Korean cooking/ Cultural workshop which was held earlier this year, you might have heard of some Korean expressions talking about cooking. Since Korean foods have many steps to prepare ingredients prior to main cooking session, we need to know some essential expressions regarding the preparation stage as well as the main stages of cooking.
For BBQ, 굽다 is used as ‘grill/bake’. For example, “갈비를 구워 주세요 galbi reul gu wue ju se yo” means “Please grill some Galbi (i.e. beef rib)”. For stir frying when you make some Korean side dishes, we say 볶다. If you want to say “Please stir fry this potato.”, you can say “이 감자를 볶아 주세요. I gamja reul bokka juseyo.”
Here are some important expressions regarding Korean cooking:
끓이다: to boil. When you make Korean soups.
부치다: to Pay fry. When you make Korean seafood pancakes.
삶다: to steam/ boil. When you make Korean Namul dishes.
절이다: to marinade vegetables. When you make Kimchi, it’s essential.
Ashley Jang (Korean teacher)
Series 1 of Korean Food : Japchae (잡채) Recipe
Japchae is one of the best Korean traditional foods have been still loved for every Korean regardless of gender and age. The dish is often served in Korean traditional Holidays such as Lunar New Year, Chuseok (추석/ kind of Korean Thanksgiving Day) and even someone’s birthday.
Japchae is a healthy and delicious food made with chewy cellophane noodle from sweet potato starch. 잡채 (Japchae) literally means a mix of chopped vegetables but modernized Japchae is a cooked noodle mixed up with many kinds of cokked vegetables and meat. Japchae is also very good dish for vegetarian if you make it without meat. You may choose the kind of vegetables you prefer. Japchae is a very colorful, tasty and highly nutritious food.
Let’s have a look at ingredients and how to cook it now!
Ingredients
200g japchae sweet noodles
1 onion, finely sliced
1 carrot, finely julienned
1 green or yellow capsicum, julienned
6~10 shitake mushrooms, soaked until soft and sliced into 5mm
Cooked spinach
100g lean beef, cut into thin strips (around 5~7mm)
Soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp sesame oil
Sesame seeds
Vegetable oil
Pepper and salt
How to cook
1.Preparing beef
Marinate the sliced thin beef with 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil.
(If you want to remove the bad smell of meat, add a pinch of ginger power.)
Place it for 15 minutes.
Stir-fry them with vegetable oil in a pan over high heat until cooked through.
Put it on the platter.
2. Preparing shitake mushroom
Marinate the sliced mushroom with 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil.
Place it for 15 minutes.
Stir-fry them with vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat.
Put it on the platter.
3. Preparing spinach
Put your spinach in a pot of boiling water and blanch it slightly for around 30 seconds.
Do not overcook.
Then rinse it in cold water 2~3 times and squeeze it lightly.
Chop it in half or into 5~7cm long.
Mix it with a pinch of salt, sesame oil, sesame seeds and pepper.
Put it on the platter.
4. Preparing carrots and onions
Cut carrots into strips and stir-fry it until they soften.
Add a pinch of salt. Just season to taste.
Put it on the platter.
Cook sliced onions with the same way.
5. Preparing capsicums.
Julienne capsicums into 5mm. It doesn’t need to be precooked.
6.Preparing noodles
Cook the noodle in plenty of boiling water for around 5 minutes.
When it is cooked thoroughly, it will look translucent.
If you are not sure of it, just taste it J. But do not overcook.
Rinse in cold water and drain well.
Cut the noodles into around 15cm.
7. Making Sauce
Mix 3 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp sesame oil and sesame seeds.
Add a pinch of pepper.
8. Mix every ingredient.
Put the noodles into a big bowl.
Add stir-fried beef, marinated shitake mushroom and precooked all vegetables.
Mix all ingredients smoothly with premade sauce.
Depending on your taste, control the amount of soy sauce or sugar.
The ‘Saaree’ Clad Eve and the ‘Kurta’ Donned Adam
Have you ever considered dressing up in traditional Indian attire? The ‘Saaree’ is really only a very long rectangular piece of cloth tightly wrapped around the femme-fatale to enhance the curves. The technique of wearing it though tricky is achievable with considerable practice. It is elegant, chic and charismatic. The kurta-pyjama is a knee long shirt with flair pants for the handsome hunk. Whether you don it below the six pack or a flab, it makes you look equally irresistible. Lehenga-choli is a blouse and ankle long skirt. Team it up with a bindi – the forehead sticker, some colourful bangles and an anklet and you will epitomize the Indian beauty. And where will you easily get all this in Sydney. You will not have to go too far. Liverpool is the hub of Indian fad and fashion. Lined up with shops, it will provide you with everything Indian that you will ever want to wear to impress your beau the Bollywood style. From Salwar-Kameez to Sarees, Kurta-Pyjamas to Dhotis, beautifully hand embroidered shawls to embellished stoles or dupattas, you name it and they have it. There are even these not too expensive tailors, who will custom design your Indian wear or even fit you with ‘wear-in-seconds-saaree’ that would normally take an expert a good sweat and a good ten minutes!
The Grandiloquent Taj
Part of the World Heritage List, The Taj Mahal is considered one of the most magnificent buildings ever conceptualized. The exquisite marble beauty in Agra, India, might be a mausoleum, but all you will be haunted by is the intense love of a husband for his beloved wife. Undoubtedly, it also a legendary evidence of the artistic brilliance and scientific splendour of a prosperous regime. Some three million people visit the Taj every year. Agra is easily commutable by bus, train, and air. Access to the structure is on foot purposefully to save the building from the city’s growing pollution. The Taj is a round-the-clock attraction and always buzzing with tourists, though a new ticketing system has been somewhat successful to distribute the onslaught of visitors evenly. Visitors wanting to enjoy the splendour in serenity could try coming in early or late in the day. The Taj is closed on Fridays. A good part of any visit to the Taj must be lavished on the exterior; however the breath-taking inlay work of the interiors cannot be missed. The mausoleum’s dazzling white marble shifts colour to reflect the pensiveness of the outside world—an enthralling transformation that must be witnessed in different conditions, such as in the crimson of twilight or pristine white of the full moon.
Our Love for Cricket!
Cricket is the most popular, participated, performed and played sport in India; it is played by many people from almost all corners, in open spaces throughout the land of India. From winning the World Cup in 1983 to the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, or the 2011 Cricket World Cup, it is blindly fan-followed to the extent of worship by young and old, extremely wealthy to the poverty stricken, man, woman and child . There may be plethora of religions in this largest democracy and secular nation, but it is said that the sport of cricket unifies Indians much passionately than any faith, following or religion can ever attain. Although, surprisingly still, Hockey is the national game, it is cricket that shouts numbers in terms of fan following. With zillions of passionate worshippers of the sport, cricket is truly the ‘religion’ of this populous sub continent.
The ‘Men in Blue’ of team India are arduously followed by the fanatic cricket fans and their fan following equals the popularity of any bollywood famed hero or heroine. From a school goer to a retired citizen, the passion of this sport has entertained, enamoured and enthused every Indian. This cricket crazy nation plan their routine, their holidays and their leaves after taking into consideration the touring schedule of Team India. No matter which part of India, one can find a bunch of amateurs playing cricket in narrow alleys, crammed backyards and even the most populated road sides dreaming of becoming the next cricketing sensation. Cricket, undoubtedly, is the fastest way of winning over an Indian!
Indian Music
The music of India transcends various genres from pop to folk to classical. Carnatic and Hindustani music are other forms that have a long standing history spanning a millennia. Some other popular forms are Film music, Indi-pop music, Indian Hip-hop, Indian rock etc. In India, however, music is most commonly perceived as that of Bollywood music. Popular Indian cinema, Hindi, or any other regional language, is mostly characterized in the West as “musicals” because each one is brimming with songs and dances. Ghazals, poetic compositions, an ode to loss, memory, and remembrance of love are chart toppers as well. Qawaalis, also love based stanzas, though devotion of man and woman for the Divine, have also heightened in their popularity and fame. In, recent years, Qawwali singers have established a world-wide reputation because of their mystical and enchanting rendition. Historically, between the 2nd century BC and the 5th century AD, a Treatise on the Dramatic Arts, was created by Bharata and ever since has exercised an intrinsic influence on the progress of Indian music, dance, and the performing arts in general. The repertoire of music in India extends from soul stirring melodies, to what is one of the most advanced “systems” of classical music in the world.
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