Learning English

Pay the Fine 17

pay the fine1



When Pigs Fly 8

When Pigs Fly

He has always been the optimist in our relationship and I tend to be more pessimistic. But I am becoming more optimistic because of him. Not to the point of thinking pigs could fly though!

So don’t use that phrase with him to show how unlikely it is that something will happen because he won’t get it.

TV Channels 18

TV Channels

Ughhh! He doesn’t see the difference between classic literature and 90′s TV shows. Actually he probably does and is just riling me up on purpose.



Chop Chop 14

Chop Chop

“Chop Chop” meaning to “hurry hurry” is something my mum says a lot. My husband picked it up from her and uses it sometimes. The funny thing is that phrase was originally in Cantonese! I didn’t know that until I did a quick search about it. It was adopted by English seaman from Chinese workers. The earliest mention of it in print is in an English newspaper in China in 1834. And the earliest mention of it outside of China was in a London newspaper in 1909. (Wikipedia).

It obviously became a part of Australian English as well and I find it funny that my husband is learning a phrase in English that was originally rooted in Cantonese. I always find the history of words and phrases really interesting.

Dumblings 20


I was laughing mostly because “dumblings” sounds funny!

I’m back studying Korean again, well revising everything that I know (not much!), in preparation for when we move to Korea. We’ve decided once in Korea it’s vital for me to learn as much Korean as possible so Korean will be the language we’ll use the most when there. It will be hard, but worth it.

Hehe…. dumblings….


Money Jar 25

The money jar

It works like a swear jar and later when there is a lot of money they’ll buy something nice for everyone with it. You aren’t supposed to put money in it in anticipation of speaking Korean though! My husband does things his way though.

It has become like a game where people try to catch the others out. Someone will ask a question in Korean from just outside of the kitchen and the person in the kitchen will automatically answer in Korean and get caught out and have to pay.

My husband just got caught out because he was on the phone and speaking in Korean and standing in the kitchen. My mum saw him and told him, “You’ve used up your dollar!”

He went and put another dollar in and proclaimed that he can now speak Korean 5 more times and my mum said, “You don’t really get how this works do you?”

Hehehe… I’m the only one allowed to speak Korean in the kitchen.

Two Phones 24

Two Phones

I don’t know where he picks up these sayings! I also don’t know why he needs two phones and why he keeps them in the bed at night.

He is much more attached to his phones than me, and is always using them. I’m the type to put my phone down somewhere and not check it until six hours later.

How He Translates 17

How He Translates

He really hates translating and can be really lazy about it. I know it can be really hard though, and some people are just better at it than others. I have a friend, and though her English is not as good as my husband’s, she is much more natural at translating English and Korean.

This time last year his mother arranged for us to have a traditional meal that was made by monks and all the food they had grown themselves. I knew his mother was anxious to know if we enjoyed it so I wanted her to understand that we really liked it. Unfortunately my husband thought a very simple sentence would do.

My husband will only do it when forced and complains about it. He rarely explains anything about Korean to me and is very much in the habit of just speaking English to me. He learns a lot of English from me though, which is probably because of my personality. I’m a writer and I love reading so I’m always explaining words to him because I genuinely find words, and how they are used, interesting. But he doesn’t really have the motivation to talk about languages, so I miss out in that sense.

When we move to Korea next year I’ll have to work hard on my Korean and make the most of being in Korea.

He isn’t the only guy in my life who hates translating. My youngest brother who is fluent in Japanese will deliberately translate things wrong. For example, when a Japanese friend said to him, “Tell your sister she is pretty,” he turned to me and said in English, “She said you are ugly.” And yesterday I was with him at Darling Harbour and there was a little Japanese boy running around saying things and I asked my brother what he was saying. My brother said, “He said he doesn’t like you.”

See what I mean?!

Toilet 40







Fat Baby 11

Fat baby

It’s funny the sayings he picks up sometimes. He used it perfectly in this situation as well. If you are not a native English speaker or have not heard it before, ‘chubby bubby’ is just a cute way of saying ‘fat baby’ or not even especially fat, just a bit roly poly.

He can get pretty clucky sometimes. ‘Clucky’ is a word used in Australia but I think in other countries the word ‘broody’ is used. Basically the feeling of wanting a baby. I don’t think he is ready to be a father quite yet though…

On My Purpose 11

On My Purpose





In other news, my husband’s sister and her boyfriend are arriving in Australia tomorrow to do their working holidays, so they could stay in Australia for 1 or 2 years. Back in Korea, my mother-in-law is quite sad because all her children have left :( . I hope she feels a bit better when we visit soon.
