“Reading, Writing, and Speaking Well for Intelligent Adults”

**** A hot topic of discussion appearing on tvN's "You Quiz on the Block" and CBS's "Sebashi"
**** Seoul National University's #1 rated lecture! Discover God Min-ae's writing class in book form.
**** Lifelong Korean language study for cultured adults, completed in one volume

Some people believe that studying Korean is not necessary because they know how to speak it or because they learned it in school.
Is that really true? We learn, communicate, and live through all knowledge, civilization, history, and literature through texts written in Korean.
Ultimately, this means that you need to know the Korean language well to understand today's world and communicate smoothly with people.
This is precisely why studying Korean should be a lifelong pursuit.
Professor Na Min-ae, who teaches the writing class that ranked first in Seoul National University lecture evaluations, set out to find the fun and value in Korean language textbooks that she didn't know about in high school, to help adults today who struggle with literacy and vocabulary deficiencies.
This book contains literary works personally selected by Professor Na Min-ae, as well as practical writing know-how essential for modern people, such as self-introductions, book reviews, and email writing, that reveal the usefulness of reading through poetry, novels, and fairy tales.
This book, which contains know-how to help those who use Korean merely as a means of communication realize its true joy and use it properly, will be a must-read for adults who have not become familiar with the Korean language.

“If you have difficulty with your native language, it is not because your native language has betrayed you.
It's not like the Korean language hates you.
The Korean language itself is incredibly difficult.
This is a lifelong study material.
“That’s how it is.” Even for experts who have studied and majored in Korean, studying the language is never-ending.
It's difficult because it doesn't end.
So, I hope you can forget about the thought that ‘I’m not suited for Korean.’
It wasn't difficult because it was impossible, but because the scope was too large.
This is not a consolation, it is a fact.

--- p.14

Have you ever experienced something like this? I often have brunch with friends at a cafe, and we get really excited and chatter away.
But sometimes I feel empty and regret that I talked too much.
Company dinners are added.
The atmosphere is always noisy and bustling when having a company dinner.
When you take a taxi late at night after eating and drinking a lot, you sometimes get what is called a 'drowsy state'.
There are things I feel like I said in vain, and things I wish I could take back.
When we want to erase all that conversation, we need a slightly different conversation.
When that happens, I read a book quietly.
Until I feel sleepy.
If the uneasy feeling doesn't go away the next morning, sit quietly and read a book again.
When you read a book, you can be quiet and have a conversation with the author alone.

--- p.30

Some people say that reading novels is difficult.
Most of the time, the first 30 percent or so is difficult.
Novels are not a genre that responds immediately to a shock.
There needs to be some kind of build-up to develop the story.
You also need to set a location.
You also need to set up the character.
Probability must also follow.
You need to set the time and space.
So, in order to understand the characters, relationships, and social background set by the novelist, you have to endure the first 30 percent.
It takes time to get into the worldview.
If you just get past this point, you'll be good to go.

--- p.124

If you think about it, we have two hands.
When I'm lonely, my left hand can hold my right hand.
When I think about it this way, I think of the classical poets who wrote about their sorrow as my left hand holding my right hand, or my two eyes that were created to keep me from crying alone.
Seeing people who have endured unbearable sorrow for a very long time makes me feel a little less sad today.
In the face of great sorrow, my sorrow finds comfort and the strength to endure a little longer.

--- p.142

The mountain is silent.
Flowing water has no form.
The wind has no price, and the moon has no owner.
It's just a matter of the viewer's mind.
They say that to be happy, you only need one heart.
The poet says he wants to live naturally with nature.
That's the only thing that matters.
This is a typical and representative attitude of people in the past who viewed nature.
Aren't you jealous? I want to live like that too.
I want to grow old naturally with gray hair.
This poem is a kind of wannabe for my old age.

--- p.155

Fairy tales about life provide comfort and strength to adults living in modern times.
At least it was for me.
Sometimes I think that living isn't about living, it's about surviving.
Because competition has become a daily occurrence, survival has become more important than anything else.
However, humans are originally beings that live together, not beings that win and survive alone.
But unfortunately, today's society interprets life as survival.
These works, which confront modern grammar with very pretty words and beautiful stories, are the fairy tales of life.

--- p.182

Poetry and novels are difficult to learn, but essays are not.
In fact, you can write naturally without learning the writing style.
Writing an essay is like catching water as it flows from a spring.
There is nothing better than an essay as an introduction to writing.
Essays are similar to poetry in that they bring out inner stories.
However, you can write it in sentences comfortably without having to compress or cut it like poetry.
The narrative style is closer to a novel.
What makes it different from a novel is that I am not writing a fictional story, but my own story, my own story in which I am the main character.

--- p.220

You and I are creating our lives as if we were writing a book.
We are the authors and writers of our own lives.
We met briefly during that journey.
I salute you all as I conclude this book with a little high five.
I hope that when we close our bookshelves on the very last day, we will have a proud title, and I will cheer for the wonderful title of your book.
After all, isn't Korean something you learn just for that one title?

--- p.318