About three weeks ago, I watched a news segment online showing Japanese shoppers rushing to buy toilet paper. Shelves were stripped bare quickly across Japan. The reason for the panic buying was allegedly linked to the fatal coronavirus pandemic. A sense of urgency hit my brain. Wait, what if I run out of precious toilet paper at home? If an emergency happens in relation to my bodily functions, should I hail a taxi and speed through the now eerily quiet Seoul streets to go to the office wher

As the novel coronavirus spreads, a growing number of office workers in South Korea and elsewhere are being pushed out of their cozy cubicles and forced to work remotely. However, if you’re working remotely, your humble abode is not always home sweet home. My general perception of working from home is mixed. As a journalist, I have spent most of my career working remotely. I usually commuted to and from the government agencies or companies that I covered, and returned to the newsroom o

What is called a “subscription economy” is not so far removed from the everyday life of ordinary Koreans. A growing number of Korean consumers, especially those in their 20s, are embracing this new model that favors subscriptions over ownership. For digital services and software, this makes sense. Netflix is a case in point. Korean viewers, who once preferred downloading video files from online hard drive service operators, are signing up for the global video streaming platform. Th

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously said at the iPhone launch event in 2007, “Who wants a stylus?” As of February, most iPads come with a stylus called the Apple Pencil. So, my quick answer to Jobs’ rhetorical question is, “At least millions of Apple device users across the world.” And millions more, if I may add Samsung’s stylus-enabled Galaxy Note smartphones. The point is not that Jobs failed to see a new digital culture blossoming about a decade later.

When Eric Cartman in the animated TV series “South Park” came up with an evil plan to fake Tourette syndrome, the chief purpose was to say whatever he wanted. He took advantage of the fact that some people with Tourette syndrome have what is called coprolalia, or involuntary swearing. By faking Tourette syndrome, Cartman successfully got away with shouting obscenities, at least initially in the episode titled “Le Petit Tourette” aired in 2007. There’s a typical Sout

Professor Kim Chi-hyoun spoke at a slightly slow pace and pronounced every Korean word clearly when she explained the meaning of Chinese words and sentences selected from “The Mencius,” a classical Confucian text. Her unusual teaching style was designed to better deliver her lecture to seven international students who are on the AKS Hanmun (classical Chinese) Fellowship program.The Academy of Korean Studies started the 16-week fellowship this year in order to help foreign students in

　Drawing and retaining the attention of high school students armed with smartphones in a big class is not an easy task. However, Kim Hyeon appeared relaxed and confident in delivering a special lecture on digital storytelling to students at the art center of Hana Academy Seoul (also known as Hana High School) located in Jingwan-dong, Seoul, Wednesday.　His secret was the creative mix of digital technology and humanities knowledge in a way that captures and stimulates the curiosity of students. 　K

In Korea’s sluggish publishing industry, YouTubers are emerging as new power players through their personal book recommendations, which translate into real sales figures at both offline and online bookstores.As with other product placement deals on YouTube channels, however, book recommendations are rarely delivered free of charge. Publishers have to pay for such advertising. The question is, how much can you trust a YouTuber’s pitch for the book in question?For Pi Eugene, an up-and-

Do you find it difficult to feel a sense of achievement and self-fulfillment at work? Are you considering a career switch to freelance work? If so, you might get some useful information from Seo Eu-ra, who has transformed herself from an office worker into a freelance translator, author and YouTuber. Seo, also known as Seo Merry on social media and YouTube, is gaining in recognition for her tips and guidance to Korean workers interested in exploring new opportunities beyond their current jobs.&n

영어공부를 나름대로 열심히 하면서 느끼는 함정은 바로 스스로 독해에 대한 자만심에 빠지기 쉽다는 것 입니다. “난 독해는 어느 정도 되니까 회화나 청취, 영작에 신경을 써야지”라는 생각을 한번이라도 해 보신 분들은 이러한 독해력 자만심에 빠지고 있거나 이와 비슷한 경험을 하고 있다고 생각합니다.혹은 독해자료를 읽을 때 대부분 아는 단어고 내용도 대충 파악이 된다라는 생각이 들면 독해에 대한 게으름이 시작될 수 있습니다. 문제는 이러한 게으름이 시작되면 독해자료를 꼼꼼히 보지 않게 되며, 자료 속에 숨은 여러 가지 좋은 표현도 놓칠 수 있다는 것입니다.영문 기사를 꾸준하게 읽으면 비슷한 표현들이 많이 나오고 해당 구문에 대한 이해도가 높아집니다. 그렇다고 해서 모르는 표현이나 구문들을 그냥 넘어가거나 내용을 안다고 대충 읽으면 시간투자 대비 효율이 떨어지게 됩니다.예전에 제가 듣던 영문학 과목 시간에 외국인 교수님들이 강조, 또 강조한 사항은 “독해&r

Companies are always vulnerable to a variety of attacks. In the digital era, the nature of such attacks -- for instance, a single malicious post by an influencer with millions of followers -- is far more unpredictable and, if mishandled, critical, due to the sheer amplifying effect of social media.Jeff Cunningham, a professor of practice in global leadership at Thunderbird School of Global Management of Arizona State University, said a new type of leadership is needed to better cope with such on

Disclaimer: I’m not a member of the BTS fandom named Army. However, because of my job as a newspaper editor, I have been keeping track of the now world-famous K-pop boy band on a regular basis. I’ve read plenty of news articles about the group and listened to their music. Strangely enough, the more I get to know about BTS, more mysteries pop up in my mind. One mystery is BTS’ explosive power that keeps growing in a way that catches even the relatively well-prepared music industry off guard. On F

영어표현 정리의 습관 평소 영어기사나 소설책을 읽으면서 계속 눈을 통한 입력은 중요합니다. 그런데 이렇게 수동적인 입력만 하게 되면 기억에 잘 남지 않습니다. 아무래도 뇌가 들어오는 정보의 중요성을 잘 구별해서 인식하지 못해서일지도 모르겠습니다. 그래서 평소에 새로운 표현을 보면 바로 그 순간에 찾기 힘든 상황이라면 메모를 통해서 나중이라도 직접 해당 표현을 영영, 영한, 한영, 숙어, 동의어사전 등을 찾아서 확인해보고 자신이 잘 모르던 부분이나 추가적으로 참고할 만한 표현은 정리하는 것이 더 효율적인 학습법입니다. 아래 정리된 10개의 영어표현들도 직접 사전에서 관련 표현을 찾아 나름대로 다시 정리하시면 더욱 도움이 되시리라 생각합니다.1. 큰 돈이 들다: cost a bundleDon't throw it away. It cost me a bundle.관련된 표현으로 “bundle”이 많은 양 (a large amount)을 지칭합니다. We had a bundle of fun a

구어체 표현 학습요령영어공부에서 구어체 표현 (colloquialism)은 간혹 필요한 경우가 있습니다. 예를 들어 영어방송을 청취하거나 독해공부를 할 때 일반적으로 흔히 보는 표현은 아니지만 독특한 뜻을 가지고 있어서 미리 알지 못한다면 진행하기 힘든 표현들이 있지요.하지만 일반적인 표현과 구어체 표현과의 경계선이 확실히 그어져 있다고 보기는 힘들고 때로는 특이한 구어체 표현이 시간이 지남에 따라 대중들이 흔히 쓰게 되는 숙어로 변화하게 되는 경우도 많습니다.구어체 표현에 대한 관심은 최근 청취와 회화가 강조되면서 여러 가지 관련서적도 많이 나오고, 실제 접할 기회도 많아졌기 때문으로 풀이됩니다. 하지만 무작정 많은 구어체 표현을 외운다고 바로 이에 대한 효과가 생기지는 않는 것 같습니다.예를 들어 처음 만난 사람한테 일상적인 이야기를 하다가 자신이 찾은 어렵고 거창한 구어체 표현을 함부로 쓸 경우 대부분 분위기만 어색해지고 별로 구어체를 공부한 효과는 없게 될 수도 있기 때문입니

영작의 기본 원칙안녕하세요!새롭게 시작하는 본 칼럼을 통해서 코리아헤럴드 해설판에 연재되고 있는 English Cafe의 영어학습 자료와 추가적으로 영어공부를 하는데 도움이 될만한 방법론, 최신 영자신문 기사에서 자주 쓰이는 표현들에 대한 해설 등을 전해드리려고 합니다. 많은 성원 부탁드립니다! 코리아헤럴드 기자로 근무하면서 취재원에게 종종 받는 질문은 바로 “영어공부 어떻게 해야 하는가?” 입니다. 기사의 내용과 관계없이 많은 사람들이 영어공부에 관심을 기울이고 있다는 것을 반영하는 것이지요. 하지만, 이러한 질문에 대답하기는 쉽지 않습니다. 우선 영어공부라는 것이 워낙 방대한 탓에 한마디로 어떻게 하면 된다라고 “비결”을 제시하기가 곤란합니다. 그래도 나름대로 영어의 대가라는 분들이 추천하는 방법론들은 있고, 이러한 방법론을 자신에게 잘 소화시킬 경우 시간을 단축할 수는 있다고 봅니다. 코리아헤럴드에서 근무하는 기자들은

I have long envied Blizzard Entertainment. Unlike some Korean game developers hell-bent on churning out cookie-cutter mobile games infested with dubious monetization tricks, Blizzard has proudly focused on gameplay over profit. Korean gamers, including hard-core fans of the “Diablo” franchise, were quick to praise the US-based company’s “legendary” game development culture. I had respected Blizzard’s dedication to making great games since I played “Diablo 3” with friends and was impressed by its

With the suffocating summer heat slowly slackening a bit in South Korea, some vacationers on the beach may be still happily stuck with sci-fi and fantasy. If they have a couple more days to burn through their summer holiday by digging into the escapist genres, I recommend one more title. Or maybe three titles (sorry, I’m not good at math), since this is a three-volume series: “We Are Legion (We Are Bob)”; “For We Are Many”; “All These Worlds.” Written by computer programmer-turned-celebrated wri

Naver, the biggest online portal site in South Korea, has long dominated the country’s digital market, from online advertising to news aggregation services to e-commerce. Of course, Facebook is still the king of the increasingly crowded social media realm, and KakaoTalk is the invincible mobile messenger that Koreans are dying to turn off whenever possible but cannot do so for various reasons, one of which is the possibility your boss might send an urgent message to you at night with a mysteriou

The much-awaited video game console Nintendo Switch was released in South Korea on Friday, along with a handful of titles including “Super Mario Odyssey,” the latest installment of the popular Super Mario series.On the launch day, I rushed to a shop nearby to buy the portable console and “Super Mario Odyssey.” I was luckily able to snag one, and as soon as I got home, I turned on the machine and jumped right into the virtual wonderland where I could meet Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach. The stor

On average, 1 in 10 PC gamers across the world is now playing “Battlegrounds,” with more than 8 million copies sold worldwide as of August. The number of concurrent users -- a key yardstick measuring the popularity of an online game title -- surpassed a whopping 1.1 million on Sunday.What’s truly remarkable is that the multiplayer online game has yet to be formally launched. “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” by South Korean developer Bluehole, previously best known for multiplayer game “TERA,” is