지난 주밀에 뭐 했어요?

Well, it's been awhile since I last update my blog. Sorry for the long delay. Some of you suggested that I should upload some photograph instead to attract more visitor to my blog. I give it a shot today, but sorry for the image, I did not have time to edit it using photo editor.

For those of you who remember my very old post Was haben Sie am Wochenende schon gemacht?, this is post has similiar theme to the old post, in which I haven't figure out how to say "Nichts besonders" in Korean as yet. Much to my surprise, I didn't notice that someone named Claus Eikemeier had post a comment to it. Thanks Herr Eikemeier for the lovely information, although it took a year for me to realised someone has posted a comment, as I did not turn on comment notification by then.

OK, what I've done last weekend? Here's my little Korean expression, and again, if any mistake, please point it out.

지난 주말인 토요일에 친구들과 참관하러 켈리카슬에 갔어요. 그리고 온천에도 갔어요. 켈리카슬이 페락주 고펭에 있어요. 온천이 페락주도 숭카이에 있어요. 참 재미 했어요.

Ok, as stated above, my attempt to upload photograph here. It's Kellie's Castle near Gopeng, Perak. It rained heavily that morning, and a common sight in Malaysia after raining, is the muddy river. May try to update on my day trip to Perak, probably in the next post.

Walker's Log of PJ to KL

On 24 September 2005, I set my own personal record of walking from my little home in PJ Old Town all the way to KL to my Korean class. All times are recorded using my cellphone stopwatch function. Here are the details of the long walk, although I do not know specifically the distance that I've travelled

• 00:00:00.00
  Started my stopwatch. Time shows 9:35am (+0800 GMT) on a bright sunny (and hot) Saturday. I was using roads in Section 3 which is not the usual path that I use to walk to the train station to work. There are a lot of sudden decision of road used in this whole journey.
• 00:14:18.79
  Reached Road 3 of Section 1 behind Inai Court off Jalan Templer. This is the point which I turn left instead of going straight to the train station. This particular time is clocked to see how long does it take me to take the same path again next time when I go to work.
• 00:31:51.35
  After walking through Petaling Garden via Section 1A, I reached the KL/PJ border at Gasing Indah. Done a sudden change of usual path as mentioned previously, but headed to a Cul-de-sac and required a U-turn. Gasing Indah is where my buddy, Jian is staying (on the KL side). Guess that he wasn't at home when I was there judging that there was not a single car spotted anywhere.
• 01:09:48.14
  Walking round Gasing Hill via the controversial road that connects Pantai Dalam to Gasing Indah, I reached Angkasapuri's main entrance. For anyone who is going to walk from Pantai Dalam to Angkasapuri, please use the PJ-KL side of the NPE as the other side of the road, there is no foot path. The availability of foot path by the express way is one of the reason why I chose this route. It is straight and flat but you have to endure the hot sun shining with no obstacle to provide shade. Oh, before I forgot, you can view Petronas Twin Towers and KL Tower from here. On a clear day (just like mine), you can view the silhouette of Genting Highlands as well.
• 01:30:24.30
  This path to Bangsar LRT is rather straight forward and no other short cut to take. Just walk straight Jalan Bangsar, and voila. The station is just less than 20 minutes ride from Taman Jaya LRT took me one and a half hour to reach. Here, I do a "shortcut" using the pedestrian bridge to cross the Kommuter track and walk under the track of ERL to reach my destination -> Brickfield.
• 01:45:32.56
  It did not take long to reach Brickfield and within 15 minutes walk from Bangsar LRT, I reach the road outside KL Sentral. It is quite tempting to take the Monorail, given the fact it is right in front of me and a scorching hot day.
• 02:08:31.20
  After a continous 2 hours of walk, I finally reached my initial target of walking to KL from home, Central Market. Walking to KL from home technically only requires me half and hour as stated above. Central Market is the best indicator of really reaching down town KL for most people, especially when you take a bus. Area around Central Market is the de facto definition if one is saying he or she is going to KL.
• 02:14:36.93
  From Central Market, I walked straight to Burger King near Masjid Jamek for my lunch. The French Chicken did not taste as good on that day, and I was quite surprise and dismay that that particular outlet has a smoking section. I did not check out the smoking section upstairs, but from the look of it, the non-smoking section is so small. This reminds me of the McD in Paris where they smoking section has more seats that the non-smoking, only difference is the smoking section is located downstairs.
• 02:38:10.12
  Done eating and time to walk to my language centre in Bukit Bintang. Again, I took a detour into Changkat Raja Chulan instead of the usual path that I used. It is a good decision indeed, where I noticed it connects to Changkat Bukit Bintang, where I had my birthday celebration with my friends.
• 03:07:46.04
  Finally, I was in KL Plaza. My T-shirt is completely wet and I walked straight to the toilet to get changed. Before I headed to my classroom.

Phew! What a journey. I shall get a pair of good walking shoes instead of a pair of safety shoes, which the sole is worn off :( Since I accomplished my target, I will look for other target to set next time. Keep reading for update! I might be adding picture of my walk next time, if timing is not my main objective :D

안녕하세요?

Guess that's one of the expression that most people associate Korean with, just like Parlez-vous français? with French. Finally, after some hiccups, my Korean class has commenced. In lesson 1, my teacher, Ms Pauline (her preference of addressing), "koreanise" names into Hangeul. Mine, if following the Romanised name pronunciation, is 탄희엔. But, if using my chinese name, it would be 진기원.

Today, I would like to share this basic Hangeul table for learner just like me to use it as a tool to guide learning. For those who like the extended table, I also attached it below. Note that the extended table uses all the combination just for completeness and might not reflect the actual Hangeul use. Do notify me if you found typo in it, as I hand keyed those in.

Basic Hangeul Table

	ㅏ	ㅑ	ㅓ	ㅕ	ㅗ	ㅛ	ㅜ	ㅠ	ㅡ	ㅣ
ㄱ	가	갸	거	겨	고	교	구	규	그	기
ㄴ	나	냐	너	녀	노	뇨	누	뉴	느	니
ㄷ	다	댜	더	뎌	도	됴	두	듀	드	디
ㄹ	라	랴	러	려	로	료	루	류	르	리
ㅁ	마	먀	머	며	모	묘	무	뮤	므	미
ㅂ	바	뱌	버	벼	보	뵤	부	뷰	브	비
ㅅ	사	샤	서	셔	소	쇼	수	슈	스	시
ㅇ	아	야	어	여	오	요	우	유	으	이
ㅈ	자	쟈	저	져	조	죠	주	쥬	즈	지
ㅊ	차	챠	처	쳐	초	쵸	추	츄	츠	치
ㅋ	카	캬	커	켜	코	쿄	쿠	큐	크	키
ㅌ	타	탸	터	텨	토	툐	투	튜	트	티
ㅍ	파	퍄	퍼	펴	포	표	푸	퓨	프	피
ㅎ	하	햐	허	혀	호	효	후	휴	흐	히

Extended Hangeul Table

ㅏ

ㅐ

ㅑ

ㅒ

ㅓ

ㅔ

ㅕ

ㅖ

ㅗ

ㅘ

ㅙ

ㅚ

ㅛ

ㅜ

ㅝ

ㅞ

ㅟ

ㅠ

ㅡ

ㅢ

ㅣ

ㄱ

가

개

갸

걔

거

게

겨

계

고

과

괘

괴

교

구

궈

궤

귀

규

그

긔

기

ㄲ

까

깨

꺄

꺠

꺼

께

껴

꼐

꼬

꽈

꽤

꾀

꾜

꾸

꿔

꿰

뀌

뀨

끄

끠

끼

ㄴ

나

내

냐

냬

너

네

녀

녜

노

놔

놰

뇌

뇨

누

눠

눼

뉘

뉴

느

늬

니

ㄷ

다

대

댜

댸

더

데

뎌

뎨

도

돠

돼

되

됴

두

둬

뒈

뒤

듀

드

듸

디

ㄸ

따

때

땨

떄

떠

떼

뗘

뗴

또

똬

뙈

뙤

뚀

뚜

뚸

뛔

뛰

뜌

뜨

띄

띠

ㄹ

라

래

랴

럐

러

레

려

례

로

롸

뢔

뢰

료

루

뤄

뤠

뤼

류

르

릐

리

ㅁ

마

매

먀

얘

머

메

며

몌

모

뫄

뫠

뫼

묘

무

뭐

뭬

뮈

뮤

므

믜

미

ㅂ

바

배

뱌

뱨

버

베

벼

볘

보

봐

봬

뵈

뵤

부

붜

붸

뷔

뷰

브

븨

비

ㅃ

빠

빼

뺘

뺴

뻐

뻬

뼈

뼤

뽀

뽜

뽸

뾔

뾰

뿌

뚸

쀄

쀠

쀼

쁘

쁴

삐

ㅅ

사

새

샤

섀

서

세

셔

셰

소

솨

쇄

쇠

쇼

수

숴

쉐

쉬

슈

스

싀

시

ㅆ

싸

쌔

쌰

썌

써

쎄

쎠

쎼

쏘

쏴

쐐

쐬

쑈

쑤

쒀

쒜

쒸

쓔

쓰

씌

씨

ㅇ

아

애

야

얘

어

에

여

예

오

와

왜

외

요

우

워

웨

위

유

으

의

이

ㅈ

자

재

쟈

쟤

저

제

져

졔

조

좌

좨

죄

죠

주

줘

줴

쥐

쥬

즈

즤

지

ㅉ

짜

째

쨔

쨰

쩌

쩨

쪄

쪠

쪼

쫘

쫴

쬐

쬬

쭈

쭤

쮀

쮜

쮸

쯔

쯰

찌

ㅊ

차

채

챠

챼

처

체

쳐

쳬

초

촤

쵀

최

쵸

추

춰

췌

취

츄

츠

츼

치

ㅋ

카

캐

캬

컈

커

케

켜

켸

코

콰

쾌

쾨

쿄

쿠

쿼

퀘

퀴

큐

크

킈

키

ㅌ

타

태

탸

턔

터

테

텨

톄

토

톼

퇘

퇴

툐

투

퉈

퉤

튀

튜

트

틔

티

ㅍ

파

패

퍄

퍠

퍼

페

펴

폐

포

파

퐤

푀

표

푸

풔

풰

퓌

퓨

프

픠

피

ㅎ

하

해

햐

햬

허

헤

혀

혜

호

화

해

회

효

후

훠

훼

휘

휴

흐

희

히

Long Story

Why? I hope that explains it all.

What's in a Name?

Transliteration across different languages often fascinates me. At the same time, it may look like the selection of words (or alphabet) can vary much from the original language. Name of places especially, is often quite different from one language to another. Take Seoul, capital of South Korea for example. It is used to be called 漢城 or 汉城 in Chinese, where it is pronounce hàn chéng, but on 18 Jan 2005, Seoul Metropolitan Government officially announced Chinese equivalent of Seoul is to be called 首尔 or 首爾， pronounce as shǒu ěr, word by word pronunciation, but phonetically, shóu ěr. Interested reader should check on the Net for more debate and discussion on this topic. How does someone decide how to transliterate a name from one language to another? Russia for example, is known as 俄罗斯 or 俄羅斯，pronounce as é luó sī. If any reader knows the logic, please let me know. It often intrigues me to look for such information, but as usual, hardly any information on the standard of selection of words. Same case here in Malaysia, selection of words in Chinese for foreign words often vary from one source to another. There seems to be no standard across, even in other Chinese speaking country. The local Chinese community here thus set up a committee, called 马来西亚华语规范理事会, or Malaysia Chinese Standardisation Committee, to standardise the use of Chinese words in transliteration. It has to date release the official transliteration of government ministries and ministers name, the name of all states in Malaysia and its capital, and a couple of commonly used words like Ringgit and so on. The standardisation process sparks some debate on which words to use. I'll discuss more on this in future posting.

Errata

Finally, the yearbook is safe and sound with me. First thing to look for, is my little photo. To my surprise, it printed there that I'm from Subang Jaya. OMG, since when I'm from Subang Jaya? To make it clear once and for all, I'm currently risiding in Petaling Jaya, and never have been staying in Subang Jaya. Another misconception of Petaling Jaya, I'm staying in section 4, not SS4. Quite a number of people I met only think PJ address must be of SS something. Typical question someone might ask

A: Which part of PJ are you staying? B: PJ Old Town A: Section? B: 4 A: Oh, SS4, it's that near Kelana Jaya? B: Look, section 4 is not equals to SS4 A: Is that so? Then where is this section 4 that you mentioned? B: Specifically, it's on south-eastern of PJ, near to the border of KL/PJ, somewhere near Old Klang Road. A: Old Klang Road? Wow, that's quite far! B: Well, not actually....

Usually I really need to explain a lot to get them believe that such place does exist. The common way to explain it, I'll say it's near Gasing Hill. Gasing Hill is so near my place, I usually walk up to the hill. They usually get the rough idea. It helps to explain that Assunta Hospital is situated in PJ Old Town. Oh, for those who are interested to know about PJ Old Town, it's actually featured on Encyclopaedia of Malaysia and the latest issue of Heritage Asia [Focus on Selangor, Dec 2004-Feb 2005] .

Name change

Where's the old Info Generator? It's still here, but there's a rebranding involved. I Genner, the new brand name, but still keeping the same philosophy of providing more infos and some of my 2 cents. I have some ideas for this blog, especially on language, anime, manga, KL/Klang valley, computer related topics. I'll try to put up English posting on Mandarin for those who are puzzled with my facination with the Chinese language. One reader commented once that he would prefer the non-chinese posting, so that he can read. I hope by this way, he's happy with this. For those who are looking forward to my Mandarin posting, 别担心，我还会送上中文的文章哦！

三声及轻声（二）

2005年都到了，是时候公布答案了。以下的解答纯属参考与分享，解答准确性还没有被证实。任何用途于以下文章，本人及原本解答者一概不负责。 据朋友的解答关于轻声的问题，其实一般字句都按照原调发音的。有些字不按原调却念轻声，主要是为上下句子能够通顺、好听，就像北京人喜欢说话带儿化韵，只不过是语言和特殊语境习惯而已，不需要可以学习，不然说起话来就显得很假了。有些字念起轻声来比原调让人更感舒服，例如：舒服、聪明、麻烦，等等。 那三声“重叠字”，一般还是用[223]式的。照他这么说，演讲稿和草稿纸是念 yán jiáng gǎo、cáo gáo zhǐ。只有当遇到四个上声字时，才比较麻烦。看词组辨识的方法是可以运用，但不能套用。毕竟它还有词组关系，这样的解购方法会把词或词组拆得过于零散，不符合语言习惯。在这里，语法规定不一定能解决这个字句发音的问题。因为语法只能解决句式结构的问题，词组字句的结构组合是否合适，却无法解释读音。语音，在华语来说本身就是一的独立的学问。紧记的是，位于最后（词末、句末）的上声字一定不能变调，这没有什么例外的；至于是否有口诀，他本人就没听说过。 大家也想知道那句都是上声（三声）应该怎么念吧？他就这样解释。句子可以拆组成：你|给我|早点|写好|演讲稿。以词或词组为单位，尽可能不要拆得太散，但词句又要分明。“演讲稿”这类词组，结构比较严密，所以还是最好不拆开来说。但像‘你给我’这样的句式词组（其实也还构不成严格意义上的词组），就可以尽量拆开来，说起来也能轻重分明，更能起到一定的强调等语气效果。终结来说是念 nǐ géi wǒ záo diǎn xié hǎo yán jiáng gǎo。 最后他本人认为语言这东西，视乎语境、语感，尤其华语，本来就不像英语那样的语法化结构，所以更讲究的是你的认知。说起来舒服、感觉还行就可以了，反倒不需要太刻意讲究；只要能抓好句子的节奏，一般应该不会是太大的问题。 怎么样，还满意吗？往后有更多有关华语的题材可以与大家分享。敬请留意!任何意见不妨写给我吧！