MovieChat Forums > Failan (2001) Discussion > How did Failan learn the Korean alphabet...

How did Failan learn the Korean alphabet so fast?

posted 10 years ago by Johnny0581
2 replies | jump to latest

Loved the movie. Don't get me wrong. Koreans are at the top of their game with dramatic films. However, from my understanding, the Korean alphabet is nothing like the Chinese alphabet, and to me, it would seem really difficult for a Chinese person to learn it in such a short period of time. I know the film is not too specific on how much time goes by, but I am guessing is about a year or so. Learning the Korean alphabet for a Chinese person I think it would be something like me, a Spanish-speaking native, trying to learn the Russian Alphabet or something. I do see her picking up some Korean after all that time there but wouldn't she need an actual teacher/tutor to teach her how to write Korean? I seriously doubt her boss would have all that time to teach her that.

If I am making any incorrect assumptions please feel free to let me know.

[–] dlrudwo94-865-706701 10 years ago

I am Korean and my English is not that good.
I hope that you can understanding what I am trying to say.

I think you got the wrong idea about the heroin's the level of Korean speaking and writing.
In the movie, her Korean was described like the level of a child of 5~7 years old.
And there was a scene that her boss(the old lady) taught her Korean for a long time.

I hope that my explanation meets your asking.

[–] Initechie 9 years ago

In my opinion the alphabet is really simple to learn. Not to brag, but I learnt it within the span of one day. :)

The script is deliberately simple. In 15th century Korea, during the reign of King Sejong, the writing system that was prevalent was the Chinese script (Hanja). It was too difficult for the common folk to learn and only the scholars who spent years studying had the luxury to be able to read and write. So, to remedy the literacy situation, the king commissioned a uniquely Korean script to be created which was simple enough for the common folk to pick up. It is an alphabet-based system, much like Western languages, rather than ideograms like the Chinese characters.

What's harder to acquire is a good vocabulary, something I'm still struggling with.