It’s like learning Greek and Latin roots in English class! If you know Photo means light, it’s easier to know what photosynthesis, photography, photosensitive etc means. (I’m an English teacher lolol).
I also never learned hanja for korean, and I just picked up the patterns over time 
Ok I am nowhere near an expert, and this is only my limited understanding of it:
So Korean as a language has existed for a very long time, but it didn’t use to have a writing system. So Koreans used hanja to write their own language - that being said, as you probably know, hanja isn’t the easiest way of writing so only the most privileged people could write. Anyway, at some point during the 15th century King Sejong created hangeul, which is as you said a phonetic alphabet still in use nowadays.
So that’s for the writing system.
As far a words go, I know even less 
but I do know that, much like most of Spanish words come from latin, a lot of Korean words were derived from Chinese. Except that the sounds in the Chinese language and the sounds of the Korean language don’t match, so the pronunciation is different.
So for example today I learned that 身 means old [EDIT: no it doesn’t. it means body haha oopsie). Now, in Chinese (according to wiktionary ) it is pronounced shēn, whereas in Korean it is pronounced sin. Not exactly the same, but similar.
Now how does that help with learning Korean? Well, now that I know that sin means old, if I ever come across a word I don’t know that contains sin, I know that it may have something to do with that meaning. Except, of course, there are a lot of hanja that are pronounced the same.
So yes, from my understanding knowing Chinese helps tremendously with learning Korean, but I am very much not learning Chinese. I am learning a few of the most common hanja - and even those I am not focusing on writing them out or recognising them, I just want to know their Korean pronunciation and meaning.
That’s a long winded answer, ddochii sumed it up very nicely 
Hanja will pop up occasionally. It’s something you’re likely to come across in a medical context, and I’ve seen it in translations of Japanese novels for example, just for clarification. Schools teach 1800 hanja, potentially more in university.
As a learner, it’s something that I wouldn’t necessarily consider essential, but it’s helpful to know. The key here is knowing the Korean pronunciation and associated meanings, so you’ll be able to infer the meaning of new words. It’s a bit similar to learning Latin or ancient Greek roots. Do you need to know that -vore is from the latin for eating/devouring to understand carnivore or omnivore? No, but say you come across amphibivore in a book, you can take an educated guess that the first part is probably related to amphibians… You now know what amphibivore means.
So it’s like that, except in Korean a lot of words are made up of hanja, including more basic words. I find that it’s also great for reading fantasy, because that’s basically a treasure trove of words you won’t find in a dictionary, and the main reason readers aren’t confused is that these are basically just words made up of hanja.
Oh that’s a nice tip about fantasy vocab! I never knew that. Yeah I guess it’s easier to create neologisms using hanja, similar in a way to what we tend do in French, which is just to take an English word, add a French ending and call it a day.
That’s very interesting, thanks all for your replies about this. I hadn’t thought about how learning the hanja might help with understanding roots of words.
I do this all the time with Japanese - even this evening it was helpful to know that danpatsu-shiki (hair cutting ceremony at the retirement of a sumo wrestler) comes from the Chinese characters 断髪式 (sever; hair; ceremony). As I already know those readings it makes the word much easier to remember.
I hadn’t realised there was a similar concept in Korean.
I’ve heard about hanja before being similar to kanji, but looking through these I’ve learned a lot of these from wanikani. I’m not studying Korean right now but it’s good to know that the meanings carry over some. I may eventually try Korean but probably only after I feel more confident in my Japanese and wouldn’t get as much interference.
About the readathon -
I’d say crash the party 
I’ll tag @taiyousea but I bet she’d be up for a multi-lingual readathon or come up with some other fun way to include you!
There was quite a discussion on theWK forum about that. For this one, a lot of people are reading from the day before the equinox all the way into the weekend following it, so if you join on WK, then join as it suits you! It’s pretty chilled out fun and there will probably be people posting all week.
Crashing the party would be fun actually. I feel like it’d be a good opportunity for me to do some Japanese reading (in the spirit of the original challenge), and finish a few Korean novels (maybe finally get the number of books I’m reading below 20?).
I didn’t want to join the wanikani challenge because it says explicitly that the point of it is to read more in Japanese (and for whatever reason I feel like the 100 or so kanjis I know and 0 grammar wouldn’t get me very far ) but hey I’ll still take it to heart and follow the rest of the rules!
I feel like I could still participate in WaniKani and just not add my results to the tally, but since I don’t even use the forums I would feel weird posting just the results in Korean… But for those of you active over there I feel like that might be an option to allow you to read in other languages (pending approval by taiyousea)
hooooow do you keep momentum?? i feel like if i go over 5 i have no time to make any significant progress in any of them, and reading feels that much slower.
TL;DR: acabé 2 libros, y compré otro.
이상한 과자 가게 전천당 1 | L21
siguiendo con los porcentajes de comprensión por semana del book club:
EN
this section it felt like i was looking up every other word, the 0 look-up passages were few and far between, BUT! fun word alert, 시간문제 means a question of time. it feels like when i found out password is 비밀번호.
나빌레라 2 | L19
끝!! libro acabado. leeré el siguiente? claro que sí.
숲속의 담 3 | L17
끝 también. los flashbacks entre capítulos me están confundiendo un poco, y la trama con 코나 también. Pero me gusta dónde está yendo la historia. on my way to tagging it as found family.
leeré el siguiente? see above.
EN
finished it as well. the flashbacks and the 코나 storyline are confusing me, but I like where this is going. will I read the next book? yes absolutely.
[라르고][BL] 아빠와 나와 가족이 되자 | L20
mmmmh, so I have thoughts. no encuentro el nombre del love interest, pero me está dando muchos red flags. para empezar, cuando se conocen y dice “no el niño no me interesa pero tú sí que eres mi estilo” ?? i feel like if someone is insinuating you are being inapropriate to their child your first response shouldn’t be to hit on them??
and then my dude is having a good cry about his dead wife and that guy just goes and kisses him?? what is happening. anyway back to spanish. no me gusta, no veo que tengan química, es todo muy de repente sin ningún buildup. no sé. seguiré leyendo, pero por ahora el chico ese está on thin ice.
EN
i can’t find the love interest’s name, but so far he seems like a walking red-flag. “i’m not interested in your child, but you’re absolutely my type” my dude what is wrong with you. i’ll just repeat what i said above, i feel like if someone is insinuating you are being inapropriate to their child your first response shouldn’t be to hit on them?? and then the first guy cries about his dead wife, and the first thing he can think of is to kiss him? read the room maybe? i’ll keep reading, but that guy is on thin ice.
우리가 함께 걷는 시간 | L19
acabo de comprar este libro, que por lo visto debería ser bastante similar a 좋은 날이야, 네가 옆에 있잖아 | L21??. más prosa! yay!
no lo subí aquí pero sí que hice mis hanjas ayer! y hoy también, sólo que hice la mitad de lo previsto. quizá haga el resto más tarde hoy, quizá no.
fun hanja of the day
there is nothing fun about this. i forget everything as i go. this is a “trust the process” situation.
I’m a mess, I get easily distracted by new books and then forget about the other books . And because I keep doing that, I’ve accumulated quite the pile. Tbh I’m already happy it’s below 30 right now, a few months ago I was above 35, that was getting embarrassingly high.
It doesn’t necessarily feel like I’m affected progress wise. Some books I’ll have started for months and then just finish them in a day or two. Some books I won’t put down at all, I’ll just read that and nothing else until I finish it. So it really depends, but overall, as long as I’m still finishing books, it’s easy to see the progress.
sé que dije que no me gustaba ponerme objetivos anuales, but let’s forget i said that, aquí van los objetivos para 2025:
EN
i know i said i didn’t like to set yearly goals but nevermind that:
- reading level 25 books comfortably, level 28 books with an effort.
- watching level 22 videos comfortably, and listening to Didi’s Korean Culture Podcast with a good understanding rate.
le eché un vistazo a Korean Grammar in Use | L0-27 para intentar situar un poco mi nivel. del libro “Beginner” me faltan por ver 27 puntos, lo cual no es tanto. Iré estudiándolos, y con suerte podré empezar el libro “Intermediate” este verano.
Hoy ya acabé los últimos puntos que me quedaban de las unidades 1 y 3 (A/V-았/었었어요, N밖에, y N(이)나 ②), así como V-자마자 y A/V-군요/는군요. son cosas que he visto tantas veces en libros / escuchado tanto que ya sabía prácticamente usarlas, pero siempre viene bien estudiarlo con más calma.
Aproveché también para leer las unidades 1 - 4 enteras, a modo de repaso.
EN
i had a look at Korean Grammar in Use to try and get an idea of my own level. i have 27 grammar points left to study in the Beginner book, which isn’t that much, so i’ll go ahead and study those and hopefully start the Intermediate book by this summer.
today i went through the remaining points in units 1 and 3 (A/V-았/었었어요, N밖에, and N(이)나 ②), as well as V-자마자 and A/V-군요/는군요. i had seen those so many times in books / dramas that i practically knew how to use them, but i thought a proper studying session couldn’t hurt.
i went ahead and read through units 1-4 as well.
I love grammar so much.
이상한 과자 가게 전천당 1 | L20
empecé el capítulo 3, pero ya el número de veces que tengo que buscar palabras se me está empezando a hacer mucho… así que estos días no he avanzado mucho. espero que el readathon me ayude a avanzar y volver a entrar en la historia.
EN
i started chapter 3, but the number of lookups is starting to get to me, so i haven’t made much progress these days. i hope the readathon will help me get back on track.
나빌레라 3 | L19
still going strong. creo que me acabaré leyendo la serie entera.
[라르고][BL] 아빠와 나와 가족이 되자 | L20
still going not so strong. es la primera vez que me tengo que obligar a leer un libro en coreano, hasta ahora todo me había gustado. este… meh… quiero acabarlo de todos modos, pero pienso quejarme every step of the way.
히카루가 죽은 여름 3 | L19
hehe we are back baby! i love this series.
primera vez que veo hanjas in the wild!! blurred because it might or might not be a spoiler, to be honest i didn’t understand much of this chapter.
needless to say i did not know these hanjas.
aparte de esto, me gusta que estemos viendo más de las chicas.
encargué los libros 4 y 5 a la librería, el libro 6 por lo visto sólo se publicará en coreano a lo largo del mes que viene… tragic…
heh… i kind of fell of the wagon, who would have thought?? tengo que devolver el libro este viernes, me queda poco tiempo para acabarlo!! run monace, run!
lo iba a hacer mañana pero resulta que tengo una entrevista de trabajo en la tarde, estaré demasiado nerviosa para leer. así que el viernes será!
he estado dándole una vuelta al asunto, y tengo una lista de objetivos que más o menos veo factibles:
EN
I was going to do it tomorrow but i now have a job interview in the afternoon and i’ll most likely be too stressed to read. so the readathon has been moved to Friday!
here are some goals that i think i might actually be able to check off, IF I GET MY HEAD IN THE GAME:
- 1 chapter of 이상한 과자 가게 전천당 (or 20 pages)
- finish 나빌레라 3
- 2 chapters of 숲속의 담 4
- 1 chapter of 아빠와 나와 가족이 되자. I wanted to just go ahead and finish it but i don’t think i’ll have the mental strength to go through half of the book in one day. i am not enjoying it.
- 1 chapter of 히카루가 죽은 여름 3. this on the other hand i have to force myself not to read in one go.
See you on Friday, bright and early, for a full day of reading!
靈感 - I don’t know about Korean but that first character would be quite rare in Japanese (soul/spirit), the second one is very common (feeling).
The translation I found is inspiration, or brainstorm, so that makes sense!
I’ve noticed 감/感 being used in many words (all related to feeling since that’s the meaning of the hanja), but I’ve never noticed 영/靈…
Ah yes! There is 霊感 in Japanese meaning inspiration - similar but slightly different first kanji also meaning spirit.
monace 2025 Korean Spring Equinox Readathon Today is the day! I’ve been following the actual readathon on Wanikani, and it’s been so much fun seeing everyone post their updates, milestones, setbacks… And now I get to do the same!
I’ll just keep going through my reading list, but I’ll post the titles here without the Natively links so it’s easier to copy and paste later on:
Physical manga
히카루가 죽은 여름 (original title: 光が死んだ夏 3) → 1 chapter of vol. 3 
Webtoons
나빌레라 → finish vol. 3
숲속의 담 → start vol. 4 and read the first 2 chapters
E-novel
이상한 과자 가게 전천당 (original title: ふしぎ駄菓子屋 銭天堂) → 1 chapter / 20 pages
E-manga
아빠와 나와 가족이 되자 (original title: パパとぼくとかぞくになってよ) → 1 chapter
Breakfast is served, I am ready to lock in! I declare the readathon open
나빌레라: went through 3 chapters in 42 minutes. only 2 left and i’ll have made my first goal of finishing it! but i think i’ll save it for later. it’s an easy read, and i still have 23 hours to go.
아빠와 나와 가족이 되자: I powered through and read 64 pages in one hour! Well over my goal of one chapter - noice.
이상한 과자 가게 전천당: I read 4 pages 
and I forgot to time it. I think now is a good time for a lunch break!
my roommate made me coffee, so i’m back to the grind (aka 이상한 과자 가게 전천당).
this time I actually managed to get into the story and in the ~flow~ and finished the chapter. It took me 37 minutes to read 10 pages - not bad eh! I’ll add time for the pages I read earlier and pretend I went at the same pace - which I probably did.
6 more pages and I’ll have reached my goal for this book.
Here’s the setup:
I read a chapter of 나빌레라 and took a long break.
I now just finished a nice reading session, and reached my goal of reading 20 pages of 이상한 과자 가게 전천당! I am liking the book, but it is a lot of work. It feels more like deciphering than reading.
So:
나빌레라 - 21 minutes for 20 pages
이상한 과자 가게 전천당 - 35 minutes for 7 pages (like I said, deciphering…)
What’s left? 2 chapters of 나빌레라, 2 chapters of 숲속의 담, and finally 히카루가 죽은 여름.
Be back in a minute!!
Finished 나빌레라! The story is getting sad…
That was about 36 pages, in 45 minutes. I felt like my reading was slower, but it’s on par with the previous chapters.
Now I need a break from reading
Had dinner and read 3 chapters of 숲속의 담… I was going to read only 2, but how am I supposed to resist a cliffhanger?
I’m definitely loving the aroace vibes more and more… 담 has my whole entire heart, and 미쉬 is right behind him.
Also, 77 pages in 42 minutes?? Hello??
I finally got to today’s treat, 히카루가 죽은 여름. I almost let myself get carried away and finish it, but I held on. Still, I read more than my one (1) planned chapter
56 pages in 34 minutes(!!)
| Book | Pages | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| 나빌레라 |
131 | 108 |
| 아빠와 나와 가족이 되자 |
64 | 60 |
| 이상한 과자 가게 전천당 |
21 | 87 |
| 숲속의 담 |
77 | 42 |
| 히카루가 죽은 여름 |
56 | 34 |
Oooh, so exciting! I’ll be joining you in about three minutes.
Yessss it’s a lot of fun!! I’ll be reading your updates!
I’m can’t wait to see how you do throughout the day! Following everyone’s updates has been super fun.
I’m already done with mine, although tomorrow? Tomorrow is gonna be a Korean focused day, so like a tiny second readathon.
I saw your update, you managed to get through so many books! Congrats 
I love that you had a full day of reading and still have enough stamina to do a repeat the next day, I look forward to seeing how you do! Will you be posting updates in the Wanikani thread?
