대신하다 (substitute for ~)

조율 [테니스 벽치기 하게하는 방안과 건물 앞면 벽을 흉 하지 않게 하는 방안을 조율하다 (square ~ with/and ~) (unsightly)]; 대신하다 (substitute for ~); 더 좋다 (preferable to ~); 맘에 들다 (appeal to sb); 가상의 (virtual)

Earlier a YMCA manager assured me that a tennis net-high line would be drawn on a facade wall, which has substituted for my live-bodied tennis partner for many years at dawn. Yesterday, the assurance proved to be a little bit premature, when the senior officer responsible for building/facility management tried to convince me that two tennis net-high posts for hooking a removable clothes-line are preferable to a line permanently drawn on a facade wall. The senior officer’s idea appealed to me because it would square the two things: providing a virtual tennis net and keeping a facade wall from unsightly. Getting my support for his idea, the senior officer said he would install two posts soon.

축하! 방문자수 일천명 돌파

 효과적인 영어학습을 위한 선결조건; 심금을 울리다 (strike a chord with ~); 묻어있다 (embedded); 실생활과 밀접하다/공감되다 (resonant with real life)

Dear Visitors to my blog

Still in its infancy, as of yesterday night (Canada ET), my English blog got by far past the landmark of one thousand in the accumulated number of visitors. Just in 24 days, it has achieved this thanks to your support. Having begun as a tool to promote my newly-minted book, my blog has shaped into a site that electrifies visitors with useful English expressions. In what explains its popularity, these English expressions are so embedded in real-life stories and authentic materials (e.g., NYT), so resonant with visitors’ own real life to the point of striking a chord with them that the expressions cater to their pent-up desire to express themselves in quality English. As attested to in the blog, effectiveness at learning/teaching English calls for all the stakeholders of English Education to be vigilant against the attitude of practically equating LEP (Limited English Proficiency) with LIP (Limited Intelligence Potential); and to act on the notion that English Education goes beyond knowledge and is about acquisition of skills. I hope my blog helps Korean students and teachers of English experientially grasp what a way of effectively learning/teaching English is like. Thank you again for your support.

기념/축하하여 (in honor of ~)

불복 재심신청 [석사인 영어선생님이 박사인 과외선생님이 봐준 영작에 형편없는 점수를 줘! (appeal ~ to ~) (run ~ by/past ~)]; 기념/축하하여 (in honor of ~); 편견으로 가득찬 (bias-charged); 표시로 (in token of ~); 일정하게 하는 일없이 빈둥빈둥하다 (be at loose ends); 100점 만점에 (out of possible 100)

Last Thursday, at a Chinese restaurant, I dined out with my tutee of years ago in honour of his recent graduation from university. Just before getting off my car, he dropped his business card-size graduation picture, whose back side read to the effect that he thanks me for having tutored him so that he could get into a coveted Canadian university.

장단점 있다 (cut both ways)

버릇대로 새벽운동 골수분자들은 새벽 3시 반에 잠자리에서 일어난다 (out of habit) (die-hard early birds); 장단점 있다 (cut both ways); 늦잠자다 (sleep in); 남이 미처 못한 것 하다 (pick up the slack); ~하기전 시간에/기간에 (in the run-up to + 명사)

A habit cuts both ways. At YMCA, die-hard early birds, including me, have an apparently problem-like issue in common: they cannot sleep in even weekends.Regardless of how late they went to bed, they get up out of habit somewhere between 3:30 A.M. and 4:00 A.M. For me, it’s such a cherished habit as benefits both my family and me. In the run-up to my exercise at every dawn, I am able to pick up the slack by having rice boiled, making cups of juice and washing fruits; and I jot down the oozing ideas and/or useful expressions that would help me with writing or help me navigate my life.

요식행위/절차 [상관의 재가는 요식 절차에 불과하다 (amount to little other than a formality)]

요식행위/절차 [상관의 재가는 요식 절차에 불과하다 (amount to little other than a formality)]; 새삼스레 (anew); 주제에 벗어난 이야기로 (in an aside); 일축하다 (dismiss ~ as ~); 흉하다 (unsightly); 지략/기지가 넘침 (resourcefulness); 인상주다 (strike sb as ~);

Yesterday a YMCA manager got back to me with a decision that is so much as to say the priority of substance over appearance. Last week at dawn he saw me doing what for many years he and others have seen me doing: playing tennis with a lit wall near the main entrance to the building. At other times, while doing the managerial responsibility of opening doors in rotation, he and his colleagues rarely went beyond cheering me up and showing anew their surprise at my resourcefulness. (In an aside,to some degree, I believe resourcefulness is in my blood. When my Mom was alive, my older brother-in-law used to admire her resourcefulness by saying “Once mother’s head teams up with her hands, a feat comes into existence.”

매혹되다 (enamoured of ~)

경황 [불과 몇시간 후에 결혼식 할 신부가 나한테 e-mail쓸 마음의 경황이 있었을까? (have the presence of mind to-inf.)]; ~라는 류의 이야기 (variations on the theme); 처음알게된 것 (eye-opener); 막막하다 (at a loss for ~); 매혹되다 (enamoured of ~);깜짝 놀라게하다 (catch ~ by surprise); 온다 (in store )

말로만 [캐나다사람들은 말로만 김치 좋아한다 (pay a lip service to kimchi)]

말로만 [캐나다사람들은 말로만 김치 좋아한다 (pay a lip service to kimchi)]; 음식 한접시 씩 (potluck); 맛있게 먹다 (eat ~ with relish); 김치대신 과일을 반찬으로 (accompany boiled rice with fruits for side dishes); 액면 그대로/ 곧이곧대로 (take sb at sb’s words)

The other day chatting over dinner my family shared the view that Canadian colleagues tend to only pay a lip service to kimchi. Our experiences of potlucks dictate that we should not take colleagues at their words when they invite kimchi to be part of potluck menus.

가족에게 힘든 상황이다 (be hard on his family)

구사일생 [차가 빨간신호 무시하고 운행해서 보행자가 하마터면 죽을 뻔 했다 (close call)]; 갈팡질팡 (in a strait between ~ and ~); 정상참작 (extenuating circumstances); 파면하다 (fire); 가족에게 힘든 상황이다 (be hard on his family)

While listening to a news item, I was in a strait between supporting a harsh punishment for the sake of public safety and opposing it for the sake of the accused’s family. Today Toronto’s early morning news was dominated by the report that a streetcar ran on red light so that a pedestrian had a close call. With investigations having yet to be done, for now, I don’t know if there was any extenuating circumstance behind the driver’s action. Under the Toronto Transit Commission rules, the driver’s action could lead him to be fired. While making sense to me in the light of enhancing awareness about public safety, the possibility of his being fired saddened me. Knowing full well the hardships of joblessness, I had no difficulty imagining how hard his unemployment would be on his family and himself. ⓒ Chinhyon Kim –

들어맞다 [박근혜 대통령을 Ms. Hye라고 부르지 않고 Ms. Park이라고 불러서 내 의심이 들어 맞지 않는다 (doesn’t hold up)]

들어맞다 [박근혜 대통령을 Ms. Hye라고 부르지 않고 Ms. Park이라고 불러서 내 의심이 들어 맞지 않는다 (doesn’t hold up)];새로부임한 (newly-minted);눈에 확 띄다 (glaring); 내 기억으로는 (to my recollection); ,반기문 UN 총장이 Mr. Moon이라고?

An elusive explanation is about why western media get a Korean’s family name right or wrong. Today at noon, CBC Radio News reported that UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon was trying to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Then in evidence of insensitivity to non-Western cultural identity, the News addressed him as Mr. Moon. 

추종불허

추종불허 {대입시험이 한국고교생활에 미치는 타의 추종불허할 정도 막강한 영향력을 고려해볼 때 (Given the peerless influence)]; 백지화 하다 scrap;