적재적소에 (as 주어 see fit)

적재적소에 (as 주어 see fit) 알고 있는 (be committed to memory)단어의 개수보다 그 단어를 적재적소에 쓸 수 있는 능력이 더 중요하다. 단편 에세이처럼 짧은 글들이 여러 편 수록되어있어서 잠시 시간을 내어 (squeeze ~ into ~) 책을 읽기에도 편하다 (at one’s convenience)

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As a university student majoring in English Education, I was frustrated to see native English speakers failing to understand the sense in which I used a certain retrieved English word; and, thus, getting me wrong. Now working as the administrative assistant with the Department of English Education, I often get a chance to speak English to a native English-speaking faculty member. Whenever I do so, the faculty member either corrects my English mistakes or offers improvements over my English expressions. High scores on high school English came with simply memorizing a large number of English words and enhancing the ability in Reading Comprehension. However, since my post-secondary education began, I have sensed that, as for the English words committed to memory, the ability to use these English words as native-English speakers would see fit in a particular context is far more important than the sheer number of these English words.

까먹다 (too few of the words stay with sb)

까먹다 (too few of the words stay with sb) [한국 학생들은 단어를 외우는 양은 많으나 대체로 (as a whole) 빨리 까먹는다]; 예시가 실용적이고 (be of practical help) 우리 생활과 밀접하다 (be relevant to the readers’ lives)

Korean students as a whole have ever memorized a large number of English words but quickly find too few of the words staying with them. There are also many cases in which they are at a loss about when and how to appropriately use even the few English words that do stick in their minds. The author of this book lucidly explains what is at the heart of these two problems, thus effectively helping learners of English as a Second Language against these problems. Moreover this book’s entries originally come from those of a diary or letters about the author’s own experiences. As a result, embedded in these original entries, examples of how useful English expressions are used in the real world are of more practical help and are more relevant to the readers’ lives than the examples, [embedded in an artificial context], which other authors offer in hopes of facilitating the readers’ understanding of advanced-level English expressions. (a reader of ‘A Life Devoted to English As It Is: Examples of How Useful English Expressions of High Caliber Are Used in the Real World)

생뚱한 사람 (interloper)

생뚱한 사람 (interloper)

성탄절 환희에 젖은 (be swept up in the excitement of ~) 캐나다 사회에서 유태계 소녀로서 생뚱한 존재임을 느꼈다

Note: Among the members of the Weekly, Early Saturday Morning NYT Discussion Club headed by me is Ms. Gilda Berger, a Jewish Canadian lawyer who splits her time between teaching at a college and volunteering with a shelter for homeless people. Entitled “I’m Jewish, but I love the warmth of Christmas,” her article was published in the nationally distributed Canadian newspaper of the Globe and Mail, a.k.a. Canadian intellectuals’ newspaper, which was founded in 1844.

돌연변이 (an aberration)

돌연변이 (an aberration)

인문학에 경도된 (steeped in Humanities) 우리 가족에서 작은딸의 MBA 진학은 돌연변이다; ~을 과도하게 우러러보다 (overdo the cult of ~); 돈 욕심 많고 (in plentiful supply) 윤리의식 부족한 (in short supply) MBA 출신들을 경멸한다 (hold ~ in contempt)

A Korean saying goes: “Parents’ wish hardly prevails over their child’s.”