Addendum: Speaking of Hanja… Comic Books!

My host brother, 8, keeps begging his parents to let him take TKD. I think they may be wearing down. They asked me how much lessons were (70,000 won/month). I told them that this includes learning hanja, and to make the point clear, I demonstrated the four hanja I’d already learned. The host father brightened at this.

Apparently the family is fairly seriously about their son learning these characters at an early age. This is evidenced by the fact that in my room (where they keep most of my host brother’s books) is a comic book series, 마법첸자문, which is actually a learning tool for hanja. The main character must learn new ideographs to open up new moves to defeat various bosses who all have their own ideographs. There is even a brand of cookie similar to Nabisco’s Nilla Wafers that includes as a prize (a la Cracker Jacks) a collectible playing card. If I ever learn enough Korean, I’m definitely going to plow through these books. As it is, I might just buy a box of cookies every time I go to the bus station on a trip.