21. Language and homework!

[말레이]

21. Language and homework!

Now, the problem is how to apply and utilize these theories as the expert said during the lecture to achieve the target character reform for the development and growth of ‘Molisha’. However, all the participating committee members probably thought the same that using the last method of punishment and coercion in the process of promoting character reform would not be desirable in many ways.

Through this process, I thought that the basic atmosphere and foundation necessary for promoting this work had been created and prepared, so all that was left was to wait for the practical promotion committee members to be formed to take charge of this. How long did I wait? Finally, the long-awaited news came. I heard that a team called the ‘Molisha Character Reform Committee’ had been formed and was having its first meeting. I attended the meeting with anticipation, and about 20 preparatory committee members gathered. I don’t know when they found these experts and prepared them, but they were comprised of people from various fields including linguists of ‘Molisha’ and gathered for preliminary preparations to launch the official committee.

I first looked into the tendencies and appearances of the participants here. After introducing themselves and sharing basic issues about future directions, the people gathered had free and informal conversations to get to know each other in advance from the perspective of future work, and then concluded the first preparatory meeting. Through this, I found that all the participants, including Nana, were actively in favor of the teacher’s text reform, and there was not a single person who was opposed to it. So after the meeting, I asked Nana to find out if I could meet the teacher right away, and she contacted me and said yes, so I ran to the teacher with Nana. When I met the teacher, I told him something unexpected. It was because when I looked at the people who participated in this preparatory meeting, all the experts were in favor of reform, but I thought it would be better if they did something different. Then, in response to the teacher’s question about how to do it differently, he said that since this reform of the character system will affect all the people and is a major issue that could affect the future of the country, it would be good to have about a third of the members of the national reform committee who are experts who oppose this reform. If not, they will just push it through with force, and if they do that, if they are not careful, public opinion will be divided and as a result, there will be opposition groups that actively oppose it, which could become a serious obstacle to pushing forward the work. Also, even if it is pushed forward, there are bound to be shady areas when it comes to reforming anything, and if that happens, the people there will be dissatisfied, and that will become a problem factor in the reform process for a long time, creating problems. So he said that it would be better to take a detour and push forward while also taking into account the opinions of those who oppose it, even if it takes time and effort. And if we consider their position to some extent, open their minds, and let them work together toward the direction we ultimately want to go, we will be able to draw out some concessions and cooperation from them, and reflecting various opinions in this way will ultimately lead to better results.

Then the teacher tilted his head as if he was surprised. He said that pushing forward strongly and making a decision in a short period of time would be helpful to Korea, so he thought I would like pushing forward strongly like this. So, as I said, although it may seem good on the outside, it may have the opposite effect, so in order to achieve a great goal, we should open our minds and discuss the matter, gather the capabilities that come from the process of finding the right path, and gradually find the direction and destination we want to go in, which will be a way to achieve what we want to do for sure, and as a result, we will have good results. After hearing what Nana said, he also agreed. Then the teacher nodded. He said that he understood what I meant, so he would look into it and have experts with opposing opinions attend as committee members. In this way, 27 members, including the additional experts who joined the Character Reform Committee, Nana, I, and one presidential aide, a total of 30 members, held the second meeting. There, the name of the tentatively named ‘Molisha Character Reform Committee’ was confirmed in a full-fledged meeting led by the chairperson through an interim meeting, and the advantages and disadvantages of reforming the character of ‘Molisha’ were identified and a conclusion was made on what would be helpful and more beneficial for the future of ‘Molisha’. If it was rejected, the meeting would automatically be disbanded, but fortunately, if the direction of reform was decided, the direction and method would be specifically divided and decided. Then, he said that in order for this preparation to be completed within a certain period of time, it would be effective to set a schedule for the entire progress of this work, and he asked if it would be effective to decide the final direction through two public hearings including the general public, one public hearing for experts, and two internal meetings, but how about holding them once a month? All members agreed to do so and made the decision. And a month later, on May 1st, they decided to hold the first public hearing and discuss the merits and demerits of the character reform and its benefits and losses.

However, before the public hearing, many people were in favor of using the new characters, but on the other hand, there was a lot of opposition from the older generation, who thought about the stress of having to learn the new characters late and asked why they were suddenly trying to change the characters. Some media outlets also fanned this flame, and a considerable number of opponents began to form. And they even ran out onto the streets holding placards. Then, this time, the young people, saying that the country needs to introduce effective new things in order to develop, also took to the streets and confronted the older generation who were opposing them head-on. It was as if sons and daughters were protesting against their fathers and mothers, and this issue could easily have developed into a major national issue.

In the meantime, May 1st, 2028, finally arrived as the day of the first public hearing. As the issue was an issue, the large auditorium where the hearing was held was packed with many interested people and reporters from the press to the point where there was no room to stand. And in the yard, people holding pickets for and against the issue were busy making their arguments. Leaving that atmosphere behind, the hearing finally began inside. First, a representative from the government side made a presentation on the reason for this character reform and its basic plan, and the contents were as follows.

“Until now, our ‘Molisha’ had a language but no characters,

so we had no choice but to borrow alphabet characters to write it,

which benefited us in many ways.

That’s why all administrative work and all the work of the state and the people

were able to settle down well.

However, on the other hand, there were

many problems that arose from writing the ‘Molisha’ language in the alphabet,

and this was an undeniable fact.

So, there may be some confusion and difficulties,

but I think that through this reform, when the new letters are used and

when they are well established,

the problems above will be completely resolved,

and it will be a great help for ‘Molisha’ to develop and grow further.

And I think that the letter that can play that role,

among the many letters in the world,

is Hangul, the most effective one.

Many young people have already been using their cell phones or computers

to write our language in Hangul,

and the results of the survey conducted through them

can be said to be the greatest evidence that all young people

are responding positively to its advantages and effectiveness.

Therefore, we will review the responses of experts and all citizens through public hearings,

and conclude in a more desirable direction.

I hope that all citizens will also look into it

and

give us your support.”

And then, when Nana, the first lady of the current president, was introduced as the keynote speaker on the reform of the alphabet and the speaker who would give a basic speech on ‘Hangeul’, which emerged as the main character of the reform of the alphabet, everyone was surprised and greeted her with a big cheer. Then, Nana expressed her gratitude and went up to the stage to begin her keynote speech.

“My beloved ‘Molisha’ citizens!

And to everyone who came to study the strengths and weaknesses and make presentations for this reform of the alphabet,

for the growth and development of the country,

and who showed interest in this public hearing and participated in this event,

I would like to first express my gratitude.

I think that all of you who participated in this event are modern-day patriots who practice and show their love for their country.

The reason is that you have put aside your busy and important work and participated in this public hearing, which will determine the future development and success or failure of the country,

and that proves it.

I went to Korea to study early,

Before learning Korean,

I first studied and mastered Hangul, the alphabet used to write Korean.

And then, as an extension of that, I chose Korean, which is written in Hangul, as my major,

And studied for 4 years in college and 2 and a half years in graduate school,

And I actually experienced the usefulness of Hangul.

And as you all know,

I wrote a master's thesis on 'Korean notation of the Molish language' and passed it,

And I received a master's degree in Korea on it.

Therefore, even if I don't know anything else,

There is probably no one who has studied 'Korean notation of the Molish language' as much as I have.

Therefore, I can be said to be the most expert on it in the world.

What I have learned and realized while studying is that

the person who created this 'Hangeul' is King Sejong.

As the king of that time,

he created this letter out of love for his people,

and furthermore, he was a scholar even more than the scholars who dealt with language,

so the utility value of the 'Hangeul' he created is so great.

Therefore, if we use this 'Hangeul' as the letter to express our language,

I thought that this would be the most fundamental driving force for our country to develop and grow further in the future.

So, while studying abroad in Korea with my husband,

the more I studied this 'Hangeul',

I dreamed for a long time that it would be good to write our 'Molisha' language in Hangeul,

and I made up my mind that if we could,

we would definitely make this happen,

so that our country would grow and develop even more,

and that all of our people would be happier.

And now, my husband has taken on the important responsibility of being the president who leads the country on behalf of ‘Molisha’ and the people.

I think this position is ultimately a position to pursue ways to make the country a better place for the people,

and to make efforts to make it happen.

Therefore, just like King Sejong who loved the people by creating Hangul,

I think that changing our country’s writing system so that we can use our language in Hangul, as we realized early on and thought,

is the most precious and important thing our president should do at this point in time, and I want to push for this.

And since the target writing system, ‘Hangul’, is the most suitable writing system for it,

I would like to introduce to you what I have studied through existing materials.

Hangul has the following characteristics.

First, ‘Hangul’ is the only writing system in the world that has a record of its creation,

and it has a time and a person who created it.

And he is the one whom the Korean people

respect as the greatest king of all time,

and when he saw the reality that the people could not read,

he felt sorry for that and created the written language for the people,

and that is the 'Hangeul'.

In a word,

as language flows through time,

and various rules are created according to necessity,

and eventually the overall appearance is

like the roads of an old city,

and they are crooked here and there,

but Hangeul is a letter that was created by one person who systematically considered the circumstances before and after,

like some rule or principle,

and it is very clear,

and the results are certain and clear, just like the lines on a Go board.

This will be explained in detail later,

but it is clear to learn and master Hangeul,

so it is easy to learn quickly,

and it produces clear results in everything.

Secondly, related to the previous content,

the principle of creating Hangul is

very scientific, systematic, and philosophical,

so the 17 initial consonants (consonants)

are scientific in that they are made by imitating the shape of the vocal organs

when making the sound of the letter,

and in particular, the 11 middle consonants (vowels)

are based on the theory of yin-yang and the five elements,

「ㆍ」is the round shape of the sky,

「ㅡ」is the flat shape of the earth,

and 「ㅣ」is the shape of a person standing,

and they have the characteristic of being able to freely express sounds.

Third, Hangul has a unique operating system called

a collection writing system, where the initial sound, middle sound, and final sound of a 'sound' are combined to form one letter,

and the way these sounds are combined is,

for vertically oriented [ㅏ], the initial sound is written on the left,

for horizontally oriented [ㅜ] or rounded [ㆍ], the initial sound is written above,

and the final consonant is written below the initial and medial consonants.

Hangul, which is a combined letter, is the most perfect phonetic letter in the world,

and it is the best letter in the world that can express any sound in the world,

so we can see that it is the most appropriate letter to write the language of our country, 'Molisha'.

And these advantages of Hangul include

First, Hangul is the world's only letter modeled after the shape of the vocal organs,

and Hangul's ㄱ and ㄴ are modeled after the shape of the tongue when making sounds,

ㅁ is modeled after the shape of the mouth, ㅅ is modeled after the shape of the teeth, and o is modeled after the throat.

And by adding strokes to these five basic letters,

other new consonants were created, such as

the molar sounds (ㄱ, ㅋ),

the tongue sounds (ㄴ, ㄹ, ㄷ, ㅌ),

the labial sounds (ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅍ),

the ital sounds (ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ),

and the throat sounds (o, ㅎ).

And the vowels are 「ㆍ」, modeled after the sky, 「ㅡ」, modeled after the earth, and 「ㅣ」, modeled after people.

By adding these three basic vowels together,

the other new vowels ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅠ were created.

The principles of Hangul's creation are so scientific and systematic that

linguists around the world are all amazed.

Second, Hangul is the easiest alphabet to learn and write in the world,

and the sounds of the letters are always consistent, making it easy to learn.

As evidence of this, the illiteracy rate in South Korea is surprisingly close to 0%.

Third, Hangul can express any sound in the world,

while Japanese has only about 300 and Chinese has only about 400,

Hangul can write almost anything that has a sound.

That's why UNESCO recommends Hangul to ethnic minorities who do not have their own letters.

It is expected to be of great help to countries like ours that do not have their own letters.

Fourth, UNESCO considers Hangul the best script in the world,

and designated Hunminjeongeum as a World Documentary Heritage in 1989,

and the world's language academia and universities

acknowledge Hangul as the world's best script due to its originality, scientific nature, and systematic nature.

Fifth, Hangul is a scientific script that is compatible with computers,

and unlike English or other languages,

because Hangul's letters and sounds are consistent,

and because Hangul input is fast,

it has been able to secure its position as an IT powerhouse,

including the world's No. 1 high-speed Internet and mobile phone penetration rate.

In this way, Hangul is not just a Korean character, but is recognized by people all over the world, and is becoming globalized, so among countries without their own characters, it will be the foundation of all future life, and it will be more and more valuable as time goes by, so the country that introduces Hangul first will be ahead of all other competitions.

Therefore, if we in ‘Molisha’ introduce and utilize this character first,

not only will we be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s leading countries sooner,

but it will also become the basic driving force and foundation for us to grow into a country that can eventually surpass them.

Thank you.”

As expected of a specialist, Nana’s presentation was systematic and detailed, touching and persuasive. After her keynote speech, regardless of whether she was for or against character reform, everyone who participated in the hearing gave Nana a long standing ovation. It was not common for a mother of a country to have this level of expertise and insight in a certain field, so regardless of whether the reform was achieved or not, the people of 'Molisha' were filled with pride when they saw the insight and expertise of Nana, the first lady of the president, and her intention, will, and passion to contribute to the development of the country through this through live television broadcast. And this result played a decisive role in turning the attitude of the older generation, who were anxious and resistant to the reform of the Korean alphabet, in a completely favorable direction.

And following Nana's lecture, experts for and against came out one after another and presented the advantages and disadvantages of reforming the alphabet. Looking at the contents, the first opinion in favor was

First, the expression‎ of our language can be more detailed.

Second, by writing all languages ​​in Korean, other languages ​​can be easily learned by studying only the meaning.

Third, close communication with the developing Korea is possible, so we can learn and develop in many ways.

Fourth, if reform is decided, we can receive help from Korea to change the characters.

Fifth, we can quickly access Korea’s advanced culture.

The argument was that we should reform the characters at this opportunity.

Next, the argument of the scholars who argued against it was that reforming the characters was too absurd, and that if something goes wrong after reforming the characters, it would be a big problem that could affect the fate of the country, and that it was very dangerous to argue for such a thing. At this, some of the audience members groaned. However, they did not dwell on it and continued to give detailed reasons for their opposition.

The reasons were:

First, reforming the characters would result in enormous administrative costs for changing them later,

Second, it could cause anxiety among the people due to confusion and inconvenience for a considerable period of time until the new characters were established.

They presented their opinions as reasons for opposing the character reform. After listening to the pros and cons of many scholars, a lot of time passed before all the scholars finished their presentations. And as we had anticipated in advance that this would take this much time, we decided to end the first public hearing by gathering opinions for and against, and to discuss these issues at the next public hearing.

After the first public hearing, we organized the opinions from today's public hearing with the teacher and discussed future measures on how to deal with them. First of all, as expected, there were sharply opposing opinions for and against today, but one characteristic was that, even if you look at the opinions in favor, including the opposing opinions, they were mostly about how to deal with the system, administration, and cost issues rather than the text itself. I think this was because there was no room for rebuttal to Nana's neat keynote speech right before ARMY, and Nana played a big role in laying the foundation for the keynote of this text reform. So, since even the opponents of cognition do not mention Hangul at all in terms of the character aspect, it is eval‎uated that there is no aversion to it as a character, so I was proud that Nana's influence and the drama operation that Korea had previously carried out to introduce Hangul to the world in a positive light hit the mark as planned and prepared in advance.

Now, all that remains is to first make people aware of where and what the goal of the character reform is, and then have the practitioners calculate how much money will be spent where, and if we look at the amount and come up with an alternative for how to solve this actual cost, I thought that the character reform of 'Molisha' could be handled relatively easily. At the same time, I thought that there would be no problem if we anticipated various situations and prepared specifically for them, but for now, we decided to wait for the results of the second committee meeting and come up with specific measures again. And I prepared the measures by carefully considering various situations and opinions that would arise in the future from the beginning.