Korean – Indonesian & Indonesian – Korean Dictionaries:
The Advantages and Shortcomings
Suray Agung Nugroho *
Introduction
Starting from 1995 Gadjah Mada University (GMU) offered Korean language as
elective course for any GMU students interested in Korean language. In 2003 Faculty of
Cultural Sciences officially established Korean Language Program—the third
installment of East Asian Language Program after Japanese and Chinese that was
established in 1989 and 2002 respectively.
Seeing the fact that Korean language has now become part of the curricula, the
need to fulfill students’ enthusiasm in learning a language should be of top priority.
Apart from giving facilities to learn a foreign language, we have prepared learning
material as well. One of them is dictionary. Unfortunately, it is still hard to find a
comprehensive Korean dictionary in bookstores across the country. Even if there are
books on Korean language, they are mostly pocketsize books dealing with conversations
in Korean with Indonesian explanations. Actually, there once was a Korean-Indonesian
dictionary first published in 1997 by Indonesian publisher, but it has not yet been
updated since.
It is so difficult that this kind of difficulty was once a winning topic of the 2003
Essay Writing Contest on Korea in Indonesia. The writer—Sofi Sofiatin, then a highschool student of Cianjur High School in West Java—complained about the difficulties
she had to face when she needed to learn Korean in Indonesia.
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Present Situation
There may have been no changes since last year. Students still find it hard to
find Korean-Indonesian and Indonesian-Korean dictionaries in Indonesia. Interestingly,
it is widely believed among language learners and educators as well that dictionaries in
language learning has so far been perceived as something as important as the textbook
itself in learning foreign languages. Dictionaries are not merely collections of written
words of source language complete with their meanings in target language, but they
could also be the second important thing a learner should have. They are intended to be
handy materials in assisting students to learn other languages.
Not so much different from other languages, Korean language which is now
showing its progress in the number of learners in Indonesia, especially in Gadjah Mada
University also needs dictionaries to help learners learn Korean more easily. Still, it
would be worth-noted here that there are not many Korean-Indonesian and IndonesianKorean dictionaries published in Indonesia. The available dictionaries currently being
used by students at GMU are those published in Korea that were initially intended for
Koreans learning Indonesian language.
Gadjah Mada University must have been lucky to have Center for Korea Studies.
In an effort to fulfill the need of providing dictionaries, the first step the center did to
supply the needed dictionaries was by purchasing them in Korea. Few others were aids
from the embassy of the Republic of Korea in Indonesia. To give a preliminary example
of what kinds of dictionaries currently used in GMU, here are 6 of them:
1. PAN Kamus Bahasa Korea – Indonesia
by Moon Byung Sik
Publisher: Pandora Indonesia (1994)
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2. Kamus Idiom Bahasa Korea
Publisher: Center for Korean Studies, Universitas Nasional (1996)
3. Kamus Standar Korea-Indonesia
Publisher: Kesaint Blanc, Indonesia (1997)
4. Kamus Bahasa Korea – Indonesia
by Jong Young Rim
Publisher: Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Press (1997)
5. Kamus Indonesia – Korea Modern
by Ahn Young Ho
Publisher: Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Press (1998)
6. Kumpulan Kosakata Korea – Indonesia
A Collection of Korean-Indonesian-Korean vocabularies
Center for Korean Studies, Gadjah Mada University (2003)
Specially compiled by Center for Korean Studies, Gadjah Mada University
(Based on vocabularies mostly found and used in Korean textbooks from Sogang
University, Korea University, Yonsei University, Ehwa Womans University, Kyunghee
University, and Seoul National University)
Based on the interview to the students learning Korean language—assuming
their thoughts and ideas on the dictionaries they are using are important factors in
determining the appropriateness of a dictionary—a dictionary (in this case KoreanIndonesian) is advantageous once it has several functional features like:
1. The availability of each word’s pronunciation in Latin. This feature is
considered essential for those who are not familiar to Hangul.
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2. The availability of more than one example of its usage in sentences
3. The exact and accurate meaning(s) of Korean word into Indonesian
4. The easy system of finding entry of words; e.g. the highlighted entry pages on
the changing of Korean alphabet or the availability of the first syllable index
complete with its page number so as to help learners save time in looking up the
words.
5. The classification of word entry. * This feature is important to help students
understand what type of words they are dealing with, e.g. whether they are
Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs, or others.
6. An introduction of how to use the dictionary in Indonesian (instead of in
Korean). *Still, since most dictionaries being used in Indonesia are initially
intended for Korean, it is natural that this feature is regarded as important to
Indonesian learners.
7. The availability of 한자 or Chinese characters for entry of homonym words to
avoid misunderstanding, misconception of particular words. (Although the
advantages of this feature are still far from being of urgent need to the present
Korean language learners in GMU, it is believed that the availability of Chinese
characters in Korean –Indonesian dictionary is surely to be regarded important
as learners learn Korean deeper).
Accordingly, Indonesian-Korean dictionary has shortcomings when they do not
have the above features.
Thus, in order to understand to what extent each dictionary corresponds to the
learners’ need in learning Korean, a brief analysis on each dictionary’s advantages and
disadvantages is presented as follows:
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1. PAN Kamus Bahasa Korea – Indonesia (Pandora Indonesia)
The center for Korean studies, GMU received these dictionaries as part of the
embassy of the Republic of Korea’s assistance in nurturing Korean studies at GMU.
Briefly speaking, this Moon Byung Sik dictionary covers features number 1,3,4,6, and 7.
Meanwhile, it lacks full descriptions of each words and how they are supposed to be
used in sentences. Also, it would be better if word classification is included.
2. Kamus Idiom Bahasa Korea (Center for Korean Studies, Universitas Nasional)
한국어 단어집 ‘Kamus Idiom Bahasa Korea’ published by Center for Korean
Studies, UNAS in 1996 can also be seen as part of this particular university’s effort to
fulfill the needs of learners to study Korean. Not much can be said about this dictionary
since no data is available as to whether this dictionary has been updated so far.
3. Kamus Standar Korea-Indonesia (Kesaint Blanc, Indonesia)
Being the first Korean-Indonesian dictionary published in Indonesia, this
dictionary should have done more in assisting first timers learning Korean. The plus
values of this dictionary lies in its simple explanation of Korean words complete with
their 한글 and its Latin pronunciation. Unfortunately, this is no longer widely circulated
and not all bookstores sell this particular dictionary.
4. Kamus Bahasa Korea – Indonesia (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Press)
This particular dictionary is considered the most appropriate in terms of its
meaning(s) of Korean entry words into Indonesian. Despite its lack of examples in
sentences, the explanation covers varieties of other possible meanings of Korean words
into Indonesian which is quite helpful.
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Since initially this dictionary was intended for Koreans, it is then natural that it
lacks of an explanation of how to use this dictionary in Indonesian. Still, the thickness of
this dictionary at times hinders learners from using it as reference. Reluctantly, they tend
to use the light one supplied by teachers.
Another disadvantage that this dictionary possesses is that it does not have an
index and page number of each Korean word’s first-syllables. For students with ample of
time in getting themselves used to using Korean-Indonesian dictionaries, this issue is not
really a problem. However, the majority of them are first-timers who need practical and
easy way of looking up the words.
Apart from the fact that this dictionary was intended for Koreans learning
Indonesian, this dictionary proves to be quite useful enough for Indonesian learners as
well.
5. Kamus Bahasa Indonesia – Korea Modern (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Press)
Apparently, this is the only Indonesian-Korean dictionary available for learners
in GMU. This dictionary based its content on two major Indonesian Language
Dictionaries, i.e. Poerwadarminta’s Kamus Umum and Department of Culture and
Education’s Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, and one dictionary from Iskandar T.’s
Kamus Dewan, published in Malaysia.
It is, therefore, natural that entries of words comes from variety of languages
both in Indonesia and Malaysia. At one point, it is quite useful for it has as many as
37,000 Indonesian words entries complete with their meanings in Korean. On the other
hand, the bulky feature of the dictionary makes it not too interesting to learners. Once
again, they tend to use not so-thick dictionary.
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6. Kumpulan Kosakata Korea – Indonesia (Center for Korean Studies, Gadjah
Mada University)
The compilation of vocabularies mostly found in Korean language textbooks
being used at GMU is a result of Center for Korean Studies staffs’ continuous teamwork
in 2003.
The idea of making our own handy and easy to use ‘dictionary’ came as a result
of lecturers’ concern over the lack of mostly-used words dictionary for learners. On the
other hand, most students kept asking where to buy a dictionary that covers both
Indonesian-Korean as well as Korean-Indonesian.
To anticipate the growing needs of the enthusiasts, this compilation has finally
completed—irrespective of its shortcomings. The simple feature of this compilation and
the relatively low price for copying makes it a must for any student learning Korean
language at GMU. Since the initial purpose of the compilation is nonprofit, students are
encouraged to make copy for personal use. Furthermore, most word entries are those that
learners have high chances of using in everyday classes.
Even so, there is still a lot to be done about this particular so-called ‘dictionary’,
for it lacks easy manual on how to use and look up the words easily. It is simply to assert
the meaning of source word into target language without giving any examples on how it
should be properly used.
Among those six dictionaries, most learners use A Compilation of vocabularies
prepared by Center for Korean Studies, GMU. At times, they refer to Kamus Bahasa
Korea-Indonesia and Indonesia-Korea Modern from Hankuk University of Foreign
Studies when necessary. Despite the fact that the compilation of vocabularies was
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intended solely as supplementary material, in due time, learners are prone to keep using
the supplementary instead of ‘real’ dictionaries.
One interesting fact about some students here is that in spite of the easy access
to Indonesian-Korean-Indonesian dictionaries, at times they also use Sisa Elite KoreanEnglish-Korean dictionary. This is simply because some entries are not yet listed in
Indonesian-Korean-Indonesian dictionaries.
The remaining problems
The using of dictionaries as part of foreign language learning process still
portrays deep concern among Korean language learners. Not all students intentionally
bring their dictionaries along to class unless they are told to. This is simply to assert that
the need of using dictionaries has not yet become part of their learning habit.
It is therefore, a high time for Korean language educators to realize the urgent
existence
of
more
comprehensive
Indonesian-Korean
and
Korean-Indonesian
dictionaries, and something must be done about it. These kinds of dictionaries are yet to
be published to fulfill the need of learners.
Some ideas worth-pondering about
a) Korean-English-Korean CD-ROM Dictionary
We have an idea of easing an access to Korean-English-Korean dictionary in
CD-ROM as part of students’ learning facilities. Still, it is a long way to go before
learners realize the important urge of having this kind of dictionary. One experience that
we think it necessary to share is that starting from this semester we make the best use of
language laboratory as part of teaching Korean. Besides using audio-visual facilities,
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with the help of CD-ROM on Korean learning, learners become more interested in
getting themselves involved in interactive activities.
b) Pictorial Dictionary
As our experiences showed, using flash-cards in learning Korean has been
something of learners’ interests. The colorful pictures and simple explanation on Korean
words in flash cards do interests the curiosity of some learners. Seeing the fact that
learners, especially first timers do need something interesting to keep their enthusiasm
high in learning Korean, we have an idea of having pictorial dictionary as one of the
references in Korean learning.
Pictorial dictionary could be an effective way of introducing new vocabularies in
colorful pictures so as to give deep understanding of particular words. This kind of
dictionary also features questions or exercises to reinforce the vocabulary. It also
includes easy pronunciation guide to increase accuracy and fluency. The only problem
lies in the fact that the only available Korean pictorial dictionary is English-Korean
pictorial dictionary—seemingly still a long way to go before there would be any KoreanIndonesian pictorial dictionary.
Even so, purchasing English-Korean pictorial dictionary could be of good way in
teaching Korean to learners.
c) Determining entries of words in Korean Dictionary according to learner’s
Korean language level
This issue comes from a question of whether there have been any Korean
dictionaries specially designed according to learner’s Korean language level. It would be
of great value to have Korean dictionary for beginners, for intermediate, and for
advanced learners respectively. This kind of dictionary could be of great advantage for
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any learners, for they psychologically would have to deal only with vocabularies they
have to master in certain level.
Starting from last year, Korean Proficiency Test (KPT) and Korean Language
Proficiency Test (KLPT) have become ‘official’ examinations for any foreigners
wishing to either work or study in Korea. It is, then, assumable that those two exams
must have had certain requirements of Korean vocabularies mastering in each level. It is
at this point that this kind of dictionary could base its vocabulary entry from KPT or
KLPT standard of Korean language mastering.
* Lecturer,
Korean Language Program
Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
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