By Gracie Kim

3.21.19 It’s been 2 years since Please Love Umma was first published, and it’s been quite a ride. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported and who continue to support to this day. A lot has changed since then as I gave birth to our first child, Matthew, in May of 2018, and I had to pause on writing my second book while trying to get used to juggling work and motherhood. I did manage, however, to read a ton of books which kept me fueled and inspired. On this 2nd anniversary of Please Love Umma, I have finally circled back on my second children’s book and begun the writing process during the precious, little alone time I get in the late evenings. Hoping to be completed in the next 2 years! As I am getting back into it, one of the first things I’m contemplating is something trivial which also came up when writing Please Love Umma. How should I represent Korean words in English? When discussed with other writers, we seem to be in alignment with the fact that, as writers, we should choose which path to take on this, and there is no right or wrong. When discussed with non-writers but avid readers, they are much more inflexible with this since some words are officially accepted as the proper English translation, and obviously, some words can’t be clearly transcribed into English. So to elaborate on this…Kimchi or Kimchee, although in Korean, it’s pronounced “gimchee” …kalbi or galbi or galbee…abba or appa…Joseon or Chosun…juk or jook…hanguk or hangook or hankook…ddukbbokki or ddukboki…agassi or agashi. I think most Korean-Americans deal with the differences in their last names as well, i.e., Lee or Rhee or Yi but actually pronounced “ee” in Korean. I am personally always more inclined to the obscurely spelled ones or move towards spelling it the way I want even though it may not have any true phonetic value. What is your opinion on this? I’d like to hear YOUR thoughts 🙂 PM me!