■ Do we really need to use spaces? Isn’t it easier to write everything together? Or what if we write everything with spaces?
But is a world without spaces really convenient?
The turtle sent a wish letter saying, “Please make it bigger.” However, the person who received the poorly spaced letter interpreted it as, “Oh, please make the dot bigger!” and gifted the turtle a large dot right on its face. The rabbit sent a wish letter saying, “Please make the cucumber grow quickly.” But the recipient of the poorly spaced letter thought it meant, “Oh, please make my teeth grow quickly!” and gifted the rabbit a pair of buck teeth.
The turtle and the rabbit, who unexpectedly received a large dot and buck teeth, paid the price for their spacing mistakes. This showed that if all words are written together or all spaced out, sentences become confusing, and the world itself becomes chaotic.
But what were the turtle and the rabbit really trying to say in their wish letters? Will they be able to overcome the spacing challenge and become the mail carriers of their dreams?
■ An interesting story where meanings change depending on spacing unfolds in a chain!
At the first spacing checkpoint, the turtle and the rabbit receive a letter from Mother Goat.
“Three baby goats have disappeared.”
【【Easy Korean 2】Spacing Race ②
The rabbit read it as, “Three baby goats have disappeared.” The turtle read it as, “Three baby goats have disappeared.” With just this sentence, it’s hard to tell who read it correctly. The clue lies in the additional content of the letter. Mother Goat added, “Their names are Uri, Mari, Yori, and Jori. Please help find my kids.”
Aha! Now we can understand that Mother Goat is looking for four baby goats named Uri, Mari, Yori, and Jori. This shows that it’s not just about knowing how to space sentences, but also about the literacy required to read them correctly in context.
The turtle, who read it correctly, brought the four baby goats hidden in a pile of flowers back to Mother Goat, but the rabbit, who misread it, ended up bringing back a baby squirrel named ‘Mari’ instead.
Could there be another way to space it? As the story continues, there’s plenty of fun in imagining words and sentences by spacing and combining them in various ways beyond what the author presents.
In this way, the author shows a method of understanding grammar through intuition rather than rote memorization. While existing spacing textbooks explain sentence structures and how to space them in various cases, the intuitive approach combined with storytelling helps children realize that meanings change with spacing. The intuitive understanding of spacing combined with illustrations is not only easy to grasp but also leaves a lasting impression, enhancing the learning effect. Each sentence presented in this book has been carefully selected to help children learn the spacing that often confuses them.
■ Nine spacing checkpoints that creatively adapt Aesop's fables and traditional tales!
And what about the hidden final checkpoint that surprises everyone?
In this book, the author not only provides a clear understanding of the concept of spacing for children but also flexibly intertwines beloved Aesop's fables and traditional tales like “The Tale of the Rabbit” and “The Golden Axe and the Silver Axe,” amplifying the positive functions of storytelling. “Spacing Race” evokes the race from Aesop's fable “The Tortoise and the Hare,” but it doesn’t just focus on winning. As the turtle and the rabbit pass through the spacing checkpoints, they build friendship and reveal a surprising final checkpoint. Why did the rabbit and the turtle want to become mail carriers? It provides a touching lesson on healthy competition, cooperation, and coexistence.
■ Don't memorize! Don't stress your head!
With the , just following along makes it enjoyable to learn the 'flavor of the Korean language'!
Is Korean easier than math or English? Korean might seem easier because it’s our mother tongue and we naturally speak and write it from a young age, but in reality, there are many things we don’t know and use incorrectly. However, memorizing all the various grammar rules is not easy. The helps children enjoy the flavor of the Korean language by allowing them to properly understand its unique grammatical features through fun situations. While “The Consonant Structure Squad” showed how a single incorrect consonant can change the situation, “Spacing Race” illustrates that when spacing is done correctly according to the various usages of words, rich stories are created. Beyond spacing and consonants, punctuation, homonyms, and more will continue to be explored in a way that allows children to grasp the flavor of the Korean language in a fun and engaging manner.