Get into it

For those of you curious about what I do here, the following is an edited version of an e-mail conversation I had with Myung-Ki this week. I polished up some of his grammar, although I left some of the Koreanisms because they make the conversation more authentic. I also made a couple of edits to my own writing.

My exchanges with Koreans aren't always this conversational or detailed; in Myung-Ki's case, he's a good friend and his English level is better than many of my Korean friends and students. But it's still a good example of what I do on an almost daily basis, in and out of the classroom.

The ^^ symbol is the Korean equivalent of the :) symbol that Westerners use. Koreans also use the ~ symbol instead of a hyphen (-) or dash, sometimes liberally.

I didn't plan for my response to be as long as it was, but hopefully you'll find it interesting.

Myung-Ki wrote:

Hi Marc,

How are you?

Since last December, I don't know why I have been so busy. Now it's almost 18 months that I have been in the company. I am sorry for not having time to meet you. Understand me... ^ ^

Actually, in Korea you made lots of good friends on account of your sincere attitude and behaviour. I also like that about your character. ^ ^ I know you also want to meet me. Don't you? Hahaha~~

Anyway, I would like to meet with you before your trip to New York. I wish you will make my dream come true. ^ ^

From February, I will learn Chinese at XYZ Language Academy. It could be challenging for me, but it seems that I am quite happy. ^ ^

It is my lifelong goal, as I mentioned before, to speak four languages.

Even though it takes a long time to get this and I am in a difficult situation, I will deal with this...

What am I saying...hahaha...too emotional...

Anyway, keep me posted regarding your news.

Keep in touch.

Good day friend~

MK

I wrote:

Hey MK,

Good to hear from you...I was actually thinking about you this week.

I have a book on learning 250 common Chinese characters. I can lend that to you if you're interested in checking it out. I'd like to get into it myself, but I've been too focused on Korean and other stuff. Maybe later this year.

Would you like to get together this Saturday afternoon before you go to your salsa class? My friend Kyoung-Ha and I will be hanging out Saturday morning. If he's still with me in the afternoon, we can come to Shinchon and meet you for lunch or coffee.

If Saturday isn't good, let me know about Monday night after you finish work. I've still been spending a lot of time around Hongdae lately.

Talk to you soon.

Myung-Ki wrote:

Please lend me your book. ^ ^ I am really a beginner, I will definitely need this in roughly two months.

"I'd like to get into it myself" was one of the sentences you wrote me.

Is it common? I know the meaning of all of the (individual) words, but this did not come home to my heart.

I think there are lots of meanings about that and the meaning is different (according) to the situation.

Please let me know about that or explain this on Saturday. Bye~

I wrote:

"Get into (something)" is a common expression.

It has different meanings, although they are similar:
Beginning something that you've been ignoring or avoiding (usually a book)
Getting involved in an activity, sport or trend
Becoming interested in an activity, sport or trend

I said "I'd like to get into it myself." That means that you're going to study the book. I'm not studying the book, but I wish I was. YOUR studying makes ME want to study.

People usually say this when a friend tells them about doing some kind of activity. For example:
MK: I've started taking salsa dance classes on Saturdays.
Marc: Really? I'd like to get into that.

My statement means that I'd like to learn salsa dance. Your interest in it makes me interested as well.

Sometimes people express some interest in an activity but do not do it. This is because they don't have the time (or the money) or because their interest isn't strong enough. For example, if my friend does a certain sport, I may say to myself "I should get into that" and never do the sport because I don't have the time or money or because other things are more interesting to me.

For example, I'm interested in getting into dance, public school teaching, fashion design, sewing, graphic design and many other activities. I know I could do these things well and enjoy them. But here are the reasons I don't do them:

I don't have the time. As you know, I already have too many hobbies.
I don't have the money. For some of these activities, such as design or dance, I would have to pay a lot of money to learn them.
Other things are more interesting to me. For example, my language study is more important to me (and my career) than learning graphic design. Tae kwon do is better for me than dance.

If I have a chance to do these activities (in the future) I will, but right now it's not possible. But I still have a general interest in getting into them someday.

Other examples:
My father got me into jazz. (My father helped to get me interested in jazz music, or my father introduced me to jazz music by playing it on the radio.)
I got into tae kwon do as a university student. (I started doing/got interested in tae kwon do when I was a student.)
I didn't get into political cartooning until I was older. (I started doing/got interested in political cartooning when I became older.)

By the way, all the above sentences are true about me. ^^

You were right when you said that the meaning depends on the situation.

A similar expression is "to be into (something)." For example:
I'm really into jazz. (I really like listening to jazz music. For some musicians, this statement means "I really like playing or performing jazz music.")
I've been into tae kwon do for a while now. (I've been doing tae kwon do for a long time, maybe a few months.)
How long have you been into salsa? (How long have you been doing salsa dance?)

Both of these expressions are a little bit informal, but very common. I use them all the time. Many English speakers, especially younger people, use them often.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions.

See you Saturday.