Korea is a place where low individualism prevails but collectivism predominates. Korean people believe in the will of the group rather than that of the individual, and the society emphasises on harmony and group decision-making. Therefore, while you are studying Korean, you will be able to find unique cultural fact and expressions that have traditionally been handed down.

The adjective of ‘our’ is often used when referring to Korea; the country, own home or family members instead of using ‘my’ such as our country and our home. It does not necessarily mean there was a joint ownership involved. ‘Our’ emphasizes community over individuality, which expressing their affiliations that they are belong to. By using this term, Koreans consciously or unconsciously strengthen a sense of harmony. However, when it is necessary to specify one’s possession, ‘my’ is used. ‘Our’ could sound odd in this case.

The other interesting Korean culture fact is calling people as a family member. For instance, a ripe of old age of 80 is normally called as a grandfather or grandmother from other people regardless of family relationship. Brothers and sisters are also frequently used to call rather than their names. Since Koreans historically observe a custom of Confucian ideology that considers the society as a big family in the same vein as collectivism. This unique culture gives Korean people a sense of intimacy to each other.

In addition, when you are willing to call someone only by names, you should make sure if the other person is the same age otherwise the other person might feel uncomfortable to be called since the appropriate title is particularly commonly used rather than names. If someone looks obviously older than you, it may be a good idea to call him or her as a familial title. If it happened in a work place, you should call someone by his or her title (check out the last blog: ‘A word on culture: you’). The term ‘friend’ in Korean is only used to refer to someone the same age as you. Names without any title can be used after you are quite close to someone.

Dialogue 1: How to call your friend!

A: 여보세요? Jenny집인가요?

   (yeoboseyo? Jenny jip ingayo? /

Hello? Is this Jenny’s residence?)

B: 네, 누구세요?  (ne, nuguseyo?/  Yes. Who is calling?)

A: 저는 Jenny 친구 Mike예요.    

    (jeoneun jenny chingu Mike yeyo. / I’m Mike, Jenny’s friend.

   Jenny 있어요?     (Jenny isseoyo? / Is there Jenny?)

B: 네, 잠시만요.     (ne, jamsimanyo/ Yes. Hold on, please.)

A: 감사합니다.  (gamsahamnida/ Thank you.)

…………………

Jenny: 여보세요? (yeoboseyo? / Hello?)

Mike: 응, 나야. Mike야.   (eung/naya/ Yep, It’s me, Mike.)

 

Dialogue 2: How to call in Korean formally!

A: 여보세요? Jenny씨 댁인가요?

   (yeoboseyo? Jenny ssi daekingayo? / Hello? Is this Jenny’s residence?)

B: 네, 누구세요?  (ne, nuguseyo?/  Yes. Who is calling?)

A: 저는 Jenny씨 회사 동료 Mike예요.    

    (jeoneun jenny ssi hoesa dongryo Mike yeyo. /

I’m Mike, Jenny’s colleague.)

   Jenny씨 계신가요?     (Jenny gyesingayo? / Is there Jenny?)

B: 네, 잠시만요.     (ne, jamsimanyo/ Yes. Hold on, please.)

A: 감사합니다.  (gamsahamnida/ Thank you.)

…………………

Jenny: 여보세요? (yeoboseyo? / Hello?)

Mike: 제니씨, 저예요. (Jenny ssi jeoyeyo/ Yep, It’s me, Mike.)

 

When you call to your friend casually or call to someone formally, you need to use somewhat different level of politeness in Korean.

Firstly, “Hello?” on the phone is “여보세요?”

When you pick up the phone, just say “여보세요?”

Koreans normally ask the question “Who is calling?” to the caller.

“누구세요?”(Who is calling?”) or “실례지만, 누구세요?” (Excuse me but who is calling?) can be used in Korean.

When you want to confirm whether or not you called to the right place or number, you can ask the question “~인가요?”

Like the examples, casually “제니 집인가요?” or formally “제니씨 댁인가요?” is used depending on the situation.

Two expressions ‘제니 집’ and ‘제니씨 댁’ mean the same “Jenny’s residence (house)” But depending on the situation, we need to choose the proper the level of politeness. ‘댁’ is an honorific word of ‘집’

         제니 집 (Jenny’s residence)      교수님 댁 (professor’s residence)

 

Just combine with a noun with ~인가요?

“제니 집 인가요?”               “교수님 댁 인가요?”

(Is this Jenny’s residence?)       (Is this the Professor’s residence?)

When you ask the telephonee to put you through to your friend, you can say “~있어요?” Like the example on the first dialogue, you can ask the question “제니 있어요?” It means “Is Jenny there?” or “Is Jenny in?” The expression is informal. When you ask the question formally, you can say “제니씨 계신가요?”

계시다 is an honorific expression of 있다.

     친구가 있어요(There is a friend).  어머니가 계세요(There is my mother).

 

Compare two sentences.

Questions	Informally	Formally
Is Jenny’s residence?	제니 집인가요?	제니씨 댁인가요?
Is there Jenny?	제니 있어요?	제니씨 계신가요?
It’s me.	나야.	저예요.

 

Just try to call your friends in Korean. Start from the easiest “여보세요?” J

Sarah Yong (Korean Teacher)

In Korea, you must never call someone who is older than you by his or her name. Rather, use familial titles!

Calling the elder’s name directly should be rude in Korea. Rather, you must call him or her by an appropriate familial title. It would be much better. Of course, it is not for the working place but for the casual social life.

Interestingly, family titles can be used to call someone who is not your family member in Korea. Family titles are very often used to non-family members to express friendly feeling or intimacy. The situation can be seen easily in other Asian countries such as China or India.

However, there is something that we need to be careful about. Depending on your gender and the gender of opposite person, you should use different familial titles.

As seen in the above pictures, older sister can be called with ‘누나’ or ‘언니’ and older brother can be titled with ‘형’ or ‘오빠’.

When you call old women between 40~50-year-olds, 아주머니(ajumeoni) can be used. 아저씨(ajeossi) are used to old men around 40~50-year-olds. You may call 70~80-years-old men and women as 할아버지 (harabeoji) and 할머니(halmeoni) respectively.

When you call a young looking woman, you need to carefully choose one of two titles, 언니 (누나) or 아주머니. Korean woman doesn’t like to be called as 아줌마 or 아주머니. Especially, the title 아줌마 is not preferred too much. Many western people may be not sure of Asian women’s age with their looking. You can avoid using the direct titles until you can be sure of the person’s age or social status. 🙂

Sarah Yong (Korean Teacher)

In the Korean language, the subject is quite often omitted. In one-to-one conversations, both speakers know who they talk to, and so Koreans believe that it is unnecessary to refer who is the subject.  Therefore, the word ‘you’ is not commonly used in conversations, particularly when meeting people for the first time. If you look up  ‘you’ in a English-Korean dictionary, you can find the direct translated word ‘당신’. However, this word is generally used for someone who is in a relationship with or someone who wants to express anger to the other party. Therefore, it is critical not to use this word easily otherwise it could be considered highly discourteous.

The first time you meet someone, after asking him or her for their name, you may call them by his or her full name or only their first name followed by 씨 (ssi) to indicate respect. For example, if you want to call someone, whose name is김민수, which consists of the last name 김(Kim) and the first name 민수(Minsu), you can call 김민수 씨 or 민수 씨. If the person that you meet is a close friend or a child, you usually use the word ‘너’ : it is an informal form of ‘you’. As this word is regarded as very informal, people do not easily use this word – even to someone who is far younger than them – as it is important for Koreans to display respect towards people, especially if they do not know very well the person who they are talking to.

Another way of calling people is by using work position titles instead of calling someone by using the personal pronoun ‘you’. For example if you are with someone at your work place, you can call him by his or her title such as director or manager. You usually attach님 at the end of the title to indicate respect. If you are not sure what his or her title is when you meet someone for the first time, you can introduce yourself with your position or exchange your business cards at the first meeting.

점심 먹었어요? [jeomsim meogeotsseoyo?]

This expression means “Do you have lunch?” Interestingly, this kind of questions is used a common greeting in Korea. It’s a kind of Korean culture. Koreans more concern on their neighbor’s and friend’s ordinary life. Around meal time, Korean often greets each other between close persons with the kind of above expressions. We need to use an honorific expression depending on the situation or interlocutor’s age. Instead of ‘먹었어요’, just use ‘드셨어요’.

 

In the morning

팀장 : 안녕?                                                     Hello.

팀원 : 안녕하세요? 팀장님.                         Hello.

팀장 : 오늘 아침 좀 피곤하네요.                 I’m a little tired this morning.

팀원 : 아침 드셨어요?                                    Did you have a breakfast?

팀장 : 간단히요.                                               A little. (Simply)

 

간단히 means ‘simply’ but in the sentence, the person is saying that he grabbed a bite to eat.

 

Just after lunch time, while you are coming back to office,

제니 : 점심 먹었어요?

마이클 : 네. 먹었어요. 제니씨는요?

제니 : 네, 저도 먹었어요.

 

In the above dialogue, 제니 and 마이클 ask each other “Did you have lunch?” instead of “Hello” or “Hi” To the question, you don’t need to explain what you had for lunch like “I ate spaghetti with coke and had some cookies for dessert.” You may answer the question in detail if the interlocutor is really close to you. “네, 스파게티와 콜라를 먹고 후식으로 쿠키를 먹었어요.” However, the kind of greetings is just similar with “Hello” or “Hi”

아침 먹었어요?         Did you have breakfast?

점심 먹었어요?         Did you have lunch?

저녁 먹었어요?         Did you have dinner?

 

Generally, “Did you have a meal?” is that “밥 먹었어요?” Honorific expression of it is that “식사 하셨어요?”

When you have got the question, you don’t need to be embarrassed or to explain everything oh what you had. Anyway, just remember the expression, “밥 먹었어요?” or “식사 하셨어요?”, is a common natural greeting in Korea J

 

Sarah Yong (Korean teacher)

까먹었어요 [kkameogeotsseoyo]

This expression is interesting. It has totally different two meanings: one is ‘to peel and eat’, and the other one is ‘to forget’. 까먹었어요 comes from the basic form of ‘까먹다’. 까먹다 is a combination of 까다 which means ‘to peel’ and 먹다 which means ‘to eat’.

Therefore, “저는 땅콩을 까먹었어요” means “I peeled and ate peanuts”

Interestingly, Koreans use the idiomatic expression ‘~먹었다’ in many cases.

 

까-먹었어요 (I forgot.)

욕-먹었어요 (I was blamed/ I got blamed)

애-먹었어요 (I had a hard time/ I had trouble)

 

욕 means swear words. Literal meaning of 욕먹었어요 is “I ate swear words.”

애 is a kind of old fashioned words which means ‘hard work’, ‘bitter’, or ‘troubles’

 

The above examples are a little negative but Koreans use the expression in positive cases.

 

마음 먹었어요 (I decided.)

일등 먹었어요 (I won first place.)

 

마음 means ‘heart’ so 마음 먹었어요 can be “I ate my heart” 일등 indicates ‘first place’.

Like above examples, Koreans tend to use ‘~먹었어요’ in many negative and positive cases. I’ve heard that Eoryeong, Lee who is famous philosopher and was the Culture Ministry, explained the linguistic tendency in Korean: Koreans tend to enjoy eating many things in order to feel them deeply. Therefore, they would use 먹었다 in many ways. Regardless of whether or not his words are true, I thought his hypothesis is interesting but it can be sympathetic. In Azerbaidzhan, it is said that ‘love’ can be shown in sign language: ‘eat heart and digest it’. How languages are interesting in nations! Anyway, in Korean, we can use the expression, ‘~먹었어요.’ in many situations.

 

Mum         : 수학 숙제 했니?                 Did you finish your math homework?

Daughter: 앗! 까먹었어요.                Ooops, I forgot it.

지금 할게요.                        I’ll do it now.

 

Jenny : 이번 휴가 때 뭐 할거예요?                           What will you do this holiday?

Susan : 다이어트 하기로 마음 먹었어요.               I decided to go on a diet.

 

Sarah Yong (Korean teacher)

How to make exclamatory expressions in Korean
여러분 안녕하세요! SLS에서 한국어를 가르치고 있는 Ashley선생님 입니다!
Oops! , Oh my God!, Auch! , Help! , Fire!…….
Sometimes you encounter the situations that you feel frightened, happy and surprise. Do you know how to speak those exclamatory expressions in Korean? Let’s learn some key sentences by situations.
Situation A: You were swimming at Haeudae Beach (Busan) with friends. Suddenly you went too far due to the unexpected current and big waves. You can’t find any friends around you. You need to ask for Surf Lifesaver’s help. What do you need to say? Answer: 살려주세요 (Sal lyeo Ju se yo!)!/ 사람 살려 (saram sal lyo!)!
Situation B: You were invited to your friend’s 21st birthday party. Actually you are not very close to this person so you still need to make comments politely. What would you like to say? Answer: 생일 축하해요: Happy birthday! (saengil chukka haeyo)! / 초대해 줘서 고마워요: Thanks for inviting me to the party! (chodae hae jua seo go ma wo yo).
Situation C: You have fallen down on George street. What do you say ‘oops’ in Korean? Answer: 아이구 (aigoo) / 어머 (eo meo).
Situation D: You accidently touched a very hot oven. What do you say? Answer: 앗 (at)! 뜨거워 (ddeu geo wo)! : Auch, hot!
Situation E: Fire! What do you need to say? Answer: 불이야 (buriya)!: Fire!
These expressions are very useful when you have some emergency and when you are not sure how to act/say properly to make sure you are being polite in some situations. Try to use it properly and become a native-life Korean speaker!

Ashley Jang (Korean Teacher)