Since the song ‘Winter Child’ was first sung by JongYong, Lee in 1990, this song has been remade by many singers. ‘Winter Child’ was again highlighted by Suzy, member of Miss A. Suzy sang the song in Dream High which is very popular drama in Korea. The lyrics of the song are so lovely and beautiful. So, the song is sometimes sung for a birthday song for people born in the winter.

Shall we learn this song?

겨울에 태어난 아름다운 당신은      

Gyeoure taeeaonan areumdaun dangsineun           

(Beautiful you born in the winter)
눈처럼 깨끗한 나만의 당신            

nuncheoreom ggaekkeotan namane dangsin

(My darling you white as the snow)
겨울에 태어난 사랑스런 당신은

Gyeoure taeeaonan sarangseureon dangsineun

(Lovely you born in the Winter)
눈처럼 맑은 나만의 당신               

nuncheoreom malgeun namane dangsin     

(My darling you pure as the snow)

하지만 봄 여름과 가을 겨울

           

hajiman bom, yeoreumgwa gaeul gyeoul

(But ….spring, summer, fall and winter)
언제나 맑고 깨끗해                      

eonjena malggo ggaekketae

(You’re always pure and lovely)

겨울에 태어난 아름다운 당신은

Gyeoure taeeaonan areumdaun dangsineun

(Beautiful you born in the winter)
눈처럼 깨끗한 나만의 당신             

nuncheoreom ggaekkeotan namane dangsin

(My darling you white as the snow)

생일 축하합니다 생일 축하합니다     

sangil chukkahamnida *3 (Happy birthday)

생일 축하합니다 당신의 생일을        

dangsine sangireul

Happy birthday to you. (Happy birthday to you.)

 

There are four seasons in Korea. 봄(spring) 여름(summer) 가을(fall)and 겨울(winter). If you were born in the winter, you can say “저는 겨울에 태어났어요 (jeoneun gyeoule ttaeenatsseoyo)”

-에 is a time marker. 저는 여름에 태어났어요. It means “I was born in the summer.” Then, “in the spring” becomes “봄에”. 태어났어요 is the past tense which means “were/was born”

당신(dangsin) is an honorific expression of “너(neo/ you)” but you need to be aware of how to use this word properly. Because it is used for the most honorific title or poetic expression, you may be confused how to suitably use the word. In this song, 당신 is used for the kind of poetic expressions. If you improperly use the title “당신” to the elder, you would seem rude on the contrary.

How can you say “Happy birthday!” in Korean? It is “생일 축하합니다.” 생일(sangil) means birthday and 축하합니다(chukkahamnida) means congratulations on~. You can use this expression in some ways. For example, “Congratulations on your graduation” is 졸업 축하합니다 in Korean. 졸업(joreop) is graduation. You can put any word in front of 축하합니다. So, the basic form is something 축하합니다. Instead of 졸업, 결혼 (gyeoron, marriage) can be put. 결혼 축하합니다. The form of –합니다 is formal polite sentence so normally, you may say just with 축하해요. Altogether, 생일 축하해요. 졸업 축하해요. 결혼 축하해요. Those expressions are still polite.

You can enjoy 겨울아이 (Winter Child) on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGNS2F1fb5c&feature=related

Is it so interesting to learn Korean form Korean OST and songs? Next time, let’s learn another song and useful expressions. 감사합니다

Korean teacher, Sarah Yong.